Synchronization method, communication device, apparatus and storage medium

Abstract

Provided are a synchronization method, a communication device, an apparatus and a storage medium. The synchronization method comprises: a first device sending a first synchronization signal, wherein the first synchronization signal is used by a second device to perform time-frequency synchronization with the first device, the first synchronization signal corresponds to first information, and the first information is determined on the basis of one or more of the following: a first physical cell identifier corresponding to a first base station; an identifier of the first device; first configuration information of the first base station; a first parameter for data transmission; and an identifier of the second device.

Description

Synchronization method, communication equipment, device and storage medium Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of environmental Internet of Things, and more specifically, to a synchronization method, communication equipment, apparatus and storage medium. Background Art

[0002] In the related art, the synchronization signals supported by the cellular system correspond to multiple sequences. If the synchronization signal is applied to the cellular Internet of Things, it will bring great challenges to the cost, storage, power consumption, search complexity and other aspects of the zero-power terminal device. In addition, considering that the communication coverage of the zero-power terminal device is smaller than that of the traditional terminal device (for example, mobile phone devices), and does not need to support complex mobility management solutions, there is no need to distinguish a large number of network devices (for example, base stations). Combining the above two factors, there is an urgent need to reduce the number of synchronization signals / synchronization sequences in the cellular Internet of Things. Then how to determine the first information corresponding to the synchronization signal / synchronization sequence in the cellular Internet of Things has become an urgent problem to be solved.

[0003] Summary of the Invention

[0004] The present application provides a synchronization method, communication equipment, apparatus, and storage medium. The following introduces various aspects of the present application.

[0005] In a first aspect, a synchronization method is provided, including: a first device sends a first synchronization signal, the first synchronization signal is used for a second device to perform time and frequency synchronization with the first device, the first synchronization signal corresponds to first information, and the first information is determined based on one or more of the following: a first physical cell identifier corresponding to a first base station; an identifier of the first device; first configuration information of the first base station; a first parameter for data transmission; and an identifier of the second device.

[0006] In the second aspect, a synchronization method includes: a second device receives a first synchronization signal sent by a first device, the first synchronization signal is used to perform time and frequency synchronization with the second device, the first synchronization signal includes first information corresponding to the first synchronization signal, and the first information is determined based on one or more of the following: a first physical cell identifier corresponding to the first base station; an identifier of the first device; first configuration information of the first base station; a first parameter for data transmission; an identifier of the second device.

[0007] According to a third aspect, a communication device is provided, which is a first device, and includes: a sending unit for sending a first synchronization signal, wherein the first synchronization signal is used for time and frequency synchronization between a second device and the first device, and the first synchronization signal corresponds to first information, which is determined based on one or more of the following: a first physical cell identifier corresponding to the first base station; an identifier of the first device; first configuration information of the first base station; a first parameter for data transmission; and an identifier of the second device.

[0008] In a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided, which is a second device, and includes: a receiving unit for receiving a first synchronization signal sent by a first device, the first synchronization signal being used for time and frequency synchronization between the second device and the first device, the first synchronization signal including first information corresponding to the first synchronization signal, and the first information being determined based on one or more of the following: a first physical cell identifier corresponding to the first base station; an identifier of the first device; first configuration information of the first base station; a first parameter for data transmission; and an identifier of the second device.

[0009] In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising a transceiver, a memory and a processor, wherein the memory is used to store programs, and the processor is used to call the programs in the memory and control the transceiver to receive or send signals so that the communication device executes the method described in the first aspect or the second aspect.

[0010] In a sixth aspect, a device is provided, comprising a processor for calling a program from a memory so that the device executes the method described in the first aspect or the second aspect.

[0011] In a seventh aspect, a chip is provided, comprising a processor for calling a program from a memory so that a device equipped with the chip executes the method described in the first aspect or the second aspect.

[0012] In an eighth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, on which a program is stored, wherein the program enables a computer to execute the method as described in the first aspect or the second aspect.

[0013] In a ninth aspect, a computer program product is provided, characterized in that it includes a program, and the program enables a computer to execute the method described in the first aspect or the second aspect.

[0014] In a tenth aspect, a computer program is provided, which enables a computer to execute the method as described in the first aspect or the second aspect.

[0015] In the synchronization method provided in an embodiment of the present application, a first synchronization signal sent by a first device is used to synchronize the time and frequency of a second device with the first device, and the first synchronization signal corresponds to first information. The first information can be determined based on one or more of the following: a first physical cell identifier corresponding to the first base station; an identifier of the first device; first configuration information of the first base station; or a first parameter for data transmission. This method can reduce the number of synchronization signals sent by the cellular Internet of Things while determining the synchronization sequence of the first synchronization signal based on the first information. In addition, this method can also enable different second devices within the coverage of the same network device to use different first information or similar first information, thereby avoiding mutual interference or carrying specific information to assist in subsequent data transmission and reception. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] FIG1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a system architecture of a wireless communication system to which an embodiment of the present application may be applied.

[0017] Figure 2 is a structural example diagram of an A-IoT terminal device.

[0018] FIG3 is a structural diagram of an energy harvesting module in FIG2 .

[0019] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of the backscatter communication process of an A-IoT terminal device.

[0020] FIG5 is an example diagram of the encoding method of an A-IoT terminal device.

[0021] FIG6 a is a schematic diagram of an NRZ encoding method.

[0022] FIG6 b is a schematic diagram of a Manchester encoding method.

[0023] FIG6 c is a schematic diagram of a coding method of unipolar return-to-zero coding.

[0024] FIG6 d is a schematic diagram of an encoding method of DBP encoding.

[0025] FIG6e is a schematic diagram of an encoding method of Miller encoding.

[0026] FIG7 a is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of an A-IoT terminal device provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0027] Figure 7b is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of an A-IoT terminal device provided in another embodiment of the present application.

[0028] Figure 7c is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of an A-IoT terminal device provided in another embodiment of the present application.

[0029] Figure 7d is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of an A-IoT terminal device provided in another embodiment of the present application.

[0030] FIG8 a is a schematic diagram of a formula for determining PSS provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0031] FIG8 b is a schematic diagram of a formula for determining SSS provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0032] FIG9 is a flow chart of the synchronization method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0033] FIG10 is a schematic diagram showing the relationship between the number of ASS-IDs and synchronization signal combinations provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0034] FIG11 is a schematic diagram of a periodic synchronization signal and an aperiodic synchronization signal provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0035] FIG12 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in one embodiment of the present application.

[0036] FIG13 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in another embodiment of the present application.

[0037] FIG14 is a schematic diagram of a device to which an embodiment of the present application can be applied. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0038] The technical solution in this application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0039] Communication system architecture

[0040] Figure 1 illustrates a wireless communication system 100 used in an embodiment of the present application. The wireless communication system 100 may include a network device 110 and a terminal device 120. The network device 110 may be a device that communicates with the terminal device 120. The network device 110 may provide communication coverage for a specific geographic area and may communicate with the terminal device 120 within the coverage area. The terminal device 120 may access a network (e.g., a wireless network) through the network device 110.

[0041] FIG1 exemplarily shows a network device and two terminals. Optionally, the wireless communication system 100 may include multiple network devices and each network device may include other numbers of terminal devices within its coverage area, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0042] Optionally, the wireless communication system 100 may further include other network entities such as a network controller and a mobility management entity, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

[0043] It should be understood that the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: fifth generation (5G) system or new radio (NR), long term evolution (LTE) system, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) system, LTE time division duplex (TDD), etc. The technical solutions provided in this application can also be applied to future communication systems, such as the sixth generation mobile communication system, satellite communication system, etc.

[0044] The terminal device in the embodiments of the present application may also be referred to as user equipment (UE), access terminal, user unit, user station, mobile station, mobile station (MS), mobile terminal (MT), remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal, wireless communication device, user agent or user device. The terminal device in the embodiments of the present application may refer to a device that provides voice and / or data connectivity to a user and can be used to connect people, objects and machines, such as a handheld device with wireless connection function, a vehicle-mounted device, etc. The terminal device in the embodiments of the present application can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a PDA, a mobile internet device (MID), a wearable device, a virtual reality (VR) device, an augmented reality (AR) device, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless terminal in self-driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical surgery, a wireless terminal in a smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in a smart city, a wireless terminal in a smart home, and an IoT terminal device, etc.

[0045] Alternatively, a UE can function as a base station. For example, a UE can act as a dispatching entity, providing sidelink signals between UEs in V2X or D2D applications. For example, a cell phone and a car can communicate with each other using sidelink signals. A cell phone and a smart home device can also communicate without relaying the communication signal through a base station.

[0046] The network device in the embodiments of the present application may be a device for communicating with a terminal device, and may also be referred to as an access network device or a radio access network device. For example, the network device may be a base station. The network device in the embodiments of the present application may refer to a radio access network (RAN) node (or device) that connects a terminal device to a wireless network. A base station can broadly cover various names as follows, or be replaced with the following names, such as: NodeB, evolved NodeB (eNB), next generation NodeB (gNB), relay station, access point, transmission point (TRP), transmission point (TP), master station MeNB, secondary station SeNB, multi-standard radio (MSR) node, home base station, network controller, access node, wireless node, access point (AP), transmission node, transceiver node, baseband unit (BBU), remote radio unit (RRU), active antenna unit (AAU), remote radio head (RRH), central unit (CU), distributed unit (DU), positioning node, etc. A base station can be a macro base station, a micro base station, a relay node, a donor node or the like, or a combination thereof. A base station can also refer to a communication module, a modem or a chip used to be set in the aforementioned device or apparatus. The base station can also be a mobile switching center and a device that performs base station functions in device-to-device D2D, vehicle-to-everything (V2X), and machine-to-machine (M2M) communications, a network-side device in a 6G network, or a device that performs base station functions in future communication systems. The base station can support networks with the same or different access technologies. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form used by the network equipment.

[0047] In some embodiments, a network device can be fixed or mobile. For example, a helicopter or drone can be configured to act as a mobile network device, and one or more cells can move based on the location of the mobile network device. In other examples, a helicopter or drone can be configured to act as a device that communicates with another network device.

[0048] In some deployments, the network device in the embodiments of the present application may refer to a CU or a DU, or the network device may include a CU and a DU. The gNB may also include an AAU.

[0049] The network equipment and terminal devices can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; they can also be deployed on water; they can also be deployed in the air on aircraft, balloons, and satellites. The embodiments of this application do not limit the scenarios in which the network equipment and terminal devices are located.

[0050] It should be understood that all or part of the functions of the communication device in this application can also be implemented through software functions running on hardware, or through virtualization functions instantiated on a platform (such as a cloud platform).

[0051] Principles of Zero-Power Communication Technology

[0052] In recent years, the application of zero-power devices has become increasingly widespread. During standardization discussions, the zero-power Internet of Things (IoT) may also be referred to as the ambient power enabled IoT (Ambient IoT), or in some technical literature, as the passive IoT. An ambient IoT device is an IoT device that uses various ambient energies, such as radio frequency energy, light energy, solar energy, thermal energy, and mechanical energy, to power itself. Such a device may have no energy storage capacity or very limited energy storage capacity (such as using a capacitor with a capacity of tens of uF). Compared to existing IoT devices, ambient IoT devices offer many advantages, including no conventional battery, no maintenance, small size, low complexity, low cost, and a long lifespan. In this scenario, the terminal device 120 mentioned above may be referred to as a "zero-power device" or "A-IoT terminal device." For simplicity, zero-power devices will be referred to as A-IoT in the following text.

[0053] Possible communication technologies used in zero-power communication systems

[0054] A-IoT communication uses energy harvesting and backscatter communication technology, which features low power consumption and low cost. The following, combined with Figures 2 to 7, provides an exemplary description of the operating principles of A-IoT terminal devices.

[0055] As shown in Figure 2 , the AIoT may include a network device 210 and an A-IoT terminal device 220. The network device 210 may be, for example, the network device 110 in Figure 1 . The A-IoT terminal device 220 may be, for example, the terminal device 120 in Figure 1 .

[0056] The network device 210 is used to send wireless power supply signals and downlink communication signals to the A-IoT terminal device 220 and receive backscattered signals from the A-IoT terminal device 220.

[0057] In some embodiments, the A-IoT terminal device 220 may include an energy collection module 221 and a backscatter communication module 222. In some cases, the A-IoT terminal device 220 may also include a low-power computing module 223. The low-power computing module 223 can be used to provide computing functions for the A-IoT terminal device 220, such as data processing, etc. In other cases, the A-IoT terminal device 220 may also include a sensor module 224 for collecting external information (for example, ambient temperature, ambient humidity, etc.). In other cases, the A-IoT terminal device 220 may also include a storage module for storing some information (for example, external information collected by the above-mentioned sensors, or item identification, etc.).

[0058] The energy harvesting module 221 is used to harvest energy. In some implementations, energy can be harvested via a power supply signal sent by another device or from the external environment. The power supply signal can be a radio frequency signal sent by the network device 210. Therefore, the energy harvesting module can be a radio frequency (RF) power harvesting module.

[0059] FIG3 shows a possible structure of the energy harvesting module 221. As shown in FIG3, the energy harvesting module 221 can harvest the energy of the spatial electromagnetic waves of the radio frequency signal based on the principle of electromagnetic induction, and store the harvested energy in the capacitor C, which is the process of charging the capacitor C. When the charging process of the capacitor C is completed, the capacitor C can begin to discharge to provide energy to the A-IoT terminal device 220. For example, the discharge of the capacitor C can be used to drive the A-IoT terminal device 220 to perform low-power demodulation of data sent by other devices. For another example, the discharge of the capacitor C can be used to drive the A-IoT terminal device 220 to modulate the data to be sent. For another example, the discharge of the capacitor C can be used to drive the sensor of the A-IoT terminal device 220 to collect data. For another example, the discharge of the capacitor C can be used to drive the A-IoT terminal device 220 to read data from the memory 215, etc.

[0060] The following describes the backscattering communication principle in conjunction with Figure 4. Referring to Figure 4, the A-IoT terminal device 220 receives a wireless signal sent by another device (such as the network device 210) and modulates the wireless signal to load the data to be sent. Then, the A-IoT terminal device 220 radiates the modulated signal from the antenna. This information transmission process is called backscattering communication. The above-mentioned wireless signal can also be called a carrier signal. A carrier signal can refer to an unmodulated wireless signal. The carrier signal can be, for example, a sine wave signal. Among them, backscattering communication and load modulation functions are inseparable. The load modulation function can be understood as adjusting and controlling the circuit parameters of the oscillation circuit of the A-IoT terminal device according to the beat of the data stream, so that parameters such as the impedance of the A-IoT terminal device change accordingly, thereby completing the modulation process.

[0061] In some implementations, the A-IoT terminal device 220 may also be provided with a logic processing unit to perform corresponding computing functions.

[0062] Generally, the load modulation function can be implemented through two methods: resistive load modulation and capacitive load modulation. Figure 5 shows a circuit diagram of an A-IoT terminal device based on resistive load modulation technology. In resistive load modulation, a resistor RL can be connected in parallel to the load. The switch S can be controlled based on the binary data stream to realize the connection or disconnection of the resistor RL. In this way, the connection and disconnection of the resistor RL will cause a change in the circuit voltage, and the change in the circuit voltage can control the amplitude of the backscattered signal of the A-IoT terminal device, thereby realizing the modulation of the backscattered signal, that is, performing amplitude-shift keying (ASK) modulation on the backscattered signal.

[0063] Similarly, in capacitive load modulation, the on / off switching of the capacitor can be controlled based on a binary data stream to change the circuit resonant frequency, thereby changing the operating frequency of the backscattered signal to implement frequency-shift keying (FSK) modulation.

[0064] It can be seen that the A-IoT terminal device uses load modulation to modulate the incoming signal, thereby realizing the backscatter communication process. Therefore, the A-IoT terminal device has significant advantages: (1) The A-IoT terminal device does not actively transmit signals, so it does not require a complex RF link, such as a power amplifier, RF filter, etc.; (2) The A-IoT terminal device does not need to actively generate high-frequency signals, so it does not need a high-frequency crystal oscillator; (3) With the help of backscatter communication, the signal transmission of the A-IoT terminal device does not consume the terminal's own energy.

[0065] Application scenarios of zero-power communication

[0066] Due to its significant advantages such as extremely low cost, zero power consumption, and small size, zero-power communication can be widely used in various industries, such as logistics for vertical industries, smart warehousing, smart agriculture, energy and electricity, industrial Internet, etc.; it can also be applied to personal applications such as smart wearables and smart homes.

[0067] Coding method for zero-power communication

[0068] The data transmitted by the electrical encoding end (such as a terminal or an electronic tag) can use different encoding methods to represent binary "1" and "0". Correspondingly, the decoding end (for example, a network device or a wireless radio frequency identification system) can use the corresponding decoding method to decode the code stream sent by the encoding end. The commonly used encoding methods in zero-power communication technology include: reverse non-return-zero (NRZ) encoding, Manchester encoding, unipolar RZ encoding, differential binary phase (DBP) encoding, Miller encoding, differential encoding, etc. It should be understood that the embodiments of the present application do not make specific limitations on the encoding methods in zero-power communication, and the listed encoding methods are only examples and do not constitute a limitation. The following examples are illustrated in conjunction with Figures 6a-6e.

[0069] Figure 6a is a schematic diagram of the NRZ encoding method. Referring to Figure 6a, it can be seen that in NRZ encoding, a high level represents a binary "1" and a low level represents a binary "0".

[0070] Figure 6b is a schematic diagram of the Manchester coding method. Manchester coding is also known as split-phase coding. Referring to Figure 6b, in Manchester coding, the value of a bit is represented by the change in level (rising or falling) during half a bit period within the bit length. A negative jump during half a bit period represents a binary "1", and a positive jump during half a bit period represents a binary "0". In some implementations, Manchester coding is often used for data transmission from electronic tags to readers because it facilitates the detection of data transmission errors. This is because the "no change" state is not allowed within the bit length. When multiple electronic tags simultaneously send data bits with different values, the received rising and falling edges cancel each other out, resulting in an uninterrupted carrier signal throughout the entire bit length. Since this state is not allowed, the reader can use this error to determine the specific location where the collision occurred.

[0071] Figure 6c is a schematic diagram illustrating a unipolar return-to-zero (RRZ) encoding scheme. As shown in Figure 6c, a high level during the first half of a bit period represents a binary "1," while a low level signal throughout the entire bit period represents a binary "0." In some implementations, RRZ encoding can be used to extract a bit synchronization signal.

[0072] Figure 6d is a schematic diagram of the DBP encoding scheme. As shown in Figure 6d, in differential biphase encoding, any edge within a half-bit period represents a binary "0," while the absence of an edge represents a binary "1." Furthermore, the voltage level is inverted at the beginning of each bit period. This makes it easier for the receiver to reconstruct the bit beat.

[0073] Figure 6e is a schematic diagram of Miller coding. As shown in Figure 6e, Miller coding uses any edge within half a bit period to represent a binary "1," while a constant level throughout the next bit period represents a binary "0." Because the level transition occurs at the beginning of a bit period, the bit beat is easily reconstructed by the receiver.

[0074] There is also a differential encoding method, in which each transmitted binary "1" causes a change in the signal level, while for a binary "0", the signal level remains unchanged.

[0075] Classification of Zero-Power Devices

[0076] 1. Based on the energy source and usage of zero-power devices, zero-power devices can be divided into the following types.

[0077] 1. Passive zero-power terminal.

[0078] Passive zero-power terminals usually do not require built-in batteries. When the terminal is close to the network device, the terminal is in the near field formed by the radiation of the network device antenna. At this time, the antenna of the terminal can generate an induced current through electromagnetic induction, and the induced current can power the terminal to realize the demodulation of the received signal, and / or the modulation and encoding of the signal to be transmitted. In some implementations, the above-mentioned passive zero-power terminal can be an electronic tag, and accordingly, the network device can be a reader / writer of a (radio frequency identification, RFID) system, which is used to read the content in the electronic tag and / or to change the content in the electronic tag. Among them, the received signal can also be understood as a signal on the forward link (downlink, the link from the network device to the zero-power device). The signal to be transmitted can also be understood as a signal on the backward link (uplink, the link from the zero-power device to the network device).

[0079] It can be seen that the passive zero-power device does not require a built-in battery to drive either the forward link or the reverse link, and is a truly zero-power device.

[0080] Passive zero-power devices do not require batteries, and the RF circuit and baseband circuit are very simple. For example, they do not require LNA (low noise amplifier), PA (power amplifier), crystal oscillator, ADC, etc. Therefore, they have many advantages such as small size, light weight, very low price, and long service life.

[0081] 2. Semi-passive zero-power terminal.

[0082] The semi-passive zero-power terminal itself does not have a conventional battery installed, but can use the energy collection module 121 to collect radio wave energy, or use the solar energy / light energy / thermal energy / kinetic energy collection module to collect energy, and store the collected energy in an energy storage unit (such as a capacitor). After the energy storage unit obtains energy, it can drive the low-power chip circuit of the zero-power device. It realizes the demodulation of the forward link signal and the signal modulation of the backward link. For the backscatter link, the zero-power device uses the backscatter implementation method to transmit the signal.

[0083] It can be seen that the semi-passive zero-power device does not require a built-in battery to drive either the forward link or the reverse link. Although it uses energy stored in capacitors during operation, the energy comes from the radio energy collected by the energy harvesting module. Therefore, it is also a truly zero-power device.

[0084] Semi-passive zero-power devices inherit many advantages of passive zero-power devices, so they have many advantages such as small size, light weight, very low price, and long service life.

[0085] 3. Active zero-power terminal.

[0086] The zero-power devices used in some scenarios can also be active zero-power devices. Such terminals can have built-in batteries (conventional batteries, such as dry batteries, rechargeable lithium batteries, etc.). The battery is used to drive the low-power chip circuit of the zero-power device. It realizes the demodulation of the forward link signal and the modulation of the reverse link signal. However, for the backscatter link, the zero-power device uses the backscatter implementation method to transmit the signal. Therefore, the zero power consumption of this type of terminal is mainly reflected in the fact that the signal transmission of the reverse link does not require the terminal's own power, but uses the backscatter method. Although the active zero-power device uses a battery, due to the sampling of ultra-low power communication technology, the power consumption is very low, so compared with the existing technology, the battery life can be greatly improved.

[0087] Active zero-power devices, with built-in batteries to power the RFID chip, increase the tag's read and write distance and improve communication reliability. Therefore, they are suitable for scenarios with relatively high requirements for communication distance and read latency.

[0088] 2. The classification of zero-power devices based on transmitter type is as follows.

[0089] As we all know, the services of zero-power IoT, like other IoT services, will primarily focus on uplink services. Therefore, zero-power terminals can be categorized into the following types based on how they transmit data.

[0090] 1. Zero-power device based on backscattering.

[0091] These zero-power devices use the aforementioned backscattering method to transmit uplink data. They lack active transmitters, only backscattering transmitters. Therefore, when these terminals transmit data, they require network equipment to provide a carrier, which they then use to perform backscattering to achieve data transmission.

[0092] 2. Zero-power devices based on active transmitters.

[0093] These zero-power devices use active transmitters with active transmission capabilities for uplink data transmission. Therefore, when sending data, these zero-power devices can use their own active transmitters to send data without the need for network equipment to provide a carrier. Examples of active transmitters suitable for zero-power devices include ultra-low-power ASK and ultra-low-power FSK transmitters. Based on current implementations, these transmitters can reduce overall power consumption to 400-600uW when transmitting a 100uW signal.

[0094] Zero-power device with both backscatter and active transmitter

[0095] This type of terminal supports both backscatter and active transmitters. The terminal can determine which uplink signal transmission method to use: backscatter or active transmitter, based on various conditions (such as battery life and available ambient energy) or based on network device scheduling.

[0096] Cellular Passive IoT

[0097] With the rapid development of cellular IoT, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has standardized IoT technologies such as narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), machine type communications (MTC), and reduced capability (REDCAP). However, there are still many scenarios where IoT communication needs cannot be met using existing technologies, such as the following.

[0098] 1. Harsh communication environment

[0099] Certain IoT scenarios may encounter extreme environments such as high temperature, extremely low temperature, high humidity, high voltage, high radiation, or high-speed movement. Examples include ultra-high voltage substations, high-speed train track monitoring, environmental monitoring in high-altitude cold regions, and industrial production lines. In these scenarios, existing IoT terminals will not function due to the operating environment limitations of conventional power supplies. Furthermore, extreme operating environments are not conducive to IoT maintenance, such as battery replacement.

[0100] Requirements for extremely small terminal form factors

[0101] Certain IoT communication scenarios, such as food traceability, commodity distribution, and smart wearables, require terminals to be extremely small for ease of use. For example, IoT terminals used for commodity management in the distribution process often take the form of electronic tags, embedded in product packaging in a very compact form factor. Another example is lightweight wearable devices that can meet user needs while improving the user experience.

[0102] 3. Extremely low-cost IoT communication requirements

[0103] Many IoT communication scenarios require IoT terminals to be sufficiently affordable to enhance their competitiveness compared to alternative technologies. For example, in logistics or warehousing, to facilitate the management of large quantities of circulating items, IoT terminals can be attached to each item. Communication between the terminal and the logistics network enables precise management of the entire logistics process and lifecycle. These scenarios require IoT terminals to be competitively priced.

[0104] Therefore, in order to cover these unmet IoT communication needs, cellular networks also need to develop ultra-low-cost, extremely small-size, battery-free / maintenance-free IoT, and environmental IoT can just meet this need.

[0105] Based on the discussion of A-IoT application scenarios in 3GPP SA1, A-IoT can be used in at least the following four scenarios: (1) Object recognition, such as logistics, production line product management, and supply chain management. (2) Environmental monitoring, such as temperature, humidity, and harmful gas monitoring in the working environment and natural environment. (3) Positioning, such as indoor positioning, intelligent object search, and production line item positioning. (4) Intelligent control, such as intelligent control of various electrical appliances in smart homes (turning on and off air conditioners, adjusting temperatures), and intelligent control of various facilities in agricultural greenhouses (automatic irrigation and fertilization).

[0106] Communication scenarios for cellular passive IoT

[0107] In some embodiments, for example, the study item description (SID) of the A-IoT physical layer discussed and approved at the 3GPP radio access network (RAN) #102 plenary meeting includes two deployment scenarios / topologies as shown in Figures 7a and 7b.

[0108] FIG7a shows a deployment scenario 1 with topology: BS 210 and A-IoT terminal device 220 directly performing two-way signaling and / or data communication. The A-IoT terminal device 220 can directly receive downlink data and / or carrier signals from the network device 210 and transmit or backscatter the corresponding data or signals to the network device 210. As an example, the network device 210 can be a base station. The base station 210 that transmits to the A-IoT terminal device 220 and the base station 210 that receives the A-IoT terminal device 220 can be two different base stations.

[0109] FIG7 b shows a bidirectional communication between the A-IoT terminal device 220 and the intermediate device 230 (intermediate node). The intermediate device 230 can transfer signaling and / or data between the network device 210 and the terminal device 220 (deployment scenario 2 with topology 2: BS intermediate node The intermediate device 230 may also be referred to as an intermediate node. The intermediate device 230 may relay signaling and / or data between the BS and the A-IoT device. In some embodiments, for example, during the SID discussion phase, the intermediate device is determined to be a UE under network control. In other embodiments, for example, in the future, the intermediate device may also be a network device. The embodiments of the present application do not specifically limit the location of the intermediate device. As an example, the intermediate device may be located indoors. As another example, the intermediate device may also be located outdoors.

[0110] In other embodiments, the communication scenario of the cellular passive Internet of Things can also be shown in Figure 7c. Compared to Figure 7a, Figure 7c adds another device 240. Other device 240 can be a device for providing a carrier signal and / or a power supply signal to the A-IoT terminal device 220. That is, in Figure 7c, instead of requiring the network device 210 to provide the carrier signal and / or power supply signal to the A-IoT terminal device 220 as in Figure 7a, other device 240 can provide the carrier signal and / or power supply signal.

[0111] In yet other embodiments, the communication scenario of the cellular passive Internet of Things can also be shown in Figure 7d. Compared to Figure 7b, Figure 7d includes another device 240. Other device 240 can be a device for providing a carrier signal and / or a power supply signal to the A-IoT terminal device 220. That is, in Figure 7d, instead of requiring the network device 210 to provide the carrier signal and / or power supply signal to the A-IoT terminal device 220 as in Figure 7b, other device 240 can provide the carrier signal and / or power supply signal.

[0112] The other device 240 may also be referred to as another node. The embodiments of the present application do not specifically limit the other device 240. As an implementation, the other device 240 may be a carrier wave node (CWN). For example, the other device 240 may be a UE or a network device.

[0113] Synchronous signal

[0114] Synchronization signals can be used to synchronize the time and frequency of communications. Synchronization signals can also be called synchronization sequences. Synchronization signals can be used in the two communication systems described below. The following exemplifies the time and frequency synchronization methods used in these two communication systems.

[0115] 1. IEEE wake-up receiver (WUR) system

[0116] The IEEE WUR system uses a simple multicarrier-on-off keying (MC-OOK) modulation method for data transmission. The MC-OOK symbol length corresponding to the data channel is 2us or 4us. Receiving such signals requires low frequency accuracy of the WUR terminal device. The terminal device is usually equipped with a high-precision, high-energy main receiver that can be used for uplink data transmission and provide initial frequency information to the WUR receiver. Therefore, WUR does not have a special design for frequency calibration. It only introduces the WUR synchronization signal (WUR-synchronization, WUR-Sync) for timing synchronization.

[0117] In some embodiments, WUR-Sync can be used for time domain synchronization and can also indicate the data transmission rate. For example, the data transmission rate in WUR can be divided into high data rate (HDR) and low data rate (LDR). WUR-Sync can be used to indicate the data transmission rate.

[0118] As an example, the WUR-Sync indicating LDR is composed of two identical sequences W (W may be 32 bits long), and thus the sequence indicating the WUR-Sync of LDR is recorded as WW. WW may be 64 bits long.

[0119] As another example, WUR-Sync indicating HDR is generated by the bitwise complement of the W sequence, which is recorded as W'. W' can be 32 bits long.

[0120] For this reason, the Sync field in the WUR system can be either 64 bits long (WW) or 32 bits long (W'). The receiving device uses sequence correlation to obtain timing synchronization and can also determine which sync sequence the access point (AP) sent, thereby determining whether subsequent communications will be high-rate or low-rate.

[0121] 2. Cellular system

[0122] In a cellular system, when a terminal device (e.g., a mobile terminal device such as a mobile phone) first accesses a network device (e.g., a base station), during the initial access process, the terminal device uses the synchronization signal block (SSB) for time and frequency synchronization. Synchronization signals include the primary synchronization signal (PSS) and the secondary synchronization signal (SSS).

[0123] In some embodiments, in addition to providing time-frequency synchronization information, the PSS sequence and the SSS sequence also carry the physical cell identifier (PCI). For example, PCI can be expressed as Nid=3*Nid1+Nid2. As an example, the cellular system can be an NR cellular system. NR supports 1008 PCIs, namely Nid~{0,1,…,1007}, Nid1~{0,1,…,335}, Nid2~{0,1,2}. The PSS sequence is an m sequence with three different cyclic shift values, which are determined by Nid2; the SSS sequence is a gold sequence with a total of 1008 types, which are jointly determined by Nid1 and Nid2. NR supports so many PCIs mainly to allow base stations to be deployed more and denser, and to avoid conflicts such as mod6, mod4 and mod30 in the PCIs of adjacent cells.

[0124] As an example, according to 3GPP TS 38.211, the PSS sequence is composed of d PSS (n) indicates that OK. Among them, It can be Nid2 as described above. The PSS sequence is composed of The process of determining can be shown in FIG8a.

[0125] As yet another example, according to 3GPP TS 38.211, the SSS sequence is composed of d SSS (n) indicates that the SSS sequence can be and To be determined. and They are respectively Nid1 and Nid2 mentioned above. The SSS sequence is composed of and The determination process can be shown in FIG8b .

[0126] As can be seen, cellular systems support multiple PSS / SSS synchronization signal combinations and generate PSS / SSS synchronization signals based on the PCI in a one-to-one correspondence. This means that the receiving device (e.g., terminal device) needs to locally store the corresponding multiple sequences and correlate them with the received signals to determine time-frequency synchronization and PCI.

[0127] In the cellular Internet of Things, if the A-IoT synchronization signal (A-IoT synchronization signal, A-IoT SS) also supports so many sequences, it will bring great challenges to the cost, storage, power consumption, search complexity and other aspects of the A-IoT terminal device. In addition, considering that the communication coverage of the A-IoT terminal device is smaller than that of traditional terminal devices (for example, mobile phone devices) and does not need to support complex mobility management solutions, there is no need to distinguish a large number of network devices (for example, base stations). Combining the above two factors, it is possible to consider reducing the number of synchronization signals / synchronization sequences in the cellular Internet of Things. Then how the device that sends the synchronization signal in the cellular Internet of Things (for example, a network device, an intermediate device or other device) determines the ID number of the synchronization signal / synchronization sequence is a problem that needs to be solved. For the sake of simplicity, the device that sends the synchronization signal in the cellular Internet of Things may be referred to as the first device below.

[0128] In response to the above problems, the embodiments of the present application are described in detail below.

[0129] Figure 9 is a flow chart of a synchronization method according to an embodiment of the present application. The method in Figure 9 is described from the perspective of interaction between a first device and a second device.

[0130] The first device may be a device that sends a synchronization signal. For example, the first device may be the network device 210 , the intermediate device 230 , or the other device 240 described above.

[0131] The network device may be any type of communication device that provides coverage for the terminal device. For example, the network device may be a base station.

[0132] The intermediate device may also be referred to as an intermediate node. The intermediate device may be an intermediate device connected to the second device and the network device. The intermediate device is an electronic device that enables the second device and the network device to communicate through the intermediate device. For example, the intermediate device may be an intermediate UE. The intermediate UE may be, for example, a router or a relay device.

[0133] The other device may be a device that provides a carrier signal and / or a power supply signal to the second device. For example, the other device may be a carrier node.

[0134] The second device is a terminal device, which can be, for example, the A-IoT terminal device (such as a tag) mentioned above. Of course, the terminal device can also be other types of terminal devices, such as a terminal device that uses a similar method to perform time and frequency synchronization with the A-IoT terminal device.

[0135] 9 , in step S910 , the second device receives a first synchronization signal sent by the first device.

[0136] The first synchronization signal is used for the second device to perform time and frequency synchronization with the first device, that is, after receiving the first synchronization signal, the second device can perform time and frequency synchronization with the first device according to the first synchronization signal. The first synchronization signal corresponds to the first information.

[0137] In some embodiments, the first synchronization signal includes a synchronization signal (or synchronization sequence).

[0138] In some other embodiments, the first synchronization signal includes a group of synchronization signals, wherein the group of synchronization signals includes multiple synchronization signals (or multiple different sequences).

[0139] The first information can be understood as a synchronization sequence ID, a synchronization signal ID, other IDs, or a type of information sent by the first device. Preferably, the first information is a first identifier. The first identifier can be represented by an ID. According to a specific correspondence, a specific first information can correspond to a specific synchronization sequence. That is, different first information corresponds to different synchronization sequences (or synchronization signals or synchronization sequence combinations). In other words, the first information is carried by the synchronization sequence, and the physical meaning corresponding to the first information is related to the specific scheme. It should be understood that the synchronization sequence corresponding to the first information is the first synchronization signal in the embodiment of the present application.

[0140] In the embodiment of the present application, the first synchronization signal can be understood as the synchronization signal of A-IoT. In order to distinguish it from the PSS and SSS synchronization signals in the existing cellular system, the A-IoT synchronization signal can be recorded as ASS, and the first information can be represented as ASS-ID.

[0141] In some embodiments, the first synchronization signal is a periodic synchronization signal (SS) or an aperiodic synchronization signal (SS). A periodic ASS is like a broadcast message, facilitating synchronization information acquisition by all second devices. An aperiodic ASS is more like synchronization information provided on-demand to certain second devices. For example, before receiving or sending data, the base station sends one or more ASSes to synchronize the A-IoT terminal device.

[0142] In the embodiment of the present application, the periodic synchronization signal and the aperiodic synchronization signal may use (or correspond to) the same or different ASS-IDs.

[0143] In the embodiment of the present application, the periodic synchronization signal and the aperiodic synchronization signal may use (or correspond to) the same or different ASS-IDs.

[0144] As an example, the first synchronization signal is a periodic synchronization signal, and the aperiodic synchronization signal sent by the first device satisfies: the aperiodic synchronization signal corresponds to the first information, that is, the periodic synchronization signal and the aperiodic synchronization signal may use the same ASS-ID.

[0145] As another example, the first synchronization signal is a periodic synchronization signal, and the aperiodic synchronization signal sent by the first device satisfies the following conditions: the aperiodic synchronization signal corresponds to the fifth information, and the fifth information is different from the first information. The fifth information has the same function as the first information, but the specific information of the fifth information differs from the first information. In other words, the first information and the fifth information have different ASS-IDs. In other words, the periodic synchronization signal and the aperiodic synchronization signal can use different ASS-IDs.

[0146] 1. Correspondence between ASS-ID and ASS

[0147] As mentioned above, different first synchronization signals correspond to different first information. That is, different ASSes correspond to different ASS-IDs. The embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit the specific manner in which the ASS-ID is carried by the ASS.

[0148] As an example, N ASS-IDs may correspond to a synchronization signal 1 including N candidate sequences. The first device determines one of the candidate sequences as the synchronization signal 1 according to its ASS-ID and sends the sequence.

[0149] As an example, as shown in Figure 10, N ASS-IDs may correspond to a synchronization signal 1 containing N1 candidate sequences 1 (SS-1 in Figure 10) and a synchronization signal 2 containing N2 candidate sequences 2 (SS-2 in Figure 10), where N1*N2>=N. The first device determines a candidate sequence 1 as synchronization signal 1 and a candidate sequence 2 as synchronization signal 2 based on its ASS-ID, and sends both signals. At this time, the synchronization sequence of the first synchronization signal is a combined synchronization sequence of synchronization sequence 1 and synchronization sequence 2. Optionally, the time-frequency resources of synchronization signal 1 and synchronization signal 2 are orthogonal so that the receiving device (second device) can detect the corresponding sequences respectively. It can be extended to more synchronization signals.

[0150] 2. How to determine ASS-ID

[0151] In an embodiment of the present application, the first information can be determined based on one or more of the following: the first physical cell identifier corresponding to the first base station; the identifier of the first device; the first configuration information of the first base station; the first parameter for data transmission; and the identifier of the second device.

[0152] In some embodiments, the first information may be determined based on the sixth information. The sixth information may be determined based on the PCI of the first base station (hereinafter referred to as the first PCI) and the sixth information is associated with the PSS and / or SSS sent by the first base station. For example, the sixth information may be Nid1 and / or Nid2 described above. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific method for determining the first information based on the sixth information. This method can be referred to later, as long as the method for determining the first information related to Nid1 and / or Nid2 in the following text can be understood as a method for determining the first information based on the sixth information.

[0153] As previously mentioned, in a cellular IoT, the first device can be the aforementioned network device (e.g., the first base station), an intermediate device, or another device. Therefore, the first synchronization signal can be sent by any of the network device, the intermediate device, or another device. The method for determining the first information varies slightly depending on the device sending the first synchronization signal. This will be described in detail below.

[0154] 2.1. The first device is a first base station

[0155] The first base station is a network device that communicates with the second device. In some embodiments, the first base station can communicate directly with the second device. In other embodiments, the first base station can communicate with the second device through an intermediate device. The first information can be determined in the following ways.

[0156] 2.1.1. Determine the ASS-ID based on the first PCI.

[0157] The first PCI is the PCI of the first base station itself. Since the first device is the first base station, using the PCI of the first base station can also be understood as using the identification information of the first device.

[0158] In the embodiment of the present application, the rule of determining the ASS-ID through the first PCI is simple and easy to implement, and the existing PCI can determine the ASS-ID.

[0159] The embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit the method of determining the ASS-ID based on the first PCI, as long as it can be based on the first PCI.

[0160] As an example, the ASS-ID may be determined based on the first PCI and a specific mapping rule A. In some embodiments, mapping rule A may be a protocol requirement. In other embodiments, mapping rule A may be determined based on the implementation of the base station or network vendor, and may not necessarily have a standardization impact.

[0161] The embodiment of the present application does not impose any specific limitation on mapping rule A, as long as it can be used in combination with the first PCI to determine the ASS-ID.

[0162] To reduce the number of ASS-IDs and thus the complexity of blind detection for A-IoT devices, mapping rule A is generally many-to-one. That is, multiple base station PCIs that meet the same conditions correspond to the same ASS-ID. This mapping method enables cell-group-specific ASS-IDs. In other words, assuming the A-IoT synchronization sequence sent by the first base station supports X1 different ASS-IDs, X1 can be less than or significantly less than the existing number of PCIs, 1008.

[0163] As previously mentioned, the cell-group specific ASS-ID indicates that multiple base station PCIs can correspond to the same ASS-ID. That is, the ASS-ID can be the same as the second information, and the second information can be determined based on the second physical cell identifier. The second physical cell identifier is different from the first physical cell identifier. The second information corresponds to the second synchronization signal, which is the synchronization signal in the cell corresponding to the second physical cell identifier.

[0164] Based on this, the ASS-ID can be determined based on the PCI by the following mapping rule A: ie, ASS-ID = f1 (PCI), where f1 is a specific function or operation rule.

[0165] The embodiment of the present application does not impose any specific limitation on the representation of ASS-ID=f1(PCI), as long as the number of ASS-IDs can be less than the number of PCIs.

[0166] For example, ASS-ID = f1(PCI) can be ASS-ID = mod(PCI, X1). This formula represents the remainder of dividing the PCI number by X1 as the ASS-ID number, and the value range of the ASS-ID number is [0, X1-1]. In particular, when X1 = 3, the result of mod(PCI, 3) is Nid2, that is, the existing NR PSS sequence, which can be equivalent to the ASS-ID being determined by Nid2 or the PSS sequence.

[0167] For example, ASS-ID = f1(PCI) can be ASS-ID = floor(PCI / X2) or ceil(PCI / X2). This formula represents the ASS-ID obtained by dividing the PCI number by X2 and then rounding it down or up. The ASS-ID value range is [0, floor(1007 / X2)] or [0, ceil(1007 / X2)]. For example, when X2 = 168, floor(1007 / 168) = 5, meaning the ASS-ID range is [0, 5]. As long as the value range of floor(1007 / X2) + 1 is greater than or equal to X1, the ASS-ID is acceptable.

[0168] For example, ASS-ID = f1(PCI) can be ASS-ID = Nid2 + 3*mod(Nid1, X3). This formula represents the remainder of Nid2 plus 3 times Nid1 divided by X3 as the ASS-ID. The ASS-ID value range is [0, 2+3*mod(335, X3)]. For example, if X3 = 4, the maximum remainder of mod(Nid1, 4) is 3, meaning the ASS-ID range is [0, 11]. As long as the value range 3*X3 is greater than or equal to X1, the ASS-ID is acceptable.

[0169] For example, ASS-ID = f1(PCI) can be ASS-ID = Nid2 + 3*floor(Nid1 / X4). This formula represents the ASS-ID obtained by adding Nid2 to 3 times Nid1 divided by X4, and rounding the result. The ASS-ID value range is [0, 2 + 3*floor(335 / X4)]. For example, if X4 = 112, floor(335 / 112) = 2, meaning the ASS-ID range is [0, 8]. As long as the value range [3*floor(335 / X4)] is greater than or equal to X1, the ASS-ID can be used.

[0170] For another example, ASS-ID=f1(PCI) can be determined by performing other combined calculations using the PCI number, Nid1, Nid2, and the like.

[0171] For another example, in an extreme case, ASS-ID=f1(PCI) can degenerate to X1=1, that is, all base stations use the same ASS-ID and the same synchronization sequence as the synchronization signal.

[0172] 2.1.2. Determine the ASS-ID based on the first parameter.

[0173] The first parameter may be a parameter sent by the first base station for subsequent communication. For example, the first parameter includes one or more of the following: data transmission rate; data waveform; and data transmission direction. The first parameter may correspond to the ASS-ID, and thus the ASS-ID may be determined based on the first parameter.

[0174] In the embodiment of the present application, the ASS-ID is determined by the first parameter, so that the second device can determine the parameters of data communication in advance according to the result of synchronization signal detection.

[0175] In the embodiment of the present application, the number of ASS-IDs (X1) determined based on the first parameter should be less than or significantly less than the existing number of PCIs, 1008. Therefore, X1 different ASS-IDs correspond to X1 different first parameters, and X1 different first parameters indicate that X1 different data communication modes are possible.

[0176] The embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit the method of determining the ASS-ID based on the first parameter.

[0177] For example, X1 ASS-IDs correspond to X1 different data rates. These different data rates may correspond to different OOK modulation schemes, chip widths, Manchester encoding schemes, and so on. Optionally, X1 >= 2. The data rates can be similar to those in the IEEE WUR standard, but here the data rates refer not only to downlink reception but also to uplink transmission; there can be more than two data rates.

[0178] For example, X1 = two ASS-IDs, corresponding to the subsequent data transmission direction, downlink or uplink. In Topology 1, downlink refers to the base station sending data to the A-IoT terminal device, which then needs to receive data; while uplink refers to the A-IoT terminal device sending data to the base station, which then needs to send data. In Topology 2, downlink refers to the intermediate node sending data to the A-IoT terminal device, which then needs to receive data; while uplink refers to the A-IoT terminal device sending data to the intermediate node, which then needs to send data.

[0179] For another example, X1 ASS-IDs are used to correspond to X1 different data waveforms, such as OOK1, OOK2, OOK4, PSK, etc.

[0180] 2.1.3. Determine the ASS-ID based on the identifier of the second device.

[0181] The identifier of the second device can be, for example, the ID of the second device. For unicast, it can be the ID of the corresponding second device; for multicast, it can be the group ID of the corresponding group of second devices; for broadcast transmission, it can be a specific broadcast ID or a default ID. This embodiment of the application does not specifically limit the method of determining the ASS-ID based on the identifier of the second device.

[0182] 2.1.4. Determine the ASS-ID based on a combination of any two or three of 2.1.1, 2.1.2, and 2.1.3.

[0183] The embodiments of the present application do not specifically limit the manner of combining.

[0184] For example, 2.1.1 and 2.1.2 are combined. Another example is 2.1.1 and 2.1.3 are combined. Or, 2.1.1, 2.1.2 and 2.1.3 are combined.

[0185] As an example, 2.1.1 and 2.1.2 can be combined as follows: For example, if X1 = 2*X1', ASS-ID = A*X1' + mod(PCI, X1'), where A = {0, 1} corresponds to downlink reception and uplink transmission, respectively, and X1' = 3, then the remainder of PCI dividing X1' is {0, 1, 2}. The downlink ASS-ID subset is {0, 1, 2}, while the uplink ASS-ID subset is {4, 5, 6}, with the specific subset to be used determined by the PCI result.

[0186] As previously mentioned, the ASS-IDs used by periodic synchronization signals and aperiodic synchronization signals can be different. Accordingly, the methods for determining the ASS-ID by periodic synchronization signals and aperiodic synchronization signals can be different. For example, the method for determining the ASS-ID by periodic synchronization signals can be any one of 2.1.1-2.1.4, and the method for determining the ASS-ID by aperiodic synchronization signals can be any other one of 2.1.1-2.1.4. Figure 11 shows a schematic diagram of a periodic synchronization signal and an aperiodic synchronization signal according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0187] As an example, the ASS-ID of a periodic synchronization signal may be determined according to 2.1.1, and the ASS-ID of an aperiodic synchronization signal may be determined according to 2.1.2.

[0188] As an example, the manner in which the periodic synchronization signal determines the ASS-ID according to 2.1.1 may be: determining one from three ASS-IDs as the periodic synchronization signal according to the PCI.

[0189] As an example, the aperiodic synchronization signal may determine the ASS-ID according to 2.1.2 by determining one of the two ASS-IDs as the aperiodic synchronization signal each time according to the parameters of the data communication.

[0190] In some embodiments, to enable the A-IoT to distinguish between ASS types when detecting synchronization signals, periodic and aperiodic ASSes can be divided into two independent subsets, with the number of ASSes in these two independent subsets being the same as the number of ASS-IDs. Taking the previous two examples as an example, if there are three periodic synchronization signals and two aperiodic synchronization signals, the total number of ASS-IDs that the A-IoT device needs to detect is the sum of the periodic and aperiodic ASS-IDs, that is, 2 + 3 = 5.

[0191] 2.2. The first device is another device connected to the first base station

[0192] In this embodiment, the device that sends the first synchronization signal is another device connected to the first base station.

[0193] As an example, the other device (first device) connected to the first base station can be an intermediate device that is communicatively connected to the second device and the first base station. For example, the first device is the intermediate device 230 in Figure 7b or Figure 7d. At this time, it is the intermediate device that directly communicates with the A-IoT device, so the A-IoT synchronization signal is also likely to be sent by the intermediate device. In some embodiments, there may be multiple intermediate devices under one base station. At this time, the first base station can be understood as the serving base station of the first device.

[0194] As another example, the other device (first device) connected to the first base station can be a device for providing a carrier signal and / or a power supply signal to the second device. For example, the first device is the other device 240 in Figure 7b or Figure 7d. If the first device is a CWN and the CWN is a base station device (i.e., a second base station different from the first base station), the first device may still connect to the first base station and determine the ASS-ID sent by the second base station based on information exchange or PCI of the first base station, rather than being limited to determining the ASS-ID based on the second base station's own PCI.

[0195] ASS-ID number

[0196] Since the first base station and other devices connected to the first base station can send synchronization signals to the second device, the embodiment of the present application can make the following assumptions based on the ASS-ID number.

[0197] (1) For example, assume that the ASS-IDs sent by the first base station and other devices connected to the first base station are shared. That is, a total of X1 ASS-IDs are used for the base station, and X2 ASS-IDs can be used for other devices connected to the first base station. These ASS-IDs can be reused. For example, ASS-ID = (0 to 2) is used by the first base station, and ASS-ID = (3 to 5) is used by other devices connected to the first base station.

[0198] If the first base station and other devices connected to the first base station use the same ASS-ID, they correspond to the same ASS sequence. That is, the first three sequences and the ASS-ID are identical. In this case, the second device needs to detect max (X1, X2) ASS sequences. The ASS-ID is not needed to distinguish between the first base station and other devices connected to the first base station. Alternatively, other information can be used to determine whether it is the first base station or other devices connected to the first base station. For example, the ASS frequency information indicates that the base station transmits ASS signals in the downlink (DL) spectrum, while other devices connected to the first base station transmit them in the uplink (UL) spectrum.

[0199] b. If the first base station and other devices connected to the first base station use the same ASS-ID, they correspond to different ASS sequences. In this case, the second device needs to detect X1+X2 ASS sequences. This is actually the same as (2) below, except that the numbering is unified or divided into two sub-groups.

[0200] (2) For example, assuming that the ASS-IDs sent by the first base station and other devices connected to the first base station are uniformly numbered, for example, there are a total of X3 = X1 + X2 ASS-IDs, of which X1 ASS-IDs are sent by the first base station, and the remaining X2 ASS-IDs are sent by other devices connected to the first base station. In this way, the ASS-ID can be used to distinguish whether the direct source of the two synchronization information is the base station or other devices connected to the first base station. The embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit the division method of X1 and X2. For example, they can be divided in the middle according to the ASS-ID number from small to large, or they can be divided one by one in turn.

[0201] In some embodiments, in order to distinguish it from the ASS-ID confirmed when the first device is the first base station, the ASS-ID confirmed when the first device is the first base station can be marked as ASS-ID1, and the ASS-ID confirmed when the first device is other devices connected to the first base station can be marked as ASS-ID2.

[0202] 2.2.1. Determine the ASS-ID based on the first PCI.

[0203] As expected, the first PCI is the PCI of the first base station. When the first device is an intermediate device, the first base station can be understood as the serving base station of the first device. In this case, the first base station can send two synchronization signals, one of which corresponds to the PCI of the existing cellular PSS / SSS synchronization signal, and the other synchronization signal is the ASS in the embodiment of the present application.

[0204] The embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit the method of determining the ASS-ID based on the first PCI.

[0205] As an implementation, the first device determines the ASS-ID according to the method described in 2.1.1. Specifically, the first device determines the ASS-ID according to the mapping rule A and the first PCI described above. In other words, the ASS-ID determined by the first device is the same as the ASS-ID determined by the first base station. In this case, the ASS-ID can be understood as corresponding to the synchronization signal sent by the first base station, which is used for time and frequency synchronization between the second device and the first base station.

[0206] Since the first base station also uses the same mapping rule, the first base station and all first devices in the same coverage area use the same ASS-ID. The synchronization signals sent by the first base station and all first devices are effectively superimposed, i.e., a single frequency network (SFN). In this case, the first devices and the first base station both use the cell-group specific ASS-ID described above.

[0207] As an example, when the first device is the aforementioned intermediate device, it is sufficient to replace the first PCI described in 2.1.1 with the PCI of the serving base station of the intermediate node. In this case, the ASS-ID number is most likely the number corresponding to (1) in the numbering section above. That is, the base station and the intermediate node share the same set of ASS-IDs. Optionally, X1 = X2.

[0208] As another implementation, the first device determines the ASS-ID according to mapping rule B, which differs from 2.1.1, and the first PCI. It should be noted that in this case, the ASS-ID of the first base station (ASS-ID1) and the ASS-ID of the first device (i.e., ASS-ID2) are different. In other words, the synchronization signal sent by the first base station corresponds to the third information. The third information is determined based on the first PCI and is the ASS-ID of the first base station (ASS-ID1). The first information (ASS-ID2) is different from the third information.

[0209] In the ASS-ID method determined based on mapping rule B and the first PCI, the ASS-ID of all first devices under the same coverage is the same. In this case, the first device can also be regarded as a cell-group specific ASS-ID, but it is different from the cell-group specific ASS-ID of the first base station.

[0210] The embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit mapping rule B.

[0211] For example, mapping rule B can be f2. The determination method can be: ASS-ID2 = f2(PCI), that is, ASS-ID2 is derived from PCI. The determination method is similar to that in Example 2.1.1, but the values ​​of some parameters are different. For example, the remainder of multiplication and division by 3 can be replaced by the remainder of division by 6.

[0212] For another example, mapping rule B could be f3. The determination method could be: ASS-ID2 = f3(ASS-ID1). Considering that ASS-ID1 itself is also derived from the PCI, it is essentially determined based on the first base station's PCI and the default rule. In other words, the first information is determined based on the third information. However, ASS-ID1 information is missing compared to the PCI. For example, when f1(PCI) = mod(PCI, 3), the ASS-ID1 results for PCI = 0 and 3 are the same.

[0213] As an example, mapping rule B(f3) can be ASS-ID2=ASS-ID1 or hash(ASS-ID1). The numbering of ASS-IDs is likely based on the numbering assumption (1) described above, that is, the first base station and other devices connected to the first base station share the same set of ASS-IDs.

[0214] As another example, mapping rule B(f3) can be ASS-ID2 = ASS-ID1 + X1, where X1 is the number of IDs in the ASS-ID set corresponding to the first base station. Assuming X1 = 3, the range of ASS-ID1 is (0-2). If the first base station selects 1, then ASS-ID2 = 1 + 3 = 4. At this time, the numbering of ASS-IDs is most likely based on assumption (2) in the numbering described above. The first base station and the first device use the same numbering, X2 = X1, the first (0 to X1-1) ASS-IDs are sent by the first base station, and the remaining (X1 to 2*X1-1) ASS-IDs are sent by the first device.

[0215] As another example, mapping rule B(f3) can be ASS-ID2 = ASS-ID-tmp*2+1, where ASS-ID-tmp is the value determined by the method in 2.1.1. The number sent by the first base station is adjusted to ASS-ID1 = ASS-ID-tmp*2, and the number sent by the first device is ASS-ID-tmp*2+1. In this case, X2 = X1, with even-numbered ASS-IDs sent by the base station and odd-numbered ASS-IDs sent by the first device. For example, if the ASS-ID of the first base station is 0, the ASS-ID2 of the first device is 1. This formula can be equivalent to ASS-ID2 = ASS-ID1+1, where the values ​​of ASS-ID1 are {0, 2, 4, 6…}. For details, refer to 2.1.1. If the values ​​of ASS-ID1 in 2.1.1 are consecutive natural numbers {0, 1, 2}, they can be multiplied by 2 based on the corresponding function to become a multiple of 2.

[0216] 2.2.2. Determine the ASS-ID based on the identifier of the first device.

[0217] The identifier of the first device may be, for example, a device ID.

[0218] As an implementation, the first information is determined based on the fourth information. The fourth information may be information related to the identification of the first device. For example, the fourth information may be all or part of the identification of the first device. For example, if the identification of the first device is a device ID, the fourth information may be some or all bits of the device ID. Assuming the device ID is 8 bits long, some of the bits may be a number less than 8, for example, a minimum of 2.

[0219] The embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit the method for determining the first information based on the fourth information.

[0220] As an implementation method, the fourth information can be converted into a decimal number and recorded as UEID, ASS-ID2=f4(UEID). f4(UEID) refers to the result determined by a specific function using UEID as input.

[0221] The embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit the type of the specific function. For example, the specific function is to obtain the remainder of the integer division of the UEID. Alternatively, the specific function can be in other function forms, and reference can be made to some functions in Section 2.2.

[0222] For example, ASS-ID2=UEID or mod(UEID, X2), where it is assumed that the ASS-IDs used by the first base station and the first device are independent.

[0223] For another example, ASS-ID2 = X1 + UEID or X1 + mod (UEID, X2). It is assumed that the first part (0 to X1-1) of the ASS-ID is used by the first base station, and the second part (X1 to X1+X2-1) of the ASS-ID is used by the first device, and the ASS-ID used by the first device is unrelated to the first base station.

[0224] 2.2.3. Determine the ASS-ID based on the first configuration information.

[0225] The first configuration information may be network configuration information, cell-specific configuration information, or configuration information corresponding to the first device.

[0226] For example, the first configuration information may be configured by the network or the serving base station of the first device through Uu interface signaling.

[0227] In some embodiments, the first configuration information can be carried through radio resource control protocol (RRC) signaling, media access control-control element (MAC-Control Element, MAC-CE), system information block (SIB) broadcast, downlink control information (DCI) message, etc.

[0228] If the first configuration information is a ConfigID for network configuration (assuming it is a decimal value), then the ASS-ID is determined based on the first configuration information to be ASS-ID2=f5(configID). This embodiment of the application does not specifically limit the form of ASS-ID2=f5(configID).

[0229] For example, ASS-ID2=ConfigID or mod(ConfigID, X2), where it is assumed that the ASS-IDs used by the first base station and the first device are independent.

[0230] For another example, ASS-ID2=X1+ConfigID or X1+mod(ConfigID, X2). It is assumed that the first (0 to X1-1) ASS-IDs are used by the first base station, and the latter part of the ASS-ID is used by the first device. However, the ASS-ID used by the first device is unrelated to the first base station.

[0231] In some embodiments, the configuration signaling of the ASS-ID may be cell-specific, that is, all first devices under the same first base station are configured with the same ASS-ID, and in this case, a SIB broadcast message may be used to carry the signaling.

[0232] In other embodiments, the configuration signaling of the ASS-ID may be UE-specific, that is, different intermediate nodes under the same serving base station may be configured with the same or different ASS-IDs, and whether they are the same depends on the base station implementation. In this case, RRC, MAC-CE and other messages may be used to carry the information.

[0233] In some embodiments, the ASS-ID configured based on the first configuration information may comply with other rules such as 2.2.1 or 2.2.2.

[0234] 2.2.4. Determine the ASS-ID based on the first parameter.

[0235] This embodiment is similar to the above-mentioned 2.1.2 and will not be described in detail here. The difference is that the first parameter is a parameter corresponding to the subsequent communication of the ASS-ID sent by the first device.

[0236] 2.2.5 Determine the ASS-ID based on the identification of the second device.

[0237] This embodiment is similar to the above 2.1.3 and will not be described in detail here. The difference is that the first parameter is a parameter corresponding to the subsequent communication of the ASS-ID sent by the first device.

[0238] 2.2.6. Determine the ASS-ID based on any combination of 2.2.1-2.2.5.

[0239] The embodiments of the present application do not specifically limit the manner of combining.

[0240] As an example, the combination may be ASS-ID2=f6(PCI, UEID, ConfigID). The embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit the function of ASS-ID2=f6(PCI, UEID, ConfigID).

[0241] For example, ASS-ID2 = ASS-ID1 + K*X1, where K is a positive integer and ASS-ID1 is the value determined by the method of Example 2.1. The ASS-ID1 sent by the first base station is ASS-ID*2+1. For example, if the range of ASS-ID1 is (0, 2) and X1 = 3, then the possible values ​​of ASS-ID2 for the first device under the first base station with ASS-ID1 = 1 are {1, 4, 7, ... 1+K-max*3}. This embodiment is similar to first determining a group ID using K and then determining the ID within the group based on ASS-ID1.

[0242] For another example, ASS-ID2 = ASS-ID-tmp * N + K, where N is a positive integer predefined by the protocol. For example, if N = 4 and K is in the range of (0, 1, 2, 3), then ASS-ID-tmp = 1, the first base station's ASS-ID1 = 4, and the possible ASS-ID2 values ​​of the first device under the first base station are {4, 5, 6, 7}. If the value of K includes 0, the ASS-ID numbers of the base station and intermediate nodes are completely separate; if the value of K also includes 0, the ASS-ID numbers of some intermediate nodes are the same as the base station's. This embodiment is similar to using PCI or ASS-ID1 to first determine a group ID, and then determining the intra-group ID based on the UEID or network configuration information. N corresponds to the number of combined IDs. ASS-ID2 = ASS-ID-tmp * N + K can be equivalent to ASS-ID2 = ASS-ID1 + K, as long as the value range of ASS-ID1 is {0, N, 2N, ...}, a multiple of N.

[0243] In some embodiments, K is a parameter determined according to the UEID, for example, the least significant two bits of the UEID may correspond to the four values ​​(0, 3). This is equivalent to the combination of 2.2.1 and 2.2.2.

[0244] In some embodiments, K is the ConfigID of the network configuration. This is equivalent to the combination of 2.2.1 and 2.2.3

[0245] In some embodiments, the above two examples both combine PCI and UEID, or PCI and network configuration ID, so that the ASS-IDs of multiple first devices within the coverage of the same first base station have some common features, and different first devices can be distinguished to a certain extent by means of UEID or network configuration.

[0246] As previously mentioned, the ASS-IDs used by periodic and aperiodic synchronization signals can be different. Accordingly, the methods for determining the ASS-ID by periodic and aperiodic synchronization signals can be different. For example, the method for determining the ASS-ID by periodic synchronization signals can be any of 2.2.1-2.2.5, and the method for determining the ASS-ID by aperiodic synchronization signals can be any other of 2.2.1-2.2.5.

[0247] As an example, the ASS-ID of a periodic synchronization signal may be determined according to 2.2.1, and the ASS-ID of an aperiodic synchronization signal may be determined according to 2.2.2.

[0248] In some embodiments, when the first device is another device connected to the first base station, whether the first device sends the first synchronization signal may be determined based on the second configuration information sent by the first base station. Optionally, the first synchronization signal is a periodic synchronization signal.

[0249] The second configuration information is used to indicate one or more of the following: second information, used to instruct the first device to send a first synchronization signal; a first condition, used to trigger the first device to send the first synchronization signal.

[0250] The embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit the second information. For example, the second information may be enableASS=true. As an example, the network instructs the first device to send ASS by setting enableASS=true.

[0251] The above two triggering modes are similar to whether the sidelink under the coverage of the base station sends a sidelink synchronization signal (sidelink SS, SLSS) in the sidelink.

[0252] The embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit the first condition. For example, the first condition may be a condition such as a threshold value. The network configures a condition such as a threshold value, and when the condition is met, the first device sends an ASS synchronization signal.

[0253] In some embodiments, the triggering method of the periodic synchronization signal is the same as the triggering method of the non-periodic synchronization signal. The triggering method of the non-periodic synchronization signal can refer to the triggering method of the first synchronization signal mentioned above.

[0254] In other embodiments, the triggering method of the non-periodic synchronization signal is different from the triggering method of the periodic synchronization signal. The embodiments of the present application do not specifically limit the triggering method of the non-periodic synchronization signal. For example, the non-periodic synchronization signal can be triggered by other mechanisms different from the triggering mechanism described above. As an example, the non-periodic synchronization signal can be a scheduling trigger based on the first base station. For example, if it is scheduled based on the first base station, when the first base station schedules the first device to send downlink data to the A-IoT device, it will explicitly or implicitly schedule the first device to send a non-periodic synchronization signal before sending the data.

[0255] The synchronization method provided in the embodiment of the present application can determine the synchronization sequence of the first synchronization signal based on the first information while reducing the number of synchronization signals sent by the cellular Internet of Things. In addition, this method can also enable different second devices within the coverage of the same network device to use different first information or similar first information, thereby avoiding mutual interference or carrying specific information to assist subsequent data transmission and reception.

[0256] The method embodiment of the present application is described in detail above in conjunction with Figures 1 to 11. The device embodiment of the present application is described in detail below in conjunction with Figures 12 to 14. It should be understood that the description of the method embodiment corresponds to the description of the device embodiment. Therefore, for parts not described in detail, reference can be made to the above method embodiment.

[0257] As shown in FIG12 , a communication device 1200 provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown. The communication device 900 may be the first device described above. The communication device 1200 may include: a sending unit 1210 .

[0258] The sending unit 1210 is used to send a first synchronization signal, which is used for time and frequency synchronization between the second device and the first device. The first synchronization signal corresponds to first information, which is determined based on one or more of the following: a first physical cell identifier corresponding to the first base station; an identifier of the first device; first configuration information of the first base station; a first parameter for data transmission; and an identifier of the second device.

[0259] Optionally, the first information is a first identifier.

[0260] Optionally, the first device is the first base station, and the first information is determined based on one or more of the following: the first physical cell identifier; the first parameter; and the identifier of the second device.

[0261] Optionally, the first information is the same as the second information, the second information is determined based on a second physical cell identifier, the second information corresponds to a second synchronization signal, and the second synchronization signal is a synchronization signal in the cell corresponding to the second physical cell identifier.

[0262] Optionally, the first device is other device connected to the first base station.

[0263] Optionally, the first information is determined based on the first physical cell identifier.

[0264] Optionally, the first information corresponds to a synchronization signal sent by the first base station, and the synchronization signal sent by the first base station is used for time and frequency synchronization between the second device and the first device.

[0265] Optionally, the first information is different from the third information, the third information corresponds to the synchronization signal sent by the first base station, and the third information is determined based on the first physical cell identifier.

[0266] Optionally, the first information is determined based on the third information.

[0267] Optionally, the first information is determined based on an identification of the first device.

[0268] Optionally, the first information is determined based on fourth information, and the fourth information includes partial information in the identification of the first device.

[0269] Optionally, the first information is determined based on the first configuration information.

[0270] Optionally, the first configuration information is cell-specific configuration information; or, the first configuration information is configuration information corresponding to the first device.

[0271] Optionally, whether the first device sends the first synchronization signal is determined based on second configuration information sent by the first base station.

[0272] Optionally, the second configuration information is used to indicate one or more of the following: second information, used to instruct the first device to send the first synchronization signal; a first condition, used to trigger the first device to send the first synchronization signal.

[0273] Optionally, the first synchronization signal is a periodic synchronization signal, and a triggering mode of the periodic synchronization signal is the same as or different from a triggering mode of the non-periodic synchronization signal.

[0274] Optionally, the non-periodic synchronization signal is triggered based on scheduling of the first base station.

[0275] Optionally, the first device is one of the following: an intermediate device communicatively connected to the second device and the first base station; a device for providing a carrier signal and / or a power supply signal to the second device.

[0276] Optionally, the first parameter includes one or more of the following: data transmission rate; data waveform; data transmission direction.

[0277] Optionally, the first information is determined based on the second device identification. Optionally, it can be identification information of a certain target second device, group identification information of a group of target second devices, or broadcast label information or default identification information of all target second devices.

[0278] Optionally, the first synchronization signal is a periodic synchronization signal or a non-periodic synchronization signal.

[0279] Optionally, the first synchronization signal is a periodic synchronization signal, and the non-periodic synchronization signal sent by the first device satisfies one of the following: the non-periodic synchronization signal corresponds to the first information; the non-periodic synchronization signal corresponds to fifth information, and the fifth information is different from the first information.

[0280] Optionally, the first information is determined based on sixth information, the sixth information is determined based on the first physical cell identifier, and the sixth information is associated with a primary synchronization signal and / or a secondary synchronization signal sent by the first base station.

[0281] Optionally, the second device is an A-IoT terminal.

[0282] Optionally, the first synchronization signal includes a group of synchronization signals.

[0283] As shown in FIG13 , a communication device 1300 is provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 900 may be the second device described above. The communication device 1300 may include a receiving unit 1310 .

[0284] The receiving unit 1310 is used to receive a first synchronization signal sent by a first device, where the first synchronization signal is used for time and frequency synchronization between the second device and the first device, and the first synchronization signal includes first information corresponding to the first synchronization signal, where the first information is determined based on one or more of the following: a first physical cell identifier corresponding to the first base station; an identifier of the first device; first configuration information of the first base station; a first parameter for data transmission; and an identifier of the second device.

[0285] Optionally, the first information is a first identifier.

[0286] Optionally, the first device is the first base station, and the first information is determined based on one or more of the following: the first physical cell identifier; the first parameter; and the identifier of the second device.

[0287] Optionally, the first information is the same as the second information, the second information is determined based on a second physical cell identifier, the second information corresponds to a second synchronization signal, and the second synchronization signal is a synchronization signal in the cell corresponding to the second physical cell identifier.

[0288] Optionally, the first device is other device connected to the first base station.

[0289] Optionally, the first information is determined based on the first physical cell identifier.

[0290] Optionally, the first information corresponds to a synchronization signal sent by the first base station, and the synchronization signal sent by the first base station is used for time and frequency synchronization between the second device and the first device.

[0291] Optionally, the first information is different from the third information, the third information corresponds to the synchronization signal sent by the first base station, and the third information is determined based on the first physical cell identifier.

[0292] Optionally, the first information is determined based on the third information.

[0293] Optionally, the first information is determined based on an identification of the first device.

[0294] Optionally, the first information is determined based on fourth information, and the fourth information includes partial information in the identification of the first device.

[0295] Optionally, the first information is determined based on the first configuration information.

[0296] Optionally, the first configuration information is cell-specific configuration information; or, the first configuration information is configuration information corresponding to the first device.

[0297] Optionally, whether the first device sends the first synchronization signal is determined based on second configuration information sent by the first base station.

[0298] Optionally, the second configuration information is used to indicate one or more of the following:

[0299] second information, used to instruct the first device to send the first synchronization signal;

[0300] The first condition is used to trigger the first device to send the first synchronization signal.

[0301] Optionally, the first synchronization signal is a periodic synchronization signal, and a triggering mode of the periodic synchronization signal is the same as or different from a triggering mode of the non-periodic synchronization signal.

[0302] Optionally, the non-periodic synchronization signal is triggered based on scheduling of the first base station.

[0303] Optionally, the first device is one of the following: an intermediate device communicatively connected to the second device and the first base station; a device for providing a carrier signal and / or a power supply signal to the second device.

[0304] Optionally, the first parameter includes one or more of the following: data transmission rate; data waveform; data transmission direction.

[0305] Optionally, the first synchronization signal is a periodic synchronization signal or a non-periodic synchronization signal.

[0306] Optionally, the first synchronization signal is a periodic synchronization signal, and the non-periodic synchronization signal sent by the first device satisfies one of the following: the non-periodic synchronization signal corresponds to the first information; the non-periodic synchronization signal corresponds to fifth information, and the fifth information is different from the first information.

[0307] Optionally, the first information is determined based on sixth information, the sixth information is determined based on the first physical cell identifier, and the sixth information is associated with a primary synchronization signal and / or a secondary synchronization signal sent by the first base station.

[0308] Optionally, the second device is an A-IoT terminal.

[0309] Optionally, the first synchronization signal includes a group of synchronization signals.

[0310] FIG14 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device to which embodiments of the present application may be applied. The dashed lines in FIG14 indicate that the unit or module is optional. Apparatus 1400 may be used to implement the method described in the above method embodiment. Apparatus 1400 may be a chip or a communication device.

[0311] The device 1400 may include one or more processors 1410. The processor 1410 may support the device 1400 to implement the method described in the method embodiment above. The processor 1410 may be a general-purpose processor or a special-purpose processor. For example, the processor may be a central processing unit (CPU). Alternatively, the processor may be another general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, discrete hardware component, etc. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor, etc.

[0312] The apparatus 1400 may further include one or more memories 1420. The memories 1420 store programs that can be executed by the processor 1410, causing the processor 1410 to perform the methods described in the above method embodiments. The memories 1420 may be independent of the processor 1410 or integrated into the processor 1410.

[0313] The apparatus 1400 may further include a transceiver 1430. The processor 1410 may communicate with other devices or chips via the transceiver 1430. For example, the processor 1410 may transmit and receive data with other devices or chips via the transceiver 1430.

[0314] The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing a program. The computer-readable storage medium can be applied to the first network element, application function network element, or first communication device provided in the present application, and the program causes a computer to execute the method performed by the first network element, application function network element, or first communication device in each embodiment of the present application.

[0315] The present application also provides a computer program product. The computer program product includes a program. The computer program product can be applied to the first network element, application function network element, or first communication device provided in the embodiments of the present application, and the program causes a computer to execute the method performed by the first network element, application function network element, or first communication device in various embodiments of the present application.

[0316] The present application also provides a computer program. This computer program can be applied to the first network element, application function network element, or first communication device provided in the present application, and the computer program causes a computer to execute the method performed by the first network element, application function network element, or first communication device in each embodiment of the present application.

[0317] It should be understood that the terms "system" and "network" in this application can be used interchangeably. In addition, the terms used in this application are only used to explain the specific embodiments of this application and are not intended to limit this application. The terms "first", "second", "third", and "fourth" in the specification and claims of this application and the accompanying drawings are used to distinguish different objects rather than to describe a specific order. In addition, the terms "including" and "having" and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions.

[0318] In the embodiments of this application, the term "indication" may refer to a direct indication, an indirect indication, or an indication of an association. For example, "A indicates B" may refer to a direct indication of B, e.g., B can obtain information through A; it may refer to an indirect indication of B, e.g., A indicates C, e.g., B can obtain information through C; or it may refer to an association between A and B.

[0319] In the embodiment of the present application, "B corresponding to A" means that B is associated with A and B can be determined based on A. However, it should be understood that determining B based on A does not mean determining B based solely on A, but B can also be determined based on A and / or other information.

[0320] In the embodiments of the present application, the term "corresponding" may indicate a direct or indirect correspondence between the two, or an association relationship between the two, or a relationship between indication and indication, configuration and configuration, etc.

[0321] In the embodiments of the present application, "pre-definition" or "pre-configuration" may be implemented by pre-storing corresponding codes, tables, or other methods that can be used to indicate relevant information in a device (e.g., a terminal device and a network device). The present application does not limit the specific implementation method. For example, pre-definition may refer to information defined in a protocol.

[0322] In the embodiments of the present application, the “protocol” may refer to a standard protocol in the communications field, for example, it may include an LTE protocol, an NR protocol, and related protocols used in future communication systems, and the present application does not limit this.

[0323] In the embodiments of this application, the term "and / or" is simply a description of the association relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone. In addition, the character " / " in this document generally indicates that the related objects are in an "or" relationship.

[0324] In various embodiments of the present application, the size of the serial numbers of the above-mentioned processes does not mean the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0325] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely schematic. For example, the division of the units is merely a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0326] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of these units may be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0327] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0328] In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the process or function described in the embodiment of the present application is generated in whole or in part. 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 computer-readable storage medium. 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 a wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) method. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be read by a computer or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more available media integrated therein. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (eg, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (eg, a digital versatile disc (DVD)), or a semiconductor medium (eg, a solid state disk (SSD)).

[0329] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present application, but the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in this application should be included in the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A synchronization method, characterized in that: include: A first device sends a first synchronization signal, where the first synchronization signal is used for time and frequency synchronization between a second device and the first device. The first synchronization signal corresponds to first information, where the first information is determined based on one or more of the following: a first physical cell identifier corresponding to the first base station; an identifier of the first device; first configuration information of the first base station; a first parameter for data transmission; The identifier of the second device.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The first information is a first identifier.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The first device is the first base station, and the first information is determined based on one or more of the following: the first physical cell identifier; the first parameter; The identifier of the second device.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The first information is the same as the second information, the second information is determined based on a second physical cell identifier, the second information corresponds to a second synchronization signal, and the second synchronization signal is a synchronization signal in a cell corresponding to the second physical cell identifier.

5. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The first device is another device connected to the first base station.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that The first information is determined based on the first physical cell identifier.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that The first information corresponds to a synchronization signal sent by the first base station, and the synchronization signal sent by the first base station is used for time and frequency synchronization between the second device and the first base station.

8. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that The first information is different from the third information, the third information corresponds to the synchronization signal sent by the first base station, and the third information is determined based on the first physical cell identifier.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The first information is determined based on the third information.

10. The method according to any one of claims 5 to 9, characterized in that The first information is determined based on an identification of the first device.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The first information is determined based on fourth information, where the fourth information includes partial information in an identifier of the first device.

12. The method according to any one of claims 5 to 11, characterized in that The first information is determined based on the first configuration information.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein: The first configuration information is cell-specific configuration information; or, The first configuration information is configuration information corresponding to the first device.

14. The method according to any one of claims 5 to 13, characterized in that Whether the first device sends the first synchronization signal is determined based on second configuration information sent by the first base station.

15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that The second configuration information is used to indicate one or more of the following: second information, used to instruct the first device to send the first synchronization signal; The first condition is used to trigger the first device to send the first synchronization signal.

16. The method according to claim 14 or 15, characterized in that The first synchronization signal is a periodic synchronization signal, and a triggering mode of the periodic synchronization signal is the same as or different from a triggering mode of the non-periodic synchronization signal.

17. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that The non-periodic synchronization signal is triggered based on scheduling of the first base station.

18. The method according to any one of claims 5 to 17, characterized in that The first device is one of the following: an intermediate device in communication with the second device and the first base station; A device for providing a carrier signal and / or an energy supply signal to the second device.

19. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 18, characterized in that The first parameter includes one or more of the following: Data transfer rate; Data waveform; Data transmission direction.

20. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 19, characterized in that The first synchronization signal is a periodic synchronization signal or a non-periodic synchronization signal.

21. The method according to claim 20, characterized in that The first synchronization signal is a periodic synchronization signal, and the aperiodic synchronization signal sent by the first device satisfies one of the following conditions: The non-periodic synchronization signal corresponds to the first information; The non-periodic synchronization signal corresponds to fifth information, and the fifth information is different from the first information.

22. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 21, characterized in that The first information is determined based on sixth information, the sixth information is determined based on the first physical cell identifier, and the sixth information is associated with a primary synchronization signal and / or a secondary synchronization signal sent by the first base station.

23. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 22, characterized in that The second device is an A-IoT terminal.

24. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 23, characterized in that The first synchronization signal includes a group of synchronization signals.

25. A synchronization method, characterized in that: include: A second device receives a first synchronization signal sent by a first device, where the first synchronization signal is used for time and frequency synchronization between the second device and the first device. The first synchronization signal includes first information corresponding to the first synchronization signal, where the first information is determined based on one or more of the following: a first physical cell identifier corresponding to the first base station; an identifier of the first device; first configuration information of the first base station; a first parameter for data transmission; The identifier of the second device.

26. The method according to claim 25, characterized in that The first information is a first identifier.

27. The method according to claim 25 or 26, characterized in that The first device is the first base station, and the first information is determined based on one or more of the following: the first physical cell identifier; the first parameter; The identifier of the second device.

28. The method according to claim 27, characterized in that The first information is the same as the second information, the second information is determined based on a second physical cell identifier, the second information corresponds to a second synchronization signal, and the second synchronization signal is a synchronization signal in a cell corresponding to the second physical cell identifier.

29. The method according to claim 25 or 26, characterized in that The first device is another device connected to the first base station.

30. The method according to claim 29, wherein The first information is determined based on the first physical cell identifier.

31. The method according to claim 30, wherein The first information corresponds to a synchronization signal sent by the first base station, and the synchronization signal sent by the first base station is used for time and frequency synchronization between the second device and the first base station.

32. The method according to claim 30, wherein The first information is different from the third information, the third information corresponds to the synchronization signal sent by the first base station, and the third information is determined based on the first physical cell identifier.

33. The method according to claim 32, characterized in that The first information is determined based on the third information.

34. The method according to any one of claims 29 to 33, characterized in that The first information is determined based on an identification of the first device.

35. The method according to claim 34, wherein The first information is determined based on fourth information, where the fourth information includes partial information in an identifier of the first device.

36. The method according to any one of claims 29 to 35, characterized in that The first information is determined based on the first configuration information.

37. The method according to claim 36, wherein: The first configuration information is cell-specific configuration information; or, The first configuration information is configuration information corresponding to the first device.

38. The method according to any one of claims 29 to 37, characterized in that Whether the first device sends the first synchronization signal is determined based on second configuration information sent by the first base station.

39. The method according to claim 38, characterized in that The second configuration information is used to indicate one or more of the following: second information, used to instruct the first device to send the first synchronization signal; The first condition is used to trigger the first device to send the first synchronization signal.

40. The method according to claim 38 or 39, characterized in that The first synchronization signal is a periodic synchronization signal, and a triggering mode of the periodic synchronization signal is the same as or different from a triggering mode of the non-periodic synchronization signal.

41. The method according to claim 40, wherein The non-periodic synchronization signal is triggered based on scheduling of the first base station.

42. The method according to any one of claims 29 to 41, characterized in that The first device is one of the following: an intermediate device in communication with the second device and the first base station; A device for providing a carrier signal and / or an energy supply signal to the second device.

43. The method according to any one of claims 25 to 42, characterized in that The first parameter includes one or more of the following: Data transfer rate; Data waveform; Data transmission direction.

44. The method according to any one of claims 25 to 43, characterized in that The first synchronization signal is a periodic synchronization signal or a non-periodic synchronization signal.

45. The method according to claim 44, wherein The first synchronization signal is a periodic synchronization signal, and the aperiodic synchronization signal sent by the first device satisfies one of the following conditions: The non-periodic synchronization signal corresponds to the first information; The non-periodic synchronization signal corresponds to fifth information, and the fifth information is different from the first information.

46. The method according to any one of claims 25 to 45, characterized in that The first information is determined based on sixth information, the sixth information is determined based on the first physical cell identifier, and the sixth information is associated with a primary synchronization signal and / or a secondary synchronization signal sent by the first base station.

47. The method according to any one of claims 25 to 46, characterized in that The second device is an A-IoT terminal.

48. The method according to any one of claims 25 to 47, characterized in that The first synchronization signal includes a group of synchronization signals.

49. A communication device, characterized in that The communication device is a first device, and the communication device includes: a sending unit, configured to send a first synchronization signal, where the first synchronization signal is used for time and frequency synchronization between a second device and the first device, where the first synchronization signal corresponds to first information, where the first information is determined based on one or more of the following: a first physical cell identifier corresponding to the first base station; an identifier of the first device; first configuration information of the first base station; a first parameter for data transmission; The identifier of the second device.

50. The communication device according to claim 49, wherein The first information is a first identifier.

51. The communication device according to claim 49 or 50, characterized in that The first device is the first base station, and the first information is determined based on one or more of the following: the first physical cell identifier; the first parameter; The identifier of the second device.

52. The communication device according to claim 51, wherein The first information is the same as the second information, the second information is determined based on a second physical cell identifier, the second information corresponds to a second synchronization signal, and the second synchronization signal is a synchronization signal in a cell corresponding to the second physical cell identifier.

53. The communication device according to claim 49 or 50, characterized in that The first device is another device connected to the first base station.

54. The communication device according to claim 53, characterized in that The first information is determined based on the first physical cell identifier.

55. The communication device according to claim 54, characterized in that The first information corresponds to a synchronization signal sent by the first base station, and the synchronization signal sent by the first base station is used for time and frequency synchronization between the second device and the first base station.

56. The communication device according to claim 54, characterized in that The first information is different from the third information, the third information corresponds to the synchronization signal sent by the first base station, and the third information is determined based on the first physical cell identifier.

57. The communication device according to claim 56, characterized in that The first information is determined based on the third information.

58. The communication device according to any one of claims 53 to 57, characterized in that The first information is determined based on an identification of the first device.

59. The communication device according to claim 58, characterized in that The first information is determined based on fourth information, where the fourth information includes partial information in an identifier of the first device.

60. The communication device according to any one of claims 53 to 59, characterized in that The first information is determined based on the first configuration information.

61. The communication device according to claim 60, characterized in that: The first configuration information is cell-specific configuration information; or, The first configuration information is configuration information corresponding to the first device.

62. The communication device according to any one of claims 53 to 61, characterized in that Whether the first device sends the first synchronization signal is determined based on second configuration information sent by the first base station.

63. The communication device according to claim 62, characterized in that The second configuration information is used to indicate one or more of the following: second information, used to instruct the first device to send the first synchronization signal; The first condition is used to trigger the first device to send the first synchronization signal.

64. The communication device according to claim 62 or 63, characterized in that The first synchronization signal is a periodic synchronization signal, and a triggering mode of the periodic synchronization signal is the same as or different from a triggering mode of the non-periodic synchronization signal.

65. The communication device according to claim 64, characterized in that The non-periodic synchronization signal is triggered based on scheduling of the first base station.

66. The communication device according to any one of claims 53 to 65, characterized in that The first device is one of the following: an intermediate device in communication with the second device and the first base station; A device for providing a carrier signal and / or an energy supply signal to the second device.

67. The communication device according to any one of claims 49 to 66, characterized in that The first parameter includes one or more of the following: Data transfer rate; Data waveform; Data transmission direction.

68. The communication device according to any one of claims 49 to 67, characterized in that The first synchronization signal is a periodic synchronization signal or a non-periodic synchronization signal.

69. The communication device according to claim 68, characterized in that The first synchronization signal is a periodic synchronization signal, and the aperiodic synchronization signal sent by the first device satisfies one of the following conditions: The non-periodic synchronization signal corresponds to the first information; The non-periodic synchronization signal corresponds to fifth information, and the fifth information is different from the first information.

70. The communication device according to any one of claims 49 to 69, characterized in that The first information is determined based on sixth information, the sixth information is determined based on the first physical cell identifier, and the sixth information is associated with a primary synchronization signal and / or a secondary synchronization signal sent by the first base station.

71. The communication device according to any one of claims 49 to 70, characterized in that The second device is an A-IoT terminal.

72. The communication device according to any one of claims 49 to 71, characterized in that The first synchronization signal includes a group of synchronization signals.

73. A communication device, characterized in that The communication device is a second device, and the communication device includes: a receiving unit, configured to receive a first synchronization signal sent by a first device, where the first synchronization signal is used for time and frequency synchronization between the second device and the first device, where the first synchronization signal includes first information corresponding to the first synchronization signal, where the first information is determined based on one or more of the following: a first physical cell identifier corresponding to the first base station; an identifier of the first device; first configuration information of the first base station; a first parameter for data transmission; The identifier of the second device.

74. The communication device according to claim 73, characterized in that The first information is a first identifier.

75. The communication device according to claim 73 or 74, characterized in that The first device is the first base station, and the first information is determined based on one or more of the following: the first physical cell identifier; the first parameter; The identifier of the second device.

76. The communication device according to claim 75, characterized in that The first information is the same as the second information, the second information is determined based on a second physical cell identifier, the second information corresponds to a second synchronization signal, and the second synchronization signal is a synchronization signal in a cell corresponding to the second physical cell identifier.

77. The communication device according to claim 73 or 74, characterized in that The first device is another device connected to the first base station.

78. The communication device according to claim 77, characterized in that The first information is determined based on the first physical cell identifier.

79. The communication device according to claim 78, characterized in that The first information corresponds to a synchronization signal sent by the first base station, and the synchronization signal sent by the first base station is used for time and frequency synchronization between the second device and the first base station.

80. The communication device according to claim 78, wherein The first information is different from the third information, the third information corresponds to the synchronization signal sent by the first base station, and the third information is determined based on the first physical cell identifier.

81. The communication device according to claim 80, wherein: The first information is determined based on the third information.

82. The communication device according to any one of claims 77 to 81, characterized in that The first information is determined based on an identification of the first device.

83. The communication device according to claim 82, characterized in that The first information is determined based on fourth information, where the fourth information includes partial information in an identifier of the first device.

84. The communication device according to any one of claims 77 to 83, characterized in that The first information is determined based on the first configuration information.

85. The communication device according to claim 84, characterized in that: The first configuration information is cell-specific configuration information; or, The first configuration information is configuration information corresponding to the first device.

86. The communication device according to any one of claims 77 to 85, characterized in that Whether the first device sends the first synchronization signal is determined based on second configuration information sent by the first base station.

87. The communication device according to claim 86, characterized in that The second configuration information is used to indicate one or more of the following: second information, used to instruct the first device to send the first synchronization signal; The first condition is used to trigger the first device to send the first synchronization signal.

88. The communication device according to claim 86 or 87, characterized in that The first synchronization signal is a periodic synchronization signal, and a triggering mode of the periodic synchronization signal is the same as or different from a triggering mode of the non-periodic synchronization signal.

89. The communication device according to claim 88, characterized in that The non-periodic synchronization signal is triggered based on scheduling of the first base station.

90. The communication device according to any one of claims 77 to 89, characterized in that The first device is one of the following: an intermediate device in communication with the second device and the first base station; A device for providing a carrier signal and / or an energy supply signal to the second device.

91. The communication device according to any one of claims 73 to 90, characterized in that The first parameter includes one or more of the following: Data transfer rate; Data waveform; Data transmission direction.

92. The communication device according to any one of claims 73 to 91, characterized in that The first synchronization signal is a periodic synchronization signal or a non-periodic synchronization signal.

93. The communication device according to claim 92, characterized in that The first synchronization signal is a periodic synchronization signal, and the aperiodic synchronization signal sent by the first device satisfies one of the following conditions: The non-periodic synchronization signal corresponds to the first information; The non-periodic synchronization signal corresponds to fifth information, and the fifth information is different from the first information.

94. The communication device according to any one of claims 73 to 93, characterized in that The first information is determined based on sixth information, the sixth information is determined based on the first physical cell identifier, and the sixth information is associated with a primary synchronization signal and / or a secondary synchronization signal sent by the first base station.

95. The communication device according to any one of claims 73 to 94, characterized in that The second device is an A-IoT terminal.

96. The communication device according to any one of claims 73 to 95, characterized in that The first synchronization signal includes a group of synchronization signals.

97. A communication device, characterized in that The system comprises a memory and a processor, wherein the memory is used to store a program, and the processor is used to call the program in the memory to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 24 or 25 to 48.

98. A device, characterized in that The device comprises a processor configured to call a program from a memory to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 24 or 25 to 48.

99. A chip, characterized in that The device comprises a processor configured to call a program from a memory so that a device equipped with the chip executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 24 or 25 to 48.

100. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that A program is stored thereon, the program causing a computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 1-24 or 25-48.

101. A computer program product, characterized in that The method comprises a program for causing a computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 24 or 25 to 48.

102. A computer program, characterized in that The computer program causes a computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 1-24 or 25-48.

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