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

A communication method, apparatus and system

[0001] Cross-references to related applications

[0002] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202410141884.6, filed on January 31, 2024, entitled "A Communication Method, Apparatus and System", the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] This application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method, apparatus and system. Background Technology

[0004] To ensure good downlink communication quality between the terminal and network equipment, the terminal usually first measures the reference signals transmitted by the network equipment through multiple beams, and then reports the measurement results for each of the multiple reference signals (such as reference signal receiving power (RSRP)) to the network equipment. This allows the network equipment to select a suitable beam from the multiple beams after receiving the measurement results to provide communication services (such as downlink data transmission or scheduling) to the terminal.

[0005] However, since the measurement results reported by the terminal to the network device include specific signal measurement values ​​(such as 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 achieve the reporting of 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] This application provides a communication method, apparatus, and system for reducing the signaling overhead required for terminals to report measurement results.

[0007] Firstly, a communication method is provided. This method can be executed by a terminal, or by other devices including terminal functionality, or by a chip system (or chip) or other functional module capable of implementing the terminal's functionality, such chip system or functional module being disposed, for example, within the terminal. In the following description, the method being executed by a terminal is taken as an example. The method includes: receiving a reference signal from a first network device, the reference signal corresponding to a first beam, the reference signal being determined based on ephemeris information of the first network device and location information of the terminal; and sending first indication information to the first network device, the first indication information indicating the beam quality of the first beam, the first indication information being determined based on a measurement result of the reference signal and a first threshold.

[0008] In this embodiment, after receiving the reference signal transmitted by the first network device in the first beam, the terminal can generate first indication information to indicate the beam quality of the first beam based on the measurement result of the reference signal (e.g., RSRP measurement value) and a first threshold set for the reference signal. The terminal then reports the generated first indication information to the first network device, so that the first network device can determine whether it meets the downlink communication requirements between the terminal and the first network device. In other words, the first network device can determine whether the first beam meets the requirements for downlink communication between the terminal and the first network device based on the first indication information. Using this method, the terminal no longer needs to report measurement results containing specific signal measurement values, but only reports indication information indicating whether the first beam meets the downlink communication requirements between the terminal and the first network device. Furthermore, the signal measurement value occupies a relatively large number of bits (e.g., 7 bits), while the signaling overhead required for the first indication information is relatively small (e.g., 1 bit). Therefore, the signaling overhead required for the terminal to report the measurement results is reduced.

[0009] Furthermore, since the first network device can determine the reference signal to be used in the first beam, the corresponding transmission power of the reference signal, the information / content carried by the reference signal, the beam direction of the reference signal, and the time-frequency resources occupied by transmitting the reference signal 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, to a certain extent, ensure that the terminal can have a better beam measurement effect by configuring the reference signal transmitted in the first beam, that is, it can achieve better measurement of the reference signal. In this way, after obtaining a relatively accurate measurement result of the reference signal, the terminal can then combine it with a first threshold to more accurately determine whether the first beam can be used as the beam that meets the downlink communication requirements between the terminal and the first network device.

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

[0011] In another optional implementation, the first threshold may include multiple thresholds, and the first indication information may be indication information of a threshold interval corresponding to the measurement result of the reference signal, wherein the threshold interval may be determined based on the multiple thresholds. In this implementation, the terminal can compare the measurement result of the reference signal transmitted in the first beam with the magnitude relationship of the multiple thresholds; that is, the terminal can determine the threshold interval corresponding to the measurement result of the reference signal transmitted in the first beam based on the multiple thresholds. Thus, the terminal only needs the signaling overhead occupied by the binary bit sequence corresponding to the threshold interval indication information to report the first indication information. Therefore, compared to the terminal directly reporting the RSRP measurement value, it can also save the terminal's signaling overhead. For example, if the first threshold includes two thresholds, then there are a total of three threshold intervals, which can be represented by a two-bit binary bit sequence; therefore, the terminal only needs two bits of signaling overhead to report the first indication information.

[0012] In one optional implementation, the first beam can be the beam between the first network device and the terminal. In this implementation, the terminal can measure the beam between the first network device and the terminal; and, since the signaling overhead of the terminal reporting 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, the first network device can quickly select a suitable beam from its multiple beams to provide communication services to the terminal based on the first indication information reported by the terminal.

[0013] In one 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. In this way, the terminal does not need to perform beam measurement on all beams of the first network device, but only on the beams that may provide communication services to the terminal. This avoids the terminal measuring beams that will not provide communication services to the terminal at all, thereby reducing unnecessary signaling overhead and system resource waste for both the terminal and the first network device. Furthermore, since the number of beams measured by the terminal is not all of the beams of the first network device, it also reduces the efficiency of the first network device in configuring downlink communication beams for the terminal.

[0014] In another alternative implementation, the first beam can be the beam between the first network device and the terminal, and the first beam can be determined based on the second beam between the second network device and the terminal. In this implementation, the first network device can perform beam measurement of other network devices (e.g., the second network device), that is, adjust its own beam using the second beam between the second network device and the terminal, and then send a reference signal to the terminal using the adjusted beam to measure the beam of the second network device. This simplifies the terminal's beam reporting mechanism to some extent and reduces the signaling overhead required for the terminal to report measurement results.

[0015] In one 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. In this way, the terminal does not need to perform beam measurement on all beams of the second network device, but only on the beams that may provide communication services to the terminal. This avoids the terminal measuring beams that will not provide communication services to the terminal at all, thereby reducing unnecessary signaling overhead and system resource waste between the terminal and the second network device. Furthermore, since the number of beams measured by the terminal is not all of the second network device's beams, it also reduces the efficiency of the second network device in configuring downlink communication beams for the terminal.

[0016] In one alternative implementation, the first indication information is associated with the second network device. In this implementation, in scenarios with multiple network devices (e.g., multi-satellite scenarios), this enables the first network device to determine which network device the first indication information reported by the terminal corresponds to, so that the corresponding network device can subsequently perform beam allocation for the terminal.

[0017] In an optional implementation, the method may further include: receiving configuration information from the first network device, the configuration information including indication information of the first threshold. By implementing the configuration of the first threshold through the first network device, the signaling overhead of terminal configuration of the first threshold and related operations can be reduced. Furthermore, since the first network device only sends the 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 the measurement results of the first threshold and a reference signal, the terminal can release the storage space reserved for storing the first threshold.

[0018] In an optional implementation, the configuration information may further include at least one of the following indication information: the 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. Since the aforementioned at least one of the 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, the terminal, after obtaining the aforementioned at least one of the indication information, can perform measurements on the reference signal and / or report the measurement results, thereby reducing the signaling overhead of the terminal for related configurations.

[0019] In another optional implementation, the configuration information may further include at least one of the following indication information: the CORESET Pool Index of the second network device; the physical cell identifier (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; or, the identifier of the network device located on the orbital plane. Thus, after obtaining at least one of the aforementioned indication information, the terminal can determine which of the multiple network devices is currently being used for beam measurement.

[0020] Secondly, another communication method is provided. This method can be executed by a first network device, or by another device including the functions of the first network device, or by a chip system (or chip) or other functional module capable of implementing the functions of the first network device, such as being disposed within the first network device. In the following description, the method being executed by the first network device is taken as an example. The method includes: sending a reference signal to a terminal, the reference signal corresponding to a first beam, the reference signal being determined based on ephemeris information of the first network device and location information of the terminal; receiving first indication information from the terminal, the first indication information indicating the beam quality of the first beam, the first indication information being determined based on measurement results of the reference signal and a first threshold.

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

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

[0023] In one alternative implementation, the first beam may be the beam between the first network device and the terminal.

[0024] In one alternative 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 alternative implementation, the first beam may be the beam between the first network device and the terminal, and the first beam may be determined based on the second beam between the second network device and the terminal.

[0026] In one alternative 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 one alternative 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, wherein the configuration information may include indication information of the first threshold.

[0029] In one optional implementation, the configuration information may further include at least one of the following indication information: the 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 implementation, the configuration information may further include at least one of the following indications: 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; or, the identifier of the network device located on the orbital plane.

[0031] Thirdly, a communication device is provided. The communication device can be the terminal described in the first aspect above. The communication device can also be other entities including those possessing the aforementioned terminal functions. For example, the communication device can be other devices possessing terminal functions, or a chip system (or chip) or other functional module capable of implementing the terminal functions, and the chip system or functional module can be, for example, disposed within 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 called a transceiver module) and a processing unit (sometimes also called a processing module). The transceiver unit can implement both transmitting and receiving functions. When the transceiver unit implements the transmitting function, it can be called a transmitting unit (sometimes also called a transmitting module), and when the transceiver unit implements the receiving function, it can be called a receiving unit (sometimes also called a receiving module). The transmitting unit and the receiving unit can be the same functional module, which is called the transceiver unit and can implement both transmitting and receiving functions; or, the transmitting unit and the receiving unit can be different functional modules, and the transceiver unit is a collective term for these functional modules.

[0032] In one optional implementation, the transceiver unit (or the receiving unit) is configured to receive a reference signal from a first network device, the reference signal corresponding to a first beam, the reference signal being 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 configured to send first indication information to the first network device, the first indication information indicating the beam quality of the first beam, the first indication information being determined by the processing unit (or the processing module) based on the measurement result of the reference signal and a first threshold.

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

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

[0035] In one alternative implementation, the first beam may be the beam between the first network device and the terminal.

[0036] In one alternative implementation, the first beam may be determined by the processing unit (or processing module) based on the ephemeris information of the first network device and / or the location information of the terminal.

[0037] In another alternative implementation, the first beam may be the 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 the second beam between the second network device and the terminal.

[0038] In one alternative implementation, the second beam may be determined by the processing unit (or processing module) based on the ephemeris information of the second network device and / or the location information of the terminal.

[0039] In one alternative 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) for receiving configuration information from the first network device, wherein the configuration information may include indication information of the first threshold.

[0041] In one optional implementation, the configuration information may further include at least one of the following indication information: the 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 implementation, the configuration information may further include at least one of the following indications: 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; or, the identifier of the network device located on the orbital plane.

[0043] Fourthly, a communication device is provided. The communication device may be the first network device described in the second aspect above. The communication device may also include other entities possessing the functions of the first network device. For example, the communication device may be another device possessing the functions of the first network device, or a chip system (or chip) or other functional module capable of implementing the functions of the first network device, and the chip system or functional module may be disposed, for example, within the first network device. In one 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 called a processing module) and a transceiver unit (sometimes also called a transceiver module). For details on the implementation of the transceiver unit, please refer to the description in the third aspect.

[0044] In one optional implementation, the transceiver unit (or the transmitting unit) is configured to transmit a reference signal to the terminal, the reference signal corresponding to a first beam, the reference signal being 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 configured to receive first indication information from the terminal, the first indication information indicating the beam quality of the first beam, the first indication information being determined by the processing unit (or the processing module) based on the measurement result of the reference signal and a first threshold.

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

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

[0047] In one alternative implementation, the first beam may be the beam between the first network device and the terminal.

[0048] In one alternative implementation, the first beam may be determined by the processing unit (or processing module) based on the ephemeris information of the first network device and / or the location information of the terminal.

[0049] In another alternative implementation, the first beam may be the 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 the second beam between the second network device and the terminal.

[0050] In one alternative implementation, the second beam may be determined by the processing unit (or processing module) based on the ephemeris information of the second network device and / or the location information of the terminal.

[0051] In one alternative 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) for sending configuration information to the terminal, wherein the configuration information may include indication information of the first threshold.

[0053] In one optional implementation, the configuration information may further include at least one of the following indication information: the 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 implementation, the configuration information may further include at least one of the following indications: 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; or, the identifier of the network device located on the orbital plane.

[0055] Fifthly, a communication device is provided, which can be a terminal, or a chip or chip system for use in a terminal. The communication device includes a communication interface and a processor, and optionally, a memory. The memory stores a computer program, and the processor is coupled to the memory and the communication interface. When the processor reads the computer program or instructions through the communication interface, it causes the communication device to execute the method described in the first aspect, which is performed by the terminal.

[0056] Sixthly, a communication device is provided, which may be a first network device or a chip or chip system used in a first network device. The communication device includes a communication interface and a processor, and optionally, a memory. The memory stores a computer program, and the processor is coupled to the memory and the communication interface. When the processor reads the computer program or instructions through the communication interface, it causes the communication device to execute the method performed by the first network device in the second aspect described above.

[0057] In a seventh aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided for storing a computer program or instructions that, when executed, cause the methods performed by the terminal and / or the first network device in each of the first to second aspects to be implemented.

[0058] Eighthly, a computer program product containing instructions is provided, which, when the computer program or instructions are run on a computer, causes the methods described in the first to second aspects above to be implemented.

[0059] A ninth aspect provides a chip system including a processor and an interface, the processor being configured to call and execute instructions from the interface to enable the chip system to implement the methods described in the first to second aspects above.

[0060] The technical effects that can be achieved by each aspect of the second to ninth aspects and each possible implementation scheme of each aspect can be referred to the description of the effects that can be achieved by the corresponding possible design schemes in the first aspect above. The repetition will not be discussed. Attached Figure Description

[0061] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a typical application scenario of the satellite-ground fusion network provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0062] Figure 2 is a flowchart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0063] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a beam coverage area provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0064] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a multi-satellite scenario provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0065] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of a first threshold provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0066] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of yet another first threshold provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0067] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0068] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of another device provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0069] This application provides a communication method, apparatus, and system to reduce the signaling overhead required for terminals to report measurement results. The method, apparatus, and system are based on the same technical concept, and since the principles by which the method, apparatus, and system solve the problem are similar, their implementations can be referred to interchangeably, and repeated details will not be repeated.

[0070] The following explanations of some terms used in the embodiments of this application are provided to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art.

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

[0072] For example, an NTN system may include, but is not limited to, satellite (communication) systems, UAV communication systems, and HAPS systems. Satellite communication systems can be categorized based on their altitude above the Earth's surface (i.e., orbital altitude), such as geostationary orbit (GEO) systems, geosynchronous orbit (GEO or GSO) systems, highly elliptical orbit (HEO) systems, medium Earth orbit (MEO) systems, and low Earth orbit (LEO) systems. Correspondingly, satellites within these systems can be classified as GEO satellites, HEO satellites, MEO satellites, LEO satellites, etc., depending on the type of satellite communication system.

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

[0074] Compared to terrestrial networks, NTNs offer advantages such as wider coverage, higher path loss, greater latency, faster speeds, and lower costs. As research on NTNs has gained momentum, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has also conducted standardization research on NTNs, aiming to supplement or enhance the communication performance of mobile communication systems through their construction. For example, 3GPP has been conducting research on satellite-terrestrial convergence and related solutions since release 14 (R14).

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

[0076] When the terminal is applied to V2X, it can also be called a V2X device, such as a smart car, digital car, unmanned car, driverless car, pilotless car, or automobile, self-driving car, battery EV, hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), range-extended electric vehicle (REEV), plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), new energy vehicle, or roadside unit (RSU). The terminal can also be a device in D2D communication, such as a smart meter, smart water meter, or other smart instruments. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the terminal can also be a terminal in an IoT system. IoT is an important component of future information technology development, and its main technical characteristic is connecting objects to networks through communication technology, thereby realizing an intelligent network of human-machine interconnection and machine-to-machine interconnection.

[0077] The various terminals described above, if located in a vehicle (e.g., placed inside or installed inside a vehicle), can all be considered vehicle-mounted terminals, also known as on-board units (OBUs). The terminal in this application can also be an on-board module, on-board unit, on-board component, on-board chip, or on-board unit built into a vehicle as one or more components or units. The vehicle can implement the methods of this application through the built-in 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 equipment, or user device, etc.

[0079] In this application embodiment, the communication device used to implement the terminal function can be a terminal, or it can be a communication device capable of supporting the terminal to implement the function, such as a chip system. This communication device can be installed in the terminal. In the technical solutions provided in this application embodiment, the example of a terminal as the communication device used to implement the terminal function is used to describe the technical solutions provided in this application embodiment.

[0080] 3) The network equipment in this application embodiment can be a device that communicates with the terminal over the air interface, such as non-terrestrial network equipment like satellites, or an access device that allows the terminal to access the mobile communication system wirelessly, such as a terrestrial access network (AN) device. Exemplarily, the access network equipment in this application embodiment includes, but is not limited to, base stations (base transceiver stations (BTS), Node B, evolved Node B (eNodeB) / eNB, or the next generation Node B (gNodeB) / gNB), transmission reception points (TRPs), 3GPP subsequent evolution base stations, access nodes in wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) systems, wireless relay nodes, wireless backhaul nodes, etc. The base station can be: macro base station, micro base station, pico base station, small cell, relay station, etc. Multiple base stations can support networks using the same access technology or networks using different access technologies. A base station can contain one or more co-located or non-co-located transmission and reception points. The access network equipment can also be a radio controller, centralized unit (CU), and / or distributed unit (DU) in a cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenario. The access network equipment can also be a base station control device. The access network equipment can also be other devices in the access network, such as servers; this application does not limit this. For example, network equipment in V2X technology can be a roadside unit (RSU). The following description of the access network equipment uses a base station as an example. A base station can communicate with a terminal, or it can communicate with a terminal through a relay station. A terminal can communicate with multiple base stations in different access technologies. The core network equipment is used to implement functions such as mobility management, data processing, session management, policy and billing. The names of the devices implementing core network functions may differ in systems using different access technologies; this application does not limit this.Taking a 5G (5th generation) mobile communication 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 technologies or equipment forms used in the network equipment.

[0081] In the CU-DU architecture, access network equipment can include one or more logical network elements such as a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU). CUs and DUs can be configured separately or included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). CU-CP can be divided into CU-CP1 and CU-CP2. CU-CP1 includes various radio resource management functions, while 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, signaling generated by the CU can be sent to the terminal through the DU, or signaling generated by the terminal can be sent to the CU through the DU. The DU can directly encapsulate the signaling through the protocol layer and pass it through to the terminal or CU without parsing it.

[0082] The RU can be included in radio frequency equipment or radio frequency units, such as in a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH).

[0083] Furthermore, the aforementioned CU-DU architecture can separate the protocol layers of network devices. Some protocol layer functions are centrally controlled by the CU, while the remaining partial or complete protocol layer functions are distributed across the DU, with the CU centrally controlling the DU. For example, PDCP layer and above protocol layer functions can be located in the CU, while functions of protocol layers below PDCP (such as radio link control (RLC) and medium access control (MAC) layers) are located in the DU. It should be noted that this protocol layer division is merely an example; other protocol layer divisions are also possible, and this application does not limit this approach.

[0084] It should also be noted that CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU, or RU may have different names in different systems, but those skilled in the art will understand their meaning. For example, in an Open RAN (ORAN) system, CU can also be called CU (O-CU), DU can also be called O-DU, CU-CP can also be called O-CU-CP, CU-UP can also be called O-CU-UP, and RU can also be called O-RU. For ease of description, the embodiments of this application use CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU, and RU as examples. Any of the units among CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU, and RU in the embodiments of this application can 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 this application, actions performed by the cell (such as sending or receiving information from the UE, or processing information) can be specifically performed by the network device providing the cell. Optionally, in various embodiments of this application, if the network device has a distributed architecture, for example, the network device includes CU and DU, or includes CU-CP, CU-UP, and DU, then when the network device sends information to the UE, specifically, the DU included in the network device sends information to the UE; when the network device receives information from the UE, specifically, the DU included in the network device receives information from the UE. Furthermore, if the network device has a distributed architecture, for example, the network device includes CU and DU, or includes CU-CP, CU-UP, and DU, then when 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; when 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 this application embodiment, the communication device used to implement the network device function can be a network device itself, or it can be a device capable of supporting the network device in implementing that function, such as a chip system. This device can be installed within the network device. In the technical solutions provided in this application embodiment, the example of a network device being used to implement the network device function is used to describe the technical solutions provided in this application embodiment.

[0087] It should be understood that, in the embodiments of this application, the number of nouns, unless otherwise specified, refers to "singular nouns or plural nouns," that is, "one or more." "At least one" means one or more, and "more than one" means two or more. "And / or" describes the relationship between related objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, or B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the related objects before and after are in an "or" relationship. For example, A / B means: A or B. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single 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, and c can be single or multiple.

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

[0089] In addition, the numbering of steps in the various embodiments described in this application is sometimes only to distinguish different steps and is not used to limit the order of steps.

[0090] In the embodiments of this application, descriptions such as "when," "under the circumstances," "if," and "if" all refer to the device making corresponding processing under certain objective circumstances, and are not limited to a time, nor do they require the device (e.g., network device or terminal) to make a judgment action when implementing it, nor do they imply any other limitations.

[0091] It should be noted that in the embodiments of this application, "for indicating" can include both direct indication (or explicit indication) and indirect indication (or implicit indication). When describing information as indicating A, it can include whether the information directly indicates A or indirectly indicates A, but does not necessarily mean that the information carries A. Taking the first information as indicating the first content as an example, the first information can contain the first content, or a part of the first content, or the identifier, index, etc. of the first content, and can also contain the algorithm, calculation parameters, etc., for determining the first content. In particular, the embodiments of this application do not limit the manner of "indication".

[0092] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the embodiments of this application clearer, the embodiments of this application will be described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0093] The communication method provided in this application can be applied to various NTN scenarios. Since satellite communication systems are a typical application scenario in NTN, the communication systems applicable to the embodiments of this application will be described using satellite communication systems in NTN as an example.

[0094] In satellite communication systems, ground-based terminals access the network via an air interface. Base stations can be deployed on satellites or on the ground (in which case the satellite functions as a relay). Optionally, some functions of a base station can be deployed on the satellite, while others can be deployed on the ground. Satellites can communicate with ground stations via wireless links, and subsequently with base stations or the core network within the ground network.

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

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

[0097] Base station: Provides wireless access services to terminals, allocates wireless resources to accessing terminals, and provides reliable wireless transmission protocols and data encryption protocols, etc. For detailed descriptions and examples, please refer to point 3) above regarding the explanation of network device terminology.

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

[0099] For example, the functional units or entities of the control plane may include: SMF network elements, AMF network elements, unified data management (UDM) entities, and PCF entities. 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 may also include other functional units or entities; this application embodiment does not limit the specific type and number of functional units or entities of the control plane.

[0100] For example, the functional units or entities of the data plane may include UPF network elements. UPF network elements are mainly responsible for managing the transmission of user plane data, traffic statistics, etc. Of course, the data plane may also include other functional units or entities. This application embodiment does not limit the specific type and number of functional units or entities of the data plane.

[0101] Ground station: Used to connect satellites to terrestrial networks, responsible for forwarding 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 terrestrial base stations through one or more gateways; there is no limitation on this. Ground stations can also be called gateways (GW), satellite ground stations, earth stations, signaling stations, gateway stations, etc.

[0102] Based on their communication modes, satellite communication systems can be divided into transparent transmission mode and regenerative mode. The following examples illustrate several typical application scenarios of satellite-ground integrated networks, as shown in Figure 1.

[0103] In transparent transmission mode, the satellite acts as an analog radio frequency repeater, performing wireless frequency conversion and amplification. It can transmit or copy signals between the ground base station and the terminal; that is, the satellite only has the function of signal forwarding. For example, signals sent by the terminal can be transmitted through the satellite, forwarded by the gateway, and enter the ground base station. Referring to Figure 1(a), the terminal and the satellite, and the satellite and the ground station are connected via an air interface (e.g., the Uu interface). The satellite acts as a repeater, used to forward signals between the satellite and the ground station. The ground station has a communication connection with the base station in the terrestrial network. The base station communicates with the core network (CN) via a next-generation (NG) interface (e.g., the N2 interface), while the core network communicates with the data network (DN) via the N6 interface.

[0104] In regeneration mode, the 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 signal processing capabilities. For example, the satellite can be a base station mounted on an artificial Earth satellite or a high-altitude spacecraft. In this case, the gateway can forward signaling between the satellite (i.e., the base station) and the core network. Referring to Figures 1(b)-(d), the satellite can carry a base station or a DU (Dedicated Unit) within a base station. The satellite can parse and process signals received from the ground station and send the processed signals to the terminal, thus achieving signal regeneration.

[0105] As shown in Figure 1(b), the satellite carries a base station, and in this case, the satellite can be called a satellite base station. The terminal and the satellite can establish a communication connection via the air interface, while the satellite can establish a communication connection with the core network via the NG interface through the ground station. Optionally, in another scenario, the satellite can also establish a communication connection with the base station in the terrestrial network via the Xn interface through the ground station, and the base station in the terrestrial network can establish a communication connection with the core network via the NG interface. The core network communicates with the data network via the N6 interface.

[0106] As shown in Figure 1(c), the satellite carries the DU (Digital Unit) of the base station, while the ground station can connect to the CU (Complex Unit) of the base station deployed in the terrestrial network. The terminal and the satellite can establish a communication connection via the air interface, while the satellite can establish a communication connection with the CU via the F1 interface through the ground station. The interfaces between the CU, the core network, and the data network can be seen in Figure 1(b), and will not be elaborated further here.

[0107] Compared to the application scenario shown in Figure 1(b), the application scenario shown in Figure 1(d) adds communication between satellites (base stations), meaning that the 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 interfaces between network elements in the various application scenarios shown in Figure 1 are described below.

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

[0110] Xn interface: This refers to the interface between base stations, which is mainly used for signaling interactions such as handover.

[0111] NG interface: This refers to the interface between the base station and the core network, primarily used for exchanging non-access stratum (NAS) signaling from the core network, as well as user service data. For example, the NG interface may include the N2 interface, 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, this application embodiment does not impose any limitation on the number of the aforementioned communication devices or network elements (e.g., satellites, ground stations, terminals, etc.). That is, in actual scenarios, an architecture of multiple satellites and / or multiple ground stations cooperating 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 application embodiment does not specifically limit this.

[0113] It should be noted that the satellite communication system shown in Figure 1 does not constitute a limitation on the communication systems to which the embodiments of this application are applicable. Therefore, the communication method provided in the embodiments of this application can also be applied to communication systems in various NTN scenarios. In addition, the embodiments of this application do not limit the mobile communication system standard 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, etc.

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

[0115] Among them, beam scanning refers to the spatial scanning of the beam transmitting the reference signal according to a predefined time interval (or scanning period); beam measurement / decision refers to the terminal (e.g., UE) measuring the reference signal, and the network device (e.g., base station) selecting the beam that can provide better communication services for the terminal based on the measurement results of the reference signal reported by the terminal (i.e., beam measurement results); beam reporting refers to the terminal reporting the measurement results 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 will be used to send downlink data to the network device, or which (uplink) beam the terminal can use to send uplink data to the network device; beam failure recovery can include beam failure detection, discovery of new beams, beam recovery procedures, 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 transmitted by the network device through multiple beams (i.e., beam measurement), and then reports the measurement results for the 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 can select a suitable beam from the multiple beams to provide communication services (e.g., downlink data transmission or scheduling) to the terminal, i.e., beam decision.

[0117] In the current standard, a terminal can report measurement results for a maximum of four beams at a time. This means the reported measurement results can include four Channel State Information-Reference Signal (CSI-RS) Resource Indicators (CRIs), each occupying n bits, the specific number of bits being defined by layer 3 (L3). Additionally, it includes one basic RSRP, quantized within a range of [-140, -44] dBm, with a step size of 1 dB and occupying 7 bits; and three differential RSRPs, representing the difference from the highest reported RSRP, with a step size of 2 dB. Each differential RSRP occupies 4 bits, supporting a maximum differential reporting range of 32 dB. Optionally, the aforementioned basic RSRP is typically the maximum value among at least one RSRP measured by the terminal and reported during a single beam information reporting process; i.e., the highest RSRP. The step size can characterize the change in the value of the corresponding RSRP (e.g., the base RSRP or the differential RSRP). For example, if an RSRP is 2.12 dB and the step size is 2 dB, then the RSRP values ​​adjacent to this RSRP may be 0.12 dB or 4.12 dB.

[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 reporting beam numbers and different beam reporting overhead in the existing mechanism; where the reporting beam number is also the measurement result of how many beams of reference signal the terminal reports at one time.

[0119] Table 1: Examples of the correspondence between different reporting beam numbers and different beam reporting overhead

[0120] As shown in Table 1 above, when the number of reported beams is 1, the measurement results reported by the terminal only include 1 basic RSRP, that is, the RSRP measurement value or RSRP quantization value corresponding to the beam. Therefore, the beam reporting overhead for the terminal to report the measurement results of 1 beam is: the number of bits occupied by 1 basic RSRP, that is, 7 bits. Furthermore, when the number of reported beams is 2, the measurement results reported by the terminal not only include one basic RSRP, but also one differential RSRP and 2 CRIs. Therefore, the beam reporting overhead for the terminal to report the measurement results of 2 beams is: the number of bits occupied by 1 basic RSRP + the number of bits occupied by 1 differential RSRP + the number of bits occupied by 2 CRIs = 7 + 4 + 2 × 6 = 23 bits. At this time, the basic RSRP can be the largest RSRP among the RSRP measurement values ​​or RSRP quantization values ​​corresponding to 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 to report 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 largest RSRP among the RSRP measurement values ​​or RSRP quantization values ​​corresponding to the 3 beams.

[0122] When the number of reported beams is 4, the measurement results reported by the terminal include not only 1 basic RSRP, but also 3 differential RSRPs and 4 CRIs. That is, compared with the beam reporting overhead when the number of reported beams is 3, the signaling overhead required to report 1 differential RSRP and 1 CRI is increased. Therefore, the beam reporting overhead for the terminal to report 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. At this time, the basic RSRP can be the largest RSRP among the RSRP measurement values ​​or RSRP quantization values ​​corresponding to the 4 beams.

[0123] Therefore, since the measurement results reported by the terminal to the network device include specific signal measurement values ​​(such as basic RSRP or differential RSRP), and the number of bits occupied by the signal measurement values ​​(such as 7 bits for a basic RSRP or 4 bits for a differential RSRP) is relatively large, a large signaling overhead is usually required to achieve the reporting of measurement results. For example, the terminal needs to occupy a lot of bits and / or resources to report the measurement results to the network device.

[0124] In view of this, in the embodiments of this application, the terminal can receive the reference signal transmitted by the first network device in the first beam, and after obtaining the measurement result (e.g., RSRP measurement value) for the reference signal, it can combine the first threshold set for the reference signal to generate first indication information for indicating the beam quality of the first beam, 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 according to the first indication information, that is, the first network device can determine whether the first beam can be used as the downlink communication beam between the terminal and the first network device according to the first indication information. In this way, since the terminal no longer reports the measurement result containing the specific signal measurement value (e.g., RSRP measurement value), but only reports the indication information on 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 the influence factor of the measurement result of the reference signal. The influence factor can be the distance between the terminal and the first network device, or it can be a possible attenuation condition (e.g., building obstruction, weather, etc.). It should also be noted that although the selection method of the reference signal transmitted by the first network device in the first beam is not limited in this embodiment, in order to achieve better beam measurement results, the aforementioned reference signal can be determined based on the ephemeris information of the first network device and the location information of the terminal. In other words, the relevant attribute information of the aforementioned reference signal (e.g., the transmission power of the reference signal, the information / content carried by the reference signal, the beam direction corresponding to the reference signal, the time and frequency resources occupied by transmitting the reference signal, etc.) can be determined by the ephemeris information of the first network device and the location information of the terminal.

[0125] To better illustrate the embodiments of this application, a communication method provided by the embodiments of this application is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Referring to Figure 2, which is a flowchart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of this application, the following description will use the application scenario shown in Figure 1 as an example. The flowchart of the method is as follows.

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

[0127] The aforementioned reference signal corresponds to the first beam, meaning the first network device can send a reference signal to the terminal via the first beam. Optionally, the first beam can be the beam between the first network device and the terminal, so 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 one alternative implementation, since the first network device typically has multiple beams, and each beam can provide communication services to terminals within its corresponding coverage area (e.g., a cell), if the terminal performs beam measurement on every beam of the first network device, it would result in significant unnecessary signaling overhead and wasted system resources. For example, if the terminal performs beam measurement on a beam that will not provide communication services to the terminal (e.g., the terminal will not appear in the ground coverage area of ​​such a beam), it would cause significant unnecessary signaling overhead and wasted system resources for both the terminal and the first network device. Furthermore, it would reduce the efficiency of the first network device in configuring downlink communication beams for the terminal. Therefore, the first beam can be determined based on the ephemeris information of the first network device and / or the location information of the terminal. Using this method, the terminal does not need to perform beam measurement on all beams of the first network device; it only needs to perform beam measurement on the beams that may provide communication services to the terminal, thereby reducing the signaling overhead caused by the terminal performing beam measurement on the beams of the first network device.

[0129] For example, 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 location of the terminal at that moment can be determined based on the location information of the terminal, then at least one beam that is close to the location of the terminal at that moment can be determined from the multiple beams of the first network device. Any one of these at least one beams can be regarded as a beam that may provide communication services to the terminal; therefore, the first beam can be any one of these at least one beams.

[0130] Referring to Figure 3, which is a schematic diagram of a beam coverage area provided in an embodiment of this application, the first network device in Figure 3 has 11 beams (e.g., beam 1, beam 2, ..., beam 11). Based on the beam coverage area of ​​each of the 11 beams, at least one beam among the 11 beams that is adjacent to the location of the terminal can be identified as 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] Furthermore, since the reference signal for 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, based on its ephemeris information (or location information) and the terminal's location information, which reference signal to use in the first beam, the corresponding transmission power of the reference signal, the information / content carried by the reference signal, the beam direction of the reference signal, and the time-frequency resources occupied by transmitting the reference signal, etc., the first network device can, to a certain extent, ensure that the terminal can have a better beam measurement effect by configuring the reference signal transmitted in the first beam, that is, it can achieve better measurement of the reference signal. Thus, after obtaining a relatively accurate measurement result of the reference signal, the terminal can then combine it with a first threshold to more accurately determine whether the first beam can be used as the beam to meet the downlink communication requirements between the terminal and the first network device.

[0132] Optionally, to simplify the terminal's beam reporting mechanism and reduce the signaling overhead required for the terminal to report measurement results, in scenarios with multiple network devices (e.g., multi-satellite scenarios, see Figure 4), the first network device can also perform beam measurement on other network devices (e.g., the 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 with the adjusted beam. Therefore, the first beam can be the 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 information related to the second beam between the second network device and the terminal (such as beamwidth, antenna gain, polarization direction, etc., where beamwidth can be divided into horizontal beamwidth and vertical beamwidth) can be sent from the second network device to the first network device, or it can be sent from ground equipment such as ground stations on the ground to the first network device. In the embodiments of this application, the specific method by which the first network device obtains the information related to the second beam between the second network device and the terminal is not limited.

[0134] Similarly, since the second network device typically also has multiple beams, and each beam can provide communication services to terminals within its coverage area, if the terminal performs beam measurement on every beam of the second network device, this would not only incur significant invalid signaling overhead and waste system resources related to beam measurement, but would also require substantial signaling overhead and system resources for the first network device to configure its own beam as the second beam between the second network device and the terminal. Therefore, the aforementioned 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 on the beams that may provide communication services to the terminal. The first network device also does not need to perform relevant configurations for every beam between the second network device and the terminal, thereby reducing the signaling overhead caused by the terminal performing beam measurement on the second network device's beams.

[0135] S202, The terminal sends a first instruction message to the first network device. Correspondingly, the first network device receives the first instruction message 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 provide communication services to the terminal well. Therefore, the first indication information can also be called the beam quality indication information of the first beam, or beam quality indication information, or it can have other names.

[0137] To reduce the signaling overhead required for the terminal to report measurement results, the terminal does not need to directly report the measurement results of the reference signal (e.g., RSRP measurement value). Instead, it only needs to report first indication information that characterizes whether the first beam meets the downlink communication beam requirements 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 a first threshold. Since the first indication information occupies fewer bits than the measurement results of the reference signal, the terminal can report the first indication information with only a small signaling overhead. For example, assuming the first indication information occupies 1 bit, and as shown in Table 1, the terminal requires 7 bits of signaling overhead when reporting the measurement results corresponding to one beam. Therefore, compared to the terminal reporting the measurement results of the reference signal, reporting the beam indication information can significantly reduce the signaling overhead.

[0138] In one optional implementation, the first threshold may be a single threshold. The terminal can compare the measurement result of the reference signal transmitted by the first beam with 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 can 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 can be a second value. Accordingly, after receiving the first indication information corresponding to the first beam (transmitted reference signal), the first network device can determine the value corresponding to the first indication information. Specifically: when the value corresponding to the first indication information is the first value, it can 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 can 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 Figure 5, the measurement result of the reference signal can be the RSRP measurement value, and the first threshold can be the RSRP threshold value (or RSRP reference value). Furthermore, the first and second values ​​can be represented by a 1-bit binary sequence, with the first value being 1 and the second value being 0. As shown in Figure 5, when the RSRP measurement value is greater than or equal to the RSRP threshold value, the first indication information is 1, meaning the first value is 1; when the RSRP measurement value is less than the RSRP threshold value, the first indication information is 0, meaning the second value is 0. The first indication information can be represented as a good Beam Indicator, the RSRP measurement value as RSRP_measured value, and the RSRP threshold value as RSRP_threshold. Therefore, as mentioned earlier: if good Beam Indicator = 1, it means RSRP_measured value ≥ RSRP_threshold; if good Beam Indicator = 0, it means RSRP_measured value < RSRP_threshold.

[0140] Based on the above example, it is easy to see that the terminal only needs 1 bit of signaling overhead to report the first indication information corresponding to the RSRP measurement value, thus significantly saving 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 a maximum of 4 beams at a time, and taking CRI as an example of occupying 6 bits, then in this embodiment of the application, the reporting method of the first indication information using 1 bit is adopted. The correspondence between different reporting beam numbers and different beam reporting overhead can be shown in Table 2.

[0142] Table 2: Examples of the correspondence between different numbers of reporting beams and different beam reporting overhead

[0143] As shown in Table 2 above, when the number of reported beams is 1, the terminal only reports 1 first indication information. Therefore, the beam reporting overhead for the terminal reporting 1 beam is the number of bits occupied by 1 first indication information, i.e., 1 bit. Furthermore, when the number of reported beams is 2, the terminal only needs to report the first indication information and 2 CRIs corresponding to the 2 beams respectively. Therefore, the beam reporting overhead for 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 3 beams respectively. This means that compared to 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 × 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 4 beams respectively. This means that compared to 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 × 1 + 4 × 6 = 28 bits.

[0145] In another alternative implementation, the first threshold may also include multiple thresholds. For example, sorted from smallest to largest, the aforementioned multiple thresholds can be represented as: threshold 1, ..., threshold N, where N is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2. The terminal can compare the measurement result of the reference signal transmitted by the first beam with the magnitude relationship of the multiple thresholds. That is, the terminal can determine the threshold interval corresponding to (or belonging to) the measurement result of the reference signal transmitted by the first beam based on the multiple thresholds, wherein the threshold interval is determined based on the multiple thresholds. For example, if the measurement result of the reference signal transmitted by the first beam is greater than threshold 1 and less than threshold 2, the threshold interval corresponding to the measurement result can 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 can be the indication information of the threshold interval corresponding to the measurement result of the reference signal. Accordingly, after the first network device receives the first indication information corresponding to the first beam (transmitted reference signal), it can determine the magnitude relationship between the measurement result of the reference signal and the multiple thresholds, that is, determine the threshold interval corresponding to the measurement result of the reference signal.

[0146] For example, taking the RSRP measurement result of the reference signal as an example, referring to Figure 6, the first threshold can include two thresholds, i.e., N is 2. For example, the first threshold includes RSRP threshold 1 (or RSRP reference value 1) and RSRP threshold 2 (or RSRP reference value 2). Thus, the threshold interval corresponding to the measurement result of the reference signal will have three cases. For example, the threshold interval corresponding to the measurement result of the reference signal can be one of the three intervals: (-∞, RSRP threshold 1), (RSRP threshold 1, RSRP threshold 2), and [RSRP threshold 2, +∞). Therefore, a 2-bit binary bit sequence can be used to represent the above three threshold intervals, that is, the first indication information can be 2 bits used to indicate the threshold interval corresponding to the measurement result of the reference signal. As shown in Figure 6, the binary bit sequence corresponding to (-∞, RSRP threshold 1) can be 00, the binary bit sequence corresponding to (RSRP threshold 1, RSRP threshold 2) can be 01, and the binary bit sequence corresponding to [RSRP threshold 2, +∞) can be 10.

[0147] Furthermore, if the RSRP measurement value is denoted as s, the RSRP threshold value 1 is denoted as RSRP1, the RSRP threshold value 2 is denoted as RSRP2, and if the first indication information may not carry the 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 shown in Table 3.

[0148] Table 3: Examples of mapping relationships between threshold intervals corresponding to RSRP measurements and bit sequences

[0149] Here, "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 discrimination result of RSRP measurement value and RSRP threshold value 1 and RSRP threshold value 2.

[0150] Based on the above example, it is easy 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, this can significantly reduce the signaling overhead required to report 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.

[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 takes CRI occupying 6 bits as an example, then in this embodiment of the application, the reporting method of the first indication information using 2 bits is adopted. The correspondence between different reporting beam numbers and different beam reporting overhead can be shown in Table 4.

[0152] Table 4: Examples of the correspondence between different numbers of reporting beams and different beam reporting overhead

[0153] As shown in Table 4 above, when the number of reported beams is 1, the terminal only reports 1 first indication information. Therefore, the beam reporting overhead for the terminal reporting 1 beam is the number of bits occupied by 1 first indication information, i.e., 2 bits. Furthermore, when the number of reported beams is 2, the terminal only needs to report the first indication information and 2 CRIs corresponding to the 2 beams respectively. Therefore, the beam reporting overhead for 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 3 beams respectively. This means that compared to 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 the 4 beams respectively. This means that compared to 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] Furthermore, since the terminal requires 7 bits of signaling overhead to directly report the measurement result corresponding to one beam, as long as the number of first thresholds does not exceed 2^7-1 (or 2^7-2, if there is a 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 result using the existing mechanism.

[0156] In one optional implementation, the first threshold can be determined and sent by the first network device. Optionally, in this embodiment, it may further include: S203, the first network device sends configuration information to the terminal. Accordingly, the terminal receives configuration information from the first network device, the configuration information including indication information of the first threshold. S203 occurs, for example, before S201 (as shown in Figure 2), but of course, S203 can also occur after S201 and before S202; this embodiment does not limit this. By using this method, configuring the first threshold through the first network device can reduce the signaling overhead of the terminal configuring the first threshold and related operations. Furthermore, if the terminal needs to determine the first indication information based on the measurement results of the first threshold and the reference signal, the first network device only sends the configuration information carrying the indication information of the first threshold to the terminal, which also allows the terminal to release the storage space reserved for storing the first threshold.

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

[0158] In another optional implementation, the aforementioned first threshold can also be predefined or preconfigured. That is, the first threshold is specifically designed based on the corresponding reference signal and / or beam, and can be preconfigured or stored in the first network device and terminal so that the terminal can 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 terminal. Using a predefined or preconfigured first threshold can further reduce the signaling overhead of the terminal and the first network device.

[0159] Furthermore, to ensure the smooth measurement of the reference signal transmitted by the terminal in the first beam, the first network device can also configure the measurement resources required for the reference signal, i.e., the resources occupied by the reference signal sent by the first network device to the terminal, and the reporting resources required by the terminal to report the first indication information, i.e., the resources occupied by the terminal to send 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 also include at least one of the following indication information: the identifier of the reference signal, the time-frequency resources occupied by the reference signal, the downlink transmission channel corresponding to the reference signal (e.g., physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH)), the time-frequency resources occupied by the first indication information, and the uplink transmission channel corresponding to the first indication information (e.g., 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 results, 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.

[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 in which time-frequency resource the first network device will transmit the reference signal, thereby accurately receiving the reference signal transmitted by the first network device in the first beam on that time-frequency resource. As 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 in which time-frequency resource it can transmit the first indication information to the first network device, ensuring that the terminal can report the beam quality of the first beam to the first network device in a timely manner.

[0161] Optionally, if the first beam is determined based on the second beam between the second network device and the terminal, i.e., for a scenario involving multiple network devices, 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: 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 besides the second network device; thus, after obtaining the above at least one indication information, the terminal can know which of the multiple network devices is currently being measured.

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

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

[0164] Furthermore, to ensure that the first network device can determine which network device the first indication information reported by the terminal corresponds to, 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. For example, the first indication information reported by the terminal can be associated with relevant information of the second network device (such as CORESET Pool Index, PCI, ephemeris information, and orbital plane identifier). In this way, after receiving the first indication information reported by the terminal, the first network device can determine, based on the association with the relevant information of the second network device, that the first indication information reported by the terminal corresponds to 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 this embodiment, since the number of bits occupied by the first indication information characterizing the beam quality of the first beam when the terminal reports it to the first network device is relatively small (e.g., 1 bit), while the number of bits required to directly report the measurement results of the reference signal in the existing mechanism is relatively large (e.g., 7 bits), the signaling overhead required for the terminal to report the measurement results of the reference signal (or beam measurement results) is reduced by reconstructing the existing beam reporting mechanism. For example, assuming the terminal uses a 1-bit reporting method for the first indication information, and still taking 6 bits per CRI as an example, the beam reporting overhead of the beam information reporting method (i.e., the proposed mechanism) used in this embodiment (i.e., the beam reporting overhead of the existing mechanism) is compared with that of the existing mechanism as shown in Table 6.

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

[0167] As shown in Table 6 above, using the 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 in beam reporting overhead can reach the highest, with an overhead reduction of 1-(1 / 7)×100%≈85.7%.

[0168] For example, assuming a 2-bit first indication information reporting method is used, and still taking 6 bits per CRI as an example, the beam information reporting method (i.e. the proposed mechanism) used in this application embodiment is compared with the beam reporting overhead of the existing mechanism as shown in Table 7.

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

[0170] As shown in Table 7 above, using the 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 beam reporting overhead can reach the highest, which is 1-(2 / 7)×100%≈71.4%.

[0171] Referring to Figure 7, which is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this 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 embodiments. 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 embodiments.

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

[0173] [Correction 20.02.2025 based on 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 the memories 703 may be separate or integrated. The communication device 700 also includes a communication line 702 and at least one communication interface 704. Because the memories 703, communication line 702, and communication interface 704 are all optional, they are all represented by dashed lines in FIG. 7.

[0174] Optionally, the communication device 700 may further include a transceiver and / or an antenna. The transceiver can be used to send information to or receive information from other devices. The transceiver may be referred to as a transceiver unit, transceiver circuit, input / output interface, etc., and is used to realize the transmission and reception functions of the communication device 700 via the antenna. Optionally, the transceiver includes a transmitter and a receiver. For example, the transmitter can be used to generate a radio frequency (RF) signal from a baseband signal, and the receiver can be used to convert the RF signal back 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 programs according to the present application.

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

[0177] The communication interface 704 can be a transceiver or similar device used to communicate 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 capable of storing static information and instructions, random access memory (RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device capable of storing information and instructions, or it may be an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disc storage, optical disc storage (including compressed optical discs, laser discs, optical discs, digital versatile optical discs, Blu-ray discs, etc.), magnetic disk storage media or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium capable of carrying or storing desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and accessible by a computer, but is not limited thereto. The memory 703 may exist independently and be connected to the processor 701 via communication line 702. Alternatively, the memory 703 may be integrated with the processor 701.

[0179] The memory 703 stores computer execution instructions for implementing the scheme of this application, and the processor 701 controls the execution of these instructions. The processor 701 executes the computer execution instructions stored in the memory 703 to implement the steps performed by the terminal or the first network device in the embodiment shown in FIG2.

[0180] Optionally, the computer execution instructions in the embodiments of this application may also be referred to as application code, and the embodiments of this application do not specifically limit this.

[0181] In a specific implementation, as one example, processor 701 may include one or more CPUs, such as CPU0 and CPU1 in FIG7.

[0182] In a specific implementation, as one embodiment, the communication device 700 may include multiple processors, such as processors 701 and 705 in FIG. 7. Each of these processors may be a single-core (single-CPU) processor or a multi-core (multi-CPU) processor. Here, a processor 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 Figure 7 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 line 702, and a communication interface 704. Optionally, it may include a memory 703. Specifically, the communication interface 704 may be an input interface, pins, or circuits, etc. The memory 703 may be a register, cache, etc. The processor 701 and processor 705 may be a general-purpose CPU, microprocessor, ASIC, or one or more integrated circuits for controlling the execution of a program that controls the communication method of any of the above embodiments.

[0184] This application embodiment can divide the device into functional modules according to the above method examples. For example, each function can be divided into its own functional modules, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing module. The integrated modules can be implemented in hardware or software. It should be noted that the module division in this application embodiment is illustrative and only represents one logical functional division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, when dividing the device into functional modules 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 method embodiments, or a chip in the terminal or 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 embodiments of this application. The relevant features can be referred 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 processing unit 802 in Figure 8 can be implemented by the processor 701 in Figure 7 calling computer execution instructions stored in memory 703. Alternatively, the functions / implementation processes of the processing unit 802 in Figure 8 can be implemented by the processor 701 in Figure 7 calling computer execution instructions stored in memory 703, and the functions / implementation processes of the transceiver unit 801 in Figure 8 can be implemented by the communication interface 704 in Figure 7.

[0187] When the device 800 is a chip or circuit, the function / implementation process of the transceiver unit 801 can also be implemented through pins or circuits. Optionally, the transceiver unit 801 may include a transmitting unit and / or a receiving unit, whereby the transmitting unit implements the transmitting function and the receiving unit implements the receiving function; or, the transceiver unit 801 may be an integral module capable of implementing both transmitting and / or receiving functions. Optionally, the transceiver unit 801 may be implemented using a transceiver.

[0188] This application also provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program or instructions that, when executed, implement the methods performed by the terminal or the first network device in the aforementioned method embodiments. Thus, the functions described in the above embodiments can be implemented as software functional units and sold or used as independent products. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of this application, in essence, or the part that contributes to it, or a part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the communication methods described in the various embodiments of this application. The storage medium includes various media capable of storing program code, such as USB flash drives, portable hard drives, ROM, RAM, magnetic disks, or optical disks.

[0189] This application also provides a computer program product comprising: computer program code, which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method executed by the terminal or the first network device in any of the foregoing method embodiments.

[0190] This application also provides a processing apparatus, 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] This application also provides a communication system that can be used to implement the methods executed by a terminal or a first network device in any of the above-described method embodiments and any possible implementations of the method embodiments. For example, the communication system has the architecture shown in FIG1.

[0192] This application also provides a chip or chip system coupled to a transceiver for implementing the methods performed by a terminal or a first network device in any of the above-described method embodiments or possible implementations. "Coupled" refers to two components being directly or indirectly combined with each other; this combination can be fixed or movable, and can allow communication between the two components using fluid, electricity, electrical signals, or other types of signals. The chip system may include this chip. Specifically, the chip or chip system can be used to perform the methods executed by the terminal or the first network device involved in any of the above-described method embodiments.

[0193] In the above embodiments, implementation can be achieved entirely or partially through software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented entirely or partially as 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 this application are generated. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) means. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The available media may be magnetic media (e.g., floppy disks, hard disks, magnetic tapes), optical media (e.g., digital video discs, DVDs), or semiconductor media (e.g., solid-state disks, SSDs), etc.

[0194] The various illustrative logic units and circuits described in the embodiments of this application can be implemented or operate the described functions using a general-purpose processor, digital signal processor (DSP), ASIC, 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; alternatively, it can be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor can also be implemented using a combination of computing devices, such as a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors combined with a digital signal processor core, or any other similar configuration.

[0195] The steps of the methods or algorithms described in the embodiments of this application can be directly embedded in hardware, software units executed by a processor, or a combination of both. The software units can be stored in RAM, flash memory, ROM, erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), EEPROM, registers, hard disks, removable disks, CD-ROMs, or any other form of storage medium 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 write information to the storage medium. Optionally, the storage medium can also be integrated into the processor. The processor and storage medium can be disposed in an ASIC, which can be disposed in the terminal. Optionally, the processor and storage medium can also be disposed in different components within the terminal.

[0196] These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer-implemented process, such that the instructions, which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus, provide steps for implementing the functions specified in one or more flowcharts and / or one or more block diagrams.

[0197] The contents of the various embodiments of this application can be referenced to each other. Unless otherwise specified or there is a 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 inherent logical relationship.

[0198] It is understood that in the embodiments of this application, the terminal and / or the first network device may execute some or all of the steps in the embodiments of this application. These steps or operations are merely examples. In the embodiments of this application, other operations or variations of various operations may also be performed. Furthermore, the steps may be performed in different orders as presented in the embodiments of this application, and it is not necessary to perform all the operations in the embodiments of this application.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, Applied to terminals, including: Receive a reference signal from a first network device, the reference signal corresponding to a first beam, the reference signal being determined based on the ephemeris information of the first network device and the location information of the terminal; Send a first indication message to the first network device. The first indication message is used to indicate the beam quality of the first beam. The first indication message is determined based on the measurement results of the reference signal and a first threshold.

2. The method as described in claim 1, characterized in that, 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 as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The first threshold includes multiple thresholds, and the first indication information is the indication information of the threshold interval corresponding to the measurement result of the reference signal, wherein the threshold interval is determined based on the multiple thresholds.

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

5. The method as described in claim 4, characterized in that, The first beam is determined based on 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 the beam between the first network device and the terminal, and the first beam is determined based on the second beam between the second network device and the terminal.

7. The method as described in claim 6, characterized in that, The second beam is determined based on the ephemeris information of the second network device and / or the location information of the terminal.

8. The method as described in claim 6 or 7, characterized in that, 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: Receive configuration information from the first network device, the configuration information including indication information of the first threshold.

10. The method as described in claim 9, characterized in that, The configuration information also includes at least one of the following indications: The 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; Alternatively, the uplink transmission channel corresponding to the first indication information.

11. The method as described in claim 9 or 10, characterized in that, The configuration information also includes at least one of the following indications: The control resource set (CORESET) pool index of the second network device; The Physical Cell Identifier (PCI) of the second network device; The identifier of the second network device; Ephemeris information of the second network device; Track surface markings of the second network device; Alternatively, the identifier of the network device located on the orbital plane.

12. A communication method, characterized in that, Applied to the first network device, including: A reference signal is sent to the terminal, the reference signal corresponding to the first beam, and the reference signal is determined based on the ephemeris information of the first network device and the location information of the terminal; The terminal receives first indication information, which indicates the beam quality of the first beam and is determined based on the measurement results of the reference signal and a first threshold.

13. The method as described in claim 12, characterized in that, 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 as described in claim 12, characterized in that, The first threshold includes multiple thresholds, and the first indication information is the indication information of the threshold interval corresponding to the measurement result of the reference signal, wherein the threshold interval is determined based on the multiple thresholds.

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

16. The method as described in claim 15, characterized in that, The first beam is determined based on 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 the beam between the first network device and the terminal, and the first beam is determined based on the second beam between the second network device and the terminal.

18. The method as described in claim 17, characterized in that, The second beam is determined based on the ephemeris information of the second network device and / or the location information of the terminal.

19. The method as described in claim 17 or 18, characterized in that, 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: Configuration information is sent to the terminal, including indication information for the first threshold.

21. The method as described in claim 20, characterized in that, The configuration information also includes at least one of the following indications: The 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; Alternatively, the uplink transmission channel corresponding to the first indication information.

22. The method as described in claim 20 or 21, characterized in that, The configuration information also includes at least one of the following indications: The control resource set (CORESET) pool index of the second network device; The Physical Cell Identifier (PCI) of the second network device; The identifier of the second network device; Ephemeris information of the second network device; Track surface markings of the second network device; Alternatively, the identifier of the network device located on the orbital plane.

23. A communication device, characterized in that, The communication device includes a processing unit and a transceiver unit; The transceiver unit is used for sending and receiving information; The processing unit is configured to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 11 via 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 for sending and receiving information; The processing unit is configured to perform the method as described in any one of claims 12 to 22 via the transceiver unit.

25. A communication device, characterized in that, The communication device includes a processor and a memory, the memory storing a computer program, and the processor executing the computer program stored in the memory, causing the communication device to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 11, or causing the communication device to perform the method as described in 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 that, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 11, or causes the computer to perform the method as described in any one of claims 12 to 22.

27. A chip system, characterized in that, It includes a processor and an interface, the processor being configured to receive and execute instructions from the interface, and when the processor executes the instructions, to implement the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 11, or to implement the method as described in any one of claims 12 to 22.

28. A communication system, characterized in that, Including the terminal and the first network device; The terminal is used to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 11, and the first network device is used to perform the method as described in any one of claims 12 to 22.

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