Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

A communication method and apparatus. The communication method comprises: a terminal device sending a first signal to a network device, wherein the first signal is used for waking up the network device, and a resource for the first signal is associated with a first configuration resource, such that the terminal device notifies the network device of allocating a resource to be used by the terminal device, without the need for requesting from the network device the resource that needs to be used, thereby reducing a communication delay between the terminal device and the network device; and the terminal device then sending N first reference signals to the network device on resources for the N first reference signals, wherein the first configuration resource comprises the resources for the N first reference signals, N being an integer greater than or equal to 1, and the N first reference signals are used for implementing communication between the terminal device and the network device.

Description

Communication method and device

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China on January 31, 2024, with application number 202410148562.4 and application name "A Communication Method and Device", the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

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

[0004] To save power, network devices can shut down data signal transmission and some control signal transmission when there is no data service or very light service, putting themselves into energy-saving mode.

[0005] When a terminal device needs to perform uplink transmission, it can send an uplink signal to wake up the network device in energy-saving mode and then request uplink transmission resources from the network device. However, the process of requesting uplink transmission resources from the network device takes a certain amount of time, resulting in a long communication delay between the terminal device and the network device. Summary of the Invention

[0006] Embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and apparatus for reducing the communication delay between a terminal device and a network device.

[0007] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be applied to a terminal device, which can be a terminal equipment, or a chip, unit or module in the terminal equipment, or a communication device with terminal functions.

[0008] Or it may be a chip, unit, or module within a communication device with terminal functionality. The following description uses a terminal device as the execution subject. The method may include the following steps: the terminal device sends a first signal to a network device, and then sends N first reference signals to the network device over N first reference signal resources. The first signal is used to wake up the network device, and the resources for the first signal are associated with first configuration resources. The first configuration resources include N first reference signal resources, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0009] In the above method, when the terminal device needs to perform uplink transmission, it sends a first signal to the network device. The resources of the first signal are associated with the first configuration resources. The first configuration resources can be understood as the uplink transmission resources that the terminal device needs to use during uplink transmission. This is equivalent to the terminal device notifying the network device through the first signal which resources need to be allocated for use by the terminal device during uplink transmission, and the terminal device no longer needs to apply for uplink transmission resources from the network device. Therefore, this application saves the time required for the terminal device to apply for uplink transmission resources from the network device, thereby reducing the communication delay between the terminal device and the network device.

[0010] Optionally, the first configuration resource may be referred to as a CG (Config Grant) resource.

[0011] Optionally, the first signal may be called an uplink wake-up signal (Up-Link Wake up signal, UL WUS).

[0012] Optionally, the CG resource, the first signal, and the association between the CG resource and the first signal can be pre-set by the network device, and then the network device broadcasts the CG resource, the first signal, and the association between the CG resource and the first signal to the terminal device according to the system message, so that the terminal device can use the CG resource; or, the CG resource is pre-agreed by the network device and the terminal device through a protocol.

[0013] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: the terminal device receiving a timing offset from the network device, wherein the timing offset is determined based on a time of reception of the first signal, and the timing offset indicates a time advance or time lag of the terminal device relative to the network device.

[0014] In the above implementation, if the moment when the network device receives the first signal is after the timing moment preset by the network device, the terminal device needs to send the first signal in advance so that the network device receives the first signal at the timing moment and achieves uplink synchronization. Based on this, the time advance indicates the time that the terminal device needs to advance to send the signal. Similarly, if the moment when the network device receives the first signal is before the timing moment preset by the network device, the terminal device needs to delay sending the first signal. Based on this, the time lag indicates the time that the terminal device needs to delay sending the signal. In other words, uplink synchronization is achieved through time advance or time lag. Optionally, the timing offset is the difference between the reception moment of the first signal and the timing moment of the network device.

[0015] In addition, the first signal is the first signal sent by the terminal device when it needs to perform uplink transmission, or in other words, the first signal is sent before message 1 (msg1) in the random access process. Because in traditional solutions, the time advance (TA) is calculated by the network device based on msg1 sent by the terminal device, while the timing offset in this application is calculated based on the first signal before msg1, thereby reducing the delay of uplink synchronization.

[0016] In a possible implementation, the first signal includes first indication information, and the first indication information instructs the network device to determine a timing offset according to the first signal.

[0017] In one possible implementation, sending a first signal to a network device includes: a terminal device sending M first signals to the network device, and receiving a second signal from the network device. The M first signals correspond one-to-one to M beams, where M is an integer greater than 1, and the second signal indicates an optimal beam among the M beams.

[0018] In the above implementation, the beam scanning process is realized through multiple first signals. The process may include: when beamforming is applied, that is, in a multi-beam scenario, multiple first signals are associated with multiple beams one-to-one, and RSRP (Reference Signal Receiving Power) is measured for the multiple first signals, thereby determining the optimal first signal among the multiple first signals. Among them, the optimal first signal can be understood as the signal with the highest signal receiving power, or the signal with the largest RSRP value, or the signal with the best signal quality, so the beam corresponding to the optimal first signal can be used as the optimal beam. The M first signals are the first group of signals (M signals) sent by the terminal device when it needs to perform uplink transmission, so as to reduce the delay of beam scanning.

[0019] In one possible implementation, the resource of the second signal is the first resource among the M resources of the second signal, the resources of the M second signals correspond one-to-one to the resources of the M first signals, the resources of the M first signals include the second resource, the second resource is the resource of the first signal corresponding to the optimal beam, and the first resource corresponds to the second resource.

[0020] In the above implementation, the second signal may be a downlink wake-up signal (Down-Link Wake up signal, DL WUS).

[0021] In one possible implementation, the resources of the M second signals correspond one-to-one to the resources of the N first signals, including: the frequency domain resources of the M second signals correspond one-to-one to the time domain resources of the M first signals; or, the time domain resources of the M second signals correspond one-to-one to the time domain resources of the M first signals.

[0022] In a possible implementation, the second signal includes second indication information, and the second indication information indicates the time domain resources of the first signal corresponding to the optimal beam.

[0023] Similarly, in one possible implementation, the resources of the M second signals correspond one-to-one with the resources of the N first signals, including: a one-to-one correspondence between the frequency domain resources of the M second signals and the frequency domain resources of the M first signals; or a one-to-one correspondence between the time domain resources of the M second signals and the frequency domain resources of the M first signals. The second indication information indicates the frequency domain resources of the first signal corresponding to the optimal beam.

[0024] In one possible implementation, at least one of the M first signals includes third indication information, and the third indication information instructs the network device to determine the optimal beam based on part or all of the M first signals.

[0025] In the above implementation, the third indication information may be carried by one of the M first signals rather than each first signal carrying the third indication information, thereby avoiding waste of communication resources.

[0026] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: the terminal device receiving channel state information from the network device, wherein the channel state information is determined by the network device based on the N first reference signals, and resources of the N first reference signals are associated with resources of the first signal corresponding to the optimal beam.

[0027] In the above implementation, the M first signals may be associated with the same first configuration resource. Based on this, the resources of the N first reference signals corresponding to the M first signals are the same.

[0028] In one possible implementation, the N first reference signals correspond one-to-one to the N beams, and the method further includes: the terminal device receiving a third signal from the network device, wherein the third signal indicates an optimal beam among the N beams.

[0029] In the above implementation, a beam scanning process is implemented using multiple first reference signals. This process may include: when beamforming is applied, that is, in a multi-beam scenario, associating multiple first reference signals with multiple beams in a one-to-one correspondence, performing RSRP measurements on the multiple first reference signals, thereby determining the optimal first reference signal from the multiple first reference signals, and then using the beam corresponding to the optimal first reference signal as the optimal beam. The resources of the first reference signal are determined based on the resources of the first signal. That is, the terminal device does not need to apply for the resources of the first reference signal from the network device, but instead notifies the network device to allocate the resources of the first reference signal through the first signal, thereby reducing the delay of beam scanning.

[0030] In one possible implementation, the first signal includes fourth indication information, and the fourth indication information instructs the network device to determine the optimal beam based on some or all of the N first reference signals.

[0031] In a possible implementation, the first configuration resources include resources of an uplink data channel; the method further includes: the terminal device sending data to the network device on the resources of the uplink data channel.

[0032] In the above implementation method, the terminal device notifies the network device through the first signal which resources need to be allocated for the terminal device to transmit data. The terminal device no longer needs to apply to the network device for resources for transmitting data, thereby saving the time required for the terminal device to apply to the network device for resources, and further reducing the communication delay between the terminal device and the network device.

[0033] In one possible implementation, the first signal includes fifth indication information, and the fifth indication information indicates that the terminal device has data transmission on the uplink data channel; or, the fifth indication information indicates that within the first window, the terminal device has data transmission on the uplink data channel.

[0034] In the above implementation, the terminal device notifies the network device of the channel information for transmitting data through the fifth indication information, and the network device does not need to determine whether there is data transmission by detecting the uplink data channel, thereby avoiding invalid detection of the network device and reducing the communication resource overhead of the network device.

[0035] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided. This method can be used in a network device. The network device can be a network appliance, or a chip, unit, or module within a network appliance, or a communication device with network appliance functionality, or a chip, unit, or module within a communication device with network appliance functionality. The following description assumes that the method is performed by a network appliance.

[0036] The method may include the following steps: a network device receives a first signal from a terminal device, and then receives N first reference signals from the terminal device on resources of the N first reference signals, wherein the first signal is used to wake up the network device, the resources of the first signal are associated with first configuration resources, and the first configuration resources include resources of the N first reference signals, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0037] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: the network device determining a timing offset based on the time of receiving the first signal, and then sending the timing offset to the terminal device. The timing offset indicates a time advance or time lag of the terminal device compared to the network device;

[0038] In a possible implementation, the first signal includes first indication information, where the first indication information indicates that a timing offset is determined according to the first signal.

[0039] In one possible implementation, receiving a first signal from a terminal device includes: a network device receiving M first signals from the terminal device, and then sending a second signal to the terminal device. The M first signals correspond one-to-one to M beams, where M is an integer greater than 1, and the second signal indicates an optimal beam among the M beams.

[0040] In one possible implementation, the resource of the second signal is the first resource among the M resources of the second signal, the resources of the M second signals correspond one-to-one to the resources of the M first signals, the resources of the M first signals include the second resource, the second resource is the resource of the first signal corresponding to the optimal beam, and the first resource corresponds to the second resource.

[0041] In one possible implementation, the resources of the M second signals correspond one-to-one to the resources of the N first signals, including: the frequency domain resources of the M second signals correspond one-to-one to the time domain resources of the M first signals; or, the time domain resources of the M second signals correspond one-to-one to the time domain resources of the M first signals.

[0042] In a possible implementation, the second signal includes second indication information, and the second indication information indicates the time domain resources of the first signal corresponding to the optimal beam.

[0043] In a possible implementation, at least one of the M first signals includes third indication information, and the third indication information indicates that an optimal beam is determined based on part or all of the M first signals.

[0044] In one possible implementation, the receiving N first reference signals based on the resources of the N first reference signals includes: a network device receiving the N first reference signals from the terminal device, and then sending the channel state information to the terminal device. The resources of the N first reference signals are associated with resources of a first signal corresponding to an optimal beam, and the channel state information is determined based on the N first reference signals.

[0045] In one possible implementation, the N first reference signals correspond one-to-one to the N beams, and the method further includes: the network device sending a third signal to the terminal device, wherein the third signal indicates an optimal beam among the N beams.

[0046] In a possible implementation, the first signal includes fourth indication information, and the fourth indication information indicates that an optimal beam is determined based on some or all of the N first reference signals.

[0047] In a possible implementation, the first configuration resources include resources of an uplink data channel; the method further includes: the network device receives the data sent by the terminal device on the resources of the uplink data channel.

[0048] In one possible implementation, the first signal includes fifth indication information, and the fifth indication information indicates that the terminal device has data transmission on the uplink data channel; or, the fifth indication information indicates that within the first window, the terminal device has data transmission on the uplink data channel.

[0049] In a third aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising a unit or module for executing the method as described in any one of the first aspect or the second aspect above.

[0050] In a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising: one or more processors configured to execute the method described in any one of the first or second aspects above.

[0051] In one possible implementation, the communication device also includes one or more memories; wherein the one or more memories store one or more programs, and when the programs are executed by the one or more processors, the device executes any one of the methods described in the first aspect or the second aspect above.

[0052] In a fifth aspect, a chip system is provided, which includes at least one chip and a memory, and the at least one chip is used to read and execute the program stored in the memory to implement the method described in any one of the first or second aspects above.

[0053] In a sixth aspect, a readable storage medium is provided, wherein the readable storage medium includes a program, and when the program is run on a device, the device executes the method described in any one of the first aspect or the second aspect.

[0054] In a seventh aspect, a program product is provided. When the program product is run on a device, the device is caused to execute the method described in any one of the first or second aspects.

[0055] Based on the implementations provided in the above aspects, the embodiments of the present application can be further combined to provide more implementations.

[0056] The technical effects that can be achieved in any of the third to seventh aspects mentioned above can be referred to the description of the technical effects that can be achieved in the first and / or second aspects mentioned above, and the repetitions will not be discussed here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0057] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a mobile communication system used in an embodiment of the present application;

[0058] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a beam scanning method applicable to an embodiment of the present application;

[0059] FIG3 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0060] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of a timing offset calculation method applicable to an embodiment of the present application;

[0061] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of a possible flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0062] FIG6 is a schematic diagram of a correspondence between a first signal and a second signal provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0063] FIG7 is a structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0064] FIG8 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0065] The embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: global system for mobile communications (GSM) system, code division multiple access (CDMA) system, wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) system, general packet radio service (GPRS), long term evolution (LTE) system, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) system, LTE time division duplex (TDD), universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS), world-wide interoperability for microwave access (WIMAX) communication system, fifth generation (5G) system or new radio (NR), sixth generation wireless systems (6G), or applied to future communication systems or other similar communication systems.

[0066] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system 1000 used in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 1 , the communication system includes a radio access network 100 and a core network 200. Optionally, the communication system 1000 may also include the Internet 300. The radio access network 100 may include at least one radio access network device (such as 110a and 110b in Figure 1 ) and at least one terminal (such as 120a-120j in Figure 1 ). The terminal is wirelessly connected to the radio access network device, and the radio access network device is wirelessly or wiredly connected to the core network. The core network device and the radio access network device may be independent, distinct physical devices, or the core network device's functions and the radio access network device's logical functions may be integrated into the same physical device, or a single physical device may integrate some of the core network device's functions and some of the radio access network device's functions. Terminals and radio access network devices may be interconnected via wired or wireless connections. Figure 1 is merely a schematic diagram. The communication system may also include other network devices, such as wireless relay devices and wireless backhaul devices, which are not shown in Figure 1 .

[0067] A radio access network device can be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a transmission reception point (TRP), a 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, or an access node in a Wi-Fi system. It can also be a module or unit that performs some of the functions of a base station, such as a centralized unit (CU) or a distributed unit (DU). The CU performs the functions of the base station's radio resource control protocol and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), as well as the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP). The DU performs the functions of the base station's radio link control layer and medium access control (MAC) layer, as well as some or all of the physical layer. For detailed descriptions of each of these protocol layers, please refer to the relevant technical specifications of the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). The wireless access network device may be a macro base station (such as 110a in FIG1 ), a micro base station or an indoor station (such as 110b in FIG1 ), a relay node or a donor node, etc. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form used by the wireless access network device.

[0068] The terminal may also be referred to as a terminal device, user equipment (UE), mobile station, mobile terminal (MT), etc. The terminal can be widely used in various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IOT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wearable, smart transportation, smart city, etc. The terminal can be a mobile phone, tablet computer, computer with wireless transceiver function, wearable device, vehicle, drone, helicopter, airplane, ship, robot, robotic arm, smart home device, etc. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the terminal.

[0069] Network devices and terminals can be fixed or mobile. They can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; on water; and on aircraft, balloons, and satellites. The embodiments of this application do not limit the application scenarios of network devices and terminals.

[0070] The roles of network devices and terminals can be relative. For example, the helicopter or drone 120i in Figure 1 can be configured as a mobile network device. With respect to the terminal 120j accessing the wireless access network 100 via 120i, drone 120i is a network device. However, with respect to network device 110a, 120i is a terminal, meaning that communication between 110a and 120i occurs via a wireless air interface protocol. Of course, communication between 110a and 120i can also occur via an interface protocol between network devices. In this case, 120i is also a network device relative to 110a. Therefore, both network devices and terminals 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, while 120a-120j in Figure 1 can be referred to as communication devices with terminal functionality.

[0071] Communication between network devices and terminals, between network devices, and between terminals can be carried out through authorized spectrum, unauthorized spectrum, or both; communication can be carried out through spectrum below 6 gigahertz (GHz), spectrum above 6 GHz, or spectrum below 6 GHz and spectrum above 6 GHz. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the spectrum resources used for wireless communication.

[0072] In the embodiments of the present application, the functions of the network device may also be performed by a module (such as a chip) in the network device, or by a control subsystem that includes the network device functions. The control subsystem that includes the network device functions here may be a control center in the above-mentioned application scenarios such as smart grid, industrial control, smart transportation, and smart city. The functions of the terminal may also be performed by a module (such as a chip or modem) in the terminal, or by a device that includes the terminal functions.

[0073] In the embodiments of the present application, a network device sends downlink signals or downlink information to a terminal, and the downlink information is carried on a downlink channel. The terminal sends uplink signals or uplink information to a base station, and the uplink information is carried on an uplink channel. To communicate with a base station, the terminal needs to establish a wireless connection with a cell controlled by the base station. The cell with which the terminal has established a wireless connection is called the terminal's serving cell.

[0074] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of this application more clear, the application will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The specific operation methods in the method embodiments can also be applied to the device embodiments or system embodiments.

[0075] Below, some technologies and terms involved in the embodiments of the present application are explained to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art.

[0076] (1) Terminal energy-saving technology

[0077] In traditional solutions, discontinuous reception (DRX) / discontinuous transmission (DTX) technology can be used to reduce the power consumption of terminal devices and improve the long-term endurance of terminal devices. For example, by configuring an active / inactive cycle (also called DTX / DRX cycle) for a cell of the terminal device, during the inactive time period within the cycle (also called the non-activation period), the terminal device does not receive / send some signals / channels, and the terminal device is in a dormant state (or a sleeping state or an idle state), thereby reducing the power consumption of the terminal device. During the active time period within the cycle (also called the activation period), the terminal device receives / sends the above-mentioned signals / channels, and the terminal device is in an activated state (also called an active state or a connected state), thereby ensuring normal communication between the terminal device and the network device.

[0078] (2) Beam Management

[0079] Beam management includes beam scanning. In a communication system that supports beamforming, the network device and the terminal device need to negotiate an optimal beam pair. Therefore, beam scanning can be divided into uplink beam scanning and downlink beam scanning. In downlink beam scanning, the network device sends beams in different directions at multiple times to cover the entire cell. As shown in Figure 2, the base station covers the entire cell through beam 0, beam 1, ..., beam H-1, and beam H. When the terminal device performs cell search and measurement, it selects a suitable downlink beam (also called the optimal downlink beam) from H downlink beams, where H is an integer greater than 1. In uplink beam scanning, the terminal device sends a set of reference signals to the network device. This set of reference signals corresponds to multiple beams. As shown in Figure 2, the terminal device sends a set of reference signals through beam 0, beam 1, ..., beam K-1, and beam K. Based on this set of reference signals, the network device selects a suitable uplink beam (also called the optimal uplink beam) from K beams, where K is an integer greater than 1.

[0080] Beam management also includes a beam recovery function. The terminal device completes beam recovery on the best candidate beam through the Random Access Channel (RACH) based on the Beam Failure Recovery Config resource in the radio resource control (RRC) message sent by the network device.

[0081] (3) Network energy-saving technology

[0082] Network equipment can be divided into "energy-saving mode" and "normal mode". In energy-saving mode, if the network equipment has no data service or only has extremely light-load service, the network equipment will turn off data signal transmission and control signal transmission. When the terminal device has service needs, or when the demand for the originally light-load service increases, the terminal device can wake up the network device by sending an uplink signal, thereby switching the network device from energy-saving mode to normal mode, and releasing the restrictions on transmission capacity to facilitate the transmission of data and control information. In normal mode, the network device normally sends data and control information to the terminal device. That is to say, in the cell corresponding to the network device, when the terminal device is in sleep state (that is, when the terminal device does not need uplink transmission or downlink transmission), the network device enters energy-saving mode.

[0083] Based on this, when the terminal device needs uplink transmission, or when the terminal device wakes up from a sleep state and enters an active state, the terminal device needs to send a wake-up signal (WUS) or an uplink wake-up signal (UL WUS) to enable the network device to transmit data and control information.

[0084] Based on the above description, when the terminal device is in a sleep state, if the terminal device needs uplink transmission, the terminal device wakes up and applies for uplink transmission resources from the network device.

[0085] Related technologies describe a process in which a terminal device requests uplink transmission resources from a network device. This process involves the terminal device sending a request for uplink transmission to the network device. The network device responds by allocating resources to the terminal device and then notifying the terminal device of the allocated resources. The terminal device can then use these resources for uplink transmission. However, this process takes a considerable amount of time, resulting in a long communication delay between the terminal device and the network device.

[0086] Therefore, how to reduce the communication delay between the terminal device and the network device while reducing the power consumption of the terminal device is a technical problem that needs to be solved. To this end, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method that can be applied to the scenario of the above-mentioned energy-saving technology. By saving the time required for the terminal device to request resources from the network device, the communication delay between the terminal device and the network device is reduced. For details, please refer to the processes and related descriptions of Figures 3 and 5.

[0087] The execution subject of the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application is introduced by taking a network device and a terminal device as examples. The network device in the embodiment of the present application may be a network device, or a chip, unit or module in a network device, for example, the network device may be the access network device 110a or the access network device 110b in FIG1 . The network device may also be a communication device having a network device function or a chip, unit or module inside a communication device having a network device function. The terminal device in the embodiment of the present application may be a terminal device, or a chip, unit or module in a terminal device, for example, it may be any of the terminals 120 shown in FIG1 . The terminal device may also be a communication device having a terminal function or a chip, unit or module inside a communication device having a terminal function. For ease of understanding, the embodiment of the present application is introduced by taking the terminal device as a terminal device or a chip, unit or module inside a terminal device, and the network device as a network device or a chip, unit or module inside a network device as an example.

[0088] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of this application clearer, some terms involved in the embodiments of this application are first explained below.

[0089] (1) First signal

[0090] When the terminal device needs to perform uplink transmission after waking up, it sends a first signal to the network device, where the first signal is used to wake up the network device.

[0091] In a possible implementation, the number of the first signal is one, the resource of the first signal is associated with the first configuration resource, and the first signal is the first signal sent by the terminal device after waking up.

[0092] Optionally, the first configuration resource includes a CG (Config Grant) resource or multiple CG resources, and the CG resources are used by the terminal device. The CG resources can be understood as resources allocated by the network device to the terminal device, so that the terminal device can use the CG resources for uplink transmission.

[0093] Optionally, the first configuration resource includes N first reference signal resources, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 1. The first reference signal may be a sounding reference signal (SRS).

[0094] In a possible implementation, the number of first signals is M, where M is an integer greater than 1. The M first signals are the first signals sent by the terminal device after waking up.

[0095] Optionally, the M first signals correspond one-to-one to the M beams.

[0096] Optionally, the M first signals are all associated with the first configuration resource.

[0097] Optionally, the M first signals are time-division multiplexed within a time slot. For example, the M first signals are sent by the terminal device on M different symbols within a time slot. These M different symbols may be continuous or non-continuous.

[0098] In one possible implementation, the first signal may include one or more of the following indication information:

[0099] The first indication information is used to instruct the network device to determine a timing offset based on the first signal. The timing offset can be TA or time lag; TA represents the time required for the terminal device to send a signal in advance, and time lag represents the time required for the terminal device to send a signal in delay.

[0100] The third indication information is used to instruct the network device to perform beam scanning according to part or all of the M first signals.

[0101] The fourth indication information is used to instruct the network device to perform beam scanning according to part or all of the N first reference signals.

[0102] The fifth indication information is used to indicate that the terminal device has data transmission on the uplink data channel; or, to indicate that within the first window, the terminal device has data transmission on the uplink data channel.

[0103] (2) Second signal

[0104] The network device performs beam scanning based on part or all of the M first signals, and after determining the optimal beam, notifies the terminal device of the optimal beam through the second signal.

[0105] Optionally, the second signal may be understood as a downlink wake-up signal (DL WUS), or DCI.

[0106] (3) Resources

[0107] The resources in this application may be one or more of time domain resources, frequency domain resources, code domain resources, and power domain resources. For example, the resources of the first signal may include one or more of: the time domain resources of the first signal, the frequency domain resources of the first signal, the code domain resources of the first signal, the power of the first signal, etc. In one possible embodiment, the code domain resource may be a sequence.

[0108] The present application will be described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The specific operating methods in the method embodiments can also be applied to the device embodiments or system embodiments.

[0109] Based on the network system architecture shown in FIG1 and the related technical descriptions above, FIG3 exemplarily illustrates a flow diagram of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. The solution in FIG3 is described using the interaction between a network device and a terminal device as an example. Specifically, the flow is described using the network device as a network device and the terminal device as a terminal device as an example. The relevant descriptions of the network device and the terminal device are referred to above and are not repeated here.

[0110] As shown in (A) of FIG3 , the communication method may include the following steps:

[0111] Step 311: The terminal device sends a first signal to the network device, where the first signal is used to wake up the network device, and resources of the first signal are associated with first configuration resources, where the first configuration resources include N resources of first reference signals, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0112] In this process, the number of the first signal may be one, and the first signal is the first signal sent after the terminal device wakes up from the sleep state to the active state.

[0113] In one possible implementation, the first configuration resource, the resource of the first signal, and the association between the first configuration resource and the resource of the first signal may be pre-set by the network device. The network device then broadcasts the first configuration resource, the resource of the first signal, and the association between the first configuration resource and the resource of the first signal according to a system message, so that the terminal device can use the resource of the first signal to send the first signal. Based on this, after receiving the first signal sent by the terminal device on the resource of the first signal, the network device can determine, based on the resource of the first signal and this association, that the terminal device needs to use the first configuration resource.

[0114] In a possible implementation manner, the correspondence between the first configuration resource and the resource of the first signal is pre-agreed upon by the network device and the terminal device through a protocol.

[0115] In a possible implementation, the first signal carries indication information of the first configured resource, thereby notifying the network device to allocate the required resources.

[0116] Optionally, the format of the first signal may be a chirp signal format. The chirp signal is a linear frequency modulation signal, and the chirp signal format is simple, thereby reducing the complexity and processing delay of the transmitter and receiver in processing the first signal. Alternatively, the format of the first signal may be a signal format of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), that is, the format of the first signal may be an OFDM signal format.

[0117] Optionally, the first signal is detected using an orthogonal sequence.

[0118] In one possible implementation, the first signal includes fifth indication information. The network device may receive data sent by the terminal device on the first configured resource based on the fifth indication information; or, the network device may receive data sent by the terminal device on the first configured resource within the first window based on the fifth indication information.

[0119] Optionally, the first signal includes Buffer Status Report (BSR) information, where the BSR information indicates the amount of data sent by the terminal device. The network device may allocate uplink transmission resources to the terminal device according to the BSR information.

[0120] Optionally, the network device receives data transmitted by the terminal device on the first configuration resource, obtains a decoding result of whether the data transmission is successful or not (such as including data transmission success or data transmission failure), and then sends the decoding result to the terminal device through downlink control information (Downlink Control Information, DCI) after Grant authorization.

[0121] In one possible implementation, the first signal may include first indication information that instructs the network device to determine a timing offset based on the first signal, where the timing offset indicates the amount of time advance or time lag of the terminal device relative to the network device. Based on this, after receiving the first signal, the network device determines the timing offset corresponding to the terminal device based on the time at which the first signal was received. Optionally, the network device calculates the difference between the time at which the first signal was received and the timing time to obtain the timing offset.

[0122] 4 , T1 is the time when the terminal device sends the first signal, T2 is the time when the network device receives the first signal, T3 is the timing time of the network device, and T4 is the timing offset.

[0123] In Figure 4 (A), the first signal's reception time T2 is after the network device's timing time T3, and the timing offset T4 is less than 0. This means that the network device receives the first signal after the network device's timing time, requiring the terminal device to send the signal in advance. Therefore, the timing offset T4 represents the amount of time the terminal device is ahead of the network device, or in other words, the time required for the terminal device to send the signal in advance.

[0124] As shown in Figure 4 (B), the first signal's reception time T2 is before the network device's timing time T3, and the timing offset T4 is greater than 0. This means that the network device receives the first signal earlier than the network device's timing time, requiring the terminal device to delay signal transmission. Therefore, the timing offset T4 represents the time lag between the terminal device and the network device, or the delay required for the terminal device to transmit its signal.

[0125] In one possible implementation, the network device can be implicitly instructed to determine a timing offset based on the first signal based on the resources of the first signal. For example, two groups of first signal resources can be preconfigured, one of which indicates that the network device needs to determine a timing offset based on the first signal, while the other group of first signal resources indicates that the network device does not need to determine a timing offset based on the first signal. Therefore, the network device can determine whether to determine a timing offset based on the first signal based on the group to which the first signal resources belong.

[0126] Optionally, after determining the timing offset, the network device may send the timing offset to the terminal device via DCI.

[0127] Step 312: The terminal device sends N first reference signals to the network device on the resources of N first reference signals.

[0128] Optionally, resources of the N first reference signals are non-periodically configured, and the N first reference signals are used for channel measurement.

[0129] In the embodiment of the present application, due to reasons such as the movement of the terminal device in the sleep state, the uplink beam between the terminal device and the network device may be misaligned. In this case, the network device needs to perform beam scanning and channel measurement on the terminal device. Based on this, as shown in (A) of Figure 3, the communication method also includes the following process:

[0130] Step 313: Perform beam scanning according to the N first reference signals, where the N first reference signals correspond one-to-one to the N beams.

[0131] In this process, after the terminal device wakes up, if the uplink beams between the terminal device and the network device are not aligned, beam scanning can be achieved by performing channel measurement based on the N first reference signals.

[0132] Optionally, the first signal includes fourth indication information, and the fourth indication information is used to instruct the network device to determine the optimal beam based on some or all of the N first reference signals. Taking all the first reference signals as an example, the network device measures the N first reference signals based on the fourth indication information, determines the optimal first reference signal among the N first reference signals, and then uses the beam corresponding to the optimal first reference signal as the optimal beam among the N beams. The measurement method can be Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) measurement.

[0133] Step 314: The network device sends a third signal to the terminal device, where the third signal indicates the optimal beam among the N beams.

[0134] In one possible implementation, after determining the optimal beam, the network device sends a third signal to the terminal device to notify the terminal device of the optimal beam.

[0135] Optionally, the third signal can be understood as DCI, and the optimal beam is then indicated to the terminal device through DCI.

[0136] In this process, after the network device determines the optimal beam based on the N first reference signals, it can also perform channel measurement on the terminal device. Exemplarily, the network device receives K second reference signals from the terminal device, and the K second reference signals are sent by the terminal device based on the optimal beam. The network device can determine channel state information (CSI) based on the K second reference signals and send the CSI to the terminal device, thereby completing the channel measurement. Optionally, the second reference signal is an SRS.

[0137] Optionally, the ports (SRS ports) of the N first reference signals are different from the SRS ports of the K second reference signals. For example, the SRS ports of the N first reference signals may be 1 port, and the SRS ports of the K second reference signals may be 2 / 4. Based on this, the network device can determine that the reference signal is used for beam scanning or channel measurement based on the SRS port of the reference signal.

[0138] In one possible scenario, after the terminal device wakes up, the uplink beams between the terminal device and the network device may still be aligned, but the channel information may be outdated; or the terminal device and the network device may communicate via only one beam. In this case, the network device only needs to perform channel measurement on the terminal device. Based on this, as shown in (B) in Figure 3, the communication method may include the following process:

[0139] Step 321: The terminal device sends a first signal to the network device, where the first signal is used to wake up the network device, and resources of the first signal are associated with first configuration resources, where the first configuration resources include N resources of first reference signals, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0140] The description of this process can refer to the above step 311 and will not be repeated here.

[0141] Step 322: The terminal device sends N first reference signals to the network device on the resources of N first reference signals.

[0142] The description of this process can refer to the above step 312 and will not be repeated here.

[0143] Step 323: The network device determines CSI according to the N first reference signals.

[0144] In this process, the N first reference signals are sent according to the uplink beam aligned between the terminal device and the network device; or, the N first reference signals are sent according to the only beam for communication between the terminal device and the network device.

[0145] Step 324: The network device sends the CSI to the terminal device.

[0146] In this process, the network device sends the CSI to the terminal device to complete the channel measurement.

[0147] In the technical solution shown in Figure 3 above, the resources of the first reference signal are determined based on the first configuration resources associated with the resources of the first signal. Therefore, the terminal device does not need to apply for the resources of the first reference signal from the network device, but instead notifies the network device through the first signal to allocate the resources of the first reference signal, thereby reducing the delay of beam scanning. In addition, the first signal can also be used to calculate the timing offset to achieve uplink synchronization, and the timing offset is calculated by the first signal first sent after the terminal device wakes up to reduce the delay of uplink synchronization. In summary, the communication delay between the terminal device and the network device is reduced while reducing the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0148] Based on the network system architecture shown in FIG1 and the related technical descriptions above, FIG5 exemplarily illustrates a possible flow diagram of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. The solution in FIG5 is described using the interaction between a network device and a terminal device as an example. Specifically, the flow is described using the network device as a network device and the terminal device as a terminal device as an example. The relevant descriptions of the network device and the terminal device are referred to above and are not repeated here.

[0149] As shown in FIG5 , the communication method may include the following steps:

[0150] Step 510: The terminal device sends M first signals to the network device, where the M first signals correspond one-to-one to M beams, M is an integer greater than 1, and the resources of the M first signals are associated with the first configuration resources, which include the resources of N first reference signals.

[0151] In this process, the M first signals are the first signals sent by the terminal device after waking up from a dormant state to an active state. Different first signals correspond to different beams. Here, "different beams" can be understood as beams in different directions used by the terminal device when sending signals.

[0152] Optionally, any first signal among the M first signals is used to wake up the network device.

[0153] In one possible implementation, the resources of the M first signals are different. Optionally, the time domain resources of any two of the M first signals are different. For example, the M first signals are in a time slot, and the symbols corresponding to the M first signals are different. Optionally, the frequency domain resources of any two of the M first signals are different. For example, the M first signals are in a resource block (RB), and the subcarriers corresponding to the M first signals are different. Optionally, the frequency domain resources and time domain resources of any two of the M first signals are different. For example, the M first signals are in an RB, the symbols corresponding to the M first signals are different, and the subcarriers corresponding to the M first signals are also different.

[0154] In one possible implementation, the resources of the M first signals are associated with the M CG resources, that is, the CG resources associated with the M first signal resources are different. Based on this, the resources of the M first signals respectively correspond to the resources of the N first reference signals included in the M CG resources. Optionally, the resources of the N first reference signals corresponding to any two first signal resources may be different.

[0155] In one possible implementation, the resources of the M first signals are associated with one CG resource, that is, the CG resource associated with the M first signal resources is the same. Based on this, the resources of the N first reference signals corresponding to the M first signal resources are the same.

[0156] Optionally, the embodiment of the present application is described by way of example using this implementation method, and the setting process of the first configuration resource refers to the above step 311.

[0157] In one possible implementation, at least one of the M first signals may include first indication information, and the first indication information instructs the network device to determine a timing offset based on the first signal, and the timing offset indicates the time advance or time lag of the terminal device compared to the network device. Based on this, after receiving the first signal including the first indication information, the network device determines the timing offset of the terminal device according to the reception time of the first signal including the first indication information. Optionally, the network device calculates the difference between the reception time of the first signal and the timing time to obtain the timing offset. With reference to the description of FIG4 in the above step 310, the method for determining the timing offset is not repeated here.

[0158] In one possible implementation, the network device can be implicitly instructed to determine the timing offset based on the M CG resources associated with the resources of the M first signals. For example, the M CG resources can be divided into two groups, where one group of CG resources indicates that the network device needs to determine the timing offset based on the first signal, and the other group of CG resources indicates that the network device does not need to determine the timing offset based on the first signal. Therefore, for any first signal among the M first signals, the network device can determine whether it is necessary to determine the timing offset based on the first signal based on the group to which the CG resources associated with the resources of the first signal belong. In this way, the network device can know which first signal among the M first signals needs to determine the timing offset.

[0159] In one possible implementation, the network device can be implicitly instructed to determine a timing offset based on the resources of the M first signals. For example, the network device can pre-configure two groups of first signal resources, where one group of signal resources indicates that the network device needs to determine a timing offset based on the first signals, while the other group of signal resources indicates that the network device does not need to determine a timing offset based on the first signals. Therefore, for any of the M first signals, the network device can determine whether a timing offset needs to be determined based on the group to which the resources of the first signal belong. This allows the network device to determine which of the M first signals requires a timing offset determination.

[0160] In one possible implementation, the network device may determine the timing offset of the terminal device based on the reception time of the i-th first signal among M first signals, where 1≤i≤M. Optionally, the "i-th first signal" may be pre-agreed upon between the network device and the terminal device. For example, the i-th first signal is the first first signal among the M first signals, and the pre-agreed "i-th first signal" is not limited herein.

[0161] Optionally, after determining the timing offset, the network device may send the timing offset to the terminal device via DCI.

[0162] In one possible implementation, at least one of the M first signals includes fifth indication information. The network device may receive data sent by the terminal device on the first configured resource based on the fifth indication information; or, the network device may receive data sent by the terminal device on the first configured resource within the first window based on the fifth indication information.

[0163] Step 520: The network device performs beam scanning according to the M first signals.

[0164] In one possible implementation, at least one of the M first signals includes third indication information, and the third indication information is used to instruct the network device to determine an optimal beam based on some or all of the M first signals. Based on this, after receiving the first signal and determining that the first signal includes the third indication information, the network device determines the optimal beam from the corresponding beams based on some or all of the M first signals.

[0165] Optionally, the third indication information indicates that an optimal beam is determined based on M first signals. The network device measures the M first signals, determines an optimal first signal among the M first signals, and then uses the beam corresponding to the optimal first signal as the optimal beam among the M beams. The measurement method may be a reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement.

[0166] Step 530: The network device sends a second signal to the terminal device, where the second signal indicates the optimal beam among the M beams.

[0167] In one possible implementation, the resource of the second signal is a first resource among the resources of the M second signals. The resources of any two second signals are different. Optionally, the time domain resources of any two second signals among the M second signals are different. Optionally, the frequency domain resources of any two second signals among the M second signals are different. Optionally, both the frequency domain resources and the time domain resources of any two second signals among the M second signals are different.

[0168] In this process, the resources of the M second signals correspond one-to-one to the resources of the M first signals.

[0169] Optionally, the frequency domain resources of the M second signals correspond one-to-one to the time domain resources of the M first signals. For example, the resources of the M first signals use time division multiplexing (TDM), and the resources of the M second signals use frequency division multiplexing (FDM). In other words, the terminal device sends the M first signals based on TDM and receives the second signals based on FDM.

[0170] Optionally, the time domain resources of the M second signals correspond one-to-one to the time domain resources of the M first signals. For example, the resources of the M first signals use TDM, and the resources of the M second signals also use TDM. In other words, the terminal device sends the M first signals based on TDM and receives the second signals based on TDM.

[0171] Optionally, the frequency domain resources of the M second signals correspond one-to-one to the frequency domain resources of the M first signals. For example, the resources of the M first signals use FDM, and the resources of the M second signals also use FDM. In other words, the terminal device sends the M first signals based on FDM and receives the second signals based on FDM.

[0172] Optionally, the time domain resources of the M second signals correspond one-to-one to the frequency domain resources of the M first signals. For example, the resources of the M first signals use TDM, and the resources of the M second signals use FDM. In other words, the terminal device sends the M first signals based on TDM and receives the second signals based on FDM.

[0173] Based on the above description, the M first signal resources include a second resource, which is the resource of the first signal corresponding to the optimal beam, and the first resource corresponds to the second resource (i.e., the resource of the second signal). Based on this, after receiving the second signal, the terminal device can determine the corresponding resource of the first signal based on the resource of the second signal, and then use the beam corresponding to the resource of the first signal as the optimal beam.

[0174] 6, the horizontal axis represents time domain resources, the vertical axis represents frequency domain resources, and the dotted line represents the correspondence between the first signal and the second signal.

[0175] In Figure 6(A), the three first signals and the three second signals use the same frequency domain resources. Time domain resource s1 of first signal 1 corresponds to time domain resource s4 of second signal 1, time domain resource s2 of first signal 2 corresponds to time domain resource s5 of second signal 2, and time domain resource s3 of first signal 3 corresponds to time domain resource s6 of second signal 3.

[0176] In Figure 6(B), the time domain resources of the three second signals are the same, namely s4. The time domain resource s1 of first signal 1 corresponds to the frequency domain resource p1 of second signal 1, the time domain resource s2 of first signal 2 corresponds to the frequency domain resource p2 of second signal 2, and the time domain resource s3 of first signal 3 corresponds to the frequency domain resource p3 of second signal 3.

[0177] Based on the description in FIG6 , after receiving the second signal, the terminal device can determine which second signal it is based on the resource (time domain position or frequency domain position) of the M second signals, because the resources of the second signals are different. For example, if the currently received second signal is second signal 1, since second signal 1 corresponds to first signal 1, the terminal device can determine that the beam corresponding to first signal 1 is the optimal beam, and thus obtain information such as the optimal beam ID.

[0178] In one possible implementation, the second signal includes second indication information, where the second indication information indicates a time domain resource of the first signal corresponding to the optimal beam. The time domain resource includes a time slot index and a symbol index, where the time slot index indicates the time slot in which the signal is located, and the symbol index indicates the symbol in which the signal is located.

[0179] Optionally, the time domain resources indicated by the second indication information include the time slot index and symbol index of the first signal corresponding to the optimal beam, the time slot index indicating the time slot where the first signal corresponding to the optimal beam is located, and the symbol index indicating the symbol where the first signal corresponding to the optimal beam is located. It can be understood that the symbol index is the symbol within the time slot corresponding to the time slot index. That is to say, the terminal device can determine the first signal sent on the symbol corresponding to the symbol index in the time slot corresponding to the time slot index as the optimal first signal through the time slot index and symbol index indicated by the second indication information, and then determine the beam corresponding to the first signal as the optimal beam. Based on this, the network device can directly notify the terminal device of the optimal beam through the second indication information.

[0180] In one possible implementation, the second signal can be understood as DCI, that is, the network device indicates the optimal beam to the terminal device through DCI.

[0181] In a possible implementation, the network device may send the timing offset to the terminal device via a second signal.

[0182] In the embodiment of the present application, M first signals are used for beam scanning, and N first reference signals are used for channel measurement. Based on this, the method further includes the following process:

[0183] S540: The terminal device sends N first reference signals to the network device on the resources of the N first reference signals, where the resources of the N first reference signals are associated with the resources of the first signal corresponding to the optimal beam.

[0184] In this process, N first reference signals are sent by the terminal device according to the optimal beam.

[0185] S550: The network device determines CSI according to the N first reference signals.

[0186] Step 560: The network device sends the CSI to the terminal device.

[0187] In this process, the network device sends CSI to the terminal device to complete the channel measurement.

[0188] In the technical solution shown in FIG5 above, beam scanning is achieved through M first signals, and then channel measurement is completed through N first reference signals associated with the first signal corresponding to the optimal beam. Because the resources of the first signal are associated with the first configuration resources, the terminal device does not need to apply for the resources of the first reference signal from the network device, but directly notifies the network device to allocate the resources of the first reference signal through the first signal, and the multiple first signals are the first signals sent after the terminal device wakes up, thereby reducing the delay of beam scanning and the delay of channel measurement. In addition, at least one of the M first signals can also be used to calculate the timing offset to complete uplink synchronization. In other words, the present application can achieve uplink synchronization and beam scanning through the same signal, and there is no need to achieve uplink synchronization and beam scanning through different signals (such as SRS for beam scanning and msg1 for uplink synchronization), thereby reducing the communication delay between the terminal device and the network device while reducing the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0189] In one possible implementation, an embodiment of the present application may transmit a first signal based on a random access protocol that does not require authorization (Grant Free Random Access, referred to as Grant Free mode). Grant Free mode. Grant Free mode refers to a mode for performing data transmission when the terminal does not obtain a resource request. The network device activates an uplink authorization to the terminal device so that the terminal device can always use the resources specified by the uplink authorization for uplink transmission. Based on this, by transmitting the first signal in Grant Free mode, the signal transmission delay between the terminal device and the network device is reduced.

[0190] It is understood that in order to implement the functions in the above embodiments, the network devices and terminal devices include hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to the execution of each function. Those skilled in the art should readily appreciate that, in combination with the units and method steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed in this application, the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in hardware or in a manner driven by computer software depends on the specific application scenario and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0191] Figures 7 and 8 are schematic diagrams of the structures of possible communication devices provided in embodiments of the present application. These communication devices can be used to implement the functions of the terminal device or network device in the above-mentioned method embodiments, thereby also achieving the beneficial effects of the above-mentioned method embodiments. In the embodiments of the present application, the communication device can be one of the terminals 120a-120j shown in Figure 1, or it can be the base station 110a or 110b shown in Figure 1, or it can be a module (such as a chip) applied to the terminal or base station.

[0192] As shown in Figure 7, a communication device 700 includes a processing unit 710 and a transceiver unit 720. The communication device 700 is used to implement the functions of the terminal device or network device in the method embodiment shown in Figure 3 or Figure 5 above.

[0193] When the communication device 700 is used to implement the function of the terminal device in the method embodiment shown in Figure 3: the processing unit 710 is used to send a first signal to the network device through the transceiver unit 720, where the first signal is used to wake up the network device, and the resources of the first signal are associated with the first configuration resources, and the first configuration resources include resources of N first reference signals, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 1; the processing unit 710 is also used to send N first reference signals to the network device on the resources of the N first reference signals through the transceiver unit 720.

[0194] When the communication device 700 is used to implement the function of the network device in the method embodiment shown in Figure 3: the processing unit 710 is used to receive a first signal from the terminal device through the transceiver unit 720, the first signal is used to wake up the network device, the resources of the first signal are associated with the first configuration resources, the first configuration resources include N first reference signal resources, N is an integer greater than or equal to 1; the processing unit 710 is also used to receive N first reference signals from the terminal device on the resources of the N first reference signals through the transceiver unit 720.

[0195] When the communication device 700 is used to implement the function of the terminal device in the method embodiment shown in Figure 5: the processing unit 710 is used to send M first signals to the network device through the transceiver unit 720, and any first signal of the M first signals is used to wake up the network device, and the resources of the M first signals are associated with the first configuration resources, and the first configuration resources include resources of N first reference signals; the processing unit 710 is also used to receive a second signal from the network device through the transceiver unit 720, and the second signal indicates the optimal beam among the M beams; the processing unit 710 is also used to send N first reference signals to the network device on the resources of the N first reference signals through the transceiver unit 720.

[0196] When the communication device 700 is used to implement the function of the network device in the method embodiment shown in Figure 5: the processing unit 710 is used to receive M first signals from the terminal device through the transceiver unit 720, any first signal of the M first signals is used to wake up the network device, and the resources of the M first signals are associated with first configuration resources, and the first configuration resources include resources of N first reference signals; the processing unit 710 is also used to send a second signal to the terminal device through the transceiver unit 720, and the second signal indicates the optimal beam among the M beams; the processing unit 710 is also used to receive N first reference signals from the terminal device on the resources of the N first reference signals through the transceiver unit 720.

[0197] A more detailed description of the processing unit 710 and the transceiver unit 720 can be directly obtained by referring to the relevant description in the method embodiment shown in Figure 3 or Figure 5, and is not repeated here.

[0198] As shown in Figure 8, communication device 800 includes a processor 810 and an interface circuit 820. Processor 810 and interface circuit 820 are coupled to each other. It will be appreciated that interface circuit 820 may be a transceiver or an input / output interface. Optionally, communication device 800 may further include a memory 830 for storing instructions executed by processor 810, input data required by processor 810 to execute instructions, or data generated after processor 810 executes instructions.

[0199] When the communication device 800 is used to implement the method shown in FIG. 3 or FIG. 5 , the processor 810 is used to implement the functions of the processing unit 710 , and the interface circuit 820 is used to implement the functions of the transceiver unit 720 .

[0200] When the communication device is a chip used in a terminal device, the terminal chip implements the functions of the terminal device in the above method embodiments. The terminal chip receives information from other modules in the terminal device (such as a radio frequency module or antenna), and the information is sent by the network device to the terminal; or the terminal chip sends information to other modules in the terminal device (such as a radio frequency module or antenna), and the information is sent by the terminal device to the network device.

[0201] When the above-mentioned communication device is a module applied to a network device, the network device module implements the functions of the network device in the above-mentioned method embodiment. The network device module receives information from other modules in the network device (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna), and the information is sent by the terminal to the network device; or the network device module sends information to other modules in the network device (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna), and the information is sent by the network device to the terminal. The network device module here can be a baseband chip of the network device, or it can be a DU or other module. The DU here can be a DU under the open radio access network (O-RAN) architecture.

[0202] It is understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be a central processing unit (CPU), or may be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0203] This application provides another example of a communication device, which includes at least one processor and at least one memory, the at least one processor and the at least one memory being coupled together, the at least one memory being used to store instructions. When the instructions are executed by the at least one processor, the communication device performs the method described in the above embodiments. For example, as shown in FIG8 , a communication device 800 includes a processor 810 and a memory 830. The processor 810 and the memory 830 are coupled together, and the memory 830 stores instructions. When the instructions stored in the memory 830 are executed by the processor 810, the communication device 800 performs the method described in the above embodiments performed by the terminal device or network device.

[0204] The method steps in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in hardware or in software instructions that can be executed by a processor. The software instructions can be composed of corresponding software modules, and the software modules can be stored in random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, erasable programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, registers, hard disk, mobile hard disk, CD-ROM or any other form of storage medium well known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. The storage medium can also be an integral part of the processor. The processor and storage medium can be located in an ASIC. In addition, the ASIC can be located in a network device or a terminal. The processor and storage medium can also exist in a network device or a terminal as discrete components.

[0205] In the above embodiments, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented using software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are performed in whole or in part. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, a network device, a user device, or other programmable device. The computer program or instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transferred from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer program or instructions may be transferred from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired or wireless means. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The available medium may be a magnetic medium, such as a floppy disk, hard disk, or magnetic tape; an optical medium, such as a digital video disk; or a semiconductor medium, such as a solid-state drive. The computer-readable storage medium may be a volatile or nonvolatile storage medium, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile types of storage media.

[0206] In the various embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified or there is a logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions between different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced by each other. The technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationships.

[0207] In this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "more" means two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. In the text description of this application, the character " / " generally indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in an "or" relationship; in the formula of this application, the character " / " indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in a "division" relationship. "Including at least one of A, B and C" can mean: including A; including B; including C; including A and B; including A and C; including B and C; including A, B and C.

[0208] It is understood that the various numbers used in the embodiments of this application are merely for ease of description and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application. The order of the sequence numbers of the above-mentioned processes does not necessarily imply a specific order of execution; the order of execution of the processes should be determined by their functions and inherent logic.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: include: Sending a first signal to a network device, where the first signal is used to wake up the network device, where resources of the first signal are associated with first configuration resources, where the first configuration resources include N resources of first reference signals, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 1; N first reference signals are sent to the network device on the resources of the N first reference signals.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The method further comprises: A timing offset is received from the network device, where the timing offset is determined based on a reception time of the first signal, and the timing offset indicates a time advance or time lag of the terminal device compared to the network device.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The first signal includes first indication information, and the first indication information instructs the network device to determine a timing offset according to the first signal.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The sending of the first signal to the network device includes: Sending M first signals to the network device, where the M first signals correspond one-to-one to M beams, and M is an integer greater than 1; The method further comprises: A second signal is received from the network device, the second signal indicating an optimal beam among the M beams.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The resource of the second signal is the first resource among the M resources of the second signal, and the resources of the M second signals correspond one-to-one to the resources of the M first signals. The resources of the M first signals include the second resource, and the second resource is the resource of the first signal corresponding to the optimal beam, and the first resource corresponds to the second resource.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that The resources of the M second signals correspond one-to-one to the resources of the N first signals, including: The frequency domain resources of the M second signals correspond one-to-one to the time domain resources of the M first signals; or, The time domain resources of the M second signals correspond one-to-one to the time domain resources of the M first signals.

7. The method according to any one of claims 4 to 6, characterized in that The second signal includes second indication information, where the second indication information indicates the time domain resource of the first signal corresponding to the optimal beam.

8. The method according to any one of claims 4 to 7, characterized in that: At least one of the M first signals includes third indication information, and the third indication information instructs the network device to determine an optimal beam according to part or all of the M first signals.

9. The method according to any one of claims 4 to 8, characterized in that The method further comprises: Channel state information is received from the network device, where the channel state information is determined based on the N first reference signals, and resources of the N first reference signals are associated with resources of the first signal corresponding to the optimal beam.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The N first reference signals correspond one-to-one to the N beams; The method further comprises: A third signal is received from the network device, the third signal indicating an optimal beam among the N beams.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The first signal includes fourth indication information, and the fourth indication information instructs the network device to determine an optimal beam according to part or all of the N first reference signals.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that The first configured resources include resources of an uplink data channel; The method further comprises: Data is sent to the network device on the resources of the uplink data channel.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The first signal includes fifth indication information, and the fifth indication information indicates that the terminal device has data transmission on the uplink data channel; or the fifth indication information indicates that within the first window, the terminal device has data transmission on the uplink data channel.

14. A communication method, characterized in that: include: receiving a first signal from a terminal device, where the first signal is used to wake up a network device, where resources of the first signal are associated with first configuration resources, where the first configuration resources include resources of N first reference signals, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 1; N first reference signals are received from the terminal device on the resources of the N first reference signals.

15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that The method further comprises: Determining a timing offset according to a reception time of the first signal, the timing offset indicating a time advance or time lag of the terminal device compared to the network device; The timing offset is sent to the terminal device.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that The first signal includes first indication information, where the first indication information indicates that a timing offset is determined according to the first signal.

17. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 16, characterized in that: Receiving a first signal from a terminal device includes: receiving M first signals from a terminal device, where the M first signals correspond one-to-one to M beams, and M is an integer greater than 1; The method further comprises: A second signal is sent to the terminal device, where the second signal indicates an optimal beam among the M beams.

18. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that The resource of the second signal is the first resource among the M resources of the second signal, and the resources of the M second signals correspond one-to-one to the resources of the M first signals. The resources of the M first signals include the second resource, and the second resource is the resource of the first signal corresponding to the optimal beam, and the first resource corresponds to the second resource.

19. The method according to claim 18, characterized in that The resources of the M second signals correspond one-to-one to the resources of the N first signals, including: The frequency domain resources of the M second signals correspond one-to-one to the time domain resources of the M first signals; or, The time domain resources of the M second signals correspond one-to-one to the time domain resources of the M first signals.

20. The method according to any one of claims 17 to 19, characterized in that: The second signal includes second indication information, where the second indication information indicates the time domain resource of the first signal corresponding to the optimal beam.

21. The method according to any one of claims 17 to 20, characterized in that: At least one of the M first signals includes third indication information, where the third indication information indicates that an optimal beam is determined based on part or all of the M first signals.

22. The method according to any one of claims 17 to 21, characterized in that The receiving N first reference signals according to the resources of the N first reference signals includes: receiving N first reference signals from the terminal device, where resources of the N first reference signals are associated with resources of the first signal corresponding to the optimal beam; The method further comprises: The channel state information is sent to the terminal device, where the channel state information is determined based on the N first reference signals.

23. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 16, characterized in that The N first reference signals correspond one-to-one to the N beams; The method further comprises: A third signal is sent to the terminal device, where the third signal indicates an optimal beam among the N beams.

24. The method according to claim 23, wherein The first signal includes fourth indication information, where the fourth indication information indicates that an optimal beam is determined according to part or all of the N first reference signals.

25. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 24, characterized in that The first configured resources include resources of an uplink data channel; The method further comprises: Receive data sent by the terminal device on the resources of the uplink data channel.

26. The method according to claim 25, characterized in that The first signal includes fifth indication information, and the fifth indication information indicates that the terminal device has data transmission on the uplink data channel; or the fifth indication information indicates that within the first window, the terminal device has data transmission on the uplink data channel.

27. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises a unit or module for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, or comprises a unit or module for executing the method according to any one of claims 14 to 26.

28. A readable storage medium, characterized in that The readable storage medium includes a program, and when the program is run on a device, the device executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, or executes the method according to any one of claims 14 to 26.

29. A chip system, characterized in that: The chip system includes at least one chip and a memory, and the at least one chip is used to read and execute program instructions stored in the memory to implement the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 13, or to implement the method as described in any one of claims 14 to 26.

30. A computer program product, characterized in that The computer program product includes a computer program or code, which, when executed on a device, causes the device to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, or to execute the method according to any one of claims 14 to 26.

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