Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

A communication method and apparatus, relating to the technical field of communications, and capable of flexibly configuring a power saving mode of a terminal device. The method comprises: acquiring first instruction information, wherein the first instruction information is used for instructing a terminal device to initiate network access or to listen for a paging message after a power saving duration, and the first instruction information comprises power saving duration information; and on the basis of the first instruction information, initiating the network access or listening for the paging message after the power saving duration.

Description

Communication method and device

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office on February 1, 2024, with application number 202410149630.9 and application name “Communication Method and Device,” the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

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

[0003] In a communication system, a terminal device may enter a sleep state based on a power saving mode (PSM) or a discontinuous reception (DRX) mode to reduce power consumption by sleeping.

[0004] However, in PSM mode, after entering sleep mode, the terminal device will not detect system messages. Even if the tracking area or registration area changes due to movement, the terminal device will not exit PSM mode. In other words, the terminal device cannot be paged in PSM mode, and communication performance is poor. In DRX mode, the terminal device needs to detect paging messages initiated by the core network and the access network according to different DRX cycles, resulting in frequent wake-up of the terminal device, increased power consumption, and reduced standby time.

[0005] In summary, how to flexibly configure the energy-saving mode of terminal devices to reduce power consumption while improving communication performance has become a technical problem that needs to be solved urgently. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The present application provides a communication method and apparatus that can flexibly configure the energy-saving mode of a terminal device.

[0007] In a first aspect, the present application provides a communication method that can be executed by a terminal device. Unless otherwise specified, the "terminal device" in this application can refer to the terminal device itself, or a component in the terminal device (such as a processor, chip, or chip system, etc.), or a logical module or software that can implement all or part of the terminal device functions. The method includes: obtaining first indication information; wherein the first indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to initiate access to the network or listen for paging messages after the energy-saving period, and the first indication information includes energy-saving period information; according to the first indication information, initiating access to the network or listening for paging messages after the energy-saving period.

[0008] Based on the first aspect, the first indication information can flexibly indicate the terminal device's operations after the energy-saving period (such as initiating access to the network, listening to paging messages), which can improve communication performance while reducing the power consumption of the terminal device. Furthermore, it can also reduce the complexity of the energy-saving configuration.

[0009] In one possible design, second indication information is obtained; wherein the second indication information is used to indicate whether to periodically initiate access to the network.

[0010] In one possible design, third indication information is obtained; wherein the third indication information is used to indicate whether to periodically listen to paging messages.

[0011] In one possible design, access to a network device after a power-saving period includes: performing a tracking area update TAU after the power-saving period; or performing a periodic TAU after the power-saving period.

[0012] In one possible design, listening to paging messages after the energy-saving duration includes: listening to paging messages within a first time period after the energy-saving duration, or periodically listening to paging messages after the energy-saving duration; or continuously listening to paging messages after the energy-saving duration.

[0013] In one possible design, fourth indication information is obtained; wherein the fourth indication information is used to indicate a period for initiating access to the network or listening to paging messages; or, the period for initiating access to the network or listening to paging messages is an energy-saving duration.

[0014] In one possible design, a fifth indication information is sent; wherein the fifth indication information is used to indicate the energy-saving duration that the terminal device expects to obtain.

[0015] Based on this possible design, the core network device or the network device can also configure the energy-saving duration for the terminal device according to the energy-saving duration that the terminal device expects to obtain.

[0016] In one possible design, when the energy-saving duration is less than or equal to the first threshold, the energy-saving duration information includes the superframe information corresponding to the energy-saving duration; or, when the energy-saving duration is greater than the first threshold, the energy-saving duration information includes the absolute duration information of the energy-saving duration.

[0017] Based on this possible design, a variety of feasible solutions are provided for the design of energy-saving duration information.

[0018] In one possible design, configuration information of the first timer is obtained; wherein the configuration information of the first timer is used to indicate the first timer; when the first timer times out, the energy-saving mode is activated.

[0019] In one possible design, before obtaining the configuration information of the first timer, sixth indication information is sent; wherein the sixth indication information is used to indicate the duration of the first timer that the terminal device expects to obtain.

[0020] Based on the above two possible designs, before the terminal device activates the energy-saving mode, it can start a first timer. When the first timer times out, the terminal device activates the energy-saving mode. During the operation of the first timer, the terminal device can normally send uplink data or receive downlink data or downlink signals from the network device.

[0021] In one possible design, obtaining the first indication information includes: receiving the first indication information from the core network device.

[0022] In one possible design, the core network equipment is one or more of the following: mobility management network element, authentication service function network element, and label management function network element.

[0023] Based on this possible design, the core network device can directly send the first indication information to the terminal device, or the core network device can also send the first indication information to the terminal device through the network device, without restriction.

[0024] In a second aspect, the present application provides a communication method that can be executed by a core network device. Unless otherwise specified, the "core network device" in this application can refer to the core network device itself, or a component in the core network device (such as a processor, chip, or chip system, etc.), or a logical module or software that can implement all or part of the core network device functions. The method includes: generating first indication information; sending first indication information; wherein the first indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to initiate access to the network or listen for paging messages after the energy-saving duration, and the first indication information includes energy-saving duration information.

[0025] Based on the second aspect, the first indication information can flexibly indicate the terminal device's operations after the energy-saving period (such as initiating access to the network, listening to paging messages), which can improve communication performance while reducing the power consumption of the terminal device. Furthermore, it can also reduce the complexity of the energy-saving configuration.

[0026] In one possible design, a second indication information is sent; wherein the second indication information is used to indicate whether to periodically initiate access to the network.

[0027] In one possible design, a third indication information is sent; wherein the third indication information is used to indicate whether to periodically listen to paging messages

[0028] In one possible design, a fourth indication information is sent; wherein the fourth indication information is used to indicate a period for initiating access to the network or listening to paging messages; or, the period for initiating access to the network or listening to paging messages is an energy-saving duration.

[0029] In one possible design, fifth indication information is obtained; wherein the fifth indication information is used to indicate the energy-saving duration that the terminal device expects to obtain.

[0030] In one possible design, the energy-saving duration is determined based on the fifth indication information.

[0031] Based on the above two possible designs, the core network device can also configure the energy-saving duration for the device according to the energy-saving duration expected by the terminal device.

[0032] In one possible design, when the energy-saving duration is less than or equal to the first threshold, the energy-saving duration information includes the superframe information corresponding to the energy-saving duration; or, when the energy-saving duration is greater than the first threshold, the energy-saving duration information includes the absolute duration information of the energy-saving duration.

[0033] Based on this possible design, a variety of feasible solutions are provided for the design of energy-saving duration information.

[0034] In one possible design, seventh indication information is sent to the network device; wherein the seventh indication information is used to indicate the wake-up time information of the terminal device.

[0035] In one possible design, the wake-up time information includes at least one of the frame number, subframe number, and absolute time corresponding to the wake-up time of the terminal device; or, the wake-up time information includes the difference between the current moment and the wake-up time of the terminal device.

[0036] Based on the above two possible designs, the core network device can also indicate the wake-up time information of the terminal device to the network device. Based on this, the network device can send a paging message to the terminal device when the terminal device is in the wake-up state, thereby improving communication performance.

[0037] In one possible design, configuration information of a first timer is sent; wherein the configuration information of the first timer is used to indicate a first timer, and the first timer is used for the terminal device to activate the energy-saving mode when the first timer times out.

[0038] In one possible design, before sending the configuration information of the first timer, sixth indication information is obtained; wherein the sixth indication information is used to indicate the duration of the first timer that the terminal device expects to obtain.

[0039] Based on the above two possible designs, before the terminal device activates the energy-saving mode, it can start a first timer. When the first timer times out, the terminal device activates the energy-saving mode. During the operation of the first timer, the terminal device can normally send uplink data or receive downlink data or downlink signals from the network device.

[0040] In the third aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which can be applied to the terminal device of the first aspect above to implement the functions performed by the terminal device above. The communication device can be a terminal device, or it can be a chip or chip system or system on chip, etc. of the terminal device. The communication device can perform the functions performed by the terminal device above through hardware, or it can perform the corresponding software implementation through hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions. For example, a transceiver module and a processing module. The transceiver module can independently complete the following transceiver operations, or it can cooperate with the processing module to complete the following transceiver operations; accordingly, the processing module can also independently complete the following processing operations, or it can cooperate with the transceiver module to complete the following processing operations, without limitation.

[0041] Exemplarily, the transceiver module is used to obtain first indication information; wherein, the first indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to initiate access to the network or listen to paging messages after the energy-saving period, and the first indication information includes energy-saving period information; the processing module is used to initiate access to the network or listen to paging messages after the energy-saving period according to the first indication information.

[0042] Optionally, the transceiver module and processing module of the communication device in the third aspect can also perform the corresponding functions in any possible design of the above-mentioned first aspect. Please refer to the detailed description in the method example for details. The beneficial effects that can be achieved can also be referred to the aforementioned related content.

[0043] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which can be applied to the core network device of the second aspect above to implement the functions performed by the core network device above. The communication device can be a core network device, or a chip or chip system or system on chip of the core network device, etc. The communication device can perform the functions performed by the core network device above through hardware, or it can perform the corresponding software implementation through hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions. For example, a transceiver module and a processing module. The transceiver module can independently complete the following transceiver operations, or it can cooperate with the processing module to complete the following transceiver operations; accordingly, the processing module can also independently complete the following processing operations, or it can cooperate with the transceiver module to complete the following processing operations, without limitation.

[0044] Exemplarily, a processing module is used to generate a first indication message; a transceiver module is used to send the first indication message; wherein, the first indication message is used to instruct the terminal device to initiate access to the network or listen for paging messages after the energy-saving duration, and the first indication message includes energy-saving duration information.

[0045] Optionally, the transceiver module and processing module of the communication device in the fourth aspect can also perform the corresponding functions in any possible design of the above-mentioned second aspect. Please refer to the detailed description in the method example for details. The beneficial effects that can be achieved can also be referred to the aforementioned related content.

[0046] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which includes one or more processors; one or more processors are used to run computer programs or instructions, and when the one or more processors execute the computer instructions or instructions, the communication method described in any one of the first to second aspects is executed.

[0047] In one possible design, the communication device further includes one or more memories, the one or more memories being coupled to one or more processors, and the one or more memories being used to store the above-mentioned computer programs or instructions. In one possible implementation, the memory is located outside the communication device. In another possible implementation, the memory is located within the communication device. In this application, the processor and memory may also be integrated into one device, that is, the processor and memory may also be integrated together. In one possible implementation, the communication device further includes a transceiver, and the transceiver is used to receive information and / or send information.

[0048] In one possible design, the communication device further includes one or more communication interfaces, the one or more communication interfaces are coupled to one or more processors, and the one or more communication interfaces are used to communicate with other modules outside the communication device.

[0049] In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which includes an interface circuit and a logic circuit; the interface circuit is used to input and / or output information; the logic circuit is used to execute the communication method described in any one of the first to second aspects, and process and / or generate information based on the information.

[0050] In a seventh aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions or programs. When the computer instructions or programs are run on a computer, the communication method described in any one of the first to second aspects is executed.

[0051] In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product comprising computer instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enables the communication method as described in any one of the first to second aspects to be executed.

[0052] In a ninth aspect, the present application provides a computer program, which, when executed on a computer, enables the communication method as described in any one of the first to second aspects to be executed.

[0053] In the tenth aspect, the present application provides a chip comprising: one or more processors, the processors being coupled to one or more memories, the memories being used to store programs or instructions, and when the programs or instructions are executed by the processors, the communication method described in any one of the first to second aspects is executed.

[0054] Among them, the technical effects brought about by any one of the design methods in the fifth to tenth aspects can refer to the technical effects brought about by any one of the first to second aspects mentioned above, and will not be repeated here.

[0055] In an eleventh aspect, the present application provides a communication system, which may include a communication device for executing the communication as described in the first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect and a communication device for executing the communication as described in the second aspect or any possible design of the second aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0056] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of configuring and activating a PSM mode according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0057] FIG2 is a flow chart of a reader / writer providing an embodiment of the present application for selecting, inventorying, and accessing tags;

[0058] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0059] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0060] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0061] FIG6 is a schematic diagram of a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0062] FIG7 is a schematic diagram of a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0063] FIG8 is a schematic diagram of a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0064] FIG9 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0065] FIG10 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0066] FIG11 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0067] FIG12 is a schematic diagram of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0068] FIG13 is a schematic diagram of a PO provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0069] FIG14 is a schematic diagram of the composition of a terminal device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0070] FIG15 is a schematic diagram of the composition of a core network device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0071] FIG16 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0072] FIG17 is a schematic diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0073] Before describing the embodiments of the present application, the technical terms involved in the embodiments of the present application are described.

[0074] Power saving mode (PSM): Its principle is to allow the terminal device to shut down the signal reception and transmission and access stratum (AS) related functions after being idle for a period of time, which is equivalent to a partial shutdown, thereby reducing the power consumption of the antenna, radio frequency, signaling processing, etc., and reducing the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0075] Specifically, the core network (CN) can configure the PSM mode for the terminal device, and the network device is not aware of it. The terminal device can activate the PSM mode after the communication is completed and enter the sleep state. After the terminal device activates the PSM mode, it will not receive any network paging. For the network side, the terminal device is unreachable at this time, and data, text messages, and calls cannot come in. That is, the terminal device is in a sleep state, almost a shutdown state, which can greatly save power. In addition, although the terminal device no longer detects paging during the PSM mode, the terminal device is still registered in the network. Therefore, the terminal device does not need to reconnect or establish a packet data network (PDN) connection when sending data.

[0076] The terminal device and the core network device can negotiate an active timer via non-access stratum (NAS) messages. This active timer starts when the terminal device enters the idle state. After the active timer expires, the core network device determines that the terminal device has entered PSM mode and cannot receive downlink services and paging. On the terminal device side, the terminal device disables access stratum functions (such as cell selection) to save power. In this way, the terminal device and the network side synchronize information about the terminal device entering PSM mode.

[0077] For example, as shown in FIG1 , the terminal device may obtain the PSM mode configuration and activate the PSM mode based on the following steps:

[0078] Step 101: The terminal device sends a registration request or a tracking area update (TAU) request to the core network device; correspondingly, the core network device receives the registration request or TAU request from the terminal device.

[0079] Among them, the terminal device can initiate a registration process or a TAU process to the core network device, and carry a timer configuration request in the registration request or TAU request to obtain the active timer configuration and TAU period request timer configuration.

[0080] Step 102: The core network device sends a registration acceptance message or a TAU acceptance message to the terminal device; correspondingly, the terminal device receives the registration acceptance message or the TAU acceptance message from the core network device.

[0081] The registration acceptance message or the TAU acceptance message may include timer configuration, and the timer configuration may include active timer configuration and TAU period request timer (such as T3412 timer) configuration.

[0082] Optionally, the TAU periodic request timer defaults to 54 minutes (54min) and can be up to 310 hours (310H).

[0083] Step 103: The network device sends a radio resource control (RRC) connection release message to the terminal device; correspondingly, the terminal device receives the RRC connection release message from the network device.

[0084] Among them, when the terminal device completes the service transmission, the network device can send an RRC connection release message to the terminal device, or it can be described as after the terminal device processes the data, the RRC connection will be released and the terminal device will enter the idle state.

[0085] Step 104: The network device sends a context release completion message to the core network device; correspondingly, the core network device receives the context release completion message from the network device.

[0086] Step 105: The terminal device starts the active timer.

[0087] When the terminal device releases the RRC connection with the network device, the terminal device may start the active timer. Alternatively, it may be described as the terminal device starting the active timer after leaving the connected state and entering the idle state.

[0088] During the running of the active timer, the terminal device can normally receive paging messages sent by the network device and can also perform radio resource management (RRM) measurements.

[0089] Step 106: When the active timer times out, the terminal device starts the TAU cycle request timer and activates the PSM mode.

[0090] The TAU cycle request timer can also be used to define the time when the terminal device activates the PSM mode. When the terminal device starts the TAU cycle request timer, it can be considered that the terminal device activates the PSM mode.

[0091] Optionally, when the TAU cycle request timer times out, the terminal device exits the PSM mode; or, when the terminal device has a mobile originate (MO) service to process, the terminal device actively exits the PSM mode; then enters the idle state, and then enters the connected state to process uplink and downlink services.

[0092] In PSM mode, due to the deactivation of access stratum functionality, the terminal device stops all idle mode procedures but continues to run any applicable NAS timers, such as the TAU periodic request timer. The terminal device may resume access stratum functionality and idle mode procedures before the TAU periodic request timer expires to perform periodic TAU procedures. The terminal device may also resume idle mode procedures and access stratum functionality at any time in PSM mode, such as for mobile-originated communications. Any timers and conditions that remain active during power outage, such as NAS-level fallback, apply in the same manner during PSM mode.

[0093] However, for PSM mode, the terminal device will not detect system messages after entering the sleep state. Even if the tracking area (TA) or registration area (RA) changes due to movement of the terminal device, the terminal device will not exit the PSM mode. That is, the terminal device cannot be paged in the PSM mode and the communication performance is poor.

[0094] Discontinuous Reception (DRX) mode: Network equipment can configure DRX for terminal devices. When DRX is activated, the terminal device can detect the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and turn on the receiver when it detects the PDCCH. At other times, the receiver is turned off and enters DRX sleep mode, thereby saving terminal device power consumption. By using DRX technology, the terminal device does not need to constantly detect and analyze the PDCCH to check whether the network equipment has scheduled resources for data transmission.

[0095] Specifically, in the DRX technology, a DRX cycle can be divided into two modes: DRX On and DRX Off. The DRX On mode can also be called a DRX active state, and the DRX Off mode can also be called a DRX dormant state.

[0096] In DRX On mode, the terminal device can start the drx-on duration timer (drx-onDurationTimer), which can indicate the time the terminal device will remain awake after waking up. During the operation of the drx-on duration timer, the terminal device continues to detect PDCCH. When the terminal device detects PDCCH during the operation of the drx-on duration timer, the terminal device starts the DRX inactivity timer (drx-InactivityTimer) until data reception is completed and then enters DRX Off mode. If the terminal device does not detect PDCCH until the drx-on duration timer expires, it enters DRX Off mode.

[0097] In addition, in addition to entering the DRX Off mode when the drx-on duration timer and the DRX inactivity timer expire, during the data transmission process, when the network device has no data to continue transmitting to the terminal device, the network device can send a DRX command media access control control element (DRX command MAC CE) signaling to the terminal device. The terminal device can also enter the DRX Off mode according to the signaling, and the terminal device will immediately stop the drx-on duration timer and the DRX inactivity timer.

[0098] In addition to DRX, terminal devices can also use the extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) mechanism to periodically wake up to detect paging messages. The period of periodic wake-up is called the eDRX cycle. The difference between DRX and eDRX lies in the length of the cycle. The eDRX cycle is longer than the DRX cycle. Therefore, using the eDRX mechanism can increase the sleep duration of terminal devices and reduce the number of periodic wake-ups, thereby further reducing power consumption.

[0099] There are two types of paging messages detected by terminal devices: paging messages initiated by the core network and paging messages initiated by the radio access network (RAN). Different paging messages are sent at different intervals. To this end, the network can configure multiple eDRX cycles, such as a first eDRX cycle and a second eDRX cycle. The terminal device detects paging messages initiated by the core network according to the first eDRX cycle and detects paging messages initiated by the RAN according to the second eDRX cycle.

[0100] However, since the terminal device needs to detect the paging message initiated by the core network and the paging message initiated by the access network according to different cycles, the terminal device needs to wake up frequently, which increases power consumption and reduces standby time.

[0101] In summary, how to flexibly configure the energy-saving mode of terminal devices to reduce power consumption while improving communication performance has become a technical problem that needs to be solved urgently.

[0102] In order to solve this technical problem, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, in which a terminal device can obtain first indication information; wherein the first indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to initiate access to the network or listen for paging messages after the energy-saving period, and the first indication information includes energy-saving period information; according to the first indication information, access to the network is initiated or paging messages are listened for after the energy-saving period.

[0103] In an embodiment of the present application, the first indication information can flexibly indicate the terminal device's operations after the energy-saving period (such as initiating access to the network, listening to paging messages), which can improve communication performance while reducing the power consumption of the terminal device. Furthermore, it can also reduce the complexity of the energy-saving configuration.

[0104] The following describes in detail the implementation of the embodiments of the present application in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0105] The communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application can be used in any communication system, which can be a third generation partnership project (3GPP) communication system, for example, a radio frequency identification (RFID) system, a long term evolution (LTE) system, a fifth generation (5G) mobile communication system, a new radio (NR) communication system, a vehicle to everything (V2X) system, and can also be applied to a system in which LTE and 5G are hybrid networks, or a non-terrestrial network (NTN) system, a device-to-device (D2D) communication system, a machine to machine (M2M) communication system, an Internet of Things (IoT), an ambient IoT (A-IoT) system, a universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) system, a code division multiple access (CDMA) system, and a 5G hybrid network. access, CDMA) systems and other next-generation communication systems, such as 6G and other future communication systems, may also be non-3GPP communication systems, such as wireless local area networks (WLAN), etc., without restriction.

[0106] Exemplarily, the communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application can be applied to ultra-low power communication scenarios, such as communication scenarios with power consumption below milliwatts or microwatts, for example, in RFID scenarios, A-IoT, X-IOT (X can be passive, semi-passive Internet of Things, etc.) and other scenarios.

[0107] An RFID system is a contactless automatic identification system primarily used for personal identification, but can also be used to read and write user data. An RFID system typically consists of a reader and a tag. The reader interacts with the electronic tag to manage the tag. For example, the reader can read information from the tag or write information to the tag. Data communication between the reader and the tag is contactless.

[0108] Tags can also be called electronic tags or RFID tags, and can be divided into passive tags, semi-passive tags, and active tags.

[0109] Passive tags consume approximately 1μW of power and have no inherent energy storage capacity. Their operation (such as receiving and transmitting signals) is entirely powered by the reader's RF energy. This means the tag can convert the wireless signal from the reader into energy and use this energy to power itself. Uplink transmission for passive tags relies on reflective communication. The reader sends a carrier signal that triggers the passive tag to send a reflected signal, which then uses RF energy to transmit the uplink signal to the reader. For example, part of the energy from the continuous wave (CW) sent by the reader can be used for internal processing such as encoding, decoding, modulation, and demodulation. Furthermore, this continuous wave can also be used as a carrier to carry the tag's uplink information. Passive tags are also referred to as passive Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

[0110] Semi-passive tags consume approximately 100μW of power and may include a battery to power internal processing such as encoding, decoding, modulation, and demodulation. Compared to passive tags, semi-passive tags can store some energy (e.g., using batteries or capacitors), resulting in higher transmission power consumption. Semi-passive tags also rely on reflection communication, requiring a continuous wave from the reader as a carrier wave, but their communication capabilities (such as transmission rate) are superior to passive tags.

[0111] Active tags consume about 50mW of power. They have batteries themselves and can actively send signals. They do not rely on reflected signals to communicate, and have stronger communication capabilities.

[0112] The tag design is relatively simple, integrating the application layer and air interface signaling, supporting microwatt or 100-microwatt power consumption. Tags can be encoded and decoded based on on-off-keying (OOK) modulation, such as amplitude modulation, decoding data based on high and low voltage levels. Multi-tag communication can use time division multiplexing, with serial reading for multiple tags.

[0113] A reader / writer can be a device with read / write capabilities, for example, a handheld or fixed device that reads or writes tag information. Alternatively, it can be understood as a device that communicates with tags, and can be a terminal device, a network device, a device with read / write capabilities, or an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node, etc., without limitation.

[0114] In an RFID system, readers can perform operations such as tag selection, inventory, and access. The selection operation selects one or a group of tags for inventory and access. Inventory can be understood as the process by which a reader identifies tags. The inventory rate of RFID tags is a key performance metric. Access can be understood as the interaction between a reader and a tag. Tags must be identified by the reader before they can be accessed.

[0115] For example, the process of selecting, inventorying, and accessing tags by a reader can be shown in FIG2 . Referring to FIG2 , the process includes the following steps:

[0116] Step 201: The reader sends a select signaling.

[0117] The selection signaling may include tag memory information, and the reader / writer may select one or a group of tags for access by sending the selection signaling.

[0118] Step 202: The reader sends a query signaling / query adjustment signaling / query response signaling.

[0119] Taking query signaling as an example, a reader can initiate an inventory cycle by sending query signaling. The query command can also include a random access resource configuration (e.g., parameter Q). The tag calculates the maximum number of transmission time slots based on this random access configuration (parameter Q) and randomly selects an access time slot for random access. Exemplarily, the random access resource configuration can include a maximum access time slot range.

[0120] For multiple tags selected by the reader, you can perform inventory access using time-division multiplexing. That is, after the reader completes the inventory access for one tag, it begins the inventory access for the next tag. The following steps use the inventory access for one tag as an example to illustrate.

[0121] Step 203: The tag sends a random number (RN) to the reader.

[0122] Exemplarily, the random number may be a 16-bit random number (RN16).

[0123] For example, the tag can calculate the maximum access time slot range as [0, 2Q-1] based on the Q value. The tag can randomly select a value within the range and save it as a counter (counter). Whenever a dedicated signaling query response (QueryRep) is received, counter = counter-1. When counter is equal to 0, the tag can send a random number, such as RN16.

[0124] Step 204: The reader sends an acknowledgment (ACK) message back to the tag.

[0125] If the reader successfully receives the random number sent by the tag, the reader may send a confirmation message to the tag, which may include the random number sent by the tag to the reader.

[0126] Step 205: The tag sends uplink data to the reader.

[0127] The tag can send uplink data to the reader when the random number matches, otherwise, it does not send uplink data.

[0128] Illustratively, the uplink data may be an electronic product code (EPC).

[0129] Step 206: The reader sends a random number request (Req_RN) to the tag.

[0130] The random number request may include a random number sent by the tag to the reader.

[0131] Step 207: The tag sends a handle to the reader.

[0132] Among them, the tag can send a handle to the reader when the random number matches, otherwise, no handle is sent.

[0133] Step 208: The reader sends a handle to the tag.

[0134] Step 209: Verify the tag handle. If the verification is successful, respond. Otherwise, return an error code.

[0135] Similar to RFID systems, A-IoT systems are based on cellular network communication infrastructure and consist of network equipment and Class I terminal devices. Key services include inventory, positioning, sensor reporting, and command services. Command services can implement write or lock processes. Typical application scenarios include logistics, warehousing, industrial manufacturing, identity recognition, and environmental monitoring.

[0136] The network device can be a device with reader / writer functionality, and the first-category terminal device can be a device with tag functionality. In this case, both the reader / writer and the tag can be implemented based on the infrastructure of the cellular network. In other words, both the reader / writer and the tag can be devices in the cellular network. For example, the reader / writer functionality can be implemented by a network device, such as a base station. The tag can be implemented by a terminal device in the cellular network, such as an extremely low-power, extremely low-complexity IoT terminal device, i.e., a first-category terminal device. Contactless data communication can be performed between the network device and the first-category terminal device, thereby reading information from the first-category terminal device and / or writing information to be stored to the first-category terminal device.

[0137] For example, the inventory service is to use the network device to access the first type of terminal devices within the coverage area. The device that successfully accesses can send its unique identifier (which can be identified by the network device, such as the EPC in RFID) to the network device. The positioning service can be to locate the position of the first type of terminal device using some positioning signals. The sensing service can be the first type of terminal device reporting sensor data, such as temperature data, to the network device. The command service can be some operation instructions, such as write and lock; among them, the write process can be the network device sending a downlink instruction and data, instructing the first type of terminal device to write data into its own storage area (memory); the lock process can be the network device sending a downlink instruction, instructing the first type of terminal device to lock the location of the specified address (address) of the storage area, and the content of this storage area cannot be changed or read.

[0138] For example, similar to tags in an RFID system, the first type of terminal devices can be divided into three categories: device A similar to a passive tag, device B similar to a semi-passive tag, and device C similar to an active tag.

[0139] It can be understood that the above-mentioned communication systems and communication scenarios applicable to the present application are merely examples, and the communication systems applicable to the present application are not limited to these. They are uniformly described here and will not be repeated below.

[0140] The communication system provided in the embodiment of the present application is described below using FIG3 as an example.

[0141] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 3, the communication system may include terminal equipment, network equipment, and core network equipment.

[0142] The terminal device in FIG3 may be located within the coverage of one or more cells (or carriers) provided by the network device, and the cell providing services to the terminal device may be one or more. When there are multiple cells providing services to the terminal device, the terminal device may operate in accordance with carrier aggregation (CA), dual connectivity (DC), or coordinated multi-point transmission, with at least one cell providing more than one system parameter (numerology) and providing wireless resources to the terminal device at the same time.

[0143] Terminal devices can communicate with network devices over the air interface via the uplink (UL) or downlink (DL). For example, in the UL direction, a terminal device can send uplink data to a network device via the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH); in the DL direction, a network device can send downlink data to a terminal device via the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH).

[0144] Optionally, the terminal device may be a passive terminal device, that is, the energy and carrier required for the terminal device to operate may be provided by the network device.

[0145] Optionally, the network device in this application can function as a reader / writer, or the network device can implement the functions of a reader / writer. The terminal device can function as a tag, or the terminal device can be a device that includes a tag. The terminal device can also implement the functions of a reader / writer, and the reader / writer can be understood as another type of terminal device. The tag can be located within the coverage provided by the reader / writer. When the reader / writer is a terminal device, the communication between the reader / writer and the tag can be regarded as transmission between terminal devices. When the reader / writer is a network device, the communication between the reader / writer and the tag is the Uu interface, that is, air interface communication.

[0146] Optionally, the terminal device in FIG3 may be a device with wireless transceiver functionality or a chip or chip system that can be provided in the device, and can be used to provide voice and / or data connectivity to the user. It may also be referred to as user equipment (UE), terminal, mobile station (MS), or mobile terminal (MT). For example, the terminal device in FIG3 may be a handheld device or vehicle-mounted device with wireless connection functionality, such as a mobile phone, tablet computer, notebook, PDA, or computer with wireless transceiver functionality. The terminal device can also be a mobile internet device (MID), a wearable device, a virtual reality (VR) terminal, an augmented reality (AR) terminal, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless terminal in self-driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical surgery, a wireless terminal in a smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in a smart city, a wireless terminal in a smart home, an in-vehicle terminal, a vehicle with vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication capability, an intelligent connected vehicle, a drone with UAV to UAV (U2U) communication capability, etc., without restriction.

[0147] Optionally, the network device in Figure 3 can be any device deployed in an access network that can wirelessly communicate with a terminal device, and is primarily used to implement functions such as wireless physical control, resource scheduling and wireless resource management, wireless access control, and mobility management. Specifically, the network device can be a device that supports wired access or a device that supports wireless access. Exemplarily, the network device can be an access network (AN) / radio access network (RAN) device, consisting of multiple AN / RAN nodes. The AN / RAN node may be: a base station (nodeB, NB), a macro base station, a micro base station, a relay station, an enhanced nodeB (eNB), a next-generation base station (NR nodeB, gNB), a radio network controller (RNC), a base station controller (BSC), a base transceiver station (BTS), a home base station (for example, a home evolved nodeB, a home nodeB (HNB)), a base band unit (BBU), an access point (AP), or a wireless fidelity AP (Wi-Fi AP), a transmission reception point (TRP), a transmission point (TP), a wireless relay node, or a wireless backhaul node in an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) (i.e., an IAB node), or some other access node or reader / writer, a read / write device, etc., without limitation.

[0148] In another example, network equipment may include a baseband unit (BBU) and a remote radio unit (RRU). The BBU and RRU can be placed in different locations. For example, the RRU can be remotely located in a high-traffic area, while the BBU can be placed in a central computer room. The BBU and RRU can also be placed in the same computer room. The BBU and RRU can also be different components within the same rack.

[0149] In another example, the network device may also be a device including a centralized unit (CU) node, or a distributed unit (DU) node, or a CU node and a DU node. For example, the network device can be divided into CU and DU from a logical function perspective, with some protocol layer functions placed in the CU for centralized control, and the remaining part or all of the protocol layer functions distributed in the DU, which is centrally controlled by the CU. The CU and DU can be set separately, or they can be included in the same network element, such as a BBU. Furthermore, the centralized unit CU can also be divided into a control plane (CU-CP) and a user plane (CU-UP).

[0150] In another example, the network device may include a radio unit (RU), or a device including a CU, a DU, and a RU. The RU may be included in a radio frequency device or a radio frequency unit, such as an RRU, an active antenna unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH).

[0151] It is understandable that in different systems, CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU or RU may have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in an open radio access network (O-RAN) system, CU may also be referred to as O-CU (open CU), DU may also be referred to as O-DU, CU-CP may also be referred to as O-CU-CP, CU-UP may also be referred to as O-CU-UP, and RU may also be referred to as O-RU. For the sake of convenience of description, this application uses CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU and RU as examples for description. Any of the CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU and RU in this application may be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0152] Based on the above description of the terminal device and the network device, in one possible example, as shown in FIG4 (a), the base station may be a micro base station (Micro BS), which can communicate with the tag via the Uu interface. As shown in FIG4 (b), the terminal device can communicate with the tag via a sidelink (SL). As shown in FIG4 (c), the base station may be an IAB node, which can communicate with a macro base station (Macro BS) via the Uu interface, and communicate with the tag via the Uu interface.

[0153] In the second possible example, the communication between the terminal device and the network device can also support a split architecture. As shown in Figure 5, uplink communication and downlink communication can be performed between the terminal device and the base station. As shown in (a) in Figure 5, the base station 1 can provide a carrier signal for the tag, uplink communication can be performed between the base station 1 and the tag, and downlink communication can be performed between the tag and the terminal device. Alternatively, as shown in (b) in Figure 5, the terminal device can provide a carrier signal for the tag, downlink communication can be performed between the base station 1 and the tag, and uplink communication can be performed between the tag and the terminal device. Alternatively, as shown in (c) in Figure 5, the terminal device can provide a carrier signal for the tag, uplink communication can be performed between the base station 1 and the tag, and downlink communication can be performed between the tag and the terminal device. Alternatively, as shown in (d) in Figure 5, the base station 1 can provide a carrier signal for the tag, downlink communication can be performed between the base station 1 and the tag, and uplink communication can be performed between the tag and the terminal device.

[0154] It is understood that in Figure 5, a base station that can communicate with both tags and terminal devices can be called a co-station for tags and terminal devices (such as base station 1). A base station that can only communicate with tags or a base station that can only communicate with terminal devices can be called a different station for tags and terminal devices (such as base station 2).

[0155] In a third possible example, a direct connection architecture between the terminal device and the network device can also support the A-IoT system. As shown in Figure 6, the terminal device can act as an excitation source (helper), providing a carrier signal to the tag. The base station and the tag can communicate uplink or downlink to achieve data transmission, and the base station and the terminal device can also communicate uplink or downlink.

[0156] In a fourth possible example, the terminal device and the network device can also support a separate architecture of the A-IoT system, in which the uplink and downlink data links of the tag can be decoupled. As shown in (a) in Figure 7, the base station can serve as an excitation source to provide a carrier signal for the tag, the downlink data of the tag can come from the terminal device, and the uplink data of the tag can be sent to the base station to achieve data transmission, and the terminal device and the base station can also communicate uplink or downlink. Alternatively, as shown in (b) in Figure 7, the terminal device can serve as an excitation source to provide a carrier signal for the tag, the downlink data of the tag can come from the terminal device, and the uplink data of the tag can be sent to the base station to achieve data transmission, and the terminal device and the base station can also communicate uplink or downlink.

[0157] In the fifth possible example, the terminal device and the network device can also support the terminal device assisted uplink architecture of the A-IoT system. This architecture is also a separated architecture, and the uplink and downlink data links of the tag can be decoupled. As shown in (a) in Figure 8, the terminal device can serve as an excitation source to provide a carrier signal for the tag, the downlink data of the tag can come from the base station, the uplink data of the tag can be sent to the terminal device, and the terminal device and the base station can also communicate uplink or downlink. Alternatively, as shown in (b) in Figure 8, the base station can serve as an excitation source to provide a carrier signal for the tag, the downlink data of the tag can come from the base station, the uplink data of the tag can be sent to the terminal device, and the terminal device and the base station can also communicate uplink or downlink.

[0158] Optionally, the core network device in FIG3 may be a general term for a variety of functional entities used to manage users, data transmission, and network device configuration.

[0159] Exemplarily, the core network device may include a mobility management network element, a session management network element, a user plane network element, an authentication service function network element, a tag management function network element, and other network elements, without limitation. The mobility management network element may be an access and mobility management function (AMF). The session management network element may be a session management function (SMF). The user plane network element may be a user plane function (UPF). The authentication service function network element may be an authentication server function (AUSF). The tag management function network element may be a tag management function (TMF).

[0160] Among them, the tag management function network element can be a network element for A-IoT, which can manage the inventory and other related processes of A-IoT devices, can be connected to the terminal device through the transparent transmission of the mobility management network element, or can be directly connected to the terminal device (equivalent to replacing the mobility management network element).

[0161] It is understandable that the terminal devices, network devices, and core network devices of the embodiments of the present application can be one or more chips, or a system on chip (SOC), etc. Figure 3 is only an exemplary figure, and the number of devices included is not limited. In addition, in addition to the devices shown in Figure 3, the communication system may also include other devices. The names of the various devices and the names of the various links in Figure 3 are not limited. In addition to the names shown in Figure 3, the various devices and links can also be named other names without limitation.

[0162] In conjunction with any of the communication systems shown in Figures 3 to 8, with reference to Figure 9 below, the communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application is described, wherein the terminal device can be any terminal device in the communication system shown in Figures 3 to 8, the network device can be any network device in the communication system shown in Figures 3 to 8, and the core network device can be any core network device in the communication system shown in Figure 3. The processing performed by a single execution subject (terminal device or network device or core network device) shown in the embodiment of the present application can also be divided into multiple execution subjects, and these execution subjects can be logically and / or physically separated without limitation.

[0163] FIG9 is a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG9 , the method may include:

[0164] Step 901: The terminal device obtains first indication information.

[0165] Among them, the first indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to initiate access to the network or listen for paging messages after the energy-saving period. The first indication information includes energy-saving period information. Among them, the first indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to initiate access to the network or listen for paging messages after the energy-saving period. It can be understood that the first indication information can include energy-saving period information, and include a description of the terminal device initiating access to the network or listening for paging messages after the energy-saving period. Alternatively, it can also be understood that the first indication information includes energy-saving period, and indirectly instructs the terminal device to initiate access to the network device or listen for paging messages after the energy-saving period. In this case, the action initiated by the terminal device after the energy-saving period can be predefined in the communication protocol, that is, the terminal device can determine the energy-saving period based on the received first indication information, and after the energy-saving period, according to the pre-definition of the communication protocol, initiate access to the network or listen for paging messages. The specific method is not limited in this application.

[0166] The energy-saving duration may also be described as a timer duration (timer), an eDRX cycle (eDRX cycle), a DRX cycle (DRX cycle), or a paging cycle (paging cycle), etc., without limitation.

[0167] Among them, the paging message can be used to select one, multiple, a group, or a class of terminal devices, or it can also be described as a paging message used to trigger one, multiple, a group, or a class of terminal devices to access the network, without limitation.

[0168] Among them, the first indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to listen to the paging message after the energy-saving period, which can also be described as the first indication information is used to indicate that the paging message from the network device / core network device will be sent after the energy-saving period.

[0169] Specifically, the terminal device can receive the first indication information from the core network device.

[0170] Exemplarily, the core network device may be one or more of the following: a mobility management network element, an authentication service function network element, a label management function network element, etc., without limitation.

[0171] Optionally, the core network device may carry the first indication information in a first message. In one implementation, the first message may be a message transparently transmitted from the core network device to the terminal device through the network device, such as a downlink NAS message, a registration acceptance message, or a TAU acceptance message. In another implementation, the first message may also be a message (such as an N2 message) sent by the core network device to the network device. The network device may carry the first indication information in the first message in a downlink message (such as an RRC message, a connection release message, an uplink data feedback message, a random access response message, etc.) and send it to the terminal device.

[0172] The core network device and the network device may communicate via the N2 interface or other interfaces. The other interface may be an interface that enables interaction between the network device and the core network device. For example, the other interface may be an interface that enables interaction between the network device and a tag management function network element, or an interface that enables interaction between the network device and an authentication service function network element, etc., without limitation.

[0173] Optionally, the core network device or network device may also carry the first indication information in one or more of the following messages and send it to the terminal device: paging message, system message, synchronization message, release message (such as RRC release, AS release, connection release, service release), access timing trigger, unicast message, broadcast message, non-access stratum (NAS) message.

[0174] In the first possible implementation, when the first indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to initiate access to the network after the energy-saving period, the second indication information can also be used to indicate whether to periodically initiate access to the network (or described as the second indication information is used to indicate whether to turn on periodic wake-up), or the second indication information is used to indicate periodic access to the network (or described as the second indication information is used to indicate to turn on periodic wake-up), or the second indication information is used to indicate non-periodic access to the network (or described as the second indication information is used to indicate not to turn on periodic wake-up).

[0175] Among them, the second indication information may be indication information different from the first indication information, or the second indication information may also be the first indication information, that is, the first indication information is also used to indicate whether to periodically initiate access to the network (or described as the first indication information is also used to indicate whether to turn on periodic wake-up), or the first indication information is also used to indicate periodic access to the network (or described as the first indication information is also used to indicate turning on periodic wake-up), or the first indication information is also used to indicate aperiodic access to the network (or described as the first indication information is also used to indicate not turning on periodic wake-up). It can be understood that the first indication information and the second indication information can be carried in the same message, or can also be carried in different messages, without limitation.

[0176] Among them, the terminal device can obtain the second indication information, determine whether to periodically initiate access to the network according to the second indication information (or determine whether to turn on periodic wake-up according to the second indication information), or determine to periodically initiate access to the network according to the second indication information (or determine to turn on periodic wake-up according to the second indication information), or determine to non-periodically initiate access to the network according to the second indication information (or determine not to turn on periodic wake-up according to the second indication information).

[0177] Among them, awakening can refer to the terminal device starting to receive or detect or discontinuously receive / detect messages after waking up, or it can also refer to the terminal device sending messages after waking up. When the terminal device is in a non-awakening state (such as a dormant state), the terminal device does not receive or detect messages.

[0178] It is understood that after waking up, the terminal device can continue to listen / receive / detect messages until it listens / receives / detects a message, or the terminal device can periodically listen / receive / detect messages after waking up. The specific selection can be configured by the network device or determined by the terminal device itself without restriction. The period of the terminal device listening / receiving / detecting messages can also be specified by the protocol or configured by the network device without restriction.

[0179] Among them, when the network device configures the messages carried by the above content, it can be configured in the existing downlink signaling, or it can be a periodically sent signal, such as a system message, or a periodically sent MAC message, etc., without restriction.

[0180] Optionally, the terminal device may turn on the receiver when waking up and start receiving or detecting or discontinuously receive / detect messages.

[0181] Optionally, when the terminal device actively initiates a service (such as an MO service), the terminal device can also wake up autonomously to send or receive data.

[0182] In one possible design, the second indication information may be 1-bit indication information. When the value of the 1-bit is 1, it indicates that the second indication information is used to indicate that periodic wake-up is enabled. When the value of the 1-bit is 0, it indicates that the second indication information is used to indicate that periodic wake-up is not enabled. Alternatively, when the value of the 1-bit is 0, it indicates that the second indication information is used to indicate that periodic wake-up is enabled. When the value of the 1-bit is 1, it indicates that the second indication information is used to indicate that periodic wake-up is not enabled.

[0183] In another possible design, when the second indication information is defined as being used to indicate that periodic wake-up is to be turned on, if the terminal device obtains the second indication information, it indicates that periodic wake-up is to be turned on; if the terminal device does not obtain the second indication information (such as if the second indication information is not obtained within the preset time), it implicitly indicates that periodic wake-up is not to be turned on. Alternatively, when the second indication information is defined as being used to indicate that periodic wake-up is not to be turned on, if the terminal device obtains the second indication information, it indicates that periodic wake-up is not to be turned on; if the terminal device does not obtain the second indication information (such as if the second indication information is not obtained within the preset time), it implicitly indicates that periodic wake-up is to be turned on.

[0184] In another possible design, the second indication information may also indirectly indicate the start of periodic wake-up by indicating the time period of periodic wake-up.

[0185] In another possible design, the second indication information may also indirectly indicate the start of periodic wake-up by indicating the time of the next wake-up.

[0186] Among them, the second indication information can be the time position information of the next wake-up, and the time position information can indicate the frame number corresponding to the wake-up time of the terminal device, such as the xxth frame (or subframe or superframe); or, it can also indicate the xxth time slot; or, it can also indicate the time information (such as x o'clock x minutes x seconds), etc., without restriction.

[0187] In another possible design, the second indication information can also indirectly indicate the start of periodic wake-up by instructing the terminal device to wake up after a period of time.

[0188] The time unit of the period of time indicated by the second indication information may be a frame, subframe, or superframe, such as xx frames (or subframes or superframes); or a time slot, such as xx time slots; or an absolute time unit, such as xx seconds, xx milliseconds, etc. Alternatively, it may be a time instant (such as x o'clock x minutes x seconds), etc., without limitation.

[0189] In another possible design, the second indication information may also reuse the indication information for indicating whether to enable periodic TAU. When the indication information is used to indicate whether to enable periodic TAU, it indicates that the second indication information is used to indicate whether to enable periodic wake-up. When the indication information is used to indicate whether to disable periodic TAU, it indicates that the second indication information is used to indicate whether to enable periodic wake-up.

[0190] In another possible design, when the second indication information is used to indicate whether to enable periodic wake-up, it can also be considered that the second indication information is used to indicate whether to enable periodic TAU. When the second indication information is used to indicate whether to not enable periodic wake-up, it can also be considered that the second indication information is used to indicate whether to not enable periodic TAU.

[0191] Optionally, the second indication information may be determined by the core network device and sent to the terminal device, or the second indication information may be determined by the network device and sent to the terminal device, without limitation. The description of the core network device or the network device sending the second indication information to the terminal device can refer to the above-mentioned description of the core network device or the network device sending the first indication information to the terminal device, and will not be repeated here.

[0192] In the second possible implementation, when the first indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to listen to the paging message after the energy-saving period, the third indication information can also be used to indicate whether to periodically listen to the paging message (or described as indicating whether to turn on periodic wake-up through the third indication information), or to indicate periodic listening to the paging message through the third indication information (or described as indicating to turn on periodic wake-up through the third indication information), or to indicate non-periodic listening to the paging message through the third indication information (or described as indicating not to turn on periodic wake-up through the third indication information).

[0193] Among them, the third indication information may be indication information different from the first indication information, or the third indication information may also be the first indication information, that is, the first indication information is also used to indicate whether to periodically listen to paging messages (or described as the first indication information is also used to indicate whether to turn on periodic wake-up), or the first indication information is also used to indicate periodic listening to paging messages (or described as the first indication information is also used to indicate turning on periodic wake-up), or the first indication information is also used to indicate non-periodic listening to paging messages (or described as the first indication information is also used to indicate not turning on periodic wake-up). It can be understood that the first indication information and the third indication information can be carried in the same message, or can also be carried in different messages, without limitation.

[0194] Among them, the first indication information or the third indication information can also be described as: the first indication information / third indication information is used to indicate whether to send paging messages periodically, or the first indication information / third indication information is used to indicate periodic sending of paging messages, or the first indication information / third indication information is used to indicate non-periodic sending of paging messages.

[0195] Among them, the terminal device can obtain the third indication information, determine whether to periodically listen to the paging message according to the third indication information (or determine whether to turn on the periodic wake-up according to the third indication information), or determine to periodically listen to the paging message according to the third indication information (or determine to turn on the periodic wake-up according to the third indication information), or determine to non-periodically listen to the paging message according to the third indication information (or determine not to turn on the periodic wake-up according to the third indication information).

[0196] Among them, awakening can refer to the terminal device starting to receive or detect or discontinuously receive / detect messages after waking up, or it can also refer to the terminal device sending messages after waking up. When the terminal device is in a non-awakening state (such as a dormant state), the terminal device does not receive or detect messages.

[0197] It is understood that after waking up, the terminal device can continue to listen / receive / detect messages until it listens / receives / detects a message, or the terminal device can periodically listen / receive / detect messages after waking up. The specific selection can be configured by the network device or determined by the terminal device itself without restriction. The period of the terminal device listening / receiving / detecting messages can also be specified by the protocol or configured by the network device without restriction.

[0198] Among them, when the network device configures the messages carried by the above content, it can be configured in the existing downlink signaling, or it can be a periodically sent signal, such as a system message, or a periodically sent MAC message, etc., without restriction.

[0199] Optionally, the terminal device may turn on the receiver when waking up and start receiving or detecting or discontinuously receive / detect messages.

[0200] Optionally, when the terminal device actively initiates a service (such as an MO service), the terminal device can also wake up autonomously to send or receive data.

[0201] In one possible design, the third indication information may be 1-bit indication information. When the value of the 1-bit is 1, it indicates that the third indication information is used to indicate that periodic wake-up is enabled; when the value of the 1-bit is 0, it indicates that the third indication information is used to indicate that periodic wake-up is not enabled. Alternatively, when the value of the 1-bit is 0, it indicates that the third indication information is used to indicate that periodic wake-up is enabled; when the value of the 1-bit is 1, it indicates that the third indication information is used to indicate that periodic wake-up is not enabled.

[0202] In another possible design, when the third indication information is defined as being used to indicate that periodic wake-up is to be turned on, if the terminal device obtains the third indication information, it indicates that periodic wake-up is to be turned on; if the terminal device does not obtain the third indication information (such as if the third indication information is not obtained within the preset time), it implicitly indicates that periodic wake-up is not to be turned on. Alternatively, when the third indication information is defined as being used to indicate that periodic wake-up is not to be turned on, if the terminal device obtains the third indication information, it indicates that periodic wake-up is not to be turned on; if the terminal device does not obtain the third indication information (such as if the third indication information is not obtained within the preset time), it implicitly indicates that periodic wake-up is to be turned on.

[0203] In another possible design, the third indication information may also indirectly indicate the start of periodic wake-up by indicating the time period of periodic wake-up.

[0204] In another possible design, the third indication information may also indirectly indicate the start of periodic wake-up by indicating the time of the next wake-up.

[0205] Among them, the third indication information can be the time position information of the next wake-up, and the time position information can indicate the frame number corresponding to the wake-up time of the terminal device, such as the xxth frame (or subframe or superframe); or, it can also indicate the xxth time slot; or, it can also indicate the time information (such as x o'clock x minutes x seconds), etc., without restriction.

[0206] In another possible design, the third indication information can also indirectly indicate the start of periodic wake-up by instructing the terminal device to wake up after a period of time.

[0207] The time unit of the period of time indicated by the third indication information may be a frame, subframe, or superframe, such as xx frames (or subframes or superframes); or a time slot, such as xx time slots; or an absolute time unit, such as xx seconds, xx milliseconds, etc. Alternatively, it may be a time instant (such as x:x:x:x:x), etc., without limitation.

[0208] In another possible design, the third indication information may also be multiplexed with the indication information for indicating whether to enable periodic TAU. When the indication information is used to indicate whether to enable periodic TAU, it indicates that the third indication information is used to indicate whether to enable periodic wake-up. When the indication information is used to indicate whether to disable periodic TAU, it indicates that the third indication information is used to indicate whether to enable periodic wake-up.

[0209] In another possible design, when the third indication information is used to indicate whether to enable periodic wake-up, it can also be considered that the third indication information is used to indicate whether to enable periodic TAU; when the third indication information is used to indicate whether to not enable periodic wake-up, it can also be considered that the third indication information is used to indicate whether to not enable periodic TAU.

[0210] Optionally, the third indication information may be determined by the core network device and sent to the terminal device, or the third indication information may be determined by the network device and sent to the terminal device, without limitation. The description of the core network device or the network device sending the third indication information to the terminal device can refer to the above-mentioned description of the core network device or the network device sending the first indication information to the terminal device, and will not be repeated here.

[0211] Based on the above two possible implementations, the terminal device may optionally further obtain fourth indication information, which is used to indicate a period for initiating access to the network or listening for paging messages; or. The terminal device may also determine the energy-saving duration indicated by the first indication information as a period for initiating access to the network or listening for paging messages. It is understandable that the first indication information and the fourth indication information may be carried in the same message, or may be carried in different messages, without limitation.

[0212] The fourth indication information may be determined by a core network device and sent to a terminal device, or may be determined by a network device and sent to a terminal device, without limitation. The description of the core network device or network device sending the fourth indication information to the terminal device can refer to the above-mentioned description of the core network device or network device sending the first indication information to the terminal device, and is not repeated here.

[0213] Optionally, before the core network device sends the first indication information to the terminal device, as shown in Figure 10, the terminal device may send a second message to the core network device to request energy-saving configuration information. Based on the second message, the core network device may send energy-saving configuration information (such as the above-mentioned first indication information, etc.) to the terminal device.

[0214] Among them, when the terminal device sends the second message to the core network device, the second message can be carried in a message that can be transparently transmitted to the core network device through the network device, such as carrying the second message in one or more of the following: an uplink NAS message, a registration request message, a TAU request message, etc., so as to transparently transmit the second message to the core network device through the network device. Alternatively, the terminal device can also carry the second message in an uplink message (such as an RRC message, a connection release request message, a random access request message, etc.) sent to the network device. When the network device receives the uplink message, it can carry the second message in the uplink message in a message (such as an N2 message, etc.) sent to the core network device, so that the core network device obtains the second message sent by the terminal device according to the message sent by the network device.

[0215] In a first possible implementation, before the core network device sends the first indication information to the terminal device, as shown in FIG11 , the terminal device may also send an eighth indication information to the core network device, where the eighth indication information may be used to request energy-saving duration multiplexing of the TAU cycle.

[0216] Among them, if the core network device determines that the energy-saving duration of the terminal device can reuse the TAU cycle, it can indicate periodically initiating access to the network (or indicating to start periodic wake-up) through the first indication information (or the second indication information), or indicate periodically listening to paging messages (or indicating to start periodic wake-up) through the first indication information (or the third indication information), so as to implicitly indicate that the energy-saving duration of the terminal device reuses the TAU duration. Alternatively, if the core network device determines that the energy-saving duration of the terminal device cannot reuse the TAU cycle, it can indicate non-periodically initiating access to the network (or indicating not to start periodic wake-up) through the first indication information (or the second indication information), or indicate non-periodically listening to paging messages (or indicating not to start periodic wake-up) through the first indication information (or the third indication information), so as to indicate that the energy-saving duration of the terminal device cannot reuse the TAU cycle.

[0217] Optionally, when the terminal device sends the eighth indication information to the core network device, the eighth indication information can be carried in a message that can be transparently transmitted to the core network device through the network device, such as carrying the eighth indication information in one or more of the following: an uplink NAS message, a registration request message, a TAU request message, etc., so as to transparently transmit the eighth indication information to the core network device through the network device. Alternatively, the terminal device may also carry the eighth indication information in an uplink message (such as an RRC message, a connection release request message, a random access request message, etc.) sent to the network device. When the network device receives the uplink message, it may carry the eighth indication information in the uplink message in a message (such as an N2 message, etc.) sent to the core network device, so that the core network device obtains the eighth indication information sent by the terminal device according to the message sent by the network device.

[0218] In one possible design, the description of the TAU cycle can refer to the relevant description of the TAU cycle request timer configuration in Figure 1 above, that is, the terminal device can obtain the TAU cycle request timer configuration sent by the core network device in the registration request process or the TAU request process, and then determine the TAU cycle.

[0219] In another possible design, the core network device or network device can send ninth indication information to the terminal device, and the ninth indication information can be used to indicate the TAU cycle.

[0220] Among them, the description of the core network device sending the ninth indication information to the terminal device can refer to the above-mentioned description of the core network device sending the first indication information to the terminal device, and will not be repeated here.

[0221] Optionally, the ninth indication information may include superframe information corresponding to the TAU period; or, the ninth indication information may include absolute duration information of the TAU period.

[0222] The superframe information may include the number of superframes corresponding to the TAU period. The absolute duration may be set in units of hours, minutes, etc.

[0223] Optionally, when the TAU period is less than or equal to the first threshold, the ninth indication information includes superframe information corresponding to the TAU period. Alternatively, when the TAU period is greater than the first threshold, the ninth indication information includes absolute duration information corresponding to the TAU period.

[0224] The first threshold may be the duration of M superframes, M may be the maximum value (eg, 1024) that can indicate the number of superframes, and M is a positive integer.

[0225] In the second possible implementation, unlike the first possible implementation mentioned above, the terminal device sends the eighth indication information to the core network device to request the energy-saving duration to reuse the TAU cycle. The energy-saving duration can also be determined according to the service cycle of the terminal device. For example, the service cycle of the terminal device can be determined as the energy-saving duration.

[0226] Exemplarily, the services of the terminal device may be one or more of the following: paging service, inventory service, perception service, positioning service, command service (such as services that implement read process, write process or lock process), sensing service, etc., without limitation.

[0227] Optionally, the core network device can determine the energy-saving duration based on the service cycle of the terminal device and indicate it to the terminal device through the energy-saving duration information. Alternatively, the core network device can also indicate the service cycle of the terminal device to the network device, and the network device determines the energy-saving duration based on the service cycle of the terminal device and indicates it to the terminal device through the energy-saving duration information. In this way, the terminal device can be ensured to be in an awake state when the service arrives, ensuring the normal operation of the terminal device service, ensuring both the dormancy of the terminal device and the downlink service of the terminal device, that is, it can improve communication performance while reducing the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0228] Among them, the core network equipment can obtain the service cycle of the terminal equipment from the application function network element.

[0229] For example, if the service of the terminal device is a paging service, the core network device can determine the energy-saving duration based on the paging cycle of the paging service (e.g., determine the paging cycle as the energy-saving duration) and indicate it to the terminal device. Alternatively, the core network device can also indicate the paging cycle of the terminal device to the network device, and the network device determines the energy-saving duration based on the paging cycle and indicates it to the terminal device.

[0230] By deploying a paging mechanism in energy-saving mode, the terminal device can wake up during the paging time, which is equivalent to a combination or unified flexible configuration of energy-saving mode and eDRX mode, which not only ensures the dormancy of the terminal device but also ensures the paging service of the terminal device, that is, it can improve communication performance while reducing the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0231] In a third possible implementation, different from the above two possible implementations, the terminal device may also send fifth indication information to the core network device to indicate the energy saving duration that the terminal device expects to obtain. The network side determines the energy saving duration based on the fifth indication information.

[0232] The terminal device may send the fifth indication information to the core network device, and the core network device may determine the energy-saving duration based on the fifth indication information and indicate it to the terminal device. Alternatively, the terminal device may send the fifth indication information to the network device, and the network device may determine the energy-saving duration based on the fifth indication information and indicate it to the terminal device.

[0233] Optionally, as shown in Figure 10, the terminal device may carry the fifth indication information in the above-mentioned second message and send it to the core network device or network device. Alternatively, the terminal device may also send the fifth indication information to the core network device or network device in a manner similar to the above-mentioned method of the terminal device sending the second message to the core network device or network device, which will not be described in detail here.

[0234] Based on the above description of the energy-saving duration, optionally, when the core network device / network device indicates the energy-saving duration to the terminal device through the energy-saving duration information, the energy-saving duration information may include the superframe information corresponding to the energy-saving duration, or the energy-saving duration information may include the absolute duration information of the energy-saving duration.

[0235] The superframe information may include the number of superframes corresponding to the energy saving duration. The absolute duration may be set in units of hours, minutes, etc.

[0236] Optionally, when the energy-saving duration is less than or equal to the first threshold, the energy-saving duration information includes superframe information corresponding to the energy-saving duration. Alternatively, when the energy-saving duration is greater than the first threshold, the energy-saving duration information includes absolute duration information corresponding to the energy-saving duration.

[0237] The first threshold may be the duration of M superframes, M may be the maximum value (eg, 1024) that can indicate the number of superframes, and M is a positive integer.

[0238] Optionally, when the energy-saving duration is less than or equal to the first threshold, the core network device or network device can configure the energy-saving duration based on the eDRX method through the superframe information included in the energy-saving duration information, and the terminal device and the network device can align paging based on the paging time window (PTW).

[0239] Optionally, when the energy-saving duration is greater than the first threshold, the core network device or the network device may configure the energy-saving duration using the absolute duration information included in the energy-saving duration information.

[0240] Optionally, the energy-saving duration information may be in units of frames, subframes, or superframes, such as xx frames (or subframes or superframes); or in units of time slots, such as xx time slots; or in units of absolute time, such as xx seconds, xx milliseconds, etc. Alternatively, it may be a time information (such as x o'clock x minutes x seconds), etc., without limitation.

[0241] Optionally, the core network device may also indicate the wake-up time information of the terminal device to the network device, and the network device may align paging with the terminal device according to the wake-up time of the terminal device. The description of the wake-up time information can refer to the description of the seventh indication information below and is not repeated here.

[0242] The duration that the terminal device is in energy-saving mode is less than or equal to the energy-saving duration.

[0243] Optionally, the end time of the energy saving period can be earlier than or equal to the start time of the service cycle of the terminal device. This ensures that the terminal device is in an awake state when the terminal device's service arrives, ensuring the normal operation of the terminal device's service and improving communication performance.

[0244] Among them, before the timer corresponding to the energy-saving duration times out, the terminal device can wake up in advance to perform synchronization (such as receiving a synchronization signal) or clock calibration, etc., to prepare for subsequent service reception.

[0245] Step 902: The terminal device initiates access to the network or listens for paging messages after the energy saving time according to the first indication information.

[0246] Among them, for the terminal device to initiate access to the network after the energy-saving period, it can include: the terminal device performs a tracking area update TAU after the energy-saving period; or the terminal device performs a periodic TAU after the energy-saving period, without restriction. Among them, for the terminal device to initiate access to the network after the energy-saving period, it can refer to the terminal device sending an access request or uplink data to the network device or core network device or other terminal device. The access request can be a random access identifier or a random number, or it can be triggered by receiving a downlink message to trigger the terminal device to initiate access to the network (or after receiving a trigger message for a period of time), or it can be triggered by the downlink message without relying on the terminal device to initiate access, without restriction.

[0247] Among them, for the terminal device listening to the paging message after the energy-saving period, it can include: the terminal device listening to the paging message within the first time period after the energy-saving period, or the terminal device periodically listening to the paging message after the energy-saving period; or the terminal device continuously listening to the paging message after the energy-saving period without restriction.

[0248] Optionally, the first time period may be in units of frames, subframes, or superframes, such as xx frames (or subframes or superframes); or in units of time slots, such as xx time slots; or in units of absolute time, such as xx seconds, xx milliseconds, etc. Alternatively, it may be a time information (such as x o'clock x minutes x seconds), etc., without limitation.

[0249] Optionally, the length of the first time period may be indicated by the network device (such as indicating the length of the first time period through one or more of the following indication information: first indication information, second indication information, third indication information, or fourth indication information), or it may be specified by the protocol without restriction.

[0250] Optionally, the period for the terminal device to listen to the paging message can be the above-mentioned energy-saving duration, or the period indicated by the network device or the core network device, or the DRX period, without limitation.

[0251] Specifically, the terminal device may trigger a timer corresponding to the energy-saving duration when in activation mode, and initiate access to the network or listen for paging messages when the timer corresponding to the energy-saving duration times out.

[0252] The activation of the energy-saving mode by the terminal device may also be described as the terminal device entering the energy-saving mode, or as the terminal device starting the energy-saving mode, or as the terminal device communicating in the energy-saving mode.

[0253] Among them, the terminal device in the energy-saving mode may not receive downlink data (or downlink signal); or, the terminal device in the energy-saving mode may neither receive downlink data (or downlink signal) nor send uplink data; or, the receiver (or main receiver) of the terminal device in the energy-saving mode is in a closed (or deep sleep) state to save power consumption of the terminal device.

[0254] Among them, for a terminal device including a main receiver and an auxiliary receiver (or described as a low-power receiver), when the terminal device is in energy-saving mode, the main receiver of the terminal device is in an off state and the auxiliary receiver is in an on state. The terminal device can receive some simply designed signals through the auxiliary receiver to improve the communication performance of the terminal device while saving the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0255] Optionally, before the terminal device activates the energy-saving mode, it may first start a first timer, and when the first timer times out, the terminal device activates the energy-saving mode. Alternatively, the terminal device may activate the energy-saving mode after completing data transmission, or the terminal device may start the first timer after completing data transmission, and activate the energy-saving mode when the first timer times out. The "timeout of the first timer" may be understood as when the first timer times out, or it may be understood as if the first timer times out.

[0256] Among them, the core network device or the network device can send the configuration information of the first timer to the terminal device, and the configuration information of the first timer can be used to indicate the first timer.

[0257] During the operation of the first timer, the terminal device can normally send uplink data or receive downlink data or downlink signals from the network device.

[0258] Optionally, before the core network device or the network device sends the configuration information of the first timer to the terminal device, the terminal device may send sixth indication information to the core network device or the network device, where the sixth indication information may be used to indicate the duration of the first timer that the terminal device expects to obtain. The core network device or the network device may send the configuration information of the first timer to the terminal device based on the sixth indication information.

[0259] Optionally, as shown in FIG10 , the terminal device may carry the sixth indication information in the above-mentioned second message and send it to the core network device or network device. Alternatively, the terminal device may also send the sixth indication information to the core network device or network device in a manner similar to the aforementioned terminal device sending the second message to the core network device or network device. Alternatively, as shown in FIG11 , the terminal device may carry the sixth indication information and the eighth indication information in the same message and send them to the core network device or network device, or the terminal device may also send the sixth indication information to the core network device or terminal device in a manner similar to the aforementioned terminal device sending the eighth indication information to the core network device or network device, without limitation.

[0260] Optionally, as shown in Figure 10 or Figure 11, when the terminal device completes the service transmission, the network device may send an RRC connection release message to the terminal device, or it may be described as after the terminal device processes the data, the RRC connection will be released and the terminal device enters the idle state. The network device may also send a context release completion message to the core network device; accordingly, the core network device receives the context release completion message from the network device. When the terminal device releases the RRC connection with the network device, the terminal device may start a first timer. Alternatively, it may be described as the terminal device leaving the connected state and starting the first timer after entering the idle state.

[0261] Optionally, during the operation of the first timer, the terminal device can normally receive paging messages, downlink trigger messages, selection messages, etc. sent by the network device, and can also perform RRM measurements, etc.

[0262] Exemplarily, the first timer may be the active timer in FIG1 .

[0263] Optionally, when the first indication information (or the second indication information) indicates to periodically initiate access to the network (or enable periodic wake-up), the terminal device can perform periodic tracking area update TAU after the energy-saving period. Alternatively, when the first indication information indicates not to enable periodic wake-up, the terminal device can detect other downlink messages such as paging messages, downlink trigger messages, or selection messages after the energy-saving period.

[0264] Among them, detecting paging messages or downlink trigger messages or selection messages and other downlink messages may refer to receiving paging messages or downlink trigger messages or selection messages and other downlink messages, or may refer to listening to paging messages or downlink trigger messages or selection messages and other downlink messages. Optionally, the terminal device may periodically receive or listen to paging messages or downlink trigger messages or selection messages and other downlink messages. The period may be configured for the terminal device by the network device or the core network device and is not limited.

[0265] Optionally, the terminal device may start periodic reception or monitoring after the timer corresponding to the energy-saving duration times out, or when the timer corresponding to the energy-saving duration just times out.

[0266] Optionally, the terminal device may also re-enter the energy-saving mode after performing periodic tracking area updates, and the duration for which the terminal device is in the energy-saving mode is less than or equal to the energy-saving duration.

[0267] Optionally, as shown in FIG12 , the terminal device may re-enter the energy-saving mode after detecting the paging message within the paging duration, and the duration that the terminal device is in the energy-saving mode is less than or equal to the energy-saving duration.

[0268] Based on the method shown in Figure 9 above, the first indication information can flexibly indicate the terminal device's operations after the energy-saving period (such as initiating access to the network, listening to paging messages), which can improve communication performance while reducing the power consumption of the terminal device. Furthermore, it can also reduce the complexity of the energy-saving configuration.

[0269] Based on the above description, optionally, the core network device may also send a tenth indication message to the terminal device, wherein the tenth indication message is used to indicate the wake-up duration of the terminal device.

[0270] Among them, the terminal device is in the awake state within the awake time, and the terminal device can perform periodic tracking area updates in the awake state, or detect other downlink messages such as paging messages or downlink trigger messages or selection messages in the awake state.

[0271] It can be understood that the feature of "the core network device sends the tenth indication information to the terminal device" can be used in combination with the method shown in Figure 12 above, or it can be executed alone without limitation.

[0272] Optionally, the core network device may further send seventh indication information to the network device; the seventh indication information is used to indicate the wake-up time information of the terminal device. Based on this, the network device may send a downlink message such as a paging message, a downlink trigger message, or a selection message to the terminal device when the terminal device is in the awake state, thereby improving communication performance.

[0273] Exemplarily, the wake-up time information may include time position information, which may indicate the frame number corresponding to the wake-up time of the terminal device, such as the xxth frame (or subframe or superframe); or, it may indicate the xxth time slot; or, it may indicate the moment information (such as x o'clock x minutes x seconds), etc., without limitation. Alternatively, the wake-up time information may include the difference between the current moment and the wake-up time of the terminal device, which may be in units of frames, subframes, or superframes, such as xx frames (or subframes or superframes); or, it may be in units of time slots, such as xx time slots; or, it may be in units of absolute time, such as xx seconds, xx milliseconds, etc. Alternatively, the wake-up time information may also be a moment information (such as x o'clock x minutes x seconds), etc., without limitation.

[0274] For example, taking the wake-up time information as the 1000th frame number as an example, the terminal device can wake up at the 1000th frame number, and the network device can send a paging message or a downlink trigger message or other downlink messages such as a selection message at the 1000th frame number.

[0275] Among them, the network device can periodically send paging messages or downlink trigger messages or selection messages and other downlink messages to the terminal device, or the network device can also continuously send paging messages or downlink trigger messages or selection messages and other downlink messages to the terminal device, or the network device can also send paging messages or downlink trigger messages or selection messages and other downlink messages to the terminal device through the DRX / eDRX mechanism, etc., without restriction.

[0276] Optionally, different from the above-mentioned communication scenarios including core network devices, network devices, and terminal devices, for architectures with relay terminal devices, that is, for communication scenarios including core network devices, network devices, relay terminal devices, and terminal devices (such as A-IoT devices), when the core network device or network device sends various information to the terminal device (such as the above-mentioned first indication information, second indication information, third indication information, fourth indication information, seventh indication information, ninth indication information, tenth indication information, etc.), it can be forwarded through the relay terminal device. When the terminal device sends various information to the network device or core network device (such as the fifth indication information, sixth indication information, eighth indication information, etc.), it can also be forwarded through the relay terminal device.

[0277] Optionally, the core network device may also send the above wake-up time information to the relay terminal device.

[0278] Among them, the core network device or network device can send the wake-up time information of the A-IoT device to the relay terminal device. Based on this, the relay terminal device can send downlink messages such as paging messages or downlink trigger messages or selection messages to the A-IoT device when the A-IoT device is in the awake state, thereby improving communication performance.

[0279] It is understandable that the above-mentioned wake-up time information and the following paging occasion (PO) mechanism can be used separately or in combination without limitation.

[0280] For example, taking the combination of the above-mentioned wake-up time information and the following PO mechanism as an example, the core network device can indicate the wake-up time information of the terminal device to the network device, and the network device can start using the DRX mechanism to send a paging message for the terminal device based on the wake-up time information of the terminal device. The specific sending location of the paging message can be determined according to the following PO.

[0281] For example, taking the case where the terminal device detects a paging message in an awake state, the detection time of the paging message by the terminal device may be determined according to the PO.

[0282] Among them, the terminal device can determine the location of the PO based on the identification information of the terminal device (such as 5G temporary mobile subscriber identity (S-temporary mobile subscriber identity, 5G-S-TMSI)), such as determining the identification information of the terminal device through 5G-S-TMSI mod 1024, and determining the location of the PO based on the identification information of the terminal device, and then the terminal device can detect the paging message at the PO.

[0283] Among them, the paging message can carry a paging record (paging record), which corresponds to the identification information of at least one terminal device being paged. If the paging message received by the terminal device contains its own identification information, it indicates that it has been paged. In the subsequent process, a random access process (random access, RA) can be initiated to establish a connection with the network device.

[0284] For example, the calculation rules of PO can be as follows:

[0285] In the time domain, the terminal device can try to receive the paging message at the PO of a specific frame (such as a paging frame (PF)) within its paging cycle (a PO may have multiple slots, and PO in LTE is the concept of a subframe). Therefore, the network device can send the paging message from the air interface at this moment, so that the terminal device may receive the paging message at this moment.

[0286] Among them, PF is a radio frame, which can contain one or more POs. PO can be a collection of PDCCH monitoring occasions, which may contain multiple time slots (or subframes or orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols). On the PO, there may be a PDCCH that is scrambled using a paging radio network temporary identifier (P-RNTI) and indicates a paging message. For each terminal device, there can be one PO available for receiving paging in each paging cycle.

[0287] Exemplarily, the PF may be a system frame satisfying the following formula: (SFN+PF_offset) mod T=(T div N)*(UE_ID mod N);

[0288] PO may be indicated by index i_s: i_s=floor(UE_ID / N) mod Ns;

[0289] The definitions of the various parameters in the above formula can be shown in Table 1 below:

[0290] Table 1

[0291] Among them, for the paging message sent by the core network device, the default DRX cycle (default cycle) can be configured by the information element (IE) of the system information block 1 (SIB1): PCCH-Config->defaultPaging Cycle. Alternatively, for the paging message sent by the core network device, the specific DRX cycle (specific cycle) can be configured by NAS signaling (the terminal device is in an idle state). Alternatively, for the paging message sent by the network device, the specific DRX cycle can be configured by RRC release signaling (the terminal device is in an inactive state).

[0292] As shown in FIG13 , T div N is equivalent to the number of system frames contained in each N-parts after a DRX cycle is divided into N equal parts; UE_ID mod N is equivalent to the "UE_ID mod N" (value range is 0 to N-1)th part in the N equal parts, and PF is the first system frame therein.

[0293] It should be noted that the various embodiments of this application can be implemented independently or in combination, without limitation. Unless otherwise specified or there is a logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions of the different embodiments provided in this application are consistent and can be referenced by each other. The technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments based on their inherent logical relationships.

[0294] It is understood that in the embodiments of the present application, the execution subject may perform some or all of the steps in the embodiments of the present application. These steps or operations are merely examples, and the embodiments of the present application may also perform other operations or variations of various operations. In addition, the various steps may be performed in a different order than those presented in the embodiments of the present application, and it is possible that not all operations in the embodiments of the present application need to be performed.

[0295] The above mainly introduces the solution provided by the embodiment of the present application from the perspective of interaction between devices. It is understandable that, in order to realize the above functions, each device includes a hardware structure and / or software module corresponding to the execution of each function. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that, in combination with the algorithm steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed herein, the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in the form of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to be beyond the scope of this application.

[0296] The embodiments of the present application can divide the functional modules of each device according to the above method examples. For example, each functional module can be divided according to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing module. The above integrated modules can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional modules. It should be noted that the division of modules in the embodiments of the present application is schematic and is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods.

[0297] In the case of dividing each functional module according to each function, Figure 14 shows a terminal device 140, which can execute the actions performed by the terminal device in the method shown in Figures 9 to 13 above. All relevant contents of each step involved in the above method embodiment can be referred to the functional description of the corresponding functional module. The technical effects that can be obtained can be referred to the above method embodiment and will not be repeated here.

[0298] Terminal device 140 may include a transceiver module 1401 and a processing module 1402. Exemplarily, terminal device 140 may be a communications device, or a chip used in a communications device, or other combined device or component having the aforementioned terminal device functions. When terminal device 140 is a communications device, transceiver module 1401 may be a transceiver, which may include an antenna and radio frequency circuits, etc.; processing module 1402 may be a processor (or processing circuit), such as a baseband processor, which may include one or more CPUs. When terminal device 140 is a component having the aforementioned terminal device functions, transceiver module 1401 may be a radio frequency unit; processing module 1402 may be a processor (or processing circuit), such as a baseband processor. When terminal device 140 is a system-on-chip (SoC), transceiver module 1401 may be the input / output interface of the SoC (e.g., a baseband chip); processing module 1402 may be the SoC's processor (or processing circuit), which may include one or more central processing units. It should be understood that the transceiver module 1401 in the embodiment of the present application can be implemented by a transceiver or a transceiver-related circuit component; the processing module 1402 can be implemented by a processor or a processor-related circuit component (or, referred to as a processing circuit).

[0299] For example, the transceiver module 1401 can be used to perform all transceiver operations performed by the terminal device in the embodiments shown in Figures 9 to 13, and / or to support other processes of the technology described in this document; the processing module 1402 can be used to perform all operations other than transceiver operations performed by the terminal device in the embodiments shown in Figures 9 to 13, and / or to support other processes of the technology described in this document.

[0300] Exemplarily, the transceiver module 1401 is used to obtain first indication information; wherein, the first indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to initiate access to the network or listen to paging messages after the energy-saving period, and the first indication information includes energy-saving period information; the processing module 1402 is used to initiate access to the network or listen to paging messages after the energy-saving period according to the first indication information.

[0301] In one possible design, the transceiver module 1401 is specifically used to receive the first indication information from the core network device.

[0302] In one possible design, the core network equipment is one or more of the following: mobility management network element, authentication service function network element, and label management function network element.

[0303] In one possible design, the transceiver module 1401 is also used to obtain second indication information; wherein the second indication information is used to indicate whether to periodically initiate access to the network.

[0304] In one possible design, the transceiver module 1401 is also used to obtain third indication information; wherein the third indication information is used to indicate whether to periodically listen to paging messages.

[0305] In one possible design, the processing module 1402 is specifically used to perform a tracking area update TAU after the energy-saving period; or, to perform a periodic TAU after the energy-saving period.

[0306] In one possible design, the processing module 1402 is specifically used to listen to the paging message within the first time period after the energy-saving period, or to periodically listen to the paging message after the energy-saving period; or to continuously listen to the paging message after the energy-saving period.

[0307] In one possible design, the transceiver module 1401 is also used to obtain fourth indication information; wherein the fourth indication information is used to indicate the period for initiating access to the network or listening to paging messages; or, the period for initiating access to the network or listening to paging messages is the energy-saving duration.

[0308] In one possible design, the transceiver module 1401 is also used to send a fifth indication information; wherein the fifth indication information is used to indicate the energy-saving duration that the terminal device expects to obtain.

[0309] In one possible design, when the energy-saving duration is less than or equal to the first threshold, the energy-saving duration information includes the superframe information corresponding to the energy-saving duration; or, when the energy-saving duration is greater than the first threshold, the energy-saving duration information includes the absolute duration information of the energy-saving duration.

[0310] In one possible design, the transceiver module 1401 is also used to obtain configuration information of the first timer; wherein the configuration information of the first timer is used to indicate the first timer; when the first timer times out, the energy-saving mode is activated.

[0311] In one possible design, the transceiver module 1401 is also used to send sixth indication information before obtaining the configuration information of the first timer; wherein the sixth indication information is used to indicate the duration of the first timer that the terminal device expects to obtain.

[0312] Figure 15 shows a core network device 150, which can execute the actions performed by the core network device in the methods shown in Figures 9 to 13 above. All relevant contents of each step involved in the above method embodiments can be referred to the functional description of the corresponding functional modules. The technical effects that can be obtained can refer to the above method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0313] The core network device 150 may include a transceiver module 1501 and a processing module 1502. Exemplarily, the core network device 150 may be a communications device, or a chip used in a communications device, or other combined device or component having the aforementioned core network device functions. When the core network device 150 is a communications device, the transceiver module 1501 may be a transceiver, which may include an antenna and radio frequency circuits, etc.; the processing module 1502 may be a processor (or processing circuit), such as a baseband processor, which may include one or more CPUs. When the core network device 150 is a component having the aforementioned core network device functions, the transceiver module 1501 may be a radio frequency unit; the processing module 1502 may be a processor (or processing circuit), such as a baseband processor. When the core network device 150 is a system-on-chip (SoC), the transceiver module 1501 may be the input / output interface of the SoC (e.g., a baseband chip); the processing module 1502 may be the SoC's processor (or processing circuit), which may include one or more central processing units. It should be understood that the transceiver module 1501 in the embodiment of the present application can be implemented by a transceiver or a transceiver-related circuit component; the processing module 1502 can be implemented by a processor or a processor-related circuit component (or, referred to as a processing circuit).

[0314] For example, the transceiver module 1501 can be used to perform all transceiver operations performed by the core network device in the embodiments shown in Figures 9 to 13, and / or to support other processes of the technology described in this document; the processing module 1502 can be used to perform all operations other than transceiver operations performed by the core network device in the embodiments shown in Figures 9 to 13, and / or to support other processes of the technology described in this document.

[0315] Exemplarily, the processing module 1502 is used to generate the first indication information; the transceiver module 1501 is used to send the first indication information; wherein, the first indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to initiate access to the network or listen for paging messages after the energy-saving duration, and the first indication information includes the energy-saving duration information.

[0316] In one possible design, the transceiver module 1501 is also used to send a second indication message; wherein the second indication message is used to indicate whether to periodically initiate access to the network.

[0317] In one possible design, the transceiver module 1501 is also used to send a third indication information; wherein the third indication information is used to indicate whether to periodically listen to paging messages.

[0318] In one possible design, the transceiver module 1501 is also used to send a fourth indication information; wherein the fourth indication information is used to indicate a period for initiating access to the network or listening to paging messages; or, the period for initiating access to the network or listening to paging messages is an energy-saving duration.

[0319] In one possible design, the transceiver module 1501 is also used to obtain fifth indication information; wherein the fifth indication information is used to indicate the energy-saving duration that the terminal device expects to obtain.

[0320] In one possible design, the energy-saving duration is determined based on the fifth indication information.

[0321] In one possible design, when the energy-saving duration is less than or equal to the first threshold, the energy-saving duration information includes the superframe information corresponding to the energy-saving duration; or, when the energy-saving duration is greater than the first threshold, the energy-saving duration information includes the absolute duration information of the energy-saving duration.

[0322] In one possible design, the transceiver module 1501 is also used to send seventh indication information to the network device; wherein the seventh indication information is used to indicate the wake-up time information of the terminal device.

[0323] In one possible design, the wake-up time information includes at least one of the frame number, subframe number, or absolute time corresponding to the wake-up time of the terminal device; or, the wake-up time information includes the difference between the current moment and the wake-up time of the terminal device.

[0324] In one possible design, the transceiver module 1501 is also used to send configuration information of the first timer; wherein the configuration information of the first timer is used to indicate the first timer, and the first timer is used for the terminal device to activate the energy-saving mode when the first timer times out.

[0325] In one possible design, the transceiver module 1501 is also used to obtain sixth indication information before sending the configuration information of the first timer; wherein the sixth indication information is used to indicate the duration of the first timer that the terminal device expects to obtain.

[0326] As another possible implementation, the transceiver module 1401 in Figure 14 can be replaced by a transceiver that integrates the functionality of the transceiver module 1401; the processing module 1402 can be replaced by a processor that integrates the functionality of the processing module 1402. Furthermore, the terminal device 140 shown in Figure 14 can also include a memory. Alternatively, the transceiver module 1501 in Figure 15 can be replaced by a transceiver that integrates the functionality of the transceiver module 1501; the processing module 1502 can be replaced by a processor that integrates the functionality of the processing module 1502. Furthermore, the core network device 150 shown in Figure 15 can also include a memory.

[0327] Alternatively, when the processing module 1402 is replaced by a processor and the transceiver module 1401 is replaced by a transceiver, the terminal device 140 involved in the embodiment of the present application may also be the communication device 160 shown in Figure 16. Alternatively, when the processing module 1502 is replaced by a processor and the transceiver module 1501 is replaced by a transceiver, the core network device 150 involved in the embodiment of the present application may also be the communication device 160 shown in Figure 16.

[0328] The processor may be a logic circuit 1601, and the transceiver may be an interface circuit 1602. Furthermore, the communication device 160 shown in FIG16 may further include a memory 1603.

[0329] The present application also provides a communication device 1700 as shown in FIG17 . The communication device 1700 can be a terminal device or a chip or system-on-chip in a terminal device; a network device or a chip or system-on-chip in a network device; or a core network device or a chip or system-on-chip in a core network device. As shown in FIG17 , the communication device 1700 includes a processor 1701 , a transceiver 1702 , and a communication line 1703 .

[0330] Furthermore, the communication device 1700 may further include a memory 1704 . The processor 1701 , the memory 1704 and the transceiver 1702 may be connected via a communication line 1703 .

[0331] The processor 1701 is a central processing unit (CPU), a general-purpose processor, a network processor (NP), a digital signal processor (DSP), a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a programmable logic device (PLD), or any combination thereof. The processor 1701 may also be other devices with processing functions, such as circuits, devices, or software modules, without limitation.

[0332] Transceiver 1702 is used to communicate with other devices or other communication networks. Such other communication networks may be Ethernet, radio access networks (RAN), wireless local area networks (WLAN), etc. Transceiver 1702 may be a module, circuit, transceiver, or any device capable of communication.

[0333] The communication line 1703 is used to transmit information between the various components included in the communication device 1700.

[0334] The memory 1704 is used to store instructions, where the instructions may be computer programs.

[0335] Among them, the memory 1704 can be a read-only memory (ROM) or other types of static storage devices that can store static information and / or instructions, or a random access memory (RAM) or other types of dynamic storage devices that can store information and / or instructions, or an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disc storage, optical disc storage (including compact disc, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc, Blu-ray disc, etc.), magnetic disk storage media or other magnetic storage devices, etc., without limitation.

[0336] It should be noted that memory 1704 can exist independently of processor 1701 or can be integrated with processor 1701. Memory 1704 can be used to store instructions, program code, or some data. Memory 1704 can be located within or outside of communication device 1700, without limitation. Processor 1701 is configured to execute instructions stored in memory 1704 to implement the communication methods provided in the following embodiments of this application.

[0337] In one example, the processor 1701 may include one or more CPUs, such as CPU0 and CPU1 in FIG. 17 .

[0338] As an optional implementation, the communication device 1700 includes multiple processors. For example, in addition to the processor 1701 in FIG. 17 , it may also include a processor 1707 .

[0339] As an optional implementation, the communication apparatus 1700 further includes an output device 1705 and an input device 1706. For example, the input device 1706 is a keyboard, a mouse, a microphone, or a joystick, and the output device 1705 is a display screen, a speaker, or the like.

[0340] It should be noted that communication device 1700 may be a desktop computer, a portable computer, a network server, a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a wireless terminal, an embedded device, a chip system, or a device having a structure similar to that shown in FIG17 . Furthermore, the structure shown in FIG17 does not limit the communication device. In addition to the components shown in FIG17 , the communication device may include more or fewer components than shown, or combine certain components, or arrange the components differently.

[0341] In the embodiment of the present application, the chip system can be composed of chips, or can include chips and other discrete devices.

[0342] In addition, the actions and terms involved in the various embodiments of this application can refer to each other without limitation. The message names or parameter names in the messages exchanged between the various devices in the embodiments of this application are only examples, and other names can also be used in specific implementations without limitation.

[0343] The embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program product, which, when executed by a computer, can implement the functions of any of the above method embodiments.

[0344] The embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program, which, when executed by a computer, can implement the functions of any of the above method embodiments.

[0345] The embodiment of the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium. All or part of the processes in the above-mentioned method embodiments can be completed by a computer program to instruct the relevant hardware, and the program can be stored in the above-mentioned computer-readable storage medium. When the program is executed, it can include the processes of the above-mentioned method embodiments. The computer-readable storage medium can be an internal storage unit of the terminal (including the data sending end and / or the data receiving end) of any of the above-mentioned embodiments, such as the hard disk or memory of the terminal. The above-mentioned computer-readable storage medium can also be an external storage device of the above-mentioned terminal, such as a plug-in hard disk equipped on the above-mentioned terminal, a smart memory card (smart media card, SMC), a secure digital (secure digital, SD) card, a flash card (flash card), etc. Further, the above-mentioned computer-readable storage medium can also include both the internal storage unit of the above-mentioned terminal and an external storage device. The above-mentioned computer-readable storage medium is used to store the above-mentioned computer program and other programs and data required by the above-mentioned terminal. The above-mentioned computer-readable storage medium can also be used to temporarily store data that has been output or is to be output.

[0346] It should be noted that the terms "first" and "second" in the specification, claims and drawings of this application are used to distinguish different objects, rather than to describe a specific order. "First" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Therefore, the features defined as "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the features. In the description of this embodiment, unless otherwise specified, "multiple" means two or more.

[0347] Furthermore, the terms "include," "comprise," and "have," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a process, method, system, product, or apparatus comprising a series of steps or elements is not limited to the listed steps or elements, but may optionally include steps or elements not listed, or may optionally include other steps or elements inherent to the process, method, product, or apparatus.

[0348] It should be understood that in this application, "at least one (item)" refers to one or more. "Multiple" refers to two or more. "At least two (items)" refers to two or three and more than three. "And / or" is used to describe the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, "A and / or B" can mean: only A exists, only B exists, and A and B exist at the same time, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following items" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single items or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b or c can mean: a, b, c, "a and b", "a and c", "b and c", or "a and b and c", where a, b, c can be single or multiple. “When” and “if” both mean that corresponding measures will be taken under certain objective circumstances. They do not limit the time, nor do they require any judgment action when they are implemented, nor do they mean that there are other limitations.

[0349] In the embodiments of this application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations, or descriptions. Any embodiment or design described as "exemplary" or "for example" in the embodiments of this application should not be construed as being preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, the use of words such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present the relevant concepts in a concrete manner to facilitate understanding.

[0350] In this application, "sending information to ... (a terminal device)" can be understood as the destination of the information being the terminal device. This can include sending information directly or indirectly to the terminal device. "Receiving information from ... (a terminal device)" can be understood as the source of the information being the terminal device. This can include receiving information directly or indirectly from the terminal device. The information may undergo necessary processing between the source and destination, such as formatting changes, but the destination can still understand the valid information from the source.

[0351] Through the description of the above implementation methods, technical personnel in the relevant field can clearly understand that for the convenience and simplicity of description, only the division of the above-mentioned functional modules is used as an example. In actual applications, the above-mentioned functions can be assigned to different functional modules as needed, that is, the internal structure of the device can be divided into different functional modules to complete all or part of the functions described above.

[0352] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely schematic. For example, the division of the modules or units is merely a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another device, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0353] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may be one physical unit or multiple physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed in multiple places. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

[0354] In addition, the functional units in the various embodiments of the present application may be integrated into a single processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into a single unit. The aforementioned integrated units may be implemented in the form of hardware or software functional units.

[0355] If the integrated unit is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application or all or part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for enabling a device (which can be a single-chip microcomputer, chip, etc.) or a processor to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media that can store program codes, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a ROM, a RAM, a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: include: Obtaining first indication information; wherein the first indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to initiate access to the network or listen for paging messages after the energy-saving duration, and the first indication information includes energy-saving duration information; According to the first indication information, access is initiated to the network or paging messages are intercepted after the energy saving time.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The method further comprises: Obtain second indication information; wherein the second indication information is used to indicate whether to periodically initiate access to the network.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The method further comprises: Obtain third indication information; wherein the third indication information is used to indicate whether to periodically listen to paging messages.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that Accessing the network device after the energy-saving period includes: Performing a tracking area update (TAU) after the energy saving duration; or A periodic TAU is performed after the energy saving time period.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that Listening to a paging message after the energy saving time period includes: Listening to paging messages within a first time period after the energy saving time, or Periodically listening for paging messages after the energy saving duration; or Continue to listen to the paging message after the energy saving time period.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that Obtaining fourth indication information; wherein the fourth indication information is used to indicate a period for initiating access to the network or listening to paging messages; or The period for initiating access to the network or listening to paging messages is the energy-saving duration.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that Before obtaining the first indication information, the method further includes: Send a fifth indication message; wherein, the fifth indication message is used to indicate the energy-saving duration that the terminal device expects to obtain.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that When the energy-saving duration is less than or equal to the first threshold, the energy-saving duration information includes superframe information corresponding to the energy-saving duration; or When the energy-saving duration is greater than the first threshold, the energy-saving duration information includes absolute duration information of the energy-saving duration.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that The method further comprises: Obtaining configuration information of a first timer; wherein the configuration information of the first timer is used to indicate the first timer; When the first timer times out, the energy saving mode is activated.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that Before acquiring the configuration information of the first timer, the method further includes: Send sixth indication information; wherein, the sixth indication information is used to indicate the duration of the first timer that the terminal device expects to obtain.

11. A communication method, characterized in that: include: generating first indication information; Send the first indication information; wherein, the first indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to initiate access to the network or listen for paging messages after the energy-saving duration, and the first indication information includes energy-saving duration information.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that The method further comprises: Sending second indication information; wherein, the second indication information is used to indicate whether to periodically initiate access to the network.

13. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that The method further comprises: Send third indication information; wherein the third indication information is used to indicate whether to periodically listen to paging messages.

14. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 13, characterized in that: Sending fourth indication information; wherein the fourth indication information is used to indicate a period for initiating access to the network or listening to paging messages; or The period for initiating access to the network or listening to paging messages is the energy-saving duration.

15. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 14, characterized in that: Before sending the first indication information, the method further includes: Obtain fifth indication information; wherein, the fifth indication information is used to indicate the energy-saving duration that the terminal device expects to obtain.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that The energy-saving duration is determined according to the fifth indication information.

17. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 16, characterized in that: When the energy-saving duration is less than or equal to the first threshold, the energy-saving duration information includes superframe information corresponding to the energy-saving duration; or When the energy-saving duration is greater than the first threshold, the energy-saving duration information includes absolute duration information of the energy-saving duration.

18. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 17, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Send seventh indication information to the network device; wherein the seventh indication information is used to indicate the wake-up time information of the terminal device.

19. The method according to claim 18, characterized in that The wake-up time information includes at least one of a frame number, a subframe number, or an absolute time corresponding to the wake-up time of the terminal device; or The wake-up time information includes the difference between the current time and the wake-up time of the terminal device.

20. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 19, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Send configuration information of the first timer; wherein, the configuration information of the first timer is used to indicate the first timer, and the first timer is used for the terminal device to activate the energy-saving mode when the first timer times out.

21. The method according to claim 20, characterized in that Before sending the configuration information of the first timer, the method further includes: Obtain sixth indication information; wherein, the sixth indication information is used to indicate the duration of the first timer that the terminal device expects to obtain.

22. A communication device, characterized in that: The communication device includes one or more processors; the one or more processors are configured to execute computer programs or instructions so that the communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 10 is executed, or the communication method according to any one of claims 11 to 21 is executed.

23. The communication device according to claim 22, wherein: The communication device further comprises one or more memories for storing the computer programs or instructions.

24. A communication device, characterized in that: The communication device includes an interface circuit and a logic circuit; the interface circuit is used to input and / or output information; the logic circuit is used to execute the communication method described in any one of claims 1 to 10, or to execute the communication method described in any one of claims 11 to 21, and to process and / or generate the information based on the information.

25. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that The computer-readable storage medium stores computer instructions or programs, which, when executed on a computer, enable the communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 10 to be executed, or enable the communication method according to any one of claims 11 to 21 to be executed.

26. A computer program product, characterized in that The computer program product includes computer instructions; when part or all of the computer instructions are run on a computer, the communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 10 is executed, or the communication method according to any one of claims 11 to 21 is executed.

27. A chip, characterized in that: include: One or more processors, the one or more processors being coupled to one or more memories, the memories being used to store programs or instructions, which, when executed by the processors, cause the communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 10 to be executed, or cause the communication method according to any one of claims 11 to 21 to be executed.

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