Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

The present application relates to the technical field of communications. Provided are a communication method and apparatus. The method comprises: sending first information at a first moment, wherein the first information indicates first data, and the first data is data to be transmitted; and when a first time period overlaps with a first measurement time period, monitoring second information on a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring occasion within a second time period, wherein the second information is used for indicating a first uplink resource, a start moment of the first time period is equal to or later than the first moment, the second time period comprises a first overlapping time period or the first measurement time period, the first overlapping time period is an overlapped time period of the first time period and the first measurement time period, the first measurement period is determined on the basis of a first configuration, and the first configuration is a configuration for a candidate cell to send a first reference signal.

Description

Communication method and device

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on January 26, 2024, with application number 202410119211.0 and application name “A Communication Method and Device”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

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

[0003] In a communications system, a terminal device can measure the reference signal of a neighboring cell during a specific time period, such as a measurement gap (MG), to obtain the reference signal measurement results. Cell handover is then performed based on the reference signal measurement results. Furthermore, while the terminal device is performing reference signal measurements, data transmission with the network equipment corresponding to the current cell is not performed, increasing data transmission latency and impacting service transmission performance.

[0004] Summary of the Invention

[0005] In order to solve the above technical problems, this application provides a communication method and device that can reduce the impact of reference signal measurement on data transmission and improve service transmission performance. To achieve the above objectives, this application adopts the following technical solutions:

[0006] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided. The method may be executed by a terminal device, or by a component in the terminal device (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a chip system), or by a logic module or software that implements all or part of the terminal device's functions. The following description is based on an example in which the terminal device is the execution subject. The method includes:

[0007] The terminal device sends first information at a first moment, where the first information indicates first data, and the first data is data to be transmitted.

[0008] When the first time period overlaps with the first measurement time period, the terminal device monitors second information at a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring opportunity in the second time period, where the second information is used to indicate a first uplink resource. The start time of the first time period is equal to or later than the first time, and the second time period includes at least one of the following: a first overlapping time period, or the first measurement time period. The first overlapping time period is a time period in which the first time period overlaps with the first measurement time period. The first measurement time period is determined according to a first configuration, where the first configuration is a configuration in which the candidate cell sends a first reference signal.

[0009] For example, the first configuration is a measurement gap MG configuration, and the first measurement period is a time period corresponding to one MG.

[0010] For another example, the first configuration is a synchronization signal-based measurement timing configuration SMTC, and the first measurement period is a time period corresponding to one SMTC.

[0011] That is to say, after the terminal device sends the first information at the first moment, even if the first time period overlaps with the first measurement period, the terminal device still performs normal operations in the second time period, such as monitoring the second information at the PDCCH monitoring opportunity of the second time period, so as to obtain the first uplink resource in time and transmit the first data through the first uplink resource.

[0012] Among them, the second time period includes the first overlapping time period, that is, the time period in which the first time period overlaps with the first measurement time period. Alternatively, the second time period includes the first measurement time period. Compared with the situation in which the terminal device measures the first reference signal in the first measurement time period and monitors the second information after the first measurement time period, the terminal device of the present application performs the second information monitoring at the PDCCH monitoring opportunity in the second time period instead of the reference signal measurement, thereby reducing the impact of the reference signal measurement on data transmission, helping to reduce the service data transmission delay, and improving the service transmission performance.

[0013] In one possible design, when the second time period includes the first overlapping time period, the PDCCH monitoring opportunity of the second time period includes: the time period in which the first overlapping time period overlaps with the first monitoring time period, the first monitoring time period is determined according to a second configuration, and the second configuration is used to determine the time period for monitoring PDCCH.

[0014] For example, the second configuration is a discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration. Accordingly, the first monitoring period is an active period under the DRX configuration. Alternatively, the second configuration is used to configure a search space or a search space set.

[0015] For another example, after the terminal device sends the first information at the first moment, it continuously monitors the PDCCH during the first monitoring period.

[0016] That is, the PDCCH monitoring opportunity of the second time period is determined according to the first time period, the first measurement time period and the first monitoring time period.

[0017] In one possible design, the terminal device may monitor the PDCCH in the first time period, i.e., the terminal device is given the function of monitoring the PDCCH in the first time period. It can be understood that the first network device may send downlink control information DCI via the PDCCH in the first time period, or the terminal device continuously monitors the PDCCH in the first time period.

[0018] In one possible design, the method further includes: the terminal device does not measure the first reference signal in the second time period, and the measurement result of the first reference signal is used to indicate the signal quality of the candidate cell, thereby reducing the impact of reference signal measurement on service transmission delay.

[0019] In one possible design, the method also includes: when the second time period includes the first overlapping time period, the terminal device measures the first reference signal in a third time period, the start time of the third time period is the second time, the second time is equal to or later than the end time of the first time period, and the end time of the third time period is the end time of the first measurement time period.

[0020] That is, the terminal device measures the first reference signal in a certain time period after the second time period, such as the third time period, which helps to improve the reference signal measurement performance and resource utilization.

[0021] In a possible design, when the second moment is later than the end moment of the first time period, a fourth time period is separated from the end moment of the first time period.

[0022] In one possible design, the method further includes: the terminal device receiving first configuration information, where the first configuration information indicates the first configuration, so that the terminal device determines the first measurement period according to the first configuration.

[0023] In one possible design, the first time period is greater than or equal to the sum of N first measurement time periods, where N is a positive integer.

[0024] In one possible design, the first time period is preconfigured. Alternatively, the first time period is configured by the first communication device. Alternatively, the first time period is determined based on the first data.

[0025] In one possible design, the first time period is determined by a first timer, which is a timer started in response to sending the first information.

[0026] In a possible design, when the starting time of the first time period is later than the first moment, the starting time of the first time period and the first moment are separated by a fifth time period.

[0027] In one possible design, the first data is all data to be transmitted corresponding to the first logical channel group LCG, and the first LCG is one or more LCGs in at least one LCG.

[0028] In one possible design, the first data is data that the remaining delay budget in the first LCG is lower than the first delay threshold, the first LCG is one or more LCGs in at least one LCG, and the first delay threshold is a parameter configured by the second configuration information.

[0029] In one possible design, the first information indicates first data, including: the first information indicating at least one of the following: a first data volume, first delay information, or a first parameter. The first data volume is the data volume of the first data. The first delay information is the delay information of the second data, and the second data is the data with the shortest remaining delay budget in the first data. The first parameter indicates a first cache status list, the first cache status list includes at least one index, and one index of the at least one index indicates the data volume of the first data.

[0030] In one possible design, the first information includes a scheduling request (SR) requesting uplink resources for transmitting the first data. Alternatively, the first information includes a delay status report (DSR) indicating a delay of the first data. Alternatively, the first information includes a buffer status report (BSR) indicating a data volume of the first data.

[0031] In one possible design, the method further includes: the terminal device sends third information in the second time period, and the third information indicates third data or uplink control information, thereby helping to reduce uplink transmission delay.

[0032] In a possible design, the priority of the first time period is a first priority, the priority of the first measurement period is a second priority, the first priority is higher than the second priority, and the second priority is determined according to the first configuration.

[0033] That is, when the first time period overlaps with the first measurement time period, the terminal device monitors the second information or does not measure the first reference signal during the PDCCH monitoring opportunity of the second time period, thereby giving priority to ensuring service transmission performance.

[0034] In one possible design, the second priority level is lower than or equal to the first threshold.

[0035] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided. The method may be executed by a terminal device, or by a component in the terminal device (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a chip system), or may be executed by a logic module or software that implements all or part of the terminal device's functions. Below, the method is described using the terminal device as an example. The method includes:

[0036] The terminal device sends first information at a first moment, where the first information indicates first data, and the first data is data to be transmitted.

[0037] When the first overlapping period does not exist and the start time of the first measurement period arrives, the terminal device starts the first measurement period.

[0038] The first overlapping period is a period in which the first period overlaps with the first measurement period, the starting time of the first period is equal to or later than the first time, and the first measurement period is determined according to a first configuration, which is a configuration for the candidate cell to send a first reference signal.

[0039] The non-existence of the first overlapping period means that the first period does not overlap with the first measurement period.

[0040] Here, starting the first measurement period can be understood as the terminal device measuring the first reference signal during the first measurement period.

[0041] That is, the terminal device determines whether to start the first measurement period, that is, whether to measure the first reference signal during the first measurement period, based on whether the first overlapping period exists. If the first overlapping period does not exist, the terminal device can start the first measurement period in a timely manner to measure the reference signal of the candidate cell, thereby improving the accuracy of the reference signal measurement without affecting the transmission delay of the service data.

[0042] In a third aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be executed by a network device, or by a component in the network device (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a chip system), or by a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the network device functions. The following description is based on an example in which the execution subject is the network device. The method includes:

[0043] The network device receives first information at a first moment, where the first information indicates first data, and the first data is data to be transmitted.

[0044] The network device determines a first time period based on the first information. When the first time period overlaps with the first measurement time period, the network device transmits second information during a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring opportunity in the second time period, where the second information indicates a first uplink resource, and the second time period includes at least one of the following: a first overlapping time period or the first measurement time period. The first overlapping time period is a time period in which the first time period overlaps with the first measurement time period. The first measurement time period is determined based on a first configuration, where the first configuration is a configuration for the candidate cell to transmit the first reference signal.

[0045] That is to say, after the network device receives the first information at the first moment, even if the first time period overlaps with the first measurement period, the network device still performs normal operations in the second time period, such as sending the second information at the PDCCH monitoring opportunity of the second time period, thereby promptly indicating the first uplink resource to the terminal device, so that the terminal device transmits the first data through the first uplink resource.

[0046] The second time period includes the first overlapping time period, that is, the time period in which the first time period overlaps with the first measurement time period. Alternatively, the second time period includes the first measurement time period. Compared to the case where the network device sends the second information after the first measurement time period, the network device of the present application sends the second information during the PDCCH monitoring opportunity of the second time period, so that the terminal device can obtain the first uplink resource as early as possible, thereby helping to reduce the service data transmission delay and improve the service transmission performance.

[0047] In one possible design, the method further includes: the network device receives third information in the second time period, and the third information indicates third data or uplink control information.

[0048] In one possible design, when the second time period includes the first overlapping time period, the PDCCH monitoring opportunity of the second time period includes: the time period in which the first overlapping time period overlaps with the first monitoring time period, the first monitoring time period is determined according to a second configuration, and the second configuration is used to determine the time period for monitoring PDCCH.

[0049] In one possible design, the first time period is greater than or equal to the sum of N first measurement time periods, where N is a positive integer.

[0050] In one possible design, the first time period is preconfigured. Alternatively, the first time period is configured by the first communication device. Alternatively, the first time period is determined based on the first data.

[0051] In one possible design, the first time period is determined by a first timer, which is a timer started in response to receipt of the first information.

[0052] In a possible design, when the starting time of the first time period is later than the first moment, the starting time of the first time period and the first moment are separated by a fifth time period.

[0053] In one possible design,

[0054] The first data is all data to be transmitted corresponding to the first logical channel group LCG, and the first LCG is one or more LCGs in at least one LCG.

[0055] In one possible design, the first data is data that the remaining delay budget in the first LCG is lower than the first delay threshold, the first LCG is one or more LCGs in at least one LCG, and the first delay threshold is a parameter configured by the second configuration information.

[0056] In one possible design, the first information indicates first data, including: the first information indicating at least one of the following: a first data volume, first delay information, or a first parameter. The first data volume is the data volume of the first data. The first delay information is the delay information of the second data, and the second data is the data with the shortest remaining delay budget in the first data. The first parameter indicates a first cache status list, the first cache status list includes at least one index, and one index of the at least one index indicates the data volume of the first data.

[0057] In one possible design, the first information includes a scheduling request (SR) requesting uplink resources for transmitting the first data. Alternatively, the first information includes a delay status report (DSR) indicating a delay of the first data. Alternatively, the first information includes a buffer status report (BSR) indicating a data volume of the first data.

[0058] In a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided for implementing the various methods described above. The communication device includes modules, units, or means corresponding to the methods. The modules, units, or means may be implemented in hardware, software, or by hardware executing corresponding software implementations. The hardware or software includes one or more modules or units corresponding to the functions.

[0059] In some possible designs, the communication device may include a processing module and a transceiver module. The processing module may be used to implement the processing functions in any of the above aspects and any possible implementations thereof. The transceiver module, also referred to as a transceiver unit, is used to implement the sending and / or receiving functions in any of the above aspects and any possible implementations thereof. The transceiver module may be composed of a transceiver circuit, a transceiver, a transceiver, or a communication interface.

[0060] In some possible designs, the transceiver module includes a sending module and / or a receiving module, which are used to implement the sending or receiving functions in any of the above aspects and any possible implementation methods.

[0061] In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided for implementing a method as in any one of the above aspects or any possible design of any one of the aspects.

[0062] In a sixth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising: a processor configured to execute a computer program or instructions to cause the communication device to perform the method described in any aspect or any possible design of the method described in any aspect. Optionally, the communication device further comprises a memory, which may be coupled to the processor or may exist independently of the processor, for example, the memory and the processor being two independent modules. The memory may be located externally or internally of the communication device.

[0063] In a seventh aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, wherein the computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program or instruction, which, when executed, causes the method described in any one of the above aspects or any possible design of any one of the above aspects to be executed.

[0064] In an eighth aspect, a computer program product comprising instructions is provided, which, when executed, enables the method described in any one of the above aspects or any method in any possible design of any one of the aspects to be executed.

[0065] The communication device provided in any of aspects 4 to 8 may be the terminal device described in aspect 1 or 2, or a component included in the terminal device, such as a chip or chip system; alternatively, the communication device may be the network device described in aspect 3, or a component included in the network device, such as a chip or chip system. When the device is a chip system, it may be composed solely of a chip or may include a chip and other discrete components.

[0066] It can be understood that when the communication device provided in any one of the fourth to eighth aspects is a chip, the sending action / function of the communication device can be understood as output information, and the receiving action / function of the communication device can be understood as input information.

[0067] In a ninth aspect, a communication device is provided for implementing the method described in any one of the above aspects or any possible design of any one of the above aspects. Optionally, the communication device includes a terminal device, a network device, a chip system, or a chip.

[0068] Among them, the technical effects brought about by any design method in the fourth to ninth aspects can refer to the technical effects brought about by different design methods in the first aspect, and will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0069] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0070] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a cache status report provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0071] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of the structure of another cache status report provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0072] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a status report provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0073] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of a data transmission scenario provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0074] FIG6 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0075] FIG7 is a schematic diagram of a scenario for monitoring a control channel provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0076] FIG8 is a schematic diagram of another scenario of monitoring a control channel provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0077] FIG9 is a schematic diagram of another scenario of monitoring a control channel provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0078] FIG10 is a schematic diagram of another scenario of monitoring a control channel provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0079] FIG11 is a flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0080] FIG12 is a flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0081] FIG13 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0082] FIG14 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0083] FIG15 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0084] The technical solution in this application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0085] In order to facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, the following explanations are made before introducing the present application.

[0086] 1. Throughout this application, the term "system" and "network" are interchangeable. This application presents various aspects, embodiments, or features centered around a system that may include multiple devices, components, modules, and the like. It should be understood that each system may include additional devices, components, modules, and the like, and / or may not include all of the devices, components, modules, and the like discussed in conjunction with the accompanying figures. Furthermore, combinations of these aspects may also be used.

[0087] Throughout this application, words like "exemplarily" and "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations, or descriptions. Any embodiment or design described in this application as an "exemplary" should not be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, the use of the word "exemplary" is intended to present concepts in a concrete manner.

[0088] In this application, “of”, “corresponding”, “relevant” and “corresponding” are sometimes used interchangeably. It should be noted that when the distinction between them is not emphasized, the meanings they intend to express are consistent.

[0089] In this application, for ease of description, when numbering is involved, it can be numbered consecutively starting from 1, it can also be numbered consecutively starting from 0, or it can be numbered starting from any parameter. It should be understood that the above are all settings made to facilitate the description of the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of this application, and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application.

[0090] 2. In the embodiment of the present application, "indication" may include direct indication and indirect indication, and may also include explicit indication and implicit indication. The information indicated by a certain information is called information to be indicated. In the specific implementation process, there are many ways to indicate the information to be indicated, such as but not limited to, the information to be indicated can be directly indicated, such as the information to be indicated itself or the index of the information to be indicated. The information to be indicated can also be indirectly indicated by indicating other information, wherein the other information and the information to be indicated have an association relationship. It is also possible to indicate only a part of the information to be indicated, while the other parts of the information to be indicated are known or agreed in advance. For example, the indication of specific information can be achieved by means of the arrangement order of each piece of information agreed in advance (such as specified in the protocol), thereby reducing the indication overhead to a certain extent. At the same time, the common parts of each piece of information can be identified and indicated uniformly to reduce the indication overhead caused by indicating the same information separately.

[0091] In addition, the specific indication method can also be various existing indication methods, such as but not limited to the above-mentioned indication methods and various combinations thereof. The specific details of the various indication methods can be referred to the prior art and will not be repeated herein. As can be seen from the above, for example, when it is necessary to indicate multiple information of the same type, there may be a situation where the indication methods for different information are different. In the specific implementation process, the required indication method can be selected according to specific needs. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the selected indication method. In this way, the indication method involved in the embodiment of the present application should be understood to cover various methods that can enable the party to be indicated to obtain the information to be indicated.

[0092] It should be understood that the information to be indicated can be sent as a whole, or divided into multiple sub-information and sent separately, and the sending period and / or sending time of these sub-information can be the same or different. The specific sending method is not limited in the embodiment of the present application. Among them, the sending period and / or sending time of these sub-information can be predefined, for example, predefined according to a protocol, or configured by the transmitting device by sending configuration information to the receiving device. Among them, the configuration information can, for example, but not limited to, include radio resource control signaling, media access control layer signaling, physical layer signaling, or a combination of at least two. Among them, radio resource control signaling can include RRC (radio resource control) signaling, media access control layer signaling can include media access control control element (MAC CE), and physical layer signaling can include downlink control information (DCI).

[0093] 3. "Pre-definition" or "pre-configuration" can be achieved by pre-saving corresponding codes, tables or other methods that can be used to indicate relevant information in a device (for example, including a terminal device). The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific implementation method. Among them, "saving" can mean saving in one or more memories. One or more memories can be set separately or integrated in an encoder or decoder, a processor, or a communication device. One or more memories can also be partially set separately and partially integrated in a decoder, a processor, or a communication device. The type of memory can be any form of storage medium, which is not limited by the embodiments of the present application.

[0094] 4. The “protocol” involved in the embodiments of the present application may refer to a standard protocol in the field of communications, for example, it may include a long term evolution (LTE) protocol, a new radio (NR) protocol, and related protocols used in future communication systems. The embodiments of the present application are not limited to this.

[0095] 5. In the embodiments of the present application, descriptions such as "when...", "in the case of...", "if" and "if" all mean that the device (such as a terminal device) will perform corresponding processing under certain objective circumstances. It does not limit the time, nor does it require the device (such as a terminal device) to perform a judgment action when implementing it, nor does it mean that there are other limitations.

[0096] 6. In the description of this application, unless otherwise specified, “ / ” indicates that the objects associated before and after are in an “or” relationship. For example, A / B can represent A or B. The “and / or” in the embodiments of this application is only a description of the association relationship of the associated objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, A and / or B can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. In addition, in the description of the embodiments of this application, unless otherwise specified, “multiple” refers to two or more than two. “At least one of the following items” or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single items or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b or c can represent: a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, or abc, where a, b, c can be single or multiple.

[0097] In addition, to facilitate the clear description of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, in the embodiments of the present application, the words "first" and "second" are used to distinguish between identical or similar items with substantially the same functions and effects. Those skilled in the art will understand that the words "first" and "second" do not limit the quantity or execution order, and the words "first" and "second" do not necessarily mean different.

[0098] The network architecture and business scenarios described in the embodiments of the present application are intended to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application. Ordinary technicians in this field will know that with the evolution of network architecture and the emergence of new business scenarios, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application are also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0099] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system 1000 used in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG1 , the communication system 1000 includes at least one network device (such as 110a and 110b in FIG1 ) and at least one terminal device (such as 120a-120j in FIG1 ). The terminal device can communicate with the network device wirelessly. Alternatively, different network devices can communicate with each other. Alternatively, different terminal devices can communicate with each other.

[0100] It should be pointed out that Figure 1 is only a schematic diagram. Although not shown, the communication system 1000 can also include other network devices. For example, the communication system 1000 can also include one or more core network (CN) devices, wireless relay devices and wireless backhaul devices, which are not specifically limited here.

[0101] The network device can be connected to the core network device via wireless or wired communication. The core network device and the network device can be independent and different physical devices, or the functions of the core network device and the logical functions of the network device can be integrated into the same physical device, or the functions of some core network devices and some network devices can be integrated into one physical device. This embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit this.

[0102] Optionally, the network device is a network-side device with wireless transceiver functions. The network device may be a device in a radio access network (RAN) that provides wireless communication functions for terminal devices, referred to as a RAN device. The RAN may be an access network in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), for example, 4G, 5G, or the future-oriented 6G network. The RAN may also be an open access network (open RAN, O-RAN or ORAN), a cloud radio access network (CRAN), or a communication network of two or more of the above networks. The RAN device may be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next-generation base station (next generation nodeB, gNB) in a fifth-generation (5G) mobile communication system, a next-generation base station in a sixth-generation (6G) mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, a wireless fidelity (WiFi) system, a long-range radio (LoRa) system, or an access node in a vehicle networking system. RAN equipment can also be a module or unit that performs some of the functions of a base station. For example, it can be a centralized unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), or a radio unit (RU). The CU here performs the functions of the base station's radio resource control protocol and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), and can also perform the functions of the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP); the DU performs the functions of the base station's radio link control layer and medium access control (MAC) layer, and can also perform some or all of the physical layer functions. For detailed descriptions of each of the above protocol layers, please refer to the relevant technical specifications of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). The CU and DU can be set up separately, or they can be included in the same network element, such as the baseband unit (BBU).The RU may be included in a radio frequency device or radio frequency unit, for example, a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH). In different systems, CU, DU, or RU may have different names, but those skilled in the art will understand their meanings. For example, in an ORAN system, CU may also be called O-CU (Open CU), DU may also be called O-DU, and RU may also be called O-RU. Any of the CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU, and RU in this application may be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module. The radio access network device may be a macro base station (such as 110a in Figure 1), a micro base station or an indoor station (such as 110b in Figure 1), a relay node, a donor node, etc. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the radio access network device. For ease of description, network device is referred to as the abbreviation of radio access network device, and base station is used as an example of radio access network device.

[0103] Optionally, the terminal device accesses the core network via a network device. The terminal device includes a device that provides voice and / or data connectivity to the user. Specifically, it includes a device that provides voice to the user, a device that provides data connectivity to the user, or a device that provides both voice and data connectivity to the user. For example, it may include a handheld device with wireless connectivity or a processing device connected to a wireless modem. The terminal device can communicate with the core network via the radio access network, exchange voice or data with the RAN, or exchange voice and data with the RAN. The terminal device may include user equipment (UE), wireless terminal device, mobile terminal device, D2D terminal device, V2X terminal device, machine-to-machine / machine-type communications (M2M / MTC) terminal device, Internet of Things (IoT) terminal device, subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile station, remote station, access point (AP), remote terminal, access terminal, user terminal, user agent, or user device, etc. For example, it may include a mobile phone (or so-called "cellular" phone), a computer with a mobile terminal device, a portable, pocket-sized, handheld, or computer-built-in mobile device, etc. Examples include personal communication service (PCS) phones, cordless phones, session initiation protocol (SIP) phones, wireless local loop (WLL) stations, and personal digital assistants (PDAs). Also included are limited devices, such as those with low power consumption, limited storage capacity, or limited computing power. Examples include information sensing devices such as barcode scanners, radio frequency identification (RFID), sensors, global positioning systems (GPS), and laser scanners.

[0104] The various terminal devices introduced above, if located on a vehicle (eg, placed in or installed in a vehicle), can be considered as vehicle-mounted terminal devices, which are also called on-board units (OBUs).

[0105] In the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may further include a relay. Alternatively, it can be understood that anything that can communicate data with a base station can be considered a terminal device.

[0106] In the embodiments of the present application, the device for implementing the functions of the terminal device can be the terminal device, or it can be a device that can support the terminal device to implement the functions, such as a chip system, which can be installed in the terminal device. In the embodiments of the present application, the chip system can be composed of chips, or it can include chips and other discrete devices. In the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application, the device for implementing the functions of the terminal is a terminal device as an example for description.

[0107] It should be understood that network devices and terminal devices can be fixed or mobile. Network devices and terminal devices can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; they can also be deployed on water; and they can also be deployed in the air on aircraft, balloons, and artificial satellites. The embodiments of this application do not limit the application scenarios of network devices and terminal devices.

[0108] The roles of network devices and terminal devices can be relative. For example, the helicopter or drone 120i in Figure 1 can be configured as a mobile base station. To terminal devices 120j that access the wireless access network through 120i, terminal device 120i is a network device; however, to network device 110a, 120i is a terminal device, meaning that communication between 110a and 120i occurs via a wireless air interface protocol. Of course, communication between 110a and 120i can also occur via a base station-to-base station interface protocol. In this case, relative to 110a, 120i is also a network device. Therefore, both network devices and terminal devices can be collectively referred to as communication devices. 110a and 110b in Figure 1 can be referred to as communication devices with network device functionality, and 120a-120j in Figure 1 can be referred to as communication devices with terminal device functionality.

[0109] Network devices and terminal devices, network devices and network devices, and terminal devices and terminal devices can communicate through authorized spectrum, unauthorized spectrum, or both. They can communicate through spectrum below 6 gigahertz (GHz), spectrum above 6 GHz, or spectrum below 6 GHz and spectrum above 6 GHz. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the spectrum resources used for wireless communications.

[0110] In an embodiment of the present application, a network device sends a downlink signal or downlink information to a terminal device, and the downlink information is carried on a downlink channel; the terminal device sends an uplink signal or uplink information to the network device, and the uplink information is carried on an uplink channel. In order to communicate with the network device, the terminal device needs to establish a wireless connection with the cell controlled by the network device. The cell with which the terminal device has established a wireless connection is called the serving cell of the terminal device. When the terminal device communicates with the serving cell, it will also be interfered with by signals from neighboring cells.

[0111] Unless otherwise specified, the "network device" in this application may refer to the network device itself, or a component in the network device (for example, a processor, chip, or chip system, etc.), or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the network device functions.

[0112] Unless otherwise specified, the "terminal device" in this application may refer to the terminal device itself, or a component in the terminal device (for example, a processor, chip, or chip system, etc.), or a logical module or software that can implement all or part of the terminal device functions.

[0113] It should be noted that the solutions in the embodiments of the present application can also be applied to other communication systems, and the corresponding names can also be replaced by the names of corresponding functions in other communication systems.

[0114] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, the following briefly describes the terms used in the embodiments of the present application. It should be understood that these descriptions are only for facilitating understanding of the embodiments of the present application and should not constitute any limitation on the present application.

[0115] 1. Professional (pro) business in extended reality (XR)

[0116] XR pro service is a latency-sensitive service, which means that XR pro service has high requirements for latency.

[0117] For example, the downlink transmission delay budget for an XR frame is typically 10 milliseconds (ms). This means that the service data corresponding to the XR frame can be transmitted over the air interface for a maximum of 10 ms. For example, starting from the moment the XR frame first arrives at the user plane function (UPF) network element, the entire service data of the XR frame must be successfully received by the terminal device within 10 ms.

[0118] For example, the uplink transmission delay budget for an XR frame is typically 30 milliseconds (ms). This means that the service data corresponding to the XR frame can be transmitted over the air interface for a maximum of 30 ms. If we start counting from the moment the XR frame first arrives at the terminal device, the time it takes for all service data in the XR frame to be successfully received by the network device (such as a base station or UPF) must be within 30 ms.

[0119] It should be pointed out that the broadband real-time interaction (RTBC) scenario of the fifth-generation mobile communication technology (5G) is designed to achieve low-latency, high-reliability, and large-bandwidth communication interaction, and uses low latency, high reliability, and large bandwidth as the goals to ensure the immersive experience when people interact with the virtual world. Therefore, XR pro services with high latency requirements can be used as typical services in RTBC scenarios.

[0120] In some embodiments, the XR pro service can be used to transmit various types of data. For example, video data, audio data, or tactile data. The following is an exemplary description of video data: Video data can be composed of several ultra-high-definition images (for example, images captured by a camera, or images of field of view content, etc.), each of which is compressed and encoded, such as high-efficiency video coding (HEVC), to produce a larger data block. The higher the clarity requirement of the video data, the larger the data block obtained after encoding the video data.

[0121] Video data typically has a periodic nature, such as being transmitted at 60Hz or 90Hz. This poses challenges to system capacity and scheduling, requiring network equipment (such as base stations) to periodically reserve a large amount of resources for scheduling.

[0122] In some embodiments, the XR pro service data may be downlink data, for example, XR pro service data sent by a server to an XR device via a network device.

[0123] In some embodiments, XR pro service data may also be uplink data. For example, XR pro service data sent by an XR device to a network device. This application does not impose any restrictions on this.

[0124] 2. Buffer Status Reporting (BSR)

[0125] The BSR includes the amount of pending data. In uplink data transmission scenarios, the terminal device can report the BSR to the network device. The network device can then receive the BSR from the terminal device so that it can allocate uplink resources to the terminal device based on the amount of pending data, thereby achieving reasonable scheduling of uplink resources.

[0126] For example, for XR pro services, the terminal device can be an XR device. In the uplink scenario of cellular transmission, the XR device can generate a BSR based on the data volume of the XR pro service data and report the BSR to the network device. In this way, the network device can reasonably allocate uplink resources for the XR pro service of the terminal device based on the data volume of the XR pro service data indicated by the BSR, thereby achieving reasonable scheduling of uplink resources.

[0127] BSR is a media access control (MAC) control element (CE), and therefore may also be referred to as BSR MAC CE.

[0128] It should be noted that, in the present application, the data to be transmitted is described as follows: the data to be transmitted may be a protocol data unit (PDU), or the data to be transmitted may be a protocol data unit group (PDU set), or the data to be transmitted may be a data burst.

[0129] A PDU set includes at least one PDU. The different PDUs in a PDU set carry information units generated by an application (or application layer). For example, a video frame with a large amount of data usually needs to be divided into multiple PDUs for transmission.

[0130] A data burst can be understood as at least one PDU generated and sent by an application (or application layer) within a short period of time. Different PDUs in the same data burst can come from one or more PDU sets.

[0131] When the data to be transmitted is understood as a PDU set (or data burst), the time when the data to be transmitted arrives at the terminal device can be understood as the time when a PDU in the PDU set (or data burst) arrives at the terminal device, which is generally the time corresponding to the first PDU in the PDU set (or data burst) to arrive at the terminal device. It should be understood that the first PDU to arrive at the terminal device can be the first PDU in the PDU set (or data burst) in the order of generation or transmission, or it can be a non-first PDU in the PDU set (or data burst) in the order of generation or transmission, such as the second PDU, etc., and this embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

[0132] The following is an example of some BSR structures:

[0133] For example, the structure of a long BSR may be shown in Figure 2. In Figure 2, the long BSR may transmit the amount of data to be transmitted in multiple logical channel groups (LCGs) through a single BSR. The long BSR may include 8 bytes, each corresponding to an LCG. A byte of the BSR (such as byte 1 where LCG0-LCG7 are located) is used to indicate whether the BSR includes the amount of data to be transmitted in the LCG corresponding to the byte, or whether a byte of the BSR is used to indicate whether the amount of data to be transmitted in the LCG corresponding to the byte is reported in the BSR.

[0134] If the bit corresponding to LCGi (e.g., i=0) in the BSR is '1', it may represent the amount of data to be transmitted in LCG0 included in the BSR, and the BSR may also include a field or word field indicating the amount of data to be transmitted in LCG0. In Figure 2, if the BSR includes the amount of data to be transmitted in m LCGs, or if the bits corresponding to m LCGs are set to 1, the size of the BSR is m+1 octal characters, or m+1 bytes, where m is a positive integer.

[0135] Among them, if the bit corresponding to LCGi (such as i=0) in the BSR is '0', it may represent that the BSR does not include the amount of data to be transmitted in LCG0, and the BSR does not include a field or word domain for indicating the amount of data to be transmitted in LCG0. It can be understood that the field or word domain for indicating the amount of data to be transmitted in LCG0 will not appear in the BSR, or it can also be understood that the bit width of the field or word domain for indicating the amount of data to be transmitted in LCG0 is 0 bits.

[0136] Exemplarily, in FIG2 , the field or word field used to indicate the amount of data to be transmitted in LCG0 may be a buffer size field. Typically, the buffer size field includes 8 bits, and the buffer size field does not indicate a data amount value, but an index in the buffer status table. In this way, the network device can determine the value of the data amount (BS value) from the buffer status table based on the index. Exemplarily, it is assumed that the buffer status table corresponding to the long BSR is as shown in Table 1. If the amount of data to be transmitted in the logical channel corresponding to the buffer size is determined according to Table 1 below, the value of the buffer size can be converted into a decimal value in the range of 0-255. In this way, based on the value of the buffer size (i.e., the decimal index value), the amount of data to be transmitted in the logical channel corresponding to the buffer size can be determined from Table 1.

[0137] Table 1

[0138] For example, a short BSR structure may be shown in FIG3 . In FIG3 , a short BSR may also transmit the amount of data to be transmitted in multiple logical channels in an LCG through a single BSR. The short BSR may also include 8 bits, the first 3 bits of which are used to represent an LCG identity (ID), which may be used to identify the LCG, and the last 5 bits of which are used to represent a buffer size, which indicates the amount of data to be transmitted in the LCG corresponding to the LCG ID.

[0139] For the buffer size in the short BSR, the buffer size can also be used to indicate an index. For example, assume that the buffer status table corresponding to the short BSR is shown in Table 2. If the amount of data to be transmitted in the logical channel corresponding to the buffer size is determined based on Table 2 below, the value of the buffer size can also be converted into a decimal value in the range of 0-31. In this way, the network device can determine the amount of data to be transmitted in the logical channel corresponding to the buffer size from Table 2 based on the value of the buffer size (i.e., the decimal index value).

[0140] Table 2

[0141] Currently, there are multiple ways to trigger BSR, which are introduced below.

[0142] Trigger mode 1: BSR is triggered when any of the following conditions are met:

[0143] New data arrives on an LCH in an LCG, and the new uplink data is available to the MAC entity, and the priority of this LCH is higher than the priority of any other LCH with data to be transmitted.

[0144] Alternatively, when new data arrives for an LCH in a certain LCG, the new uplink data is available to the MAC entity, and any LCH in any other LCG has no uplink data to send.

[0145] The data being available to the MAC entity may be understood as the data being usable, obtained, or allocated by the MAC entity. For example, the MAC entity may multiplex the data into a MAC protocol data unit (PDU).

[0146] Triggering method 2: The network device (such as the base station) configures a retransmission BSR timer (retxBSR-timer) for the terminal device through signaling. This timer is used to prevent the terminal device from being deadlocked by waiting for uplink resources because the base station does not allocate corresponding uplink resources after sending the BSR. When the timer expires, the BSR will be triggered.

[0147] The BSR triggered based on the above triggering mode 1 or triggering mode 2 is usually called a regular BSR.

[0148] In addition, if uplink resources, such as an uplink MAC protocol data unit (PDU), can completely accommodate the BSR MAC CE and its corresponding MAC CE header after multiplexing according to the logical channel multiplexing priority, the retransmission BSR timer will also be started or restarted.

[0149] Among them, the logical channel multiplexing priority is used to determine the order of multiplexing into uplink resources. When the terminal device decides which signaling or data an uplink resource can carry, it can multiplex the signaling or data into the uplink resource according to the order of the logical channel multiplexing priority of the signaling or data.

[0150] Triggering method three: the network device (such as the base station) configures a periodic BSR timer (periodicBSR-Timer) for the terminal device through RRC signaling. After the timer expires, the BSR will be triggered.

[0151] The BSR triggered based on the above three triggering modes is usually called a periodic BSR (periodic BSR).

[0152] In addition, when the terminal device triggers and reports a regular BSR due to other reasons, the periodic BSR timer will be reset.

[0153] Trigger mode four: After the terminal device fills the MAC PDU according to the logical channel multiplexing priority of MAC CE and data, if the number of remaining bits of the MAC PDU is greater than or equal to the size of a BSR MAC CE and the sub-header of the BSR MAC CE, the BSR is triggered and the terminal device can transmit the BSR through the remaining bits of the MAC PDU.

[0154] The BSR triggered based on the above triggering mode 4 is usually called a padding BSR.

[0155] The above-mentioned regular BSR, periodic BSR and padding BSR can be understood as logically different BSRs. Their names are determined based on their respective triggering methods. It can be understood that classifying BSRs based on triggering methods and classifying BSRs based on formats are classifying BSRs from different dimensions.

[0156] The format of the BSR can be determined based on the following:

[0157] When assembling / generating MAC PDU, MAC PDU contains BSR MAC CE, and BSR MAC CE is triggered by regular BSR or periodic BSR. If there is more than one LCG with data to be transmitted at this time, a long BSR MAC CE is sent. The long BSR MAC CE includes the data amount of all LCGs with data to be transmitted. Otherwise, a short BSR MAC CE is sent.

[0158] When the BSR MAC CE included in the MAC PDU is triggered by a padding BSR, if the remaining bit data amount is greater than the long BSR MAC CE and the sub-header size of the BSR MAC CE, the long BSR MAC CE is reported; if the remaining bit data amount is greater than the short BSR MAC CE and the sub-header size of the short BSR MAC CE and less than the long BSR MAC CE and the sub-header size of the long BSR MAC CE, and if there is more than one LCG with data to be transmitted, the short truncated BSR MAC CE is reported; if the remaining bit data amount is greater than the short BSR MAC CE and the sub-header size of the short BSR MAC CE and less than the long BSR MAC CE and the sub-header size of the long BSR MAC CE, and if there is more than one LCG with data to be transmitted, the long truncated BSR is reported.

[0159] The format of the short truncated BSR MAC CE is the same as that of the short BSR MAC CE, as shown in Figure 3 , but the content of its sub-header, such as the logical channel identity (LCID), is different from that of the sub-header of the short BSR MAC CE. The format of the long truncated BSR MAC CE is the same as that of the long BSR MAC CE, as shown in Figure 2 , but the content of its sub-header is different from that of the sub-header of the long BSR MAC CE. The LCG to which the data contained in the long truncated BSR belongs is reported in descending order based on the priority of the LCG. The priority of the LCG can be determined based on the priority of the LCH in the LCG. When the priorities of the LCGs are the same, they are sorted in ascending order based on the logical channel group identity (LCGID).

[0160] The following are some possible conditions for canceling the triggering of BSR:

[0161] Condition 1: The uplink resource (eg, MAC protocol data unit (PDU)) can carry all the data to be transmitted, but the uplink resource cannot carry the BSR including the data amount of all the data to be transmitted and the sub-header of the BSR.

[0162] Condition 2: The uplink resource carries a predefined BSR type (e.g., long BSR, extended long BSR, short BSR, or extended short BSR), and the BSR includes target information. The target information refers to the buffer status at the time of the most recent BSR trigger before assembling the uplink resource. The buffer status refers to the amount of data to be transmitted.

[0163] If any terminal device meets the above conditions 1 and / or 2, all triggered BSRs of the terminal device will be canceled.

[0164] 3. Delay Status Reporting (DSR)

[0165] The DSR includes information about the latency of the data to be transmitted. In uplink data transmission scenarios, the terminal device can report the DSR to the network device. In return, the network device can receive the DSR from the terminal device. This allows the network device to allocate uplink resources to the terminal device based on the latency information of the data to be transmitted, thus achieving reasonable scheduling of uplink resources.

[0166] The delay information of the data to be transmitted may include: the remaining transmission delay budget of the data to be transmitted, or the storage duration of the data to be transmitted, or the transmission time point of the data to be transmitted, etc., which is not limited in this application.

[0167] Optionally, the DSR may also indicate the amount of data to be transmitted. It is understood that if the DSR can simultaneously indicate the amount of data to be transmitted and the delay information of the data to be transmitted, the DSR may also be understood as a BSR that expands new functions based on the original functions.

[0168] It should be pointed out that DSR is only an exemplary name provided temporarily. The report carrying the delay information of the transmitted data may also have other names, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0169] It should be noted that DSR can also be a type of MAC CE, which can be called DSR MAC CE.

[0170] For example, some possible ways to trigger DSR are described as follows:

[0171] The DSR is triggered based on the remaining transmission delay budget of the data to be transmitted. It can be understood that the DSR triggering can also be triggered because the remaining transmission delay budget of the data to be transmitted is lower than or equal to a threshold.

[0172] For example, the terminal device receives threshold information indicating a threshold, and when the remaining transmission delay budget of certain to-be-transmitted data of the terminal device reaches (is lower than or equal to) the threshold, DSR is triggered.

[0173] In this application, the remaining transmission delay budget can be understood as a duration. The starting time of the remaining transmission delay budget is the current system time, and the ending time of the remaining transmission delay budget is the time when the transmission delay budget of the data to be transmitted is about to expire, or the time when the data to be transmitted is about to be discarded.

[0174] The transmission delay budget is described as follows:

[0175] For example, the transmission delay budget can be the packet delay budget (PDB) timeout corresponding to the data to be transmitted. PDB can be understood as the delay requirement from the terminal device to the base station or to the user plane function (UPF) network element, that is, the time from when a PDU arrives at the terminal device to when the PDU is successfully received by the base station or UPF network element. Typically, the PDB is configured by the core network (CN) through the 5G Quality of Service (QoS) identifier (5G QoS identifier, 5QI).

[0176] For example, the transmission delay budget can be the PDU set delay budget (PSDB) timeout corresponding to the data to be transmitted. PSDB can be understood as the transmission delay requirement of a PDU set, such as the time from the first PDU in a PDU set arriving at the terminal device to the time when all PDUs in the PDU set are successfully received by the base station or UPF network element.

[0177] The moment when the data to be transmitted is about to be discarded is described as follows:

[0178] The moment when the data to be transmitted is about to be discarded can be understood as the moment when the packet loss timer corresponding to the data to be transmitted times out.

[0179] For example, the PDCP layer configures a packet loss timer for each service data unit (SDU). When an SDU from a higher layer reaches the PDCP layer, the packet loss timer is started for the PDCP SDU. When the packet loss timer expires, the corresponding SDU or PDU will be discarded.

[0180] In the present application, for uplink transmission, the starting time of the transmission delay budget of the data to be transmitted can be understood as the time when the data to be transmitted arrives at the terminal device. For example, it can be the time when the data to be transmitted arrives at the access stratum (AS) layer, or the time when the data to be transmitted arrives at the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer, or the time when the data to be transmitted arrives at the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, or the time when the data to be transmitted arrives at the radio link control (RLC) layer, or the time when the data to be transmitted arrives at the logical channel (LCH), or the time when the data to be transmitted arrives at the media access control (MAC) layer, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

[0181] It should be pointed out that in the above-mentioned process of triggering DSR, the thresholds involved can be pre-configured when the terminal equipment leaves the factory, or can be configured based on high-level signaling (for example, RRC message), and this application does not impose any restrictions on this. When the threshold is related to latency, the unit of the threshold can be any time unit, for example, milliseconds, or it can be a time domain resource-related unit, for example, time slots, subframes, system frames, etc., and this application does not impose any restrictions on this. When the threshold is related to the amount of data, the unit of the threshold can be bits, bytes, etc., and this application does not impose any restrictions on this.

[0182] The following is an example of some DSR structures:

[0183] For example, the structure of a DSR may be shown in Figure 4. In Figure 4, LCGi indicates whether the LCG corresponding to LCGi has information reported in the MAC CE. For example, when LCG0 = '1', the DSR MAC CE will include information about LCG0. The LCG0 information may include the amount of data in LCG0 whose latency information is below a threshold, such as the amount indicated by the buffer size field. When data is at the PDU set granularity, when the latency information of any PDU in the PDU set, such as the remaining value of the packet loss timer, falls below a threshold, the DSR MAC CE reports the amount of data for the entire PDU set. Furthermore, the LCG0 information may also include latency information, such as the latency indicated by the remaining time field. The remaining time field indicates the latency information of the data in LCG0 with the shortest and non-zero remaining transmission delay budget, and may be an absolute value. Furthermore, the LCG0 information may also include a BT field, which indicates the buffer status (BS) table used for the corresponding buffer size field. Specifically, the buffer size field is 8 bits, corresponding to 256 indexes, as shown in Table 1. Typically, one LCG corresponds to one long BS table. However, when LCG0 is configured with an additional long BS table, the terminal device needs to notify the network device (such as the base station) via the BT field which BS table is used for the buffer size of LCG0 in the DSR MAC CE. When the LCG is not configured with an additional BS table, the BT field is reserved or can be understood as a reserved bit.

[0184] 4. Scheduling request (SR)

[0185] When the terminal device has uplink data to be transmitted, the terminal device sends an SR to the network device to inform the network device that the terminal device needs uplink resources to send data. Usually, after receiving the SR, the network device allocates uplink resources to the terminal device and sends an uplink grant (uplink grant) to the terminal device to instruct the terminal device to send a BSR (or DSR) on the uplink resources indicated by the uplink grant. After receiving the BSR (or DSR), the network device can allocate uplink resources for the uplink data according to the BSR (or DSR) and send an uplink grant to the terminal device again so that the terminal device can send the uplink data on the uplink resources indicated by the uplink grant sent for the second time.

[0186] In some embodiments, if the terminal device triggers a BSR or a DSR, and the triggered BSR or DSR is not canceled, the terminal device may also trigger an SR if the conditions for triggering an SR are met.

[0187] The following describes some possible SR triggering conditions in scenarios where a BSR has been triggered:

[0188] Condition 3: The timer configured for the logical channel corresponding to the BSR is not running, and the terminal device currently has no uplink resources available for transmitting the data to be transmitted.

[0189] Condition 4: The timer configured for the logical channel corresponding to the BSR is not running, the SR-mask (logicalChannelSR-Mask) corresponding to the logical channel is in the closed (false) state, and the MAC entity configures uplink resource authorization scheduling for the terminal device.

[0190] Condition 5: The timer configured for the logical channel corresponding to the BSR is in an inactive state, and the terminal device currently has uplink resources available for transmitting the data to be transmitted, but the uplink resources do not meet the parameter requirements of the data to be transmitted in the logical channel (for example, logical channel prioritization (LCP) etc.).

[0191] It should be noted that the above conditions 3 to 5 are mainly applied to the scenario where the currently triggered BSR is a regular BSR.

[0192] In some embodiments, during the process of a terminal device reporting an SR, the terminal device needs to report the SR based on SR configuration information. Typically, the SR configuration information can be obtained through RRC signaling (e.g., Scheduling Request Config signaling). The SR configuration information may include an SR ID, an SR prohibit timer (sr-ProhibitTimer), and a maximum number of SR transmissions (sr-TransMax).

[0193] sr-ProhibitTimer indicates that the SR corresponding to this SR configuration will not be sent within this time period. sr-TransMax indicates the maximum number of times this SR can be sent. When the number of transmissions reaches sr-TransMax, the random access process is initialized. The SR ID is used to distinguish SR configurations, that is, each SR configuration has its own SR ID. The SR ID can be associated with a logical channel (LCH) or LCG.

[0194] It should be noted that the network device can configure or associate an SR ID for each LCH or LCG. If the data to be transmitted in an LCH or LCG triggers a regular BSR and the SR triggering conditions are met, the terminal device can trigger an SR and, if the number of SR transmissions does not reach sr-TransMax, send an SR based on the uplink resources corresponding to the SR configuration indicated by the SR ID. At the same time, the sr-ProhibitTimer in the SR configuration corresponding to the SR ID is enabled.

[0195] The following are some possible conditions for canceling the triggering of SR:

[0196] Condition 6: The uplink resources are capable of carrying all data to be transmitted.

[0197] Condition 7: The uplink resource carries a BSR of the target type (e.g., long BSR or short BSR), and the BSR includes the buffer status at the time of the most recent BSR triggering before assembling the uplink resource. For example, the buffer status may refer to the amount of data to be transmitted.

[0198] If any terminal device meets the above conditions 6 and / or 7, all triggered SRs of the terminal device are canceled. At the same time, the sr-ProhibitTimer corresponding to each triggered SR is stopped.

[0199] In other embodiments, if the terminal device triggers a DSR and the triggered DSR is not canceled, the terminal device may also trigger an SR if the conditions for triggering an SR are met.

[0200] The following are some examples of possible conditions that may trigger SR:

[0201] Condition 8: The terminal device currently has no uplink transmission resources available for new transmission.

[0202] Condition 9: The SR-mask (logicalChannelSR-Mask) corresponding to the logical channel is in the closed (false) state, and the MAC entity configures uplink resource authorization scheduling for the terminal device.

[0203] Condition 10: The terminal device currently has uplink resources available for new transmission, but the uplink resources do not meet the parameter requirements of the data to be transmitted in the logical channel (for example, logical channel prioritization (LCP)), or the uplink resources cannot carry the DSR MAC CE and / or the packet header corresponding to the DSR MAC CE.

[0204] In addition, the conditions for triggering SR may also include: the trigger delay timer (such as logicalChannelSR-DelayTimer) configured for the logical channel corresponding to DSR is in a non-running state.

[0205] In some embodiments, when a terminal device reports an SR, the terminal device needs to report the SR based on SR configuration information. The SR configuration information may include an SR ID, an SR prohibit timer (sr-ProhibitTimer), and a maximum SR transmission timer (sr-TransMax). For details, see the previous paragraph and will not be repeated here.

[0206] The following are some possible conditions for canceling the triggering of SR:

[0207] Condition 11: The uplink resources are capable of carrying all data to be transmitted.

[0208] Condition 12: The uplink resource carries a DSR, and the DSR includes a buffer status at the time of the most recent DSR triggering before assembling the uplink resource. For example, the buffer status may refer to the amount of data to be transmitted.

[0209] Condition 13: The DSR that triggered the SR has been de-triggered.

[0210] If any terminal device meets the above conditions 11 and / or 12, all triggered SRs of the terminal device are canceled. At the same time, the sr-ProhibitTimer corresponding to each triggered SR is stopped.

[0211] 5. Measurement gap (MG)

[0212] The terminal device has a certain degree of mobility and may not reside in a cell for a long time. When the terminal device monitors the signal quality of the current cell, such as the reference signal received power (RSRP), or the received signal strength indicator (RSSI), or the reference signal received quality (RSRQ), or the signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR), when one or more of them is lower than a threshold or after being lower than the threshold for a period of time, the terminal device will report the measurement result, or report the A2 event (A2 event) to notify that the signal quality of the current cell is lower than the threshold. When the network device receives the signal, the network device considers performing a cell handover (HO) for the terminal device, that is, switching the terminal device to an adjacent cell. When the signal frequency of other cells is different from the signal frequency of the current cell, the network device configures a measurement interval and other measurement parameters for the terminal device, such as the measurement frequency of the adjacent cell.

[0213] During the duration of MG, the terminal device will switch to the frequency of the neighboring cell for measurement, such as measuring the synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel (SS / PBCH, SSB for short) of the neighboring cell. Therefore, the terminal device cannot send or receive data during the duration of MG. Among them, the MG configuration may include several parameters, such as the MG repetition period (MGRP), which is used to indicate the period of MG, that is, whether MG appears periodically according to MGRP, or the terminal device enters MGRP periodically according to MGRP. Exemplarily, the period of MGRP can be 20ms, 40ms, 80ms or 160ms. Optionally, the MG configuration also includes MG length (MG length, MGL), which is used to indicate the duration of MG. For example, the duration of MG is at least 1ms and at most 20ms. Therefore, when the terminal device is configured to perform frequent inter-frequency measurements, such as a small period (eg 20ms), the terminal device needs to frequently enter the MG, which affects data transmission, especially for the transmission of XR-type delay-sensitive services, and has a significant impact on data transmission performance.

[0214] It should be understood that in this application, the measurement interval may also have other names, such as measurement spacing, measurement interval, etc. This application takes the measurement interval as an example for introduction, which should not be understood as a limitation to this application.

[0215] However, when the receiver bandwidth of the terminal device is insufficient to cover both the frequency of the serving cell and the frequency of the neighboring cell to be measured, the terminal device needs to switch the receiving bandwidth to the frequency of the neighboring cell for inter-frequency measurement.

[0216] Currently, for inter-frequency or inter-system scenarios, terminal devices generally require the assistance of a MG to perform effective measurements. Inter-frequency or inter-system measurements: If the terminal device does not have multiple receivers, or the receiver bandwidth of the terminal device does not cover the inter-frequency point to be measured, it is impossible to simultaneously transmit and receive signals in the serving cell and measure neighboring cells. In this case, the serving cell needs to arrange some MGs for the terminal device to perform inter-frequency and inter-system measurements. The measurement interval is the time period for the terminal device to leave the current frequency point and measure other frequencies, such as those involved in inter-frequency and inter-system measurements. During the MG period, the network equipment does not schedule uplink and downlink transmissions, and the terminal device does not transmit or receive data.

[0217] Specifically, the activation period of MG can be obtained by the following formula (a):

[0218] SFN mod T=FLOOR(gapOffset / 10);

[0219] Subframe=gapOffset mod 10; formula (a)

[0220] T = MGRP / 10.

[0221] SFN represents the system frame number, i.e., the SFN of the MG start time. mod represents the modulo operator. FLOOR represents rounding down. subframe represents the subframe number, i.e., the subframe number corresponding to the subframe of the MG start time. gapOffset represents the offset of the MG start time, typically configured through higher-layer signaling, such as RRC signaling.

[0222] In this way, the terminal device can determine the subframe where the start time of an MG is located and the SFN where the subframe is located based on formula (a) and configuration parameters provided by the network device (such as gapOffset and MGRP).

[0223] In addition, if the terminal device is also configured with the mgta parameter, which is used to indicate the advance amount of the start time of the MG compared to the start time obtained by the above formula, then the actual start time of the MG will also be shifted forward by mgta time units or advanced by mgta time units according to the above formula (a), generally in milliseconds.

[0224] Because the terminal device's receiving bandwidth switches, it cannot send or receive data with network equipment in the cell it resides in during this bandwidth switch. This is why the concept of MG (Mobile Grouping) is introduced. As mentioned earlier, the MG period is configured by the higher-layer signaling MGRP, and its duration is configured by the higher-layer signaling MGL. During the MG period, the terminal device can perform at least one of the following operations: first, switch bandwidth; second, measure reference signals from neighboring cells, such as SSBs.

[0225] 6. SS / PBCH measurement timing configuration (SMTC)

[0226] In order to measure the SSB of the neighboring cell, the network device also needs to configure some other parameters. For example, the network device configures the objects for the terminal device to perform measurements by configuring measurement objects, including SSB frequency, SSB subcarrier spacing, SMTC, whitelist cells and blacklist cells. Among them, SMTC means that when the terminal device performs SSB-based measurement on a certain cell, the network device sends the timing configuration to the terminal device, such as SMTC period, SMTC duration and SMTC bias. The configuration of SMTC actually points out an available measurement window for the terminal device to ensure that the terminal device can search for the SSB sent by each cell on the frequency point within the available measurement window.

[0227] The protocol defines SMTC configurations as SMTC1 and SMTC2, which support differentiated configurations for neighboring cell SSB measurements. SMTC2 is optional.

[0228] Among them, the SMTC1 configuration can be understood as: the configuration information element corresponding to SMTC1 is SSB-MTC, which includes two sub-information elements periodicityAndOffset and duration.

[0229] periodicityAndOffset: indicates the SMTC period (characterizing the repetition period of the measurement action) and the SMTC offset (characterizing the starting subframe of the measurement action within the period).

[0230] duration: indicates the duration of the SMTC (indicates how long the measurement action should last after it starts).

[0231] SMTC2 configuration (optional): The configuration information element corresponding to SMTC2 is SSB-MTC2, which is used to flexibly configure differentiated SSB measurement parameters for specified neighboring cells.

[0232] It should be noted that SMTC2 is optional. If SMTC2 is not configured, all neighboring cells are equivalent to using the SSB measurement parameters of SMTC1. If SMTC2 is configured, the periodicity of SMTC2 must be less than the periodicityAndOffset of SMTC1.

[0233] For SMTC, the terminal device will determine the time of the first SMTC based on the period and offset parameters (periodicityAndOffset). This parameter configuration is usually in the SMTC1 configuration, providing the SMTC period (Periodicity) and offset parameter (Offset). The first subframe of each SMTC can be determined according to the following formula (b):

[0234] SFN mod T=(FLOOR(Offset / 10));

[0235] If Periodicity is greater than the length of sf5:

[0236] subframe=Offset mod 10; formula (b)

[0237] otherwise:

[0238] subframe=Offset or(Offset+5);

[0239] with T=CEIL(Periodicity / 10).

[0240] SFN represents the system frame number, i.e., the SFN at the start time of the SMTC. mod represents the modulo operator. FLOOR represents rounding down. Periodicity represents the SMTC period. sf5 represents 5 subframes. Subframe represents the subframe, i.e., the subframe at the start time of the SMTC. Offset represents the offset from the start time of the SMTC. CEIL represents rounding up.

[0241] In addition, there may be a situation where measurement is performed without configuring an MG. In this case, the network device needs to configure SMTC for the terminal device without configuring an MG.

[0242] 7. RSSI measurement timing configuration (RMTC)

[0243] To measure a cell's RSSI, network devices also need to configure other parameters. For example, network devices configure measurement objects to configure the objects that the terminal device performs measurements on, including the RSSI measurement bandwidth, the center frequency of the RSSI measurement bandwidth, and the RMTC. RMTC represents the timing configuration sent by the network device to the terminal device when performing RSSI-based measurements on a cell, including the RMTC period, RMTC duration, and RMTC offset. RMTC configuration effectively specifies an available RSSI measurement window for the terminal device.

[0244] Typically, the duration of the RMTC is determined by the number of consecutive symbols of RSSI samples reported by the physical layer (e.g., determined by measDurationSymbols in the RRC message) and the reference subcarrier spacing and cyclic prefix used for RSSI measurement (e.g., determined by ref-SCS-CP in the RRC message).

[0245] For RMTC, the terminal device will determine the time of the first RMTC based on the RMTC measurement period (rmtc-Periodicity) and RMTC offset (rmtc-SubframeOffset). This parameter configuration is usually provided in the RMTC configuration. The first subframe of each RMTC can be determined according to the following formula (c):

[0246] SFN mod T=FLOOR(rmtc-SubframeOffset / 10);

[0247] subframe=rmtc-SubframeOffset mod 10; formula (c)

[0248] T=rmtc-Periodicity / 10.

[0249] SFN represents the system frame number, which is the SFN of the RMTC start time. mod represents the modulo operator. FLOOR indicates rounding down. rmtc-Periodicity represents the RMTC period. subframe represents the subframe, which is the subframe of the RMTC start time. rmtc-SubframeOffset represents the offset of the RMTC start time.

[0250] In addition, it is possible to perform measurements without configuring an MG. In this case, the network device needs to configure RMTC for the terminal device without configuring an MG.

[0251] Typically, the MG duration (MGL) must be greater than or equal to the measurement window duration to ensure that the terminal device can fully monitor all reference signals within the window. For example, the MGL must be greater than or equal to the SMTC duration to ensure that the terminal device can detect all SSBs within the SMTC. In some embodiments, to minimize MG overhead, the MG configuration is typically determined based on the terminal device's capabilities and the SMTC or RMTC configuration.

[0252] In summary, during certain time periods, such as the duration of MG or SMTC, terminal devices need to perform reference signal measurements and cannot transmit data. This may increase service data transmission delay and affect service transmission performance. This is particularly noticeable for delay-sensitive services such as XR pro services. Specific examples are as follows:

[0253] As a possible example, when the terminal device needs to send and / or receive data during the MG period (or the duration of the SMTC), it cannot receive or send data normally, thereby affecting the transmission performance of delay-sensitive services such as XR pro services.

[0254] Taking FIG. 5 as an example, as shown in the dotted box in FIG. 5 , during the duration of the MG, the terminal device cannot send service data.

[0255] As another possible example, when the terminal device sends a DSR, or sends a BSR, or sends an SR (such as an SR triggered by a DSR, or an SR triggered by a BSR), if an MG or SMTC occurs, resource scheduling cannot be performed normally, affecting data transmission and reception, and increasing the transmission delay of delay-sensitive services.

[0256] For example, when DSR triggers SR and the terminal device reports the SR, MG occurs within the next period of time. The terminal device cannot send DSR on time and cannot receive scheduled resources, thereby affecting the normal transmission of data and increasing transmission delay.

[0257] Similarly, when a BSR triggers an SR and the terminal device reports the SR, if an MG occurs within a period of time, the terminal device cannot send the BSR on time and cannot receive scheduled resources, thus affecting normal data transmission and increasing transmission delay.

[0258] For another example, when a DSR is triggered and the terminal device reports the DSR, if an MG occurs within a subsequent period of time, the terminal device cannot receive the scheduled resources in a timely manner, thereby affecting the normal transmission of data and increasing the transmission delay.

[0259] Similarly, when a BSR is triggered and the terminal device reports the BSR, if an MG occurs within a period of time, the terminal device cannot receive the scheduled resources in a timely manner, thereby affecting the normal transmission of data and increasing the transmission delay.

[0260] In view of this, the present application provides a communication method. The method can be applied to the system shown in Figure 1. The method includes: the terminal device sends first information at a first moment, the first information indicates first data, and the first data is data to be transmitted. When the first time period overlaps with the first measurement period, the terminal device monitors the second information at the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring time of the second time period, and the second information is used to indicate the first uplink resource. The starting time of the first time period is equal to or later than the first moment, and the second time period includes at least one of the following: a first overlapping time period, or a first measurement period. Among them, the first overlapping time period is a time period in which the first time period overlaps with the first measurement period. The first measurement period is determined according to a first configuration, and the first configuration is a configuration for the candidate cell to send a first reference signal.

[0261] That is to say, after the terminal device sends the first information at the first moment, even if the first time period overlaps with the first measurement period, the terminal device still performs normal operations in the second time period, such as monitoring the second information at the PDCCH monitoring opportunity of the second time period, so as to obtain the first uplink resource in time and transmit the first data through the first uplink resource.

[0262] The second time period includes the first overlapping time period, that is, the time period in which the first time period overlaps with the first measurement time period. Alternatively, the second time period includes the first measurement time period. Compared to the situation in which the terminal device measures the first reference signal in the first measurement time period and monitors the second information after the first measurement time period, the terminal device of the present application performs the second information monitoring at the PDCCH monitoring opportunity in the second time period instead of the reference signal measurement, thereby reducing the impact of the reference signal measurement on data transmission, helping to reduce the service data transmission delay, and improving the service transmission performance.

[0263] The communication method proposed in the embodiment of the present application is described in detail below with reference to FIG6 . The communication method 600 proposed in the embodiment of the present application includes the following operations:

[0264] (Optionally) S601. The terminal device sends first information at a first moment.

[0265] For example, the terminal device sends first information to the first network device at a first moment. Correspondingly, the first network device receives the first information from the terminal device at the first moment. The first information indicates first data.

[0266] It should be understood that in a cell handover scenario, the first network device may refer to a source network device, such as a source base station.

[0267] Among them, the introduction of the first data is as follows:

[0268] The first data is the data to be transmitted. The data to be transmitted can be referred to the introduction in the glossary part and will not be described in detail.

[0269] As a possible implementation, the first data includes all to-be-transmitted data corresponding to a first LCG, wherein the first LCG is one or more LCGs in at least one LCG.

[0270] For example, the at least one LCG may include LCG0-LCG7. The first LCG may include one LCG: LCG0, and the first data is all the to-be-transmitted data corresponding to LCG0. Alternatively, the first LCG may include LCG0-LCG2, and the first data is all the to-be-transmitted data corresponding to each LCG in LCG0-LCG2.

[0271] Optionally, all the data to be transmitted corresponding to the first LCG may also include data to be transmitted in other entities corresponding to the radio bearer (RB) corresponding to the first LCG, such as data not stored in the cache corresponding to the LCG. For example, each LCH in the LCH contained in an LCG corresponds to an RB, and each RB has a corresponding RLC entity and PDCP entity. Therefore, all the data to be transmitted corresponding to the first LCG may be the data in the cache of each LCH in the first LCG, and may also include the data in the cache of the RLC entity and / or PDCP entity corresponding to these LCHs.

[0272] As another possible implementation, the first data includes data indicating that a remaining delay budget in a first LCG is lower than a first delay threshold, wherein the first LCG is one or more LCGs in the at least one LCG, and the first delay threshold is a parameter configured by the second configuration information.

[0273] For example, the at least one LCG may include: LCG0-LCG7. The first LCG may include: LCG0, the first delay threshold is 20ms, and the first data is the data to be transmitted with a remaining delay budget of less than 20ms in LCG0. In addition, when the first LCG contains more than one LCH, the first data is the data to be transmitted with a remaining delay budget of less than 20ms in all LCHs contained in the first LCG. Optionally, all the data to be transmitted corresponding to the first LCG may also include the data to be transmitted in other entities corresponding to the radio bearer RB corresponding to the first LCG, such as the data to be transmitted with a remaining delay budget of less than 20ms in the RLC entity and / or PDCP entity corresponding to each LCH in the first LCG.

[0274] As another possible implementation, the first data includes data to be transmitted corresponding to the second LCG, such as all data to be transmitted corresponding to the second LCG, or data in the second LCG whose remaining delay budget is lower than a certain delay threshold (such as the first delay threshold). The second LCG includes the first LCH, and the priority of the first LCH is higher than the priority of the first measurement period (such as the MG). In addition, the second LCG can also be replaced by the RB corresponding to the second LCG.

[0275] Optionally, the first information indicates at least one of the following:

[0276] The first item is a first data amount. The first data amount is the amount of the first data. For example, the first information includes information carried by a buffer size field, thereby indicating the amount of the first data through the buffer size field.

[0277] The second item is first latency information. The first latency information is latency information for the second data, where the second data is the data with the shortest remaining latency budget within the first data. For example, the first information includes information carried by the remaining time field, thereby indicating the first latency information through the remaining time field.

[0278] The third item is the first parameter. The first parameter indicates a first cache status list. The first cache status list includes at least one index, and one index in the at least one index indicates the data volume of the first data. For example, the first information includes information carried by the BT field, thereby indicating the first cache status list through the BT field. In this way, when the first information indicates the first data volume, the first information may include an index in the first cache status list, thereby indicating the data volume of the first data through the index.

[0279] Optionally, the first information is used to indicate that the terminal device has data to be transmitted or to request uplink resources.

[0280] Optionally, the first information may include the following implementations:

[0281] In the first implementation mode, the first information includes an SR, and the SR is used to request uplink resources.

[0282] In the second embodiment, the first information includes DSR, wherein the first information indicates the first data, which can be understood as: DSR indicates the delay of the first data, which can be referred to in the introduction of FIG4 and will not be described in detail.

[0283] In the third embodiment, the first information includes a BSR, wherein the first information indicates the first data, which can be understood as: the BSR indicates the data volume of the first data, which can be referred to in the introduction of FIG. 2 or FIG. 3 and will not be described in detail.

[0284] For the terminal device, the terminal device executes S602:

[0285] S602: The terminal device determines a first time period.

[0286] Similarly, the first network device determines a first time period.

[0287] Optionally, the first time period is pre-configured, such as configured at the factory.

[0288] Optionally, the first time period is configured on the network device (such as the first network device), such as through high-layer signaling.

[0289] Optionally, the first time period is determined according to the first information.

[0290] For example, the first time period is determined based on the latency information of the first data. Taking the first information as a DSR MAC CE as an example, one DSR MAC CE can report the latency information of up to eight LCGs. Therefore, the first time period can be determined by the latency information reported in the DSR MAC CE, for example, the shortest latency information, the longest latency information, or the average latency information reported by the DSR MAC CE.

[0291] For example, the terminal device reports a DSR MAC CE at the first moment, and the DSR MAC CE includes information of three LCGs, such as LCG0, LCG2, and LCG5. The delay information corresponding to LCG0 is 10ms, the delay information corresponding to LCG2 is 15ms, and the delay information corresponding to LCG5 is 13ms.

[0292] When the first time period is determined based on the shortest delay information in the DSR MAC CE, the first time period is 10 ms.

[0293] When the first time period is determined based on the longest delay information in the DSR MAC CE, the first time period is 15 ms.

[0294] When the first time period is determined based on the average value of the delay information in the DSR MAC CE, the first time period is the average value of the delay information, that is, (10+15+13) / 3ms, or the average value of the delay information is rounded up, or the average value of the delay information is rounded down, or the average value of the delay information is rounded up.

[0295] For another example, the first time period is determined by a first timer. The first timer is a timer activated in response to the transmission of the first information. For example, the terminal device further performs the following operation: in response to the transmission of the first information, the terminal device also activates the first timer. The activation time of the first timer is the start time of the first time period, and the time period during which the first timer operates is the first time period, as shown in the box marked with the letter b in FIG9 .

[0296] Furthermore, the period of operation of the first timer can be determined by:

[0297] In mode 1, the period of operation of the first timer may be pre-configured, such as configured at the factory.

[0298] In mode 2, the period during which the first timer runs may be configured on the network device (eg, the first network device), such as through high-layer signaling.

[0299] In mode 3, the period of operation of the first timer may be determined according to the delay information of the first data, such as the shortest delay information, the longest delay information, or the average value of the delay information.

[0300] For another example, the first time period is greater than or equal to the sum of N first measurement periods, where N is a positive integer. In this case, it can be understood that the terminal device does not measure the first reference signal in the N first measurement periods (such as N MGs) after sending the first information, as shown in the box marked with the letter c in Figure 9, where N=2. In other words, the terminal device is not activated in the N first measurement periods after sending the first information. Preferably, the N first measurement periods can be N consecutive first measurement periods. Exemplarily, the first time period can be equal to the sum of N first measurement periods. Alternatively, when the first time period is greater than the sum of N first measurement periods, the end time of the first time period can be understood as the end time of the Nth first measurement period in the N first measurement periods. Among them, N can be pre-configured or semi-statically configured, and this application does not limit this. For the first measurement period, please refer to the introduction of S603 and will not go into details for the time being.

[0301] It should be added that, as a possible implementation, the first period is given the function of monitoring PDCCH, that is, the first period is used for PDCCH monitoring. It can be understood that the first network device can send DCI via PDCCH in the first period, or the terminal device continuously monitors PDCCH in the first period.

[0302] For the terminal device, after determining the first time period, the terminal device executes S603:

[0303] S603: When the first time period overlaps with the first measurement time period, the terminal device transmits in the second time period.

[0304] The terminal device transmits in the second time period, which can be understood as: S603 includes one or more of the following:

[0305] (Optional) S603a: When the first time period overlaps with the first measurement time period, the terminal device sends hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback to the first network device during the second time period. Accordingly, the first network device receives HARQ feedback from the terminal device during the second time period. The HARQ feedback is determined based on a decoding result of the downlink data.

[0306] (Optional) S603b: When the first time period overlaps with the first measurement time period, the terminal device sends an SR to the first network device in the second time period. Correspondingly, the first network device receives the SR from the terminal device in the second time period.

[0307] (Optional) S603c: When the first time period overlaps with the first measurement time period, the terminal device sends channel-state information (CSI) to the first network device in the second time period. Correspondingly, the first network device receives the CSI from the terminal device in the second time period.

[0308] (Optional) S603d: When the first time period overlaps with the first measurement time period, the terminal device sends uplink data to the first network device in the second time period. Correspondingly, the first network device receives uplink data from the terminal device in the second time period.

[0309] For example, the terminal device sends uplink data through an uplink shared channel (UL-SCH).

[0310] For another example, the terminal device sends uplink data through semi-static resources.

[0311] It is understandable that, based on S603a-S603d, the terminal device can perform uplink transmission in the second time period, thereby helping to reduce uplink transmission latency. The uplink transmission may occupy the entire second time period or a portion of the second time period, which is not limited in this application.

[0312] It can be understood that, based on S603a-S603c, the terminal device can send uplink control information in the second time period, wherein the uplink control information can include HARQ feedback, SR or CSI.

[0313] (Optional) S603e: When the first time period overlaps with the first measurement time period, the first network device sends downlink data to the terminal device in the second time period. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives downlink data from the first network device in the second time period.

[0314] For example, the terminal device receives downlink data through a downlink shared channel (DL-SCH).

[0315] The transmission of downlink data may occupy the entire time period of the second time period or a portion of the time period of the second time period, which is not limited in this application.

[0316] S603f. When the first time period overlaps with the first measurement time period, the first network device sends the second information to the terminal device at the PDCCH monitoring opportunity of the second time period. Accordingly, the terminal device monitors the second information from the first network device at the PDCCH monitoring opportunity of the second time period.

[0317] The second information is used to indicate the first uplink resource. The first uplink resource can be used by the terminal device to send the first data.

[0318] Optionally, the second information may also be used to indicate transmission of downlink data. The terminal device receives the downlink data according to the second information.

[0319] For example, the second information may be DCI. For the first time period, please refer to the introduction of S602 and will not be described in detail.

[0320] The first measurement period is described as follows:

[0321] The first measurement period is determined according to a first configuration, wherein the first configuration is a configuration in which the candidate cell sends a first reference signal.

[0322] For example, a terminal device receives first configuration information from a first network device. The first configuration information indicates a first configuration. The terminal device determines a first measurement period based on the first configuration. The first configuration may indicate at least one of the following: a period for a candidate cell to transmit a first reference signal, a duration for the candidate cell to transmit the first reference signal, etc.

[0323] Optionally, the first configuration is a measurement timing configuration, such as SMTC (or RMTC, etc.). The first configuration indicates the SMTC period, SMTC duration, and SMTC offset, etc. (see the glossary for details). The first measurement period is the duration of the SMTC. For example, the first measurement period can be one SMTC.

[0324] Optionally, the first configuration is a channel-state information reference signal (CSI-RS) configuration, where the CSI-RS configuration indicates a CSI-RS transmission period and duration, as described in the relevant 3GPP technical specifications. The first measurement period is a period during which the CSI-RS is transmitted. For example, the first measurement period may be a period during which the CSI-RS is continuously transmitted within a transmission period.

[0325] Alternatively, the first measurement period can be determined based on the MG configuration. The MG configuration indicates, for example, the MGRP, MGL, and offset. The first measurement period corresponds to the MG. For example, the first measurement period can be for a single MG. As shown in FIG7 or FIG8 , the first measurement period is MG1.

[0326] The second period is introduced as follows:

[0327] The second period includes at least one of the following: a first overlapping period, or a first measurement period.

[0328] The first overlapping period is a period in which the first period overlaps with the first measurement period.

[0329] Taking FIG7 as an example, as shown in the box marked with letter b in FIG7 , the first time period includes all time periods of the first measurement period. In this case, the first overlapping time period is the same as the first measurement period.

[0330] Taking Figure 8 as an example, as shown in the box marked with letter b in Figure 8, the first time period includes part of the first measurement period. In this case, the second time period is the first overlapping time period, and the first overlapping time period is part of the first measurement period, that is, the time period during which the first measurement period overlaps with the first time period.

[0331] Taking FIG8 as an example, as shown in the box marked with letter c in FIG8 , the first time period includes part of the first measurement time period. In this case, the second time period may be the first measurement time period.

[0332] Optionally, when the second time period includes the first overlapping time period, the PDCCH monitoring opportunity of the second time period includes: a time period in which the first overlapping time period overlaps with the first monitoring time period. The first monitoring time period is determined according to the second configuration, and the second configuration is used to determine the time period for monitoring the PDCCH. In the present application, the first monitoring time period may be a time period after the first moment. For example, after the terminal device sends the first information at the first moment, it continuously monitors the PDCCH during the first monitoring time period.

[0333] As a possible implementation, the second configuration is a discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration. The active time in the DRX configuration includes the running time of at least one of the following timers:

[0334] The first item is the DRX inactivity timer drx-inactivityTimer. This timer starts after receiving any scheduled initial transmission DCI at the active time.

[0335] The second item is the DRX duration timer drx-onDurationTimer. This timer is started according to the DRX periodicity.

[0336] The third item is the DRX uplink retransmission timer, drx-RetransmissionTimerUL. When a terminal device sends uplink data, such as a MAC PDU, it starts the uplink hybrid automatic repeat request round-trip timer, drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL, and starts drx-RetransmissionTimerUL in the next adjacent symbol after drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL expires. During the drx-RetransmissionTimerUL period, the terminal device monitors uplink retransmission information.

[0337] The fourth item is the DRX downlink retransmission timer drx-RetransmissionTimerDL. When the terminal device sends back HARQ-ACK, the downlink hybrid automatic repeat request round-trip timer drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL is started. If there is a NACK indicating a PDSCH decoding failure in the HARQ-ACK codebook, the drx-RetransmissionTimerDL is started in the next adjacent symbol after the drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL times out. During the drx-RetransmissionTimerDL operation, the terminal device monitors downlink retransmission information.

[0338] Under the DRX configuration, the first monitoring period may be an active time period in the DRX. The terminal device continuously monitors the PDCCH during the active time.

[0339] As another possible implementation, the second configuration is used to configure a search space. For example, the terminal device determines when to monitor the PDCCH based on the configured search space. Alternatively, the second configuration is used to configure a search space set. For example, when the terminal device is not configured for DRX, the terminal device determines when to monitor the PDCCH based on the configured search space set.

[0340] It should be added that, in this application, the PDCCH monitoring opportunity can be replaced by the description of: the opportunity to monitor PDCCH, the time when PDCCH can be monitored. This application uses the PDCCH monitoring opportunity as an example for introduction, which should not be understood as a limitation to this application.

[0341] It should be noted that, in this application, the start time of the first time period may be equal to or later than the first time period. If the start time of the first time period is later than the first time period, a certain time period, such as a fifth time period, is separated from the start time of the first time period. The fifth time period may be pre-configured, such as factory-configured. The fifth time period may also be configured by a network device (such as the first network device). The fifth time period may be equal to or greater than zero, and this application does not impose any restrictions on this.

[0342] It should be understood that, as a possible alternative description, the terminal device sends the first information in the first time unit. The starting time unit of the first time period can be the same time unit as the first time unit. Alternatively, the starting time unit of the first time period can be the time unit after the first time unit, as shown in Figure 7 or Figure 8. Alternatively, the starting time unit of the first time period is later than the first time unit, and the starting time unit of the first time period is separated from the first time unit by L time units, where L is a positive integer.

[0343] In this application, a time unit may include: one or more symbols, or one or more time slots, or one or more subframes, etc. Among them, symbols, time slots or subframes can be found in the relevant technical specifications of 3GPP and will not be described in detail.

[0344] Further, S603f includes: when the first time period overlaps with the first measurement period and the first priority is higher than the second priority, the first network device sends the second information to the terminal device at the PDCCH monitoring opportunity of the second time period, and accordingly, the terminal device monitors the second information from the first network device at the PDCCH monitoring opportunity of the second time period.

[0345] The first priority is the priority of the first time period, and the priority of the first time period is determined according to the priority of the first information.

[0346] For example, when the first information indicates data of the second LCG, the second LCG includes the first LCH. The first priority may be the priority of the second LCG or the priority of the first LCH.

[0347] For another example, taking the first information as SR, the priority of SR may include two levels: high or low.

[0348] In one possible scenario, the priority of the SR may reuse the physical layer priority of an existing SR, such as determining the priority of the SR through phy-priorityIndex.

[0349] Among them, the second priority is the priority of the first measurement period, and the second priority is determined according to the first configuration. For example, the first configuration indicates the priority of the first measurement period. Taking the second priority as the priority of MG as an example, the priority of MG can include 2 levels: high or low. Alternatively, the priority of MG can also include multiple levels. For example, the priority of MG includes 16 levels, such as: MG priority 1, MG priority 2, MG priority 3, ..., MG priority 15, MG priority 16. In ascending order, the 16 priorities can be from high to low (such as MG priority 1 is the highest one among the 16 priorities), or from low to high (such as MG priority 16 is the highest one among the 16 priorities).

[0350] Alternatively, take the SR priority and MG priority as an example:

[0351] In one possible case, if the priority of the SR is high, it means that the priority of the SR is higher than any one of all (eg, 16) MG priorities.

[0352] If the priority of the SR is low, it means that the priority of the SR is lower than any one of all (eg, 16) MG priorities.

[0353] Exemplarily, the first priority may exist in the form of a switch, for example, when configured, it represents that the first priority is high, and when not configured, it represents that the first priority is low.

[0354] In another possible scenario, if the SR priority is high, it means that the SR priority is higher than any one of the M MG priorities, or higher than any one of the M-1 MG priorities. If the SR priority is low, it means that the SR priority is lower than any one of the M MG priorities, or higher than any one of the M-1 MG priorities.

[0355] Any one of the M MG priorities is lower than or equal to a first threshold.

[0356] For example, the first threshold is MG priority 8 (or 9). As an example, for the 16 MG priorities, there are eight priority levels below the first threshold: MG priority 9, MG priority 10, ..., MG priority 16, and eight priority levels above the first threshold: MG priority 1, MG priority 2, ..., MG priority 8. In this case, the priority of the SR is higher than MG priority 9 - MG priority 16, and lower than MG priority 1 - MG priority 8.

[0357] Alternatively, for the 16 MG priorities, there are eight priority levels below the first threshold: MG priority 1, MG priority 2, ..., MG priority 8, and eight priority levels above the first threshold: MG priority 9, MG priority 10, ..., MG priority 16. In this case, the priority of the SR is higher than MG priority 1 - MG priority 8, and lower than MG priority 9 - MG priority 16.

[0358] For example, the MG priority may reuse gapPriority-r17 signaling in GapConfig in RRC message. The first threshold may be semi-statically indicated by the base station through higher layer signaling (eg, through RRC message), pre-configured at the factory, or dynamically indicated.

[0359] At this time, in one possible scenario, after configuring the first threshold, the first priority may no longer be explicitly configured, that is, the first priority may be determined by the first threshold. Alternatively, in one scenario, the first threshold may be understood as the first priority.

[0360] Further, S603f includes: when the first time period overlaps with the first measurement time period, the terminal device monitors the second information from the first network device at the PDCCH monitoring opportunity of the second time period according to the first indication information.

[0361] The first indication information indicates monitoring the PDCCH in the second time period.

[0362] Exemplarily, the first indication information may be carried in high-layer signaling, such as RRC signaling, which is not limited in this application.

[0363] In this way, the terminal device determines, based on the first indication information, that it can normally monitor the second information within a certain period of time (such as the second period of time) after sending the first information, thereby helping to reduce data transmission delay.

[0364] It is easy to understand that, if the first time period is not assigned the function of monitoring PDCCH, if the first time period overlaps with the first measurement time period, but the overlapping time period does not include the PDCCH monitoring opportunity, it means that the terminal device does not monitor the second information during the overlapping time period. In this case, the terminal device can measure the first reference signal during the second time period, so that the terminal device can measure the first reference signal of the candidate cell in a timely manner to improve the accuracy of the reference signal measurement.

[0365] It should be noted that S603a-S603d are optional steps. The terminal device may perform one or more of S603a-S603d to improve uplink transmission performance. The terminal device may also not perform any of S603a-S603d. That is, when the first time period overlaps with the first measurement period, the terminal device only performs the second information monitoring (i.e., performs S603f) during the second time period and does not perform uplink transmission, thereby reducing the possibility of "data loss" to a certain extent.

[0366] Among them, the introduction of the 'data loss' problem is as follows:

[0367] Taking the first information as an example, DSR MAC CE is transmitted through MAC PDU, and MAC PDU is generally transmitted through the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), so there is a certain probability of transmission failure. Therefore, the following situations may occur:

[0368] After the terminal device sends the DSR MAC CE, the terminal device can transmit in the subsequent first measurement period (such as MG), but the first network device makes an error in decoding the PUSCH and is unaware that the terminal device has sent the DSR MAC CE. Therefore, the first network device does not think that the terminal device can transmit. If the terminal device has uplink data to send and uplink resources exist at this time, the terminal device can send uplink data on the uplink resources, but the first network device is unaware that the terminal device can transmit and may have allocated the uplink resources to other terminal devices, resulting in data loss and interference.

[0369] Alternatively, the terminal device has uplink control information to be reported (such as HARQ feedback, SR, or CSI) within the first measurement period. After sending the DSR MAC CE, the terminal device believes that it can be transmitted, and thus sends the uplink control information normally. However, since the first network device fails to decode the PUSCH carrying the DSR MAC CE, the first network device does not know that the terminal device can send the uplink control information normally, and may not receive the uplink control information in time, resulting in data loss problems.

[0370] Therefore, in order to avoid the occurrence of "data loss", the terminal device may not execute any of S603a-S603d. In other words, it can be understood as: after the terminal device sends the first information at the first moment, when the first time period and the first measurement period overlap, it is required to normally monitor the second information in the second time period (i.e., execute S603f), but not perform uplink transmission (i.e., not execute any of S603a-S603d), thereby reducing the possibility of "data loss" to a certain extent. For example, taking SR as an example, even if the time period corresponding to the SR resource in the time domain is within the second time period, the terminal device does not send SR.

[0371] It should be added that, as a parallel method, for S603, it can be replaced as follows: when the end time of the first time period is earlier than the start time of the first measurement time period, and the difference between the two is less than the second threshold, the terminal device monitors the second information at the PDCCH monitoring opportunity of the first measurement time period.

[0372] For example, when the end time of the first time period is earlier than the start time of the first measurement time period, and the distance between the end time of the first time period and the start time of the first measurement time period is less than the second threshold, the terminal device does not perform measurement in the first measurement time period, but monitors the second information, as shown in the box marked with the letter b in Figure 10.

[0373] Due to the limited capabilities of the terminal device, when the time between the end moment of the first time period and the start moment of the first measurement time period is less than the second threshold, the terminal device cannot perform frequency switching in time, such as switching from the frequency of the current cell to the frequency of the candidate cell, and thus cannot measure the first reference signal of the candidate cell. Therefore, the terminal device can monitor the second information at the PDCCH monitoring time of the first measurement time period. The second threshold can be pre-configured or semi-statically configured. The PDCCH monitoring time of the first measurement time period can be determined based on semi-static configuration information (such as RRC message), such as DRX configuration, or search space set, etc., which will not be repeated here.

[0374] It should be added that, as a parallel manner, the second time period may also be a second overlapping time period.

[0375] Exemplarily, for S603, it can be replaced with: when the end time of the first time period is earlier than the start time of the first measurement time period, and the difference between the two is less than the second threshold, the terminal device can monitor the second information during the PDCCH monitoring opportunity of the second overlapping time period. The second overlapping time period includes the overlapping time period of the sixth time period and the first measurement time period, as shown in the box marked with the letter c in Figure 10. The sixth time period can be semi-statically configured. The start time of the sixth time period is later than or equal to the end time of the first time period.

[0376] For example, the start time of the sixth measurement period is earlier than the start time of the first measurement period, as shown in the box marked with letter c in FIG10 .

[0377] For example, the end time of the sixth measurement period is earlier than the end time of the first measurement period, as shown in the box marked with letter c in FIG10 .

[0378] In this way, the terminal device can determine the second overlapping period based on the sixth period and the first measurement period, thereby determining to monitor the second information during a partial period of the first measurement period.

[0379] In a possible case, when the end time of the first time period is earlier than the start time of the first measurement time period, and the distance between the two is less than a second threshold, the second overlapping time period may also be the first measurement time period.

[0380] In the above, the operation performed by the terminal device in the second time period is introduced by taking the overlap of the first time period and the first measurement time period as an example.

[0381] The following describes the reference signal measurement process of the terminal device:

[0382] As shown in FIG11 , the communication method according to the embodiment of the present application further includes the following operations:

[0383] (Optionally) S1101. The terminal device sends first information at a first moment.

[0384] The implementation process of S1101 can refer to the introduction of S601.

[0385] S1102. The terminal device determines a first time period.

[0386] The implementation process of S1102 can refer to the introduction of S602.

[0387] S1103. The terminal device does not measure the first reference signal in the second time period.

[0388] Optionally, as a possible alternative description: when the first time period overlaps with the first measurement time period, the terminal device cancels measuring the first reference signal in the second time period.

[0389] The measurement result of the first reference signal is used to indicate the signal quality of the candidate cell. For example, if the first reference signal is an SSB, the measurement result of the first reference signal may include one or more of the following: RSRP, RSSI, RSRQ, or SINR, etc. Please refer to the introduction in the glossary section and will not be repeated here.

[0390] It should be noted that, in this application, the first reference signal is the reference signal transmitted by the candidate cell. The network device corresponding to the candidate cell is referred to as the second network device. In this application, the candidate cell is different from the cell in which the terminal device is currently located. The first network device and the second network device may be the same or different, and this application does not limit this.

[0391] The second time period includes at least one of the following: a first overlapping time period, a first measurement time period, or a second overlapping time period. Please refer to the introduction of S603.

[0392] Specifically, when the first time period overlaps with the first measurement period, the second time period includes at least one of the following: the first overlapping time period, or the first measurement period. For example, when the first time period overlaps with the first measurement period, the terminal device does not measure the first reference signal in the first overlapping time period or the first measurement period.

[0393] When the first time period does not overlap with the first measurement period, the second time period includes at least one of the following: a second overlapping time period, or the first measurement period. The second overlapping time period is the overlapping time period between the sixth time period and the first measurement period. For example, when the end time of the first time period is earlier than the start time of the first measurement period, and the difference between the end time and the start time of the first measurement period is less than a second threshold, the terminal device may not measure the first reference signal during the second overlapping time period or the first measurement period.

[0394] It should be supplemented that if the second period includes the first overlapping period, the terminal device does not measure the first reference signal in the first overlapping period. It can be understood that the first overlapping period (ie, a part of the first measurement period) is not activated.

[0395] It should be added that if the second period includes a second overlapping period, the terminal device does not measure the first reference signal in the second overlapping period. It can be understood that the second overlapping period (ie, a part of the first measurement period) is not activated.

[0396] It should be noted that if the second period includes the first measurement period, the terminal device does not measure the first reference signal during the first measurement period. This means that the first measurement period (i.e., the entire first measurement period) is inactive. In other words, when the first period overlaps with the first measurement period, the terminal device determines that the first measurement period (i.e., the entire first measurement period) is inactive.

[0397] In one possible implementation, the terminal device does not measure the first reference signal in the second time period, which can be understood as the condition for the terminal device to measure the first reference signal has changed. For example, when the condition for starting (or activating) the first measurement period in the foregoing text is met, a new condition can also be considered. Among them, in one example, the new condition can refer to whether the first measurement period overlaps with the first time period. Exemplarily, when the condition for starting the first measurement period in the foregoing text is met, and the first measurement period does not overlap with the first time period, the terminal device measures the first reference signal in the first measurement period. Or, conversely, it can also be understood that when the condition for starting the first measurement period in the foregoing text is met, and the first measurement period overlaps with the first time period, the terminal device does not measure the first reference signal in the first measurement period.

[0398] For example, taking the first measurement period as MG, the first time unit (such as subframe) of each MG is a subframe that meets the following conditions:

[0399] SFN mod T=FLOOR(gapOffset / 10);

[0400] Subframe = gapOffset mod 10; Formula (1)

[0401] T = MGRP / 10.

[0402] Furthermore, if the duration of the MG (as determined by the MGL parameter) does not overlap with the first period, the first measurement period may be started (or activated). For example, the first measurement period may also be associated with other parameters, such as mgta, which are also used to determine the duration of the first measurement period, thereby further determining the activation time and duration of the MG.

[0403] It should be noted that the relevant parameters of formula (1) can be found in the introduction of formula (a) and will not be repeated here.

[0404] For another example, taking the first measurement period as SMTC, the first time unit (such as a subframe) of each SMTC is a subframe that meets the following conditions:

[0405] SFN mod T=(FLOOR(Offset / 10));

[0406] If Periodicity is greater than the length of sf5:

[0407] subframe = Offset mod 10; Formula (2)

[0408] otherwise:

[0409] subframe=Offset or(Offset+5);

[0410] with T=CEIL(Periodicity / 10).

[0411] Furthermore, if the duration of the SMTC (such as determined according to the duration parameter) does not overlap with the first time period, the first measurement period may be enabled (or activated), that is, the terminal device measures the first reference signal in the first measurement period. Alternatively, conversely, it can also be understood that if the duration of the SMTC (such as determined according to the duration parameter) overlaps with the first time period, the first measurement period may not be enabled (or activated), that is, the terminal device does not measure the first reference signal in the first measurement period.

[0412] It should be noted that the relevant parameters of formula (2) can be found in the introduction of formula (b) and will not be repeated here.

[0413] For another example, taking the first measurement period as RMTC, the first time unit (eg, subframe) of each RMTC is a subframe that satisfies the following conditions:

[0414] SFN mod T=FLOOR(rmtc-SubframeOffset / 10);

[0415] subframe = rmtc-SubframeOffset mod 10; formula (3)

[0416] T=rmtc-Periodicity / 10.

[0417] Furthermore, if the duration of the RMTC, such as the number of consecutive symbols of RSSI sampling reported by the physical layer and the reference subcarrier spacing and cyclic prefix used for RSSI measurement, does not overlap with the first time period, the first measurement period can be turned on (or activated), that is, the terminal device measures the first reference signal in the first measurement period. Or, conversely, it can also be understood that if the duration of the RMTC overlaps with the first time period, the first measurement period may not be turned on (or activated), that is, the terminal device does not measure the first reference signal in the first measurement period.

[0418] The duration of the first measurement period does not overlap with the first time period, which can also be understood as the first time unit of the first measurement period is not within the first time period.

[0419] In addition, considering the parallel scenario described above, when the end time of the first time period is earlier than the start time of the first measurement time period, and the difference between the two is less than the second threshold, the terminal device monitors the second information at the PDCCH monitoring opportunity of the first measurement time period, and the terminal device monitors the second information at the PDCCH monitoring opportunity of the first measurement time period.

[0420] In one case, when the end time of the first time period is earlier than the start time of the first measurement time period, and the distance between the end time of the first time period and the start time of the first measurement time period is less than a second threshold, the terminal device does not perform measurement in the first measurement time period, but monitors the second information, as shown in the box marked with the letter b in Figure 10.

[0421] At this time, it can also be understood that when the end time of the first time period is earlier than the start time of the first measurement time period, and the distance between the end time of the first time period and the start time of the first measurement time period is greater than or equal to the second threshold, the terminal device performs measurement in the first measurement time period.

[0422] At this time, when the conditions for starting the first measurement period in the foregoing text are met, a new condition can also be considered. In one case, the new condition can refer to whether the time interval between the first time unit (such as a subframe) and the first time period is greater than the second threshold. For example, when the conditions for starting the first measurement period in the foregoing text are met, and the time interval between the first time unit (such as a subframe) and the first time period is greater than or equal to the second threshold, the terminal device measures the first reference signal in the first measurement period. Or, conversely, it can also be understood that when the conditions for starting the first measurement period in the foregoing text are met, and the time interval between the first time unit (such as a subframe) and the first time period is less than the second threshold, the terminal device does not measure the first reference signal in the first measurement period.

[0423] For example, taking the first measurement period as MG, the first time unit (such as subframe) of each MG is a subframe that meets the following conditions:

[0424] SFN mod T=FLOOR(gapOffset / 10);

[0425] Subframe = gapOffset mod 10; Formula (1)

[0426] T = MGRP / 10.

[0427] Furthermore, if the time between the start time of the MG (e.g., subframe in formula (1)) and the end time of the first period is greater than or equal to the second threshold, the first measurement period may be started (or activated). For example, when the above conditions are met, the terminal device may determine the activation and duration of the MG based on other parameters, such as mgta.

[0428] When the first measurement period is other situations (such as SMTC, RMTC or others), and the start time of the first measurement period and the end time of the first period are greater than or equal to the second threshold, the terminal device can determine whether to perform measurement based on other measurement-related parameters.

[0429] It should be noted that the relevant parameters of formula (1) can be found in the introduction of formula (a) and will not be repeated here.

[0430] Further, for the case where the first time period overlaps with the first measurement time period, S1103 includes: when the first time period overlaps with the first measurement time period and the first priority is higher than the second priority, the terminal device does not measure the first reference signal in the second time period.

[0431] The first priority is the priority of the first time period, and the second priority is the priority of the first measurement time period. Please refer to the introduction of S603f and will not be repeated here.

[0432] Furthermore, for the case where the first time period overlaps with the first measurement time period, S1103 includes: when the first time period overlaps with the first measurement time period, the terminal device does not measure the first reference signal in the second time period according to the second indication information.

[0433] The second indication information indicates not to measure the first reference signal in the second time period.

[0434] Exemplarily, the second indication information may be carried in high-layer signaling, such as RRC signaling, which is not limited in this application.

[0435] In this way, the terminal device determines, based on the second indication information, that it is not necessary to measure the reference signal within a certain period of time (such as the second period of time) after sending the first information, so that the second information can be monitored normally to reduce data transmission delay.

[0436] It is easy to understand that if the first time period overlaps with the first measurement period, but the overlapping time period does not include the PDCCH monitoring opportunity, it means that the terminal device does not monitor the second information during the overlapping time period. In this case, the terminal device can measure the first reference signal during the second time period, so that the terminal device can measure the first reference signal of the candidate cell in a timely manner, thereby improving the accuracy of the reference signal measurement.

[0437] In some embodiments, the method further includes S1104:

[0438] S1104. The terminal device measures the first reference signal in a third time period.

[0439] The third period is introduced as follows:

[0440] In the present application, the starting time of the third time period is the second time period. The second time period is equal to the ending time of the first time period, as indicated by the box marked with the letter b or d in FIG8 . Alternatively, the second time period is later than the ending time of the first time period. Furthermore, when the second time period is later than the ending time of the first time period, a certain time period, such as a fourth time period, is separated from the ending time of the first time period, as indicated by the box marked with the letter e in FIG8 . The fourth time period is preconfigured, or the fourth time period is configured by a network device (e.g., the first network device).

[0441] Optionally, the end time of the third time period is the end time of the first measurement time period, as shown in the box marked with letter b in FIG8 .

[0442] Optionally, the third period includes an overlap between the seventh period and the first measurement period, as shown in the box labeled d in FIG8 . The seventh period may be semi-statically configured. The start time of the seventh period is equal to the end time of the first period, as shown in the box labeled d in FIG8 . Alternatively, the start time of the seventh period is later than the end time of the first period, and the box labeled d in FIG8 is not shown.

[0443] For example, the end time of the seventh period is earlier than the end time of the first measurement period, as shown in the box marked with letter d in Figure 8. In this case, it can be understood that the end time of the third period is earlier than the end time of the first measurement period.

[0444] In this way, the terminal device can determine the third time period based on the first time period, the seventh time period and the first measurement time period, thereby determining to measure the first reference signal during a partial time period of the first measurement time period.

[0445] Optionally, the third time period may include a second overlapping time period, as shown in the box marked with the letter e in Figure 8. That is, if the first time period does not overlap with the first measurement time period, such as when the end time of the first time period is earlier than the start time of the first measurement time period, and the interval between the end time of the first time period and the start time of the first measurement time period is less than a second threshold, the third time period includes the second overlapping time period. The second overlapping time period is the period when the first measurement time period overlaps with the sixth time period. The sixth time period may be semi-statically configured. The start time of the sixth time period is later than or equal to the end time of the first time period.

[0446] For example, the start time of the sixth measurement period is earlier than the start time of the first measurement period, as shown in the box marked with letter e in FIG8 .

[0447] For example, the end time of the sixth measurement period is earlier than the end time of the first measurement period, as shown in the box marked with the letter e in FIG8 .

[0448] In this way, the terminal device can determine the second overlapping period based on the sixth period and the first measurement period, and thus determine to measure the first reference signal in the second overlapping period.

[0449] That is to say, the third time period can be understood as a part of the first measurement time period.

[0450] Optionally, as a possible alternative description, when the second period includes the first overlapping period, the terminal device determines that the third period is activated. Alternatively, when the second period includes the first overlapping period, the terminal device determines that a portion of the first measurement period is activated.

[0451] In this way, the terminal device can timely measure the first reference signal of the candidate cell in the third time period, which helps to improve the reference signal measurement performance and resource utilization.

[0452] At this time, the first measurement period can be obtained through the above text, and the third period can be further obtained through the first measurement period and the first period. Exemplarily, the condition for the terminal device to perform measurement can be further changed as follows: after obtaining the starting time of the first measurement period according to formula (1), if the end time of the first period is within the first measurement period (such as determined by parameters such as duration or MGL), start measuring the first reference signal at the second moment. At this time, it can also be understood that the third period is the difference between the first measurement period and the first overlapping period, such as the first measurement period minus the first overlapping period. In one case, the third period can also be interpreted as a measurement timing configuration window for the terminal device to perform measurement, such as MG, SMTC or RMTC.

[0453] Alternatively, it can be understood that the time unit (e.g., subframe) corresponding to the second moment is determined based on the end moment of the first period, and the end moment of the first period is within the first measurement period. For example, the activation time of the first measurement period can refer to one or more of formulas (1) to (3).

[0454] For example, taking the first measurement period as MG, the first time unit (such as subframe) of each MG is a subframe that meets the following conditions:

[0455] SFN mod T=FLOOR(gapOffset / 10);

[0456] Subframe = gapOffset mod 10; Formula (1)

[0457] T = MGRP / 10.

[0458] Furthermore, when the duration of the MG (as determined by the MGL parameter) does not overlap with the first period, the third period may be started (or activated). This may be understood as starting the third period at the end of (or after) the first period, such as at the second moment.

[0459] It should be noted that the relevant parameters of formula (1) can be found in the introduction of formula (a) and will not be repeated here.

[0460] For another example, taking the first measurement period as SMTC, the first time unit (such as a subframe) of each SMTC is a subframe that meets the following conditions:

[0461] SFN mod T=(FLOOR(Offset / 10));

[0462] If Periodicity is greater than the length of sf5:

[0463] subframe = Offset mod 10; Formula (2)

[0464] otherwise:

[0465] subframe=Offset or(Offset+5);

[0466] with T=CEIL(Periodicity / 10).

[0467] Furthermore, if the duration of the SMTC (as determined by the duration parameter) does not overlap with the first period, the third period may be started (or activated). This may be understood as starting the third period at the end of (or after) the first period, such as at the second moment.

[0468] It should be noted that the relevant parameters of formula (2) can be found in the introduction of formula (b) and will not be repeated here.

[0469] For another example, taking the first measurement period as RMTC, the first time unit (eg, subframe) of each RMTC is a subframe that satisfies the following conditions:

[0470] SFN mod T=FLOOR(rmtc-SubframeOffset / 10);

[0471] subframe = rmtc-SubframeOffset mod 10; formula (3)

[0472] T=rmtc-Periodicity / 10.

[0473] Furthermore, if the duration of the RMTC, such as the number of consecutive symbols of RSSI samples reported by the physical layer and the reference subcarrier spacing and cyclic prefix used for RSSI measurement, does not overlap with the first period, then the third period can be started (or activated). In this case, it can be understood that the third period is started at the end of (or after the end of) the first period, such as at the second moment.

[0474] The duration of the first measurement period does not overlap with the first period, and it can be understood that the time period within the first measurement period and not overlapping with the first period is the third period.

[0475] It should be noted that the relevant parameters of formula (3) can be found in the introduction of formula (c) and will not be repeated here.

[0476] When the end time of the first time period is earlier than the start time of the first measurement time period, and the difference between the two is less than a second threshold, the terminal device may monitor the second information during the PDCCH monitoring opportunity of the second overlapping time period. The second overlapping time period includes the overlapping time period of the sixth time period and the first measurement time period, as shown in the box marked with the letter c in Figure 10.

[0477] At this time, the third time period is the difference between the first measurement period and the second overlapping period, such as the first measurement period minus the second overlapping period. In one case, the third time period can also be interpreted as a measurement timing configuration window for the terminal device to perform measurements, such as MG, SMTC or RMTC. Alternatively, it can also be understood that the time unit (such as a subframe) corresponding to the second moment is determined based on the end moment of the sixth time period, and the end moment of the sixth time period is within the first measurement period. Exemplarily, the activation time of the first measurement period can refer to one or more of formulas (1) to (3). In this case, the sixth time period can replace the above-mentioned first time period.

[0478] For example, taking the first measurement period as MG, the first time unit (such as subframe) of each MG is a subframe that meets the following conditions:

[0479] SFN mod T=FLOOR(gapOffset / 10);

[0480] Subframe = gapOffset mod 10; Formula (1)

[0481] T = MGRP / 10.

[0482] Furthermore, when the duration of the MG (as determined by the MGL parameter) does not overlap with the second period, the third period may be started (or activated). This may be understood as starting the third period at the end of (or after) the sixth period, such as at the second moment.

[0483] The duration of the first measurement period does not overlap with the second period, and it can be understood that the time period within the first measurement period that does not overlap with the second period is the third period.

[0484] It should be supplemented that, as the following method: when the end time of the first time period is earlier than the start time of the first measurement time period, and the difference between the two is less than the second threshold, the terminal device does not measure the first reference signal in the first measurement time period.

[0485] For example, when the end time of the first time period is earlier than the start time of the first measurement time period, and the distance between the end time of the first time period and the start time of the first measurement time period is less than the second threshold, as shown in the box marked with letter b in FIG10 .

[0486] Due to limited capabilities of the terminal device, if the time between the end time of the first period and the start time of the first measurement period is less than a second threshold, the terminal device cannot timely perform frequency switching, such as switching from the frequency of the current cell to the frequency of the candidate cell, and is therefore unable to measure the first reference signal of the candidate cell. The second threshold can be pre-configured or semi-statically configured.

[0487] It should be noted that, as follows: when the end time of the first time period is earlier than the start time of the first measurement period, and the difference between the two is less than a second threshold, the terminal device does not measure the first reference signal during the second overlapping time period. The second overlapping time period includes the overlapping time period of the sixth time period and the first measurement period. For details, please refer to the introduction to the parallel method in S603 and will not be repeated here. In this way, the terminal device can determine the second overlapping time period based on the sixth time period and the first measurement period, and thus does not measure the first reference signal during part of the first measurement period.

[0488] Alternatively, when the end time of the first time period is earlier than the start time of the first measurement time period, and the distance between the two is less than the second threshold, the terminal device does not measure the first reference signal in the first measurement time period.

[0489] The above describes the reference signal measurement process of the terminal device.

[0490] The following describes the reference signal measurement process of the terminal device, taking the case where the first time period and the first measurement time period do not overlap as an example:

[0491] As shown in FIG12 , the communication method according to the embodiment of the present application further includes the following operations:

[0492] S1201: When the first overlapping period does not exist and the start time of the first measurement period arrives, the terminal device starts the first measurement period.

[0493] The first overlapping period is a period in which the first period overlaps with the first measurement period. Please refer to the introduction of S603 and no further details will be given.

[0494] The non-existence of the first overlapping period means that the first period does not overlap with the first measurement period.

[0495] The first measurement period is determined according to the first configuration, and reference may be made to the introduction of S603 , which will not be described in detail.

[0496] Here, starting the first measurement period can be understood as the terminal device measuring the first reference signal during the first measurement period.

[0497] Exemplarily, the terminal device starts the first measurement period. Please refer to the introduction about 'starting the first measurement period' in S1103, which will not be repeated here.

[0498] That is, the terminal device determines whether to start the first measurement period based on whether the first overlapping period exists, and thus determines whether to measure the first reference signal during the first measurement period. If the first overlapping period does not exist, the terminal device can start the first measurement period in a timely manner to measure the reference signal of the candidate cell, thereby improving the accuracy of the reference signal measurement without affecting the transmission delay of the service data.

[0499] It should be noted that, in this application, the first period is taken as an example for introduction. The first period may also have other descriptions, such as a threshold (such as a third threshold), which should not be understood as a limitation of this application. For example, taking the first period as an example instead of the third threshold,

[0500] Regarding 'when the end time of the first time period is earlier than the start time of the first measurement time period, and the difference between the two is less than the second threshold', it can be understood that the terminal device sends the first information at the first moment, and the difference between the first moment and the start time of the first measurement time period is less than or equal to the sum of the second threshold and the third threshold.

[0501] Furthermore, the first period may exist, as described in detail in FIG6 to FIG12 , and will not be described in detail here. Of course, the first period may also not exist. In this case, it can be understood that the duration of the first period is zero (or the third threshold is zero).

[0502] Taking the box marked by the letter e in Figure 8 as an example, it can be understood that the terminal device sends the first information at the first moment, and when the time between the sending time of the first information and the start time of the first measurement period is less than or equal to the second threshold, the terminal device measures the first reference signal in the third time period.

[0503] The box marked by the letter b in Figure 10 can be understood as that the terminal device sends the first information at the first moment, and when the time between the sending moment of the first information and the starting moment of the first measurement period is less than or equal to the second threshold, the terminal device does not measure the first reference signal in the first measurement period.

[0504] The box marked by the letter c in Figure 10 can be understood as that the terminal device sends the first information at a first moment, and when the time between the sending moment of the first information and the start moment of the first measurement period is less than or equal to the second threshold, the terminal device does not measure the first reference signal in the second overlapping period.

[0505] It should be understood that the embodiments of the present application may be applicable to frequency band 1 (FR), FR2, or the entire terminal device.

[0506] It is understood that in each of the above embodiments, the methods and / or steps implemented by the network device may also be implemented by components applicable to the network device (e.g., processor, chip, chip system, circuit, logic module, or software); and the methods and / or steps implemented by the terminal device may also be implemented by components applicable to the terminal device (e.g., processor, chip, chip system, circuit, logic module, or software). The chip system may be composed of a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete components.

[0507] It is understandable that, in order to realize the above functions, the communication device includes hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to the execution of each function. It should be easily appreciated by those skilled in the art that, in combination with the units and algorithm steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed herein, the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in the form of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to be beyond the scope of this application.

[0508] The embodiment of the present application can divide the functional modules of the communication device according to the above method embodiment. For example, each functional module can be divided according to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing module. The above integrated modules can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional modules. It should be pointed out that the division of modules in the embodiment of the present application is schematic and is only a logical functional division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods.

[0509] 13 shows a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 1300. The communication device 1300 includes a processing module 1301 and a transceiver module 1302. The communication device 1300 can be used to implement the functions of the above-mentioned network device or terminal device.

[0510] In some embodiments, the communication device 1300 may further include a storage module (not shown in FIG. 13 ) for storing program instructions and data.

[0511] In some embodiments, the transceiver module 1302, which may also be referred to as a transceiver unit, is configured to implement a transmitting and / or receiving function. The transceiver module 1302 may be composed of a transceiver circuit, a transceiver, a transceiver, or a communication interface.

[0512] In some embodiments, the transceiver module 1302 may include a receiving module and a sending module, which are respectively used to execute the receiving and sending steps performed by the network device or terminal device in the above method embodiments, and / or used to support other processes of the technology described herein; the processing module 1301 may be used to execute the processing steps (such as determination, etc.) performed by the network device or terminal device in the above method embodiments, and / or used to support other processes of the technology described herein.

[0513] Among them, all relevant contents of each step involved in the above method embodiment can be referred to the functional description of the corresponding functional module and will not be repeated here.

[0514] Optionally, in this application, "the transceiver module receives / sends information" can also be understood as the processing module receiving / sending information via the transceiver module. "The processing module receives / sends information via the transceiver module" can also be understood as the processing module controlling the transceiver module to receive / send information. Alternatively, "the processing module sends information via the transceiver module" can be understood as the processing module outputs information to the transceiver module, which then sends the information; "the processing module receives information via the transceiver module" can be understood as the transceiver module receiving the information and inputting the information to the processing module.

[0515] In the present application, the communication device 1300 may be presented in the form of functional modules divided in an integrated manner. The "module" here may refer to a specific application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a circuit, a processor and memory that executes one or more software or firmware programs, an integrated logic circuit, and / or other devices that can provide the above functions.

[0516] In some embodiments, when the communication device 1300 in Figure 13 is a chip or a chip system, the function / implementation process of the transceiver module 1302 can be implemented through the input and output interface (or communication interface) of the chip or chip system, and the function / implementation process of the processing module 1301 can be implemented through the processor (or processing circuit) of the chip or chip system.

[0517] Since the communication device 1300 provided in this embodiment can execute the above method, the technical effects that can be obtained can refer to the above method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0518] As a possible product form, the network device or terminal device described in the embodiments of the present application can also be implemented using the following: one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), controllers, state machines, gate logic, discrete hardware components, any other suitable circuits, or any combination of circuits that can perform the various functions described throughout this application.

[0519] As another possible product form, the network device or terminal device described in the embodiment of the present application can be implemented by a general bus architecture. For ease of explanation, refer to Figure 14, which is a structural diagram of a communication device 1400 provided in an embodiment of the present application, and the communication device 1400 includes a processor 1401 and a transceiver 1402. The communication device 1400 can be a network device, or a chip or chip system therein; or, the communication device 1400 can be a terminal device, or a chip or module therein. Figure 14 only shows the main components of the communication device 1400. In addition to the processor 1401 and the transceiver 1402, the communication device 1400 can further include a memory 1403, and an input and output device (not shown in the figure).

[0520] Optionally, processor 1401 is primarily used to process communication protocols and communication data, as well as control the entire communication device, execute software programs, and process software program data. Memory 1403 is primarily used to store software programs and data. Transceiver 1402 may include a radio frequency circuit and an antenna. The radio frequency circuit is primarily used to convert baseband signals into radio frequency signals and process radio frequency signals. The antenna is primarily used to transmit and receive radio frequency signals in the form of electromagnetic waves. Input / output devices, such as a touch screen, display, and keyboard, are primarily used to receive user input and output data to the user.

[0521] Optionally, the processor 1401 , the transceiver 1402 , and the memory 1403 may be connected via a communication bus.

[0522] It should be noted that the memory 1403 may exist independently of the processor 1401 or may be integrated with the processor 1401. The memory 1403 may be located within the communication device 1400 or outside the communication device 1400, without limitation.

[0523] When the communication device is powered on, the processor 1401 can read the software program in the memory 1403, interpret and execute the instructions of the software program, and process the data of the software program. When data needs to be sent wirelessly, the processor 1401 performs baseband processing on the data to be sent and outputs the baseband signal to the radio frequency circuit. The radio frequency circuit performs radio frequency processing on the baseband signal and then transmits the radio frequency signal to the outside in the form of electromagnetic waves through the antenna. When data is sent to the communication device, the radio frequency circuit receives the radio frequency signal through the antenna, converts the radio frequency signal into a baseband signal, and outputs the baseband signal to the processor 1401. The processor 1401 converts the baseband signal into data and processes the data.

[0524] In another implementation, the RF circuit and antenna may be provided independently of the processor performing baseband processing. For example, in a distributed scenario, the RF circuit and antenna may be remotely arranged independent of the communication device.

[0525] In some embodiments, in terms of hardware implementation, those skilled in the art may conceive that the above-mentioned communication device 1300 may take the form of the communication device 1400 shown in FIG. 14 .

[0526] As an example, the functions / implementation process of the processing module 1301 in FIG13 can be implemented by the processor 1401 in the communication device 1400 shown in FIG14 calling the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 1403. The functions / implementation process of the transceiver module 1302 in FIG13 can be implemented by the transceiver 1402 in the communication device 1400 shown in FIG14.

[0527] As another possible product form, the network device or terminal device in the present application may adopt the structure shown in Figure 15, or include the components shown in Figure 15. Figure 15 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device 1500 provided in the present application.

[0528] As shown in FIG15 , a communication device 1500 includes at least one processor 1501. Optionally, the communication device further includes a communication interface 1502.

[0529] When the program instructions are executed in the at least one processor 1501, the apparatus 1500 can implement the method provided in any of the aforementioned embodiments and any possible designs thereof. Alternatively, the processor 1501 implements the method provided in any of the aforementioned embodiments and any possible designs thereof through logic circuits or by executing code instructions.

[0530] The communication interface 1502 may be used to receive program instructions and transmit them to the processor. Alternatively, the communication interface 1502 may be used for communication between the communication device 1500 and other communication devices, such as exchanging control signaling and / or service data. Exemplarily, the communication interface 1502 may be used to receive signals from devices other than the communication device 1500 and transmit them to the processor 1501, or to send signals from the processor 1501 to other communication devices other than the communication device 1500.

[0531] Optionally, the communication interface 1502 may be a code and / or data read / write interface circuit, or the communication interface 1502 may be a signal transmission interface circuit between a communication processor and a transceiver, or a pin of a chip.

[0532] Optionally, the communication device 1500 may further include at least one memory 1503 , which may be used to store required program instructions and / or data.

[0533] It should be noted that the memory 1503 may exist independently of the processor 1501 or may be integrated with the processor 1501. The memory 1503 may be located within the communication device 1500 or outside the communication device 1500, without limitation.

[0534] Optionally, the communication device 1500 may further include a power supply circuit 1504, which may be used to supply power to the processor 1501. The power supply circuit 1504 may be located in the same chip as the processor 1501, or in another chip other than the chip where the processor 1501 is located.

[0535] Optionally, the communication device 1500 may further include a bus 1505 , and various parts of the communication device 1500 may be interconnected via the bus 1505 .

[0536] In some embodiments, in terms of hardware implementation, those skilled in the art may conceive that the communication device 1300 shown in FIG. 13 may take the form of the communication device 1500 shown in FIG. 15 .

[0537] As an example, the functions / implementation process of the processing module 1301 in FIG13 can be implemented by the processor 1501 in the communication device 1500 shown in FIG15 calling the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 1503. The functions / implementation process of the transceiver module 1302 in FIG13 can be implemented by the communication interface 1502 in the communication device 1500 shown in FIG15.

[0538] It should be noted that the structure shown in FIG15 does not constitute a specific limitation on the network device or terminal device. For example, in other embodiments of the present application, the network device or terminal device may include more or fewer components than shown in the figure, or combine or split certain components, or arrange the components differently. The components shown in the figure may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of software and hardware.

[0539] Optionally, the processor in the present application may be a central processing unit (CPU), other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, or discrete hardware components, etc. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, or the processor may be any conventional processor, etc.

[0540] Optionally, the memory in the present application may be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memories. Among them, the non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be a random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, many forms of random access memory (RAM) are available, such as static RAM (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), or direct rambus RAM (DR RAM).

[0541] Optionally, the power supply circuit described in the embodiment of the present application includes but is not limited to at least one of the following: a power supply line, a power supply subsystem, a power management chip, a power consumption management processor, or a power consumption management control circuit.

[0542] In some embodiments, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device, which includes a processor for implementing the method in any of the above method embodiments.

[0543] As a possible implementation, the communication device further includes a memory. The memory is used to store necessary computer programs and data. The computer program may include instructions, and the processor may invoke the instructions in the computer program stored in the memory to instruct the communication device to execute any of the above-described method embodiments. Of course, the memory may not be located in the communication device.

[0544] As another possible implementation, the communication device also includes an interface circuit, which is a code / data read / write interface circuit, and the interface circuit is used to receive computer execution instructions (computer execution instructions are stored in a memory, may be read directly from the memory, or may pass through other devices) and transmit them to the processor.

[0545] As another possible implementation, the communication device further includes a communication interface, where the communication interface is used to communicate with a module outside the communication device.

[0546] It can be understood that the communication device can be a chip or a chip system. When the communication device is a chip system, it can be composed of chips or include chips and other discrete devices. The embodiments of the present application do not specifically limit this.

[0547] The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium having a computer program or instruction stored thereon, which implements the functions of any of the above method embodiments when executed by a computer.

[0548] The present application also provides a computer program product, which implements the functions of any of the above method embodiments when executed by a computer.

[0549] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that, for the sake of convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the above-described systems, devices, and units may refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0550] It is understood that the systems, devices, and methods described in this application may also be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely illustrative. For example, the division of the units is merely a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. In addition, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed may be through some interface, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, and may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0551] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, i.e., they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Components shown as units may or may not be physical units. Some or all of these units may be selected to achieve the objectives of this embodiment as needed.

[0552] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0553] In the above embodiments, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using a software program, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are generated. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via a wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) method. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more media integrated therein. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (eg, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (eg, a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (eg, a solid state drive (SSD)). In the embodiment of the present application, the computer may include the aforementioned device.

[0554] Although the present application is described herein in conjunction with various embodiments, in the process of implementing the claimed application, those skilled in the art can understand and implement other changes to the disclosed embodiments by reviewing the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims. In the claims, the word "comprising" does not exclude other components or steps, and "a" or "an" does not exclude multiple situations. A single processor or other unit can implement several functions listed in the claims. Certain measures are recorded in different dependent claims, but this does not mean that these measures cannot be combined to produce good results.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, Including: Sending a first message at a first moment, the first message indicating first data, and the first data being data to be transmitted; When a first time period overlaps with a first measurement time period, monitoring a second message on a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring occasion in a second time period, the second message being used to indicate a first uplink resource, a start moment of the first time period being equal to or later than the first moment, and the second time period including at least one of the following: A first overlapping time period, the first overlapping time period being a time period in which the first time period overlaps with the first measurement time period; or, The first measurement time period; Wherein, the first measurement time period is determined according to a first configuration, and the first configuration is a configuration for a candidate cell to send a first reference signal.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein When the second time period includes the first overlapping time period, the PDCCH monitoring occasion of the second time period includes: a time period in which the first overlapping time period overlaps with a first monitoring time period, and the first monitoring time period is determined according to a second configuration, and the second configuration is used to determine a time period for monitoring the PDCCH.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The method further includes: Not measuring the first reference signal in the second time period, and a measurement result of the first reference signal being used to indicate a signal quality of the candidate cell.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The method further includes: When the second time period includes the first overlapping time period, measuring the first reference signal in a third time period, a start moment of the third time period being a second moment, the second moment being equal to or later than an end moment of the first time period, and an end moment of the third time period being an end moment of the first measurement time period.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein: When the second moment is later than the end moment of the first time period, a fourth time period is interposed between the second moment and the end moment of the first time period.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1-5, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receiving first configuration information, the first configuration information indicating the first configuration.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1-6, wherein The first time period is greater than or equal to a sum of N first measurement time periods, and N is a positive integer.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1-6, wherein: The first time period is pre-configured; or, The first time period is configured by a first communication device; or, The first time period is determined according to the first data.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1-6, wherein: The first time period is determined by a first timer, and the first timer is a timer started in response to the sending of the first message.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1-9, wherein: When a start moment of the first time period is later than the first moment, a fifth time period is interposed between the start moment of the first time period and the first moment.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1-10, wherein: The first data is all data to be transmitted corresponding to a first logical channel group (LCG), and the first LCG is one or more LCGs among at least one LCG; or, The first data is data in a first LCG with a remaining delay budget lower than a first delay threshold, where the first LCG is one or more LCGs among at least one LCG, and the first delay threshold is a parameter configured by second configuration information.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1-11, wherein the first information indicating the first data includes: the first information indicates at least one of the following: a first data volume, where the first data volume is the data volume of the first data; first delay information, where the first delay information is the delay information of second data, and the second data is the data in the first data with the shortest remaining delay budget; or, a first parameter, where the first parameter indicates a first buffer status list, and the first buffer status list includes at least one index, and one index among the at least one index indicates the data volume of the first data.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1-12, wherein the first information includes a scheduling request (SR), and the SR requests uplink resources for transmitting the first data; or, the first information includes a delay status report (DSR), and the DSR indicates the delay of the first data; or, the first information includes a buffer status report (BSR), and the BSR indicates the data volume of the first data.

14. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that, The method further includes: sending third information in the second time period, where the third information indicates third data or uplink control information.

15. A communication method, characterized in that, including: receiving first information at a first moment, where the first information indicates first data, and the first data is data to be transmitted; determining a first time period according to the first information; when the first time period overlaps with a first measurement time period, sending second information at a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring opportunity in a second time period, where the second information indicates first uplink resources, and the second time period includes at least one of the following: a first overlapping time period, where the first overlapping time period is the time period when the first time period overlaps with the first measurement time period; or, the first measurement time period; wherein, the first measurement time period is determined according to a first configuration, and the first configuration is the configuration for the candidate cell to send the first reference signal.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that, When the second time period includes the first overlapping time period, the PDCCH monitoring opportunity in the second time period includes: the time period when the first overlapping time period overlaps with a first monitoring time period, and the first monitoring time period is determined according to a second configuration, and the second configuration is used to determine the time period for monitoring the PDCCH.

17. The method according to claim 15 or 16, characterized in that The method further includes: receiving third information in the second time period, where the third information indicates third data or uplink control information.

18. A communication device, characterized in that, The communication device is used to implement the method according to any one of claims 1-14.

19. The communication device according to claim 18, wherein, The communication device includes a terminal device or a chip.

20. A communication device, characterized in that, The communication device is used to implement the method according to any one of claims 15-17.

21. The communication device according to claim 20, wherein The communication device includes a network device or a chip.

22. A computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program or instructions, characterized in that, When the computer program or instruction is executed, the method according to any one of claims 1-14 is implemented, or the method according to any one of claims 15-17 is implemented.

23. A computer program product, characterized in that, When the computer program product is run, the method according to any one of claims 1-14 is executed, or the method according to any one of claims 15-17 is executed.

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