Communication method, apparatus, and system

Abstract

The present application relates to a communication method, an apparatus and a system. The method comprises: a terminal receives a reference signal from a first network device, the reference signal corresponding to a first beam, and the reference signal being determined on the basis of ephemeris information of the first network device and position information of the terminal; and the terminal sends first indication information to the first network device, the first indication information being used for indicating the beam quality of the first beam, and the first indication information being determined on the basis of a measurement result of the reference signal and a first threshold. In the embodiments of the present application, the terminal reports the first indication information determined by the measurement result of the reference signal and the first threshold instead of directly reporting the measurement result of the reference signal, thereby reducing the signaling overhead required by the terminal reporting the measurement result.

Description

Communication method, device and system

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China on January 31, 2024, with application number 202410141884.6 and application name "A Communication Method, Device and System", the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

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

[0004] To ensure good downlink communication quality between the terminal and the network device, the terminal usually first measures the reference signals sent by the network device through multiple beams, and then reports the measurement results of the multiple reference signals to the network device (for example, reference signal receiving power (RSRP)). After receiving the multiple measurement results, the network device selects a suitable beam from the multiple beams to provide communication services for the terminal (for example, downlink data transmission or scheduling).

[0005] However, since the measurement results reported by the terminal to the network device include specific signal measurement values ​​(for example, RSRP measurement values ​​or RSRP quantization values), and the signal measurement values ​​occupy a large number of bits, a large signaling overhead is usually required to report the measurement results. For example, the terminal needs to occupy a large number of bits and / or resources to report the measurement results to the network device. Summary of the Invention

[0006] Embodiments of the present application provide a communication method, apparatus, and system for reducing the signaling overhead required for a terminal to report measurement results.

[0007] In the first aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be executed by a terminal, or by other devices including terminal functions, or by a chip system (or, chip) or other functional module, which can realize the functions of the terminal, and the chip system or functional module is, for example, set in the terminal. In the following introduction, the method is taken as an example of being executed by a terminal. The method includes: receiving a reference signal from a first network device, the reference signal corresponding to a first beam, and the reference signal can be determined based on the ephemeris information of the first network device and the position information of the terminal; sending first indication information to the first network device, the first indication information is used to indicate the beam quality of the first beam, and the first indication information can be determined based on the measurement result of the reference signal and a first threshold.

[0008] In an embodiment of the present application, after receiving the reference signal sent by the first network device in the first beam, the terminal can generate first indication information indicating the beam quality of the first beam based on the measurement result of the reference signal (e.g., RSRP measurement value) and the first threshold set for the reference signal, and then report the generated first indication information to the first network device, so that the first network device can determine whether the first network device meets the downlink communication requirements between the terminal and the first network device based on the first indication information, that is, the first network device can determine whether the first beam meets the requirements of being a downlink communication beam between the terminal and the first network device based on the first indication information; in this way, since the terminal no longer needs to report the measurement result including the specific signal measurement value, but only reports the indication information of whether the first beam meets the downlink communication requirements between the terminal and the first network device, and the number of bits occupied by the signal measurement value (e.g., 7 bits) is large, and the signaling overhead required for the first indication information is small (e.g., 1 bit); therefore, the signaling overhead required for the terminal to report the measurement result is reduced.

[0009] In addition, since the first network device can determine which reference signal to use in the first beam, the transmit power corresponding to the reference signal, the information / content carried by the reference signal, the beam pointing corresponding to the reference signal, the time-frequency resources occupied by sending the reference signal, etc. based on the ephemeris information (or location information) of the first network device and the location information of the terminal, the first network device can, by configuring the reference signal sent in the first beam, ensure to a certain extent that the terminal can have a better beam measurement effect, that is, can better achieve measurement of the reference signal. In this way, after obtaining a more accurate reference signal measurement result, the terminal can subsequently combine the first threshold to more accurately determine whether the first beam can be used as a beam that meets the downlink communication requirements between the terminal and the first network device.

[0010] In an optional embodiment, when the reference signal measurement result is greater than or equal to the first threshold, the first indication information may be a first value; alternatively, when the reference signal measurement result is less than the first threshold, the first indication information may be a second value. Since the first indication information may be either the first value or the second value, a 1-bit binary bit sequence can represent both the first value and the second value. This means that the terminal only requires 1 bit of signaling overhead to report the first indication information. Therefore, compared to directly reporting the RSRP measurement value by the terminal, this significantly reduces the terminal's signaling overhead.

[0011] In another optional embodiment, the first threshold may include multiple thresholds, and the first indication information may include indication information of a threshold interval corresponding to the measurement result of the reference signal. The threshold interval may be determined based on the multiple thresholds. In this embodiment, the terminal may compare the measurement result of the reference signal sent in the first beam with the multiple thresholds. That is, the terminal may determine the threshold interval corresponding to the measurement result of the reference signal sent in the first beam based on the multiple thresholds. In this way, the terminal only needs the signaling overhead occupied by the binary bit sequence corresponding to the indication information of the threshold interval to report the first indication information. Therefore, compared to directly reporting the RSRP measurement value by the terminal, the terminal can also save signaling overhead. For example, if the first threshold includes two thresholds, there are a total of three threshold intervals. That is, a two-bit binary bit sequence can be used to represent the three threshold intervals. Therefore, the terminal only needs two bits of signaling overhead to report the first indication information.

[0012] In an optional embodiment, the first beam may be the beam between the first network device and the terminal. In this embodiment, the terminal can measure the beam between the first network device and the terminal. Furthermore, because the signaling overhead for the terminal to report the first indication information is low, the time required for the terminal to report the first indication information to the first network device is also short. That is, based on the first indication information reported by the terminal, the first network device can quickly select an appropriate beam from multiple beams of the first network device to provide communication services to the terminal.

[0013] In an optional embodiment, the first beam may be determined based on the ephemeris information of the first network device and / or the location information of the terminal. In this manner, the terminal does not need to perform beam measurement on all beams of the first network device, but only needs to perform beam measurement on beams that may provide communication services to the terminal. This can prevent the terminal from performing beam measurement on beams that will not provide communication services to the terminal at all, thereby reducing ineffective signaling overhead and waste of system resources for the terminal and the first network device. In addition, since the number of beams measured by the terminal does not include all beams of the first network device, the efficiency of the subsequent first network device in configuring downlink communication beams for the terminal will also be reduced.

[0014] In another optional embodiment, the first beam may be a beam between the first network device and the terminal, and the first beam may be determined based on a second beam between the second network device and the terminal. In this embodiment, the first network device can implement beam measurement of other network devices (e.g., the second network device), that is, adjust its own beam through the second beam between the second network device and the terminal, thereby measuring the beam of the second network device by sending a reference signal to the terminal through the adjusted beam. This simplifies the beam reporting mechanism of the terminal to a certain extent and reduces the signaling overhead required for the terminal to report the measurement results.

[0015] In an optional embodiment, the second beam may be determined based on the ephemeris information of the second network device and / or the location information of the terminal. In this manner, the terminal does not need to perform beam measurement on all beams of the second network device. Instead, it only needs to perform beam measurement on beams that may provide communication services to the terminal. This prevents the terminal from performing beam measurement on beams that will not provide communication services to the terminal, thereby reducing ineffective signaling overhead and waste of system resources between the terminal and the second network device. Furthermore, since the number of beams measured by the terminal does not represent all beams of the second network device, the efficiency of the subsequent second network device in configuring downlink communication beams for the terminal is reduced.

[0016] In an optional embodiment, the first indication information is associated with the second network device. In this embodiment, in a scenario with multiple network devices (e.g., a multi-satellite scenario), this enables the first network device to know which network device corresponds to the first indication information reported by the terminal, so that the corresponding network device can subsequently perform beam allocation for the terminal.

[0017] In an optional embodiment, the method may further include receiving configuration information from the first network device, wherein the configuration information may include indication information of the first threshold. In this manner, configuring the first threshold via the first network device can reduce signaling overhead for terminal operations such as configuring the first threshold. Furthermore, the first network device only sends configuration information carrying the indication information of the first threshold to the terminal when the terminal needs to determine the first indication information based on measurement results of the first threshold and a reference signal. This also allows the terminal to free up storage space reserved for storing the first threshold.

[0018] In an optional embodiment, the configuration information may further include at least one of the following indication information: an identifier of the reference signal; the time-frequency resources occupied by the reference signal; a downlink transmission channel corresponding to the reference signal; the time-frequency resources occupied by the first indication information; or an uplink transmission channel corresponding to the first indication information. Since the at least one of the aforementioned indication information is used to indicate the measurement resources required to configure the reference signal or the reporting resources required for the terminal to report the first indication information, after obtaining the at least one of the aforementioned indication information, the terminal can measure the reference signal and / or report the measurement results, thereby reducing the terminal's signaling overhead for related configurations.

[0019] In another optional implementation, the configuration information may further include indication information of at least one of the following: a control resource set resource pool index (CORESET Pool Index) of the second network device; a physical cell identifier (PCI) of the second network device; an identifier of the second network device; ephemeris information of the second network device; an orbital plane identifier of the second network device; or an identifier of a network device located on the orbital plane. In this way, after obtaining the indication information of at least one of the aforementioned items, the terminal can know which network device among the multiple network devices the beam measurement is currently being performed on.

[0020] On the second aspect, another communication method is provided. The method can be executed by a first network device, or by other devices including the functions of the first network device, or by a chip system (or, chip) or other functional module, which can realize the functions of the first network device, and the chip system or functional module is, for example, set in the first network device. In the following introduction, the method is taken as an example of being executed by the first network device. The method includes: sending a reference signal to a terminal, the reference signal corresponding to a first beam, and the reference signal can be determined based on the ephemeris information of the first network device and the position information of the terminal; receiving first indication information from the terminal, the first indication information is used to indicate the beam quality of the first beam, and the first indication information can be determined based on the measurement result of the reference signal and a first threshold.

[0021] In an optional implementation, when the measurement result of the reference signal is greater than or equal to the first threshold, the first indication information may be a first value; or, when the measurement result of the reference signal is less than the first threshold, the first indication information may be a second value.

[0022] In another optional implementation, the first threshold may include multiple thresholds, the first indication information may be indication information of a threshold interval corresponding to the measurement result of the reference signal, and the threshold interval may be determined according to the multiple thresholds.

[0023] In an optional implementation, the first beam may be a beam between the first network device and the terminal.

[0024] In an optional implementation, the first beam may be determined based on the ephemeris information of the first network device and / or the location information of the terminal.

[0025] In another optional implementation, the first beam may be a beam between the first network device and the terminal, and the first beam may be determined based on a second beam between a second network device and the terminal.

[0026] In an optional implementation, the second beam may be determined based on the ephemeris information of the second network device and / or the location information of the terminal.

[0027] In an optional implementation, the first indication information is associated with the second network device.

[0028] In an optional implementation, the method may further include: sending configuration information to the terminal, where the configuration information may include indication information of the first threshold.

[0029] In an optional embodiment, the configuration information may also include indication information of at least one of the following: an identifier of the reference signal; the time-frequency resources occupied by the reference signal; the downlink transmission channel corresponding to the reference signal; the time-frequency resources occupied by the first indication information; or the uplink transmission channel corresponding to the first indication information.

[0030] In another optional embodiment, the configuration information may also include indicative information of at least one of the following: the CORESET Pool Index of the second network device; the PCI of the second network device; the identification of the second network device; the ephemeris information of the second network device; the orbital plane identification of the second network device; or, the identification of the network device located on the orbital plane.

[0031] In a third aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device may be the terminal described in the first aspect. The communication device may also be another entity that includes the aforementioned terminal functions. For example, the communication device may be another device that includes terminal functions, or a chip system (or chip) or other functional module that can implement the terminal functions, and the chip system or functional module is, for example, provided in the terminal. In one optional implementation, the communication device includes a radio frequency device and a baseband device. In another optional implementation, the communication device includes a transceiver unit (sometimes also referred to as a transceiver module) and a processing unit (sometimes also referred to as a processing module). The transceiver unit can implement both transmitting and receiving functions. When the transceiver unit implements the transmitting function, it may be referred to as a transmitting unit (sometimes also referred to as a transmitting module); when the transceiver unit implements the receiving function, it may be referred to as a receiving unit (sometimes also referred to as a receiving module). The transmitting unit and the receiving unit may be the same functional module, referred to as a transceiver unit, that can implement both transmitting and receiving functions; alternatively, the transmitting unit and the receiving unit may be different functional modules, with the transceiver unit being a collective term for these functional modules.

[0032] In an optional embodiment, the transceiver unit (or, the receiving unit) is used to receive a reference signal from a first network device, where the reference signal corresponds to a first beam, and the reference signal can be determined by the processing unit (or, the processing module) based on the ephemeris information of the first network device and the location information of the terminal; the transceiver unit (or, the sending unit) is used to send first indication information to the first network device, where the first indication information is used to indicate the beam quality of the first beam, and the first indication information can be determined by the processing unit (or, the processing module) based on the measurement result of the reference signal and a first threshold.

[0033] In an optional implementation, when the measurement result of the reference signal is greater than or equal to the first threshold, the first indication information may be a first value; or, when the measurement result of the reference signal is less than the first threshold, the first indication information may be a second value.

[0034] In another optional embodiment, the first threshold may include multiple thresholds, the first indication information may be indication information of a threshold interval corresponding to the measurement result of the reference signal, and the threshold interval may be determined by the processing unit (or processing module) based on the multiple thresholds.

[0035] In an optional implementation, the first beam may be a beam between the first network device and the terminal.

[0036] In an optional implementation, the first beam may be determined by the processing unit (or processing module) according to the ephemeris information of the first network device and / or the location information of the terminal.

[0037] In another optional embodiment, the first beam may be a beam between the first network device and the terminal, and the first beam may be determined by the processing unit (or processing module) based on a second beam between the second network device and the terminal.

[0038] In an optional implementation, the second beam may be determined by the processing unit (or processing module) according to the ephemeris information of the second network device and / or the location information of the terminal.

[0039] In an optional implementation, the first indication information is associated with the second network device.

[0040] In an optional implementation, the method may further include: the transceiver unit (or the receiving unit) is configured to receive configuration information from the first network device, where the configuration information may include indication information of the first threshold.

[0041] In an optional embodiment, the configuration information may also include indication information of at least one of the following: an identifier of the reference signal; the time-frequency resources occupied by the reference signal; the downlink transmission channel corresponding to the reference signal; the time-frequency resources occupied by the first indication information; or the uplink transmission channel corresponding to the first indication information.

[0042] In another optional embodiment, the configuration information may also include indicative information of at least one of the following: the CORESET Pool Index of the second network device; the PCI of the second network device; the identification of the second network device; the ephemeris information of the second network device; the orbital plane identification of the second network device; or, the identification of the network device located on the orbital plane.

[0043] In a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device may be the first network device described in the second aspect. The communication device may also include other entities having the functions of the first network device. For example, the communication device is other devices having the functions of the first network device, or is a chip system (or chip) or other functional module, and the chip system or functional module can realize the functions of the first network device, and the chip system or functional module is, for example, arranged in the first network device. In an optional implementation, the communication device includes a baseband device and a radio frequency device. In another optional implementation, the communication device includes a processing unit (sometimes also referred to as a processing module) and a transceiver unit (sometimes also referred to as a transceiver module). For the implementation of the transceiver unit, reference may be made to the introduction of the third aspect.

[0044] In an optional embodiment, the transceiver unit (or, the sending unit) is used to send a reference signal to the terminal, the reference signal corresponds to the first beam, and the reference signal can be determined by the processing unit (or, the processing module) based on the ephemeris information of the first network device and the location information of the terminal; the transceiver unit (or, the receiving unit) is used to receive first indication information from the terminal, the first indication information is used to indicate the beam quality of the first beam, and the first indication information can be determined by the processing unit (or, the processing module) based on the measurement result of the reference signal and a first threshold.

[0045] In an optional implementation, when the measurement result of the reference signal is greater than or equal to the first threshold, the first indication information may be a first value; or, when the measurement result of the reference signal is less than the first threshold, the first indication information may be a second value.

[0046] In another optional embodiment, the first threshold may include multiple thresholds, the first indication information may be indication information of a threshold interval corresponding to the measurement result of the reference signal, and the threshold interval may be determined by the processing unit (or processing module) based on the multiple thresholds.

[0047] In an optional implementation, the first beam may be a beam between the first network device and the terminal.

[0048] In an optional implementation, the first beam may be determined by the processing unit (or processing module) according to the ephemeris information of the first network device and / or the location information of the terminal.

[0049] In another optional embodiment, the first beam may be a beam between the first network device and the terminal, and the first beam may be determined by the processing unit (or processing module) based on a second beam between the second network device and the terminal.

[0050] In an optional implementation, the second beam may be determined by the processing unit (or processing module) according to the ephemeris information of the second network device and / or the location information of the terminal.

[0051] In an optional implementation, the first indication information is associated with the second network device.

[0052] In an optional implementation, the method may further include: the transceiver unit (or the sending unit) is configured to send configuration information to the terminal, where the configuration information may include indication information of the first threshold.

[0053] In an optional embodiment, the configuration information may also include indication information of at least one of the following: an identifier of the reference signal; the time-frequency resources occupied by the reference signal; the downlink transmission channel corresponding to the reference signal; the time-frequency resources occupied by the first indication information; or the uplink transmission channel corresponding to the first indication information.

[0054] In another optional embodiment, the configuration information may also include indicative information of at least one of the following: the CORESET Pool Index of the second network device; the PCI of the second network device; the identification of the second network device; the ephemeris information of the second network device; the orbital plane identification of the second network device; or, the identification of the network device located on the orbital plane.

[0055] In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device may be a terminal, or a chip or chip system used in a terminal. The communication device includes a communication interface and a processor, and optionally, a memory. The memory is used to store a computer program. The processor is coupled to the memory and the communication interface. When the processor reads the computer program or instructions through the communication interface, the communication device executes the method performed by the terminal in the first aspect.

[0056] In a sixth aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device may be a first network device, or a chip or chip system used in the first network device. The communication device includes a communication interface and a processor, and optionally, a memory. The memory is used to store a computer program. The processor is coupled to the memory and the communication interface. When the processor reads the computer program or instructions through the communication interface, the communication device executes the method performed by the first network device in the second aspect.

[0057] In the seventh aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which is used to store computer programs or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are executed, the methods performed by the terminal and / or the first network device in each of the above-mentioned first to second aspects are implemented.

[0058] In an eighth aspect, a computer program product comprising instructions is provided, which enables the methods described in each of the first to second aspects above to be implemented when the computer program or instructions are executed on a computer.

[0059] In a ninth aspect, a chip system is provided, comprising a processor and an interface, wherein the processor is configured to call and execute instructions from the interface so that the chip system implements the methods described in each of the first to second aspects above.

[0060] The technical effects that can be achieved in each of the above-mentioned aspects from the second to the ninth aspect and each possible implementation scheme in each of them can refer to the description of the effects that can be achieved by the corresponding possible design schemes in the above-mentioned first aspect, and the repetitions will not be discussed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0061] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a typical application scenario of a satellite-ground fusion network provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0062] FIG2 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0063] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of a scenario of a beam coverage area provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0064] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of a multi-star scenario provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0065] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of a first threshold value provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0066] FIG6 is a schematic diagram of another first threshold value provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0067] FIG7 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0068] FIG8 is a schematic diagram of another device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0069] This application provides a communication method, apparatus, and system for reducing the signaling overhead required for a terminal to report measurement results. The method, apparatus, and system are based on the same technical concept and, because they solve similar problems, their implementations can refer to each other and any repetitions will not be repeated.

[0070] The following explains some of the terms used in the embodiments of the present application to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art.

[0071] 1) Non-terrestrial network (NTN) is proposed in contrast to traditional terrestrial networks. It refers to a network established using non-terrestrial communication technologies. It can include but is not limited to networks that use spectrum resources on communication platforms such as satellite platforms, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or high altitude platform stations (HAPS) to provide communication services.

[0072] For example, the NTN system may include, but is not limited to, a satellite (communication) system, a UAV communication system, and a HAPS system. According to the height of the satellite from the earth's surface (i.e., the satellite orbit altitude), the satellite communication system can be divided into a geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellite system or a geosynchronous earth orbit (GEO or GSO) satellite system, a highly elliptical orbit (HEO) satellite system, a medium earth orbit (MEO) satellite system, and a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite system. Accordingly, according to the type of satellite communication system, the satellites in the satellite communication system can also be divided into GEO satellites, HEO satellites, MEO satellites, LEO satellites, etc.

[0073] Alternatively, a GEO satellite system may also be referred to as a geostationary orbit satellite system. HEO satellite systems, MEO satellite systems, and LEO satellite systems may also be collectively referred to as non-geostationary earth orbit (NGEO or NGSO) satellite systems, or non-geostationary orbit satellite systems.

[0074] Compared with terrestrial networks, NTNs offer wider coverage, lower path loss, greater latency, faster speeds, and lower costs. As research on NTNs intensifies, the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has also conducted standardization research on NTNs, aiming to supplement or enhance the communication performance of mobile communication systems through NTN construction. For example, 3GPP began conducting satellite-ground integration research and related solutions in Release 14 (R14).

[0075] 2) The terminal in the embodiment of the present application is a device with wireless transceiver function (i.e., it can send signals to network devices and receive signals from network devices), which can be a fixed device, a mobile device, a handheld device (such as a mobile phone), a wearable device, a vehicle-mounted device, or a wireless device built into the above devices (for example, a communication module, a modem, or a chip system, etc.). The terminal is used to connect people, objects, machines, etc., and can be widely used in various scenarios, such as but not limited to the following scenarios: perception scenarios, cellular communications, device-to-device communications (D2D), vehicle to everything (V2X), machine-to-machine / machine-type communications (M2M / MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), industrial control, self-driving, remote medical, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wearable, smart transportation, smart city, drones, robots, indoor commercial scenarios (such as mobile phone screen projection, file sharing, and mobile phone to VR glasses video transmission) and other scenarios.

[0076] Among them, when the terminal is applied to V2X, it can also be called a V2X device, for example, a smart car (or intelligent car), a digital car (or digital car), an unmanned car (or driverless car or pilotless car or automobile), an automatic car (or self-driving car or autonomous car), a pure electric vehicle (or battery EV), a hybrid electric vehicle (or hybrid electric vehicle, HEV), a range extended electric vehicle (or range extended EV, REEV), a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (or plug-in HEV, PHEV), a new energy vehicle (or new energy vehicle), and a roadside unit (or road site unit, RSU). The terminal can also be a device in D2D communication, such as a smart meter, a smart water meter, or other smart instrument. In addition, in the embodiment of the present application, the terminal can also be a terminal in an IoT system. IoT is an important part of the future development of information technology. Its main technical feature is to connect objects to the network through communication technology, thereby realizing an intelligent network of human-machine interconnection and object-to-object interconnection.

[0077] As described above, various terminals, if located on a vehicle (e.g., placed in a vehicle or installed in a vehicle), can be considered as a vehicle-mounted terminal, which is also referred to as an on-board unit (OBU). The terminal of the present application can also be an on-board module, on-board module, on-board component, on-board chip or on-board unit built into the vehicle as one or more components or units, and the vehicle can implement the method of the present application through the built-in on-board module, on-board module, on-board component, on-board chip or on-board unit.

[0078] The terminal may sometimes be referred to as user equipment (UE), terminal equipment, access station, UE station, remote station, wireless communication device, or user device, etc.

[0079] In the embodiments of the present application, the communication device used to implement the terminal function can be a terminal, or a communication device capable of supporting the terminal to implement the function, such as a chip system, and the communication device can be installed in the terminal. In the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application are described by taking the communication device used to implement the terminal function as an example.

[0080] 3) The network device in the embodiment of the present application may be a device that communicates with the terminal at the air interface, such as a non-terrestrial network device such as a satellite, or an access device in which the terminal accesses the mobile communication system by wireless means, such as an access network (AN) device located on the ground. Exemplarily, the access network device in the embodiment of the present application includes but is not limited to a base station (base transceiver station (BTS), node B, evolved node B (eNodeB) / eNB, or the next generation node B (gNodeB) / gNB), a transmission reception point (TRP), a base station subsequently evolved by 3GPP, an access node in a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) system, a wireless relay node, a wireless backhaul node, etc. The base station may be: a macro base station, a micro base station, a pico base station, a small station, a relay station, etc. Multiple base stations may support a network with the same access technology, or may support a network with different access technologies. A base station may include one or more co-sited or non-co-sited transmission and reception points. The access network device may also be a wireless controller, a centralized unit (CU), and / or a distributed unit (DU) in a cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenario. The access network device may also be a base station control device. The access network device may also be other devices in the access network such as a server, which is not limited in this application. For example, the network device in the V2X technology may be a road side unit (RSU). The following description of the access network device takes the base station as an example. The base station can communicate with the terminal, or it can communicate with the terminal through a relay station. The terminal can communicate with multiple base stations in different access technologies. The core network device is used to implement functions such as mobility management, data processing, session management, policy and billing. The names of the devices that implement core network functions in systems with different access technologies may be different, and the embodiments of this application do not limit this.Taking the fifth generation mobile communication technology (5G) system as an example, the core network equipment includes: access and mobility management function (AMF), session management function (SMF), policy control function (PCF) or user plane function (UPF), etc. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the network equipment.

[0081] In the CU-DU architecture, the access network equipment may include one or more logical network elements such as a centralized unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU). The CU and DU may be set separately, or may be included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). The CU-CP may be divided into CU-CP1 and CU-CP2. The CU-CP1 includes various radio resource management functions, and the CU-CP2 includes radio resource control (RRC) functions and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP)-C functions (i.e., the basic functions of control plane signaling at the PDCP layer). In this network architecture, the signaling generated by the CU may be sent to the terminal via the DU, or the signaling generated by the terminal may be sent to the CU via the DU. The DU may not parse the signaling but directly encapsulate it through the protocol layer and transparently transmit it to the terminal or CU.

[0082] The RU may be included in a radio frequency device or a radio frequency unit, for example, in a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU) or a remote radio head (RRH).

[0083] In addition, the above-mentioned CU-DU architecture can split the protocol layers of the network device, and the functions of some protocol layers are placed in the CU for centralized control, and the functions of the remaining part or all of the protocol layers are distributed in the DU, and the DU is centrally controlled by the CU. For example, the functions of the PDCP layer and above protocol layers can be set in the CU, and the functions of the protocol layers below the PDCP layer (such as the radio link control (RLC) layer and the medium access control (MAC) layer, etc.) are set in the DU. It should be noted that this division of the protocol layers is only an example, and it can also be divided in other protocol layers, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

[0084] It should also be noted 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 RAN (ORAN) system, CU may also be referred to as CU (O-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 convenience of description, the embodiments of the present application are described using CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU and RU as examples. Any of the CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU and RU in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0085] Optionally, in various embodiments of the present application, the actions performed by the cell (such as sending information to the UE or receiving information from the UE, or processing the information, etc.) may be specifically performed by the network device that provides the cell. Optionally, in various embodiments of the present application, if the network device is a distributed architecture, for example, the network device includes a CU and a DU, or includes a CU-CP, a CU-UP, and a DU, then the network device sends information to the UE, specifically, the DU included in the network device sends information to the UE; the network device receives information from the UE, specifically, the DU included in the network device receives information from the UE. In addition, if the network device is a distributed architecture, for example, the network device includes a CU and a DU, or includes a CU-CP, a CU-UP, and a DU, then the network device sends information to another network device, specifically, the CU or CU-CP included in the network device sends information to the CU or CU-CP of another network device; the network device receives information from another network device, specifically, the CU or CU-CP included in the network device receives information from the CU or CU-CP of another network device.

[0086] In the embodiments of the present application, the communication device for implementing the network device function may be a network device, or may be a device capable of supporting the network device to implement the function, such as a chip system, which may be installed in the network device. In the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application are described by taking the network device as an example of the device for implementing the network device function being a network device.

[0087] It should be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, the number of nouns, unless otherwise specified, means "singular noun or plural noun", that is, "one or more". "At least one" means one or more, and "plural" means two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in an "or" relationship. For example, A / B means: A or B. "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 means: 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.

[0088] In the embodiments of the present application, ordinal numbers such as "first" and "second" are mentioned to distinguish multiple objects, and are not used to limit the size, content, order, timing, priority or importance of the multiple objects. For example, the first information and the second information can be the same information or different information, and such names do not indicate differences in the sending end / receiving end, format, content, size, application scenario, priority or importance of the two information. For another example, the first network device and the second network device can be the same network device or different network devices, and such names do not indicate differences in priority or importance of the two network devices.

[0089] In addition, the numbering of the steps in the various embodiments introduced in this application is, in some cases, only for distinguishing different steps and is not used to limit the order of the steps.

[0090] In the embodiments of the present application, descriptions such as "when...", "in the case of...", "if" and "if" all mean that the device will perform corresponding processing under certain objective circumstances, and do not limit the time. It does not require the device (such as a network device or terminal) to perform a judgment action when implementing it, nor does it mean that there are other limitations.

[0091] It should be noted that in the embodiments of the present application, "used for indication" may include direct indication (or display indication) and indirect indication (or implicit indication). When describing that a certain information is used to indicate A, it may include that the information directly indicates A or indirectly indicates A, but it does not mean that the information must carry A. Taking the first information used to indicate the first content as an example, the first information may include the first content, or may include a part of the first content or an identifier or index of the first content, etc., and may also include an algorithm for determining the first content, calculation parameters, etc. In particular, the embodiments of the present application do not limit the method of "indication".

[0092] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present application clearer, the embodiments of the present application will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0093] The communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various NTN scenarios. Since the satellite communication system is a typical application scenario in the NTN scenario, the satellite communication system in the NTN is used as an example to illustrate the communication system applicable to the embodiments of the present application.

[0094] In a satellite communication system, terminals on the ground access the network through the air interface. Base stations can be deployed on satellites or on the ground (in which case the satellite acts as a relay). Alternatively, a base station can have some functions deployed on the satellite and others on the ground. Satellites can communicate with ground stations via wireless links, and then with base stations or the core network in the terrestrial network.

[0095] The functions of each network element in the satellite communication system are described below.

[0096] Terminal: can access the satellite communication system through the air interface and initiate calls, access the Internet, and other services. For specific descriptions and examples, please refer to the explanation of terms in point 2) above.

[0097] Base station: Provides wireless access services to terminals, dispatches wireless resources to connected terminals, and provides reliable wireless transmission protocols and data encryption protocols. For detailed descriptions and examples, please refer to the explanation of network equipment terms in point 3) above.

[0098] Core network: This network implements services such as user access control, mobility management, session management, user security authentication, and billing. The core network consists of multiple functional units, which can be divided into control plane and data plane functional units or functional entities.

[0099] Exemplarily, the functional units or functional entities of the control plane may include: SMF network element, AMF network element, unified data management (UDM) entity, PCF entity. Among them, the AMF network element can be responsible for user access management, security authentication, and mobility management; the SMF network element can be responsible for session management. Of course, the control plane can also include other functional units or functional entities. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific type and number of the functional units or functional entities of the control plane.

[0100] For another example, the functional units or functional entities of the data plane may include a UPF network element. The UPF network element is primarily responsible for managing the transmission of user plane data, traffic statistics, etc. Of course, the data plane may also include other functional units or functional entities. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific types and numbers of the functional units or functional entities of the data plane.

[0101] Ground stations connect satellites to terrestrial networks and forward signaling and service data between satellites and base stations or core networks in the terrestrial network. For example, one or more satellites can connect to one or more ground base stations via one or more gateways, though this is not a limitation. Ground stations may also be referred to as gateways (GW), satellite ground stations, earth stations, gateways, or gateways.

[0102] Satellite communication systems can be categorized into two types, transparent transmission and regenerative, based on the satellite's communication mode. The following describes several typical application scenarios of satellite-ground converged networks, as shown in Figure 1.

[0103] In transparent transmission mode, the satellite acts as an analog RF repeater to achieve wireless frequency conversion and amplification, and can transparently transmit or copy the signal between the ground base station and the terminal, that is, the satellite only has the function of signal forwarding. For example, the signal sent by the terminal can be transparently transmitted by the satellite, forwarded by the gateway, and enter the ground base station. Referring to (a) in Figure 1, the terminal and the satellite, and the satellite and the ground station are connected through an air interface (such as the Uu interface). The satellite is equivalent to a repeater, which is used to forward signals between the satellite and the ground station. There is a communication connection between the ground station and the base station in the ground network. The base station and the core network (CN) can communicate through the next generation network (NG) interface (such as the N2 interface, etc.), while the core network and the data network (DN) communicate through the N6 interface.

[0104] In regeneration mode, a satellite can act as a wireless communication base station, regenerating signals received from the ground. It can parse (or understand) and process these signals, meaning the satellite has the ability to process signals. For example, the satellite can be a base station carried on an artificial earth satellite or a high-altitude aircraft. In this case, the gateway can forward signaling between the satellite (i.e., base station) and the core network. Referring to Figure 1 (b)-(d), a satellite can carry a base station or a DU within a base station. The satellite can parse and process signals received from the ground station and transmit the processed signals to the terminal, achieving signal regeneration.

[0105] As shown in Figure 1(b), a satellite is equipped with a base station, and in this case, the satellite can be called a satellite base station. Terminals can establish a communication connection with the satellite via the air interface, while the satellite can establish a communication connection with the core network via the ground station via the NG interface. Alternatively, in another scenario, the satellite can establish a communication connection with a base station in the terrestrial network via the Xn interface, while the base station in the terrestrial network can establish a communication connection with the core network via the NG interface. Communication between the core network and the data network is established via the N6 interface.

[0106] As shown in Figure 1 (c), the satellite carries the DU from the base station, while the ground station connects to the CU in the base station deployed on the terrestrial network. Terminals and satellites can establish communication connections over the air interface, while the satellite and CU can establish communication connections via the ground station over the F1 interface. The interfaces between the CU, core network, and data network can be referred to in Figure 1 (b) and will not be further described here.

[0107] Compared to the application scenario shown in Figure 1 (b), the application scenario shown in Figure 1 (d) adds satellite (base station) to satellite (base station) communication. That is, a terminal can access the network through one or more satellites (base stations). As shown in Figure 1 (d), satellites (base stations) can communicate with each other via the Xn interface.

[0108] The following describes the interfaces between network elements in various application scenarios shown in FIG1 .

[0109] Air interface: represents the wireless link between the terminal and the base station. For example, the air interface can be the Uu interface.

[0110] Xn interface: represents the interface between base stations, mainly used for signaling interaction such as handover.

[0111] NG interface: refers to the interface between the base station and the core network, which mainly exchanges signaling such as the non-access stratum (NAS) of the core network and user service data. Exemplarily, the NG interface may include the N2 interface, the N3 interface, etc.

[0112] It is worth noting that although some application scenarios in Figure 1 only show a limited number of satellites, ground stations, and terminals, in the embodiments of this application, there is no limitation on the number of the above-mentioned communication devices or network elements (such as satellites, ground stations, terminals, etc.). That is, in actual scenarios, a collaborative architecture of multiple satellites and / or multiple ground stations can be adopted according to communication needs. Each satellite can provide communication services to one or more terminals, and each ground station can correspond to one or more satellites; similarly, each satellite can also correspond to one or more ground stations. This embodiment of this application does not specifically limit this.

[0113] It should be noted that the satellite communication system shown in FIG1 does not constitute a limitation on the communication systems to which the embodiments of the present application are applicable. Therefore, the communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application can also be applied to communication systems in various NTN scenarios. In addition, the embodiments of the present application do not limit the mobile communication system format of the terrestrial network in the satellite communication system. For example, the mobile communication system of the terrestrial network can be a fourth generation mobile communication technology (4G) system, such as a long term evolution (LTE) system, or a 5G system, such as a 5G new radio (NR) system, or a future communication network.

[0114] The core of beam management is the management of beam scanning (e.g., static beams), reporting, and maintenance. This allows for the selection of appropriate beams for each uplink or downlink channel, thereby improving cell coverage and reducing system overhead. For example, for NR systems, beam management may include, but is not limited to, beam scanning, beam measurement / determination, beam reporting, beam indication, and beam failure recovery.

[0115] Among them, beam scanning refers to the spatial scanning of the beam that sends the reference signal according to a predefined time interval (or scanning period); beam measurement / determination refers to the terminal (such as UE) measuring the reference signal, and the network device (such as base station) selects the beam that can provide better communication services for the terminal based on the measurement result of the reference signal reported by the terminal (that is, the beam measurement result); beam reporting refers to the terminal reporting the measurement result of the reference signal; and beam indication refers to the network device instructing the terminal on the beam selected by the network device for the terminal, that is, informing the terminal which (downlink) beam the network device will use to send downlink data to the network device in the future, or which (uplink) beam the terminal can use to send uplink data to the network device in the future; beam failure recovery may include beam failure detection, discovery of new beams, beam recovery process, etc.

[0116] Therefore, in order to ensure good downlink communication quality between the terminal and the network device, the terminal usually first measures the reference signals sent by the network device through multiple beams (i.e., beam measurement), and then reports the measurement results of multiple reference signals to the network device (i.e., beam report). Each measurement result may include measurement values ​​such as RSRP, so that after receiving multiple measurement results, the network device selects a suitable beam from multiple beams to provide communication services (for example, downlink data transmission or scheduling) for the terminal, that is, beam judgment.

[0117] In the current standard, a terminal can support reporting measurement results for up to four beams at a time. This means the measurement results reported by the terminal can include four channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS) resource indicators (CRIs), each of which occupies n bits, with the specific number of bits specified by Layer 3 (L3). Furthermore, the terminal also includes one base RSRP, which quantizes the RSRP in a range of [-140, -44] decibel milliwatts (dBm) with a 1dB step size and occupies 7 bits. Three differential RSRPs, representing the difference from the highest reported RSRP, are reported in 2dB steps. Each differential RSRP occupies 4 bits, supporting a maximum differential reporting range of 32dB. Optionally, the base RSRP is typically the maximum value of at least one RSRP reported during a beam information reporting process, i.e., the highest RSRP. The step size may represent the amount of change in the corresponding RSRP (e.g., basic RSRP or differential RSRP) value. For example, if an RSRP is 2.12dB and the step size is 2dB, then the RSRP values ​​adjacent to the RSRP may be 0.12dB or 4.12dB.

[0118] For example, taking CRI occupying 6 bits as an example, as shown in Table 1, it is an example of the correspondence between different numbers of reported beams and different beam reporting overheads in the existing mechanism; among them, the number of reported beams is also the measurement result of how many beam reference signals the terminal reports at one time.

[0119] Table 1: Example of the correspondence between different numbers of reporting beams and different beam reporting overheads

[0120] As shown in Table 1 above, when the number of reported beams is 1, the measurement result reported by the terminal includes only one basic RSRP, that is, the RSRP measurement value or RSRP quantization value corresponding to the beam. Therefore, the beam reporting overhead for the terminal reporting the measurement result of one beam is: the number of bits occupied by one basic RSRP, that is, 7 bits. Furthermore, when the number of reported beams is 2, the measurement result reported by the terminal includes not only one basic RSRP, but also one differential RSRP and two CRIs. Therefore, the beam reporting overhead for the terminal reporting the measurement results of two beams is: the number of bits occupied by one basic RSRP + the number of bits occupied by one differential RSRP + the number of bits occupied by two CRIs = 7 + 4 + 2 × 6 = 23 bits. In this case, the basic RSRP can be the largest RSRP among the RSRP measurement values ​​or RSRP quantization values ​​corresponding to each of the two beams.

[0121] Similarly, when the number of reported beams is 3, the measurement results reported by the terminal include not only 1 basic RSRP, but also 2 differential RSRPs and 3 CRIs. That is, compared with the beam reporting overhead when the number of reported beams is 2, the signaling overhead required for reporting 1 differential RSRP and 1 CRI is increased; therefore, the beam reporting overhead for the terminal to report the measurement results of 3 beams is: the number of bits occupied by 1 basic RSRP + the number of bits occupied by 2 differential RSRPs + the number of bits occupied by 3 CRIs = 7 + 2 × 4 + 3 × 6 = 33 bits. At this time, the basic RSRP can be the RSRP measurement value corresponding to each of the 3 beams or the largest RSRP among the quantized RSRP values.

[0122] When the number of reported beams is 4, the measurement results reported by the terminal include not only one basic RSRP, but also three differential RSRPs and four CRIs. That is, compared with the beam reporting overhead when the number of reported beams is 3, the signaling overhead required to report one differential RSRP and one CRI is increased. Therefore, the beam reporting overhead for the terminal reporting the measurement results of 4 beams is: the number of bits occupied by 1 basic RSRP + the number of bits occupied by 2 differential RSRPs + the number of bits occupied by 4 CRIs = 7 + 3 × 4 + 4 × 6 = 43 bits. In this case, the basic RSRP can be the largest RSRP among the RSRP measurement values ​​or quantized RSRP values ​​corresponding to each of the four beams.

[0123] It can be seen that since the measurement results reported by the terminal to the network device include specific signal measurement values ​​(for example, basic RSRP or differential RSRP), and the number of bits occupied by the signal measurement value (for example, a basic RSRP occupies 7 bits or a differential RSRP occupies 4 bits) is large, a large signaling overhead is usually required to report the measurement results. For example, the terminal needs to occupy more bits and / or resources to report the measurement results to the network device.

[0124] In view of this, in an embodiment of the present application, the terminal can receive a reference signal sent by the first network device in the first beam, and after obtaining the measurement result of the reference signal (such as the RSRP measurement value), it can generate a first indication information for indicating the beam quality of the first beam in combination with the first threshold set for the reference signal, and then report the generated first indication information to the first network device, so that the first network device can determine whether the first beam meets the downlink communication requirements between the terminal and the first network device based on the first indication information, that is, the first network device can determine whether the first beam can be used as a downlink communication beam between the terminal and the first network device based on the first indication information; in this way, since the terminal no longer reports the measurement result including the specific signal measurement value (such as the RSRP measurement value), but only reports the indication information of whether the first beam meets the downlink communication requirements between the terminal and the first network device, a large signaling overhead is no longer required to realize the reporting of the measurement result; therefore, the signaling overhead required for the terminal to report the measurement result is reduced. Optionally, the first threshold can be determined based on an influencing factor of the measurement result of the reference signal, where the influencing factor can be the distance between the terminal and the first network device, or it can be a possible attenuation condition (such as building obstruction, weather, etc.); it should also be noted that, although in the embodiment of the present application, there is no limitation on the selection method of the reference signal sent by the first network device in the first beam, in order to achieve a better beam measurement effect, the aforementioned reference signal can be determined based on the ephemeris information of the first network device and the position information of the terminal. In other words, the relevant attribute information of the aforementioned reference signal (for example, the transmission power of the reference signal, the information / content carried by the reference signal, the beam pointing corresponding to the reference signal, the time-frequency resources occupied by sending the reference signal, etc.) can be determined by the ephemeris information of the first network device and the position information of the terminal.

[0125] To better illustrate the embodiments of the present application, a communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application is described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Referring to FIG. 2 , which is a flow chart of a communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application, the following description uses the application scenario shown in FIG. 1 as an example. The process of the method is described as follows.

[0126] S201: A first network device sends a reference signal to a terminal. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the reference signal from the first network device.

[0127] Among them, the above-mentioned reference signal corresponds to the first beam, that is, the first network device can send the reference signal to the terminal through the first beam; optionally, the first beam can be the beam between the first network device and the terminal, so that the terminal can measure the beam between the first network device and the terminal by measuring the reference signal sent by the first network device.

[0128] In an optional implementation, since the first network device usually has multiple beams, and each beam can provide communication services to terminals within the corresponding beam coverage area (such as a cell), if the terminal performs beam measurement on each beam of the first network device, this will bring about a large amount of invalid signaling overhead and waste of system resources. For example, if the terminal performs beam measurement on a beam that will not provide communication services to the terminal at all (such as, the terminal will not appear in the beam coverage area of ​​such a beam on the ground), it will cause a large amount of invalid signaling overhead and system resource waste for the terminal and the first network device. In addition, it will also reduce the efficiency of the subsequent first network device in configuring a downlink communication beam for the terminal. Therefore, the above-mentioned first beam can be determined based on the ephemeris information of the first network device and / or the location information of the terminal; in this way, the terminal does not need to perform beam measurement on all beams of the first network device, but only needs to perform beam measurement on beams that may provide communication services to the terminal, thereby reducing the signaling overhead caused by the terminal performing beam measurement on the beam of the first network device.

[0129] Exemplarily, since the beam coverage areas corresponding to the multiple beams of the first network device at a certain moment can be determined based on the ephemeris information of the first network device, and the position of the terminal at that moment can be determined based on the position information of the terminal, then at least one beam adjacent to the position of the terminal at that moment can be determined from the multiple beams of the first network device, wherein any beam of the at least one beam can be regarded as a beam that may provide communication services to the terminal; therefore, the first beam can be any one of the at least one beam.

[0130] Refer to Figure 3, which is a schematic diagram of a beam coverage area scenario provided in an embodiment of the present application. The first network device in Figure 3 has 11 beams (e.g., beam 1, beam 2, ..., beam 11), and based on the beam coverage areas of each of the 11 beams, it can be determined that at least one of the 11 beams adjacent to the terminal's location is beam 2, beam 5, and beam 6; then, the first beam can be any one of the aforementioned at least one beam (i.e., beam 2, beam 5, and beam 6), for example, the first beam can be beam 2.

[0131] In addition, since the reference signal of the first beam can be determined based on the ephemeris information of the first network device and the location information of the terminal, for example, the first network device can determine which reference signal to use in the first beam, the transmit power corresponding to the reference signal, the information / content carried by the reference signal, the beam pointing corresponding to the reference signal, the time-frequency resources occupied by sending the reference signal, etc., based on the ephemeris information (or location information) of the first network device and the location information of the terminal. That is, the first network device can configure the reference signal sent in the first beam to ensure, to a certain extent, that the terminal can have a better beam measurement effect, that is, it can better achieve measurement of the reference signal. In this way, after obtaining a more accurate reference signal measurement result, the terminal can subsequently combine the first threshold to more accurately determine whether the first beam can be used as a beam that meets the downlink communication requirements between the terminal and the first network device.

[0132] Optionally, in order to simplify the beam reporting mechanism of the terminal and reduce the signaling overhead required for the terminal to report the measurement results, for scenarios with multiple network devices (e.g., multi-satellite scenarios, see Figure 4), the first network device can also implement beam measurement of other network devices (e.g., a second network device). For example, the first network device can adjust its own beam based on the second beam between the second network device and the terminal, thereby measuring the beam of the second network device by sending a reference signal to the terminal in the adjusted beam. Therefore, the first beam can be a beam between the first network device and the terminal determined based on the second beam between the second network device and the terminal.

[0133] It should be noted that the relevant information of the second beam between the second network device and the terminal (such as beam width, antenna gain, polarization direction, etc., where the beam width can be divided into horizontal beam width and vertical beam width) can be sent by the second network device to the first network device, or it can be sent by ground equipment such as a ground station on the ground to the first network device. In this embodiment of the present application, there is no limitation on the specific method of how the first network device obtains the relevant information of the second beam between the second network device and the terminal.

[0134] Similarly, since the second network device usually also has multiple beams, and each beam can also provide communication services to the terminals within the corresponding beam coverage area, if the terminal performs beam measurement on each beam of the second network device, this will not only bring a large amount of invalid signaling overhead and system resource waste regarding beam measurement, but will also cause the first network device to require a large signaling overhead and system resources when configuring its own beam as the second beam between the second network device and the terminal. Therefore, the above-mentioned first beam can also be determined based on the ephemeris information of the second network device and / or the location information of the terminal; in this way, the terminal does not need to perform beam measurement on all beams of the first network device, but only needs to perform beam measurement on beams that may provide communication services to the terminal. The first network device also does not need to perform relevant configuration for each beam between the second network device and the terminal, thereby reducing the signaling overhead caused by the terminal performing beam measurement on the beam of the second network device.

[0135] S202: The terminal sends first indication information to the first network device. Correspondingly, the first network device receives the first indication information from the terminal.

[0136] Optionally, the first indication information is used to indicate the beam quality of the first beam, that is, the first indication information can be used to indicate whether the first beam can better provide communication services to the terminal, so the first indication information can also be called the beam quality indication information of the first beam, or the beam quality indication information, or it can also have other names.

[0137] In order to reduce the signaling overhead required for the terminal to report the measurement results, the terminal does not need to directly report the measurement results of the reference signal (such as the RSRP measurement value), but only needs to report the first indication information that can characterize whether the first beam meets the requirements of the downlink communication beam between the first network device or the second network device and the terminal. Therefore, the first indication information can be determined by the first network device based on the measurement results of the reference signal and the first threshold. In this way, since the first indication information occupies fewer bits than the measurement results of the reference signal, the terminal only needs a smaller signaling overhead to report the first indication information. For example, assuming that the number of bits occupied by the first indication information is 1, and as shown in Table 1, the terminal requires 7 bits of signaling overhead when reporting the measurement results corresponding to 1 beam. Therefore, compared with the terminal reporting the reference signal measurement results, the terminal reporting the beam indication information can greatly reduce the signaling overhead.

[0138] In an optional implementation, the first threshold may have only one threshold. The terminal may compare the size relationship between the measurement result of the reference signal sent in the first beam and the first threshold. When the measurement result of the reference signal is greater than or equal to (or greater than) the first threshold, the first indication information may be a first value; or, when the measurement result of the reference signal is less than (or less than or equal to) the first threshold, the first indication information may be a second value. Accordingly, after receiving the first indication information corresponding to the first beam (the reference signal sent), the first network device may determine the value corresponding to the first indication information. Specifically: when the value corresponding to the first indication information is the first value, it may be determined that the measurement result of the reference signal is greater than or equal to (or greater than) the first threshold; when the value corresponding to the first indication information is the second value, it may be determined that the measurement result of the reference signal is less than (or less than or equal to) the first threshold.

[0139] For example, referring to FIG5 , the reference signal measurement result may be an RSRP measurement value, and the first threshold may be an RSRP threshold value (or RSRP reference value). Furthermore, the first value and the second value may be represented by a 1-bit binary bit sequence, with the first value being 1 and the second value being 0. As shown in FIG5 , when the RSRP measurement value is greater than or equal to the RSRP threshold value, the corresponding value of the first indication information is 1, i.e., the first value is 1; when the RSRP measurement value is less than the RSRP threshold value, the corresponding value of the first indication information is 0, i.e., the second value is 0. The first indication information may be represented as a good beam indicator, the RSRP measurement value may be represented as RSRP_measured value, and the RSRP threshold value may be represented as RSRP_threshold. As previously mentioned, if good beam indicator = 1, RSRP_measured value ≥ RSRP_threshold; and if good beam indicator = 0, RSRP_measured value < RSRP_threshold.

[0140] Based on the above example, it is not difficult to see that the terminal only needs to report the first indication information corresponding to the RSRP measurement value with a signaling overhead of 1 bit, thereby significantly reducing the signaling overhead required for reporting the RSRP measurement value. In other words, with the same signaling overhead, the terminal can report the first indication information corresponding to the RSRP measurement values ​​of a larger number of reference signals.

[0141] If the terminal supports reporting the first indication information of up to 4 beams at a time, and still taking the CRI occupying 6 bits as an example, then in an embodiment of the present application, a 1-bit first indication information reporting method is adopted, and an example of the correspondence between different numbers of reported beams and different beam reporting overheads can be shown in Table 2.

[0142] Table 2: Example of the correspondence between different reporting beam numbers and different beam reporting overheads

[0143] It can be seen from Table 2 above that when the number of reported beams is 1, the terminal only reports 1 first indication information. Therefore, the beam reporting overhead of the terminal reporting 1 beam is the number of bits occupied by 1 first indication information, that is, 1 bit; furthermore, when the number of reported beams is 2, the terminal only reports the first indication information and 2 CRIs corresponding to 2 beams respectively. Therefore, the beam reporting overhead of the terminal reporting 2 beams is: the number of bits occupied by 2 first indication information + the number of bits occupied by 2 CRIs = 2×1+2×6=14 bits.

[0144] Similarly, when the number of reported beams is 3, the terminal only needs to report the first indication information and 3 CRIs corresponding to the three beams respectively. That is, compared with the beam reporting overhead when the number of reported beams is 2, the signaling overhead required for reporting one first indication information and one CRI is increased. Therefore, the beam reporting overhead for the terminal reporting 3 beams is: the number of bits occupied by 3 first indication information + the number of bits occupied by 3 CRIs = 3×1+3×6=21 bits. When the number of reported beams is 4, the terminal only needs to report the first indication information and 4 CRIs corresponding to the four beams respectively. That is, compared with the beam reporting overhead when the number of reported beams is 3, the signaling overhead required for reporting one first indication information and one CRI is increased. Therefore, the beam reporting overhead for the terminal reporting 4 beams is: the number of bits occupied by 4 first indication information + the number of bits occupied by 4 CRIs = 4×1+4×6=28 bits.

[0145] In another optional implementation, the first threshold may also include multiple thresholds. For example, in ascending order, the aforementioned multiple thresholds may be represented as: threshold 1, ..., threshold N, where N is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2. The terminal may compare the magnitude relationship between the measurement result of the reference signal sent in the first beam and the multiple thresholds. That is, the terminal may determine the threshold interval corresponding to (or belonging to) the measurement result of the reference signal sent in the first beam based on the multiple thresholds, where the threshold interval is determined based on the multiple thresholds. For example, if the measurement result of the reference signal sent in the first beam is greater than threshold 1 and less than threshold 2, the threshold interval corresponding to the measurement result may be determined as: [threshold 1, threshold 2], (threshold 1, threshold 2], [threshold 1, threshold 2), or (threshold 1, threshold 2). Therefore, the first indication information may be indication information of the threshold interval corresponding to the reference signal measurement result. Accordingly, after receiving the first indication information corresponding to the first beam (the reference signal sent), the first network device may determine the magnitude relationship between the reference signal measurement result and the multiple thresholds, that is, determine the threshold interval corresponding to the reference signal measurement result.

[0146] Exemplarily, still taking the reference signal measurement result as an RSRP measurement value as an example, referring to FIG6 , the first threshold may include two thresholds, i.e., the value of N is 2. For example, the first threshold includes RSRP threshold value 1 (or RSRP reference value 1) and RSRP threshold value 2 (or RSRP reference value 2). Thus, there are three threshold intervals corresponding to the reference signal measurement result. For example, the threshold interval corresponding to the reference signal measurement result may be one of the following three intervals: (−∞, RSRP threshold value 1), (RSRP threshold value 1, RSRP threshold value 2), and [RSRP threshold value 2, +∞). Therefore, a 2-bit binary bit sequence may be used to represent the above three threshold intervals. That is, the first indication information may be 2 bits of indication information for indicating the threshold interval corresponding to the reference signal measurement result. As shown in FIG6 , the binary bit sequence corresponding to (-∞, RSRP threshold value 1) may be 00, the binary bit sequence corresponding to (RSRP threshold value 1, RSRP threshold value 2) may be 01, and the binary bit sequence corresponding to [RSRP threshold value 2, +∞) may be 10.

[0147] Furthermore, if the above-mentioned RSRP measurement value is represented as s, RSRP threshold value 1 is represented as RSRP1, and RSRP threshold value 2 is represented as RSRP2, and if the first indication information may not carry indication information of the threshold interval corresponding to the RSRP measurement value, then the mapping relationship between the threshold interval corresponding to the RSRP measurement value and the bit sequence can be as shown in Table 3.

[0148] Table 3: Example of mapping relationship between threshold intervals and bit sequences corresponding to RSRP measurement values

[0149] Among them, spare indicates that the first indication information does not carry indication information of the threshold interval corresponding to the RSRP measurement value, that is, the binary bit sequence 11 indicates that the first indication information does not carry the judgment result of the RSRP measurement value and the RSRP threshold value 1 and the RSRP threshold value 2.

[0150] Based on the above example, it is not difficult to see that the terminal only needs 2 bits of signaling overhead to report the first indication information corresponding to the RSRP measurement value. Compared with the existing reporting mechanism, it can also significantly reduce the signaling overhead required for reporting RSRP measurement values. In other words, with the same signaling overhead, the terminal can report the first indication information corresponding to the RSRP measurement values ​​of a larger number of reference signals.

[0151] Similar to Table 2 above, if the terminal supports reporting the first indication information of up to 4 beams at a time, and still taking CRI occupying 6 bits as an example, then in an embodiment of the present application, a 2-bit first indication information reporting method is adopted, and an example of the correspondence between different numbers of reported beams and different beam reporting overheads can be shown in Table 4.

[0152] Table 4: Example of the correspondence between different reporting beam numbers and different beam reporting overheads

[0153] It can be seen from Table 4 above that when the number of reported beams is 1, the terminal only reports 1 first indication information. Therefore, the beam reporting overhead of the terminal reporting 1 beam is the number of bits occupied by 1 first indication information, that is, 2 bits; furthermore, when the number of reported beams is 2, the terminal only reports the first indication information and 2 CRIs corresponding to the 2 beams respectively. Therefore, the beam reporting overhead of the terminal reporting 2 beams is: the number of bits occupied by 2 first indication information + the number of bits occupied by 2 CRIs = 2×2+2×6=16 bits.

[0154] Similarly, when the number of reported beams is 3, the terminal only needs to report the first indication information and 3 CRIs corresponding to the three beams respectively. That is, compared with the beam reporting overhead when the number of reported beams is 2, the signaling overhead required to report 1 first indication information and 1 CRI is increased. Therefore, the beam reporting overhead for the terminal reporting 3 beams is: the number of bits occupied by 3 first indication information + the number of bits occupied by 3 CRIs = 3×2+3×6=24 bits. When the number of reported beams is 4, the terminal only needs to report the first indication information and 4 CRIs corresponding to 4 beams respectively. That is, compared with the beam reporting overhead when the number of reported beams is 3, the signaling overhead required to report 1 first indication information and 1 CRI is increased. Therefore, the beam reporting overhead for the terminal reporting 4 beams is: the number of bits occupied by 4 first indication information + the number of bits occupied by 4 CRIs = 4×2+4×6=32 bits.

[0155] In addition, since the terminal requires 7 bits of signaling overhead when directly reporting the measurement results corresponding to one beam, as long as the number of the first threshold does not exceed 2^7-1 (or 2^7-2, when there is spare), the signaling overhead required for the terminal to report the first indication information will not be greater than the signaling overhead required for the terminal to directly report the measurement results using the existing mechanism.

[0156] In an optional implementation, the above-mentioned first threshold value may be determined and sent by the first network device. Optionally, the embodiment of the present application may further include: S203, the first network device sends configuration information to the terminal. Accordingly, the terminal receives the configuration information from the first network device, and the configuration information includes indication information of the first threshold value. S203 occurs, for example, before S201 (as shown in Figure 2). Of course, S203 may also occur after S201 and before S202. The embodiment of the present application does not limit this. In this way, the configuration of the first threshold value is implemented by the first network device, which can reduce the signaling overhead of the terminal configuration of the first threshold value and other related operations. In addition, if the terminal needs to determine the first indication information based on the measurement results of the first threshold value and the reference signal, the first network device sends the configuration information carrying the indication information of the first threshold value to the terminal, which also allows the terminal to release the storage space reserved for storing the first threshold value.

[0157] It can be understood that the indication information of the above-mentioned first threshold can explicitly indicate the first threshold, for example, the configuration information includes or directly carries the first threshold; or, the first threshold can also be implicitly indicated in other ways, for example, the configuration information includes other information that is associated with the first threshold, etc., and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

[0158] In another optional implementation, the first threshold may be predefined or preconfigured. Specifically, the first threshold is designed based on the corresponding reference signal and / or beam, and may be preconfigured or stored in the first network device and the terminal so that the terminal can subsequently quickly determine the beam quality of the first beam. In other words, the first threshold may not be determined by the first network device and / or the terminal. Predefining or preconfiguring the first threshold further reduces signaling overhead for the terminal and the first network device.

[0159] Furthermore, in order to ensure that the terminal smoothly performs the measurement of the reference signal sent in the first beam, the first network device may further configure the measurement resources required for the reference signal, i.e., the resources occupied by the first network device for sending the reference signal to the terminal, and the reporting resources required for the terminal to report the first indication information, i.e., the resources occupied by the terminal for sending the first indication information to the first network device. Therefore, the configuration information sent by the first network device to the terminal in step S203 may further include at least one of the following indication information: an identifier of the reference signal, time-frequency resources occupied by the reference signal, a downlink transmission channel corresponding to the reference signal (e.g., a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH)), time-frequency resources occupied by the first indication information, and an uplink transmission channel corresponding to the first indication information (e.g., a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)). In this way, after obtaining at least one of the above indication information, the terminal can measure the reference signal and / or report the measurement result, thereby reducing the signaling overhead of the terminal for related configurations. Of course, the configuration information sent by the first network device to the terminal may also include other information, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0160] For example, if the configuration information sent by the first network device to the terminal also includes indication information of the time-frequency resources occupied by the reference signal, then after receiving the configuration information, the terminal can determine, based on the indication information of the time-frequency resources occupied by the reference signal, the time-frequency resource on which the first network device will send the reference signal, thereby accurately receiving the reference signal sent by the first network device in the first beam on that time-frequency resource. For another example, if the configuration information sent by the first network device to the terminal also includes indication information of the time-frequency resources occupied by the first indication information, then after receiving the configuration information, the terminal can determine, based on the indication information of the time-frequency resources occupied by the first indication information, the time-frequency resource on which the terminal can send the first indication information to the first network device, thereby ensuring that the terminal can promptly report the beam quality of the first beam to the first network device.

[0161] Optionally, if the first beam is the beam between the first network device and the terminal determined based on the second beam between the second network device and the terminal, that is, for the scenario of multiple network devices, the configuration information sent by the first network device to the terminal in step S203 may also include at least one of the following indication information: the CORESET Pool Index of the second network device, the PCI of the second network device, the identifier of the second network device, the ephemeris information of the second network device, the orbital plane identifier of the second network device, and the identifier of the network device located on the orbital plane; wherein the identifier of the network device located on the orbital plane is the identifier of other network devices except the second network device; in this way, after obtaining the indication information of at least one of the above items, the terminal can know which network device among the multiple network devices the beam measurement is currently being performed on.

[0162] For example, assuming that the scenario of multiple network devices is a multi-satellite scenario, and the terminal uses a reporting method of 1-bit first indication information, then the values ​​of the reference signal, satellite, and 1-bit first indication information may be as shown in Table 5:

[0163] Table 5: Example of mapping relationship between reference signals, satellites and first indication information

[0164] In addition, in order to ensure that the first network device can know which network device corresponds to the first indication information reported by the terminal, the first indication information sent by the terminal to the first network device can also be related to the second network device, that is, the first indication information reported by the terminal is associated with the second network device. Exemplarily, the first indication information reported by the terminal can be associated with relevant information of the second network device (for example, CORESET Pool Index, PCI, ephemeris information and orbital plane identification, etc.); in this way, after receiving the first indication information reported by the terminal, the first network device can determine that the first indication information reported by the terminal at this time corresponds to the second network device based on the association relationship with the relevant information of the second network device, that is, the first indication information reported by the terminal at this time is the first indication information corresponding to the second network device.

[0165] In summary, based on the communication method described in steps S201 to S203 above, in an embodiment of the present application, since the number of bits occupied by the terminal for reporting the first indication information representing the beam quality of the first beam to the first network device is relatively small (e.g., 1 bit), and the number of bits required for directly reporting the reference signal measurement result in the existing mechanism is relatively large (e.g., 7 bits), the signaling overhead required for the terminal to report the reference signal measurement result (or beam measurement result) is reduced by reconstructing the existing beam reporting mechanism. For example, assuming that the terminal adopts a reporting method of 1-bit first indication information, and still taking the example of each CRI occupying 6 bits, the beam reporting overhead of the beam information reporting method adopted in the embodiment of the present application (i.e., the proposed mechanism) is compared with the beam reporting overhead of the existing mechanism as shown in Table 6.

[0166] Table 6: Comparison of beam reporting overhead between the proposed mechanism and the existing mechanism

[0167] It can be seen from Table 6 above that the use of a 1-bit reporting method can reduce the beam reporting overhead of the terminal to a certain extent. For example, when the terminal reports 1 beam, the reduction ratio of the beam reporting overhead can reach the highest, and the overhead reduction ratio is 1-(1 / 7)×100%≈85.7%.

[0168] For another example, assuming that a 2-bit first indication information reporting method is adopted, and still taking each CRI occupying 6 bits as an example, the beam information reporting method adopted in the embodiment of the present application (i.e., the proposed mechanism) and the beam reporting overhead of the existing mechanism can be compared as shown in Table 7.

[0169] Table 7: Comparison of beam reporting overhead between the proposed mechanism and the existing mechanism

[0170] It can be seen from Table 7 above that the use of a 2-bit reporting method can also reduce the beam reporting overhead of the terminal to a certain extent. For example, when the terminal reports 1 beam, the reduction ratio of the beam reporting overhead can reach the highest, and the overhead reduction ratio is 1-(2 / 7)×100%≈71.4%.

[0171] Refer to Figure 7, which is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 700 can be the system architecture of the terminal described in the embodiment shown in Figure 2, used to implement the method corresponding to the terminal in the above method embodiment. Alternatively, the communication device 700 can be the system architecture of the first network device described in the embodiment shown in Figure 2, used to implement the method corresponding to the first network device in the above method embodiment.

[0172] The communication device 700 includes at least one processor 701. Processor 701 can be used for internal processing of the device to implement certain control processing functions. Optionally, processor 701 includes instructions. Optionally, processor 701 can store data. Optionally, different processors can be independent devices, located in different physical locations, or on different integrated circuits. Optionally, different processors can be integrated into one or more processors, for example, on one or more integrated circuits.

[0173] [Corrected 20.02.2025 in accordance with Rule 91] Optionally, the communication device 700 may include one or more memories 703 for storing instructions. The memories 703 may also store data. The processor 701 and memories 703 may be provided separately or integrated. The communication device 700 also includes a communication circuit 702 and at least one communication interface 704. Because the memories 703, communication circuit 702, and communication interface 704 are optional, they are represented by dashed lines in FIG. 7 .

[0174] Optionally, the communication device 700 may further include a transceiver and / or an antenna. The transceiver may be used to send information to or receive information from other devices. The transceiver may be referred to as a transceiver, a transceiver circuit, an input / output interface, etc., and is used to implement the transceiver function of the communication device 700 via an antenna. Optionally, the transceiver includes a transmitter and a receiver. For example, the transmitter may be used to generate a radio frequency signal from a baseband signal, and the receiver may be used to convert the radio frequency signal into a baseband signal.

[0175] The processor 701 may include a general-purpose central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits for controlling the execution of the program of the present application.

[0176] Communication link 702 may include a pathway for transmitting information between the aforementioned components.

[0177] The communication interface 704 may be a device such as a transceiver for communicating with other devices or communication networks, such as Ethernet, radio access network (RAN), wireless local area network (WLAN), wired access network, etc.

[0178] The memory 703 may be a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that can store static information and instructions, a random access memory (RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device that can store information and instructions, or an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disc storage, an optical disc storage (including a compact disc, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc, Blu-ray disc, etc.), a magnetic disk storage medium or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited thereto. The memory 703 may exist independently and be connected to the processor 701 via the communication line 702. Alternatively, the memory 703 may be integrated with the processor 701.

[0179] The memory 703 is used to store computer-executable instructions for executing the solution of the present application, and the execution is controlled by the processor 701. The processor 701 is used to execute the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 703, thereby implementing the steps performed by the terminal or the first network device in the embodiment shown in FIG.

[0180] Optionally, the computer-executable instructions in the embodiments of the present application may also be referred to as application code, which is not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0181] In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, the processor 701 may include one or more CPUs, such as CPU0 and CPU1 in FIG. 7 .

[0182] In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, the communication device 700 may include multiple processors, such as the processor 701 and the processor 705 in FIG7 . Each of these processors may be a single-core (single-CPU) processor or a multi-core (multi-CPU) processor. The processor herein may refer to one or more devices, circuits, and / or processing cores for processing data (e.g., computer program instructions).

[0183] When the device shown in FIG7 is a chip, such as a terminal chip or a chip of a first network device, the chip includes a processor 701 (and may also include a processor 705), a communication circuit 702, and a communication interface 704. Optionally, the chip may include a memory 703. Specifically, the communication interface 704 may be an input interface, a pin, or a circuit. The memory 703 may be a register, a cache, or the like. The processor 701 and the processor 705 may be a general-purpose CPU, a microprocessor, an ASIC, or one or more integrated circuits for controlling the execution of a program of the communication method of any of the above-described embodiments.

[0184] In the embodiment of the present application, the functional modules of the device can be divided according to the above-mentioned 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-mentioned integrated module 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 embodiment of the present application is schematic and is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation. For example, in the case of dividing each functional module according to each function, refer to Figure 8, which is a schematic diagram of a device. The device 800 can be the terminal or the first network device involved in the above-mentioned various method embodiments, or a chip in the terminal or a chip in the first network device. The device 800 includes a processing unit 802 and a transceiver unit 801.

[0185] It should be understood that the device 800 can be used to implement the steps performed by the terminal or the first network device in the communication method of the embodiment of the present application. The relevant features can refer to the embodiment shown in Figure 2 above and will not be repeated here.

[0186] Optionally, the functions / implementation processes of the transceiver unit 801 and the processing unit 802 in FIG8 may be implemented by the processor 701 in FIG7 calling computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 703. Alternatively, the functions / implementation processes of the processing unit 802 in FIG8 may be implemented by the processor 701 in FIG7 calling computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 703, and the functions / implementation processes of the transceiver unit 801 in FIG8 may be implemented by the communication interface 704 in FIG7.

[0187] When the device 800 is a chip or circuit, the functions / implementation processes of the transceiver unit 801 can also be implemented through pins or circuits. Optionally, the transceiver unit 801 can include a transmitting unit and / or a receiving unit, where the transmitting unit is used to implement the transmitting function and the receiving unit is used to implement the receiving function; or, the transceiver unit 801 can be an integral module capable of implementing the transmitting function and / or the receiving function. Optionally, the transceiver unit 801 can be implemented by a transceiver.

[0188] The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores a computer program or instruction. When the computer program or instruction is executed, the method performed by the terminal or the first network device in the above-mentioned method embodiment is implemented. In this way, the functions described in the above embodiments can be implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application can be essentially or in other words, the part that contributes or the part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for causing a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the communication method described in each embodiment of the present application. The 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.

[0189] The present application also provides a computer program product, which includes: computer program code, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the method executed by the terminal or the first network device in any of the aforementioned method embodiments.

[0190] An embodiment of the present application also provides a processing device, including a processor and an interface; the processor is used to execute the method executed by the terminal or the first network device involved in any of the above method embodiments.

[0191] The present application also provides a communication system that can be used to implement the method executed by the terminal or the first network device in the above method embodiment or any possible implementation of the method embodiment. Exemplarily, the communication system has the architecture shown in FIG1 .

[0192] The present application also provides a chip or a chip system, which is coupled to a transceiver and is used to implement the method performed by the terminal or the first network device in any possible implementation of the above method embodiment or the method embodiment. Here, "coupling" refers to the direct or indirect combination of two components with each other, which can be fixed or movable, and which allows flowing liquid, electricity, electrical signals or other types of signals to communicate between the two components. The chip system may include the chip. Specifically, the chip or chip system can be used to execute the method performed by the terminal or the first network device involved in any of the above method embodiments.

[0193] In the above embodiments, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are generated. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via a wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) method. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more available media integrated therein. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (eg, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (eg, a digital video disc (DVD), or a semiconductor medium (eg, a solid state disk (SSD)).

[0194] The various illustrative logic units and circuits described in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented or operated by a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an ASIC, a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor, and optionally, the general-purpose processor can also be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller or state machine. The processor can also be implemented by a combination of computing devices, such as a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a digital signal processor core, or any other similar configuration.

[0195] The steps of the methods or algorithms described in the embodiments of the present application can be directly embedded in hardware, software units executed by a processor, or a combination of the two. The software unit can be stored in RAM, flash memory, ROM, erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), EEPROM, registers, hard disks, removable disks, CD-ROMs, or other storage media in any form in the art. Exemplarily, the storage medium can be connected to the processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and can write information to the storage medium. Alternatively, the storage medium can also be integrated into the processor. The processor and storage medium can be arranged in an ASIC, which can be arranged in a terminal. Alternatively, the processor and storage medium can also be arranged in different components in the terminal.

[0196] These computer program instructions can also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing device so that a series of operating steps are executed on the computer or other programmable device to produce a computer-implemented process, so that the instructions executed on the computer or other programmable device provide steps for implementing the functions specified in one or more processes in the flowchart and / or one or more boxes in the block diagram.

[0197] The contents of the various embodiments of this application can refer to each other. If there is no special explanation and logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions between different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced to each other. The technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their internal logical relationships.

[0198] It is understood that in the embodiments of the present application, the terminal and / or the first network device may perform some or all of the steps in the embodiments of the present application. These steps or operations are merely examples. In the embodiments of the present application, other operations or variations of various operations may also be performed. 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.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to terminals, including: receiving a reference signal from a first network device, where the reference signal corresponds to a first beam and is determined based on ephemeris information of the first network device and location information of the terminal; First indication information is sent to the first network device, where the first indication information is used to indicate the beam quality of the first beam, and the first indication information is determined based on a measurement result of the reference signal and a first threshold.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein When the measurement result of the reference signal is greater than or equal to the first threshold, the first indication information is a first value; or when the measurement result of the reference signal is less than the first threshold, the first indication information is a second value.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein The first threshold includes multiple thresholds, the first indication information is indication information of a threshold interval corresponding to the measurement result of the reference signal, and the threshold interval is determined according to the multiple thresholds.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The first beam is a beam between the first network device and the terminal.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein The first beam is determined according to the ephemeris information of the first network device and / or the location information of the terminal.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The first beam is a beam between the first network device and the terminal, and the first beam is determined according to a second beam between the second network device and the terminal.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein The second beam is determined according to the ephemeris information of the second network device and / or the location information of the terminal.

8. The method according to claim 6 or 7, wherein: The first indication information is associated with the second network device.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that Also includes: Configuration information is received from the first network device, where the configuration information includes indication information of the first threshold.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein The configuration information also includes at least one of the following indications: an identifier of the reference signal; The time-frequency resources occupied by the reference signal; a downlink transmission channel corresponding to the reference signal; time-frequency resources occupied by the first indication information; Alternatively, the uplink transmission channel corresponding to the first indication information.

11. The method according to claim 9 or 10, wherein: The configuration information also includes indication information of at least one of the following: A control resource set resource pool index CORESET Pool Index of the second network device; A physical cell identifier PCI of the second network device; an identifier of the second network device; ephemeris information of the second network device; a track surface identifier of the second network device; Alternatively, an identifier of a network device located on the track surface.

12. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to a first network device, comprising: Sending a reference signal to the terminal, where the reference signal corresponds to the first beam and is determined based on the ephemeris information of the first network device and the location information of the terminal; First indication information is received from the terminal, where the first indication information is used to indicate a beam quality of the first beam, and the first indication information is determined according to a measurement result of the reference signal and a first threshold.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein: When the measurement result of the reference signal is greater than or equal to the first threshold, the first indication information is a first value; or when the measurement result of the reference signal is less than the first threshold, the first indication information is a second value.

14. The method according to claim 12, wherein: The first threshold includes multiple thresholds, the first indication information is indication information of a threshold interval corresponding to the measurement result of the reference signal, and the threshold interval is determined according to the multiple thresholds.

15. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 14, characterized in that The first beam is a beam between the first network device and the terminal.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein The first beam is determined according to the ephemeris information of the first network device and / or the location information of the terminal.

17. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 14, characterized in that The first beam is a beam between the first network device and the terminal, and the first beam is determined according to a second beam between the second network device and the terminal.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein The second beam is determined according to the ephemeris information of the second network device and / or the location information of the terminal.

19. The method according to claim 17 or 18, wherein: The first indication information is associated with the second network device.

20. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 19, characterized in that Also includes: Sending configuration information to the terminal, where the configuration information includes indication information of the first threshold.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein The configuration information also includes indication information of at least one of the following: an identifier of the reference signal; The time-frequency resources occupied by the reference signal; a downlink transmission channel corresponding to the reference signal; time-frequency resources occupied by the first indication information; Alternatively, the uplink transmission channel corresponding to the first indication information.

22. The method according to claim 20 or 21, wherein: The configuration information also includes indication information of at least one of the following: A control resource set resource pool index CORESET Pool Index of the second network device; A physical cell identifier PCI of the second network device; an identifier of the second network device; ephemeris information of the second network device; a track surface identifier of the second network device; Alternatively, an identifier of a network device located on the track surface.

23. A communication device, characterized in that: The communication device includes a processing unit and a transceiver unit; The transceiver unit is used to send and receive information; The processing unit is configured to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11 through the transceiver unit.

24. A communication device, characterized in that: The communication device includes a processing unit and a transceiver unit; The transceiver unit is used to send and receive information; The processing unit is configured to execute the method according to any one of claims 12 to 22 through the transceiver unit.

25. A communication device, characterized in that: The communication device includes a processor and a memory, the memory stores a computer program, and the processor is configured to execute the computer program stored in the memory, so that the communication device performs the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, or the communication device performs the method according to any one of claims 12 to 22.

26. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program, which, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, or causes the computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 12 to 22.

27. A chip system, characterized in that: The method comprises a processor and an interface, wherein the processor is used to receive and execute instructions from the interface. When the processor executes the instructions, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11 or the method according to any one of claims 12 to 22 is implemented.

28. A communication system, characterized in that: comprising a terminal and a first network device; The terminal is configured to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, and the first network device is configured to execute the method according to any one of claims 12 to 22.

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