Communication method, communication apparatus, and computer-readable storage medium

Abstract

The present application provides a communication method, a communication apparatus, and a computer-readable storage medium, for use in improving the system capacity. The method comprises: an access network device indicates a first measurement gap among at least one measurement gap to a terminal device by means of first information, wherein the starting time of the at least one measurement gap is later than the sending time of the first information, the first measurement gap is used for the terminal device to listen for scheduling information; and the terminal device listens for the scheduling information in the first measurement gap on the basis of the first information, and does not perform inter-frequency or inter-system measurement, such that the access network device can schedule more terminal devices, improving the system capacity.

Description

Communication method, communication device, and computer-readable storage medium

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the China Patent Office on February 7, 2024, with application number 202410176150.1 and application name “Communication Method, Communication Device and Computer-readable Storage Medium”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

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

[0003] With the development of communication technology, extended reality (XR) services have emerged. XR services can include both downlink and uplink data. Downlink data primarily consists of downlink video data, which can be transmitted periodically; uplink data primarily contains user action instructions and can be transmitted at any time. XR services are characterized by large data volumes.

[0004] Because XR services are data-intensive, access network equipment in XR scenarios has limited terminal device data that can be dispatched. For example, an access network device can dispatch a maximum of 10 terminal devices within its coverage area to support XR services. Therefore, increasing system capacity in XR scenarios is a pressing technical challenge. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The present application provides a communication method, a communication device, and a computer-readable storage medium, which help to improve system capacity.

[0006] In a first aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a terminal device or by a device compatible with the terminal device, such as a processor or chip. The method may include: receiving first information from an access network device, the first information indicating a first measurement interval of at least one measurement interval, the start time of the at least one measurement interval being later than the reception time of the first information, the first measurement interval being used to monitor scheduling information; and monitoring the scheduling information within the first measurement interval, the scheduling information being used to schedule transmission of uplink and downlink channels and / or signals.

[0007] Among them, the number of first measurement intervals is one or more. The start time of at least one measurement interval refers to the start time of the earliest measurement interval in at least one measurement interval. The start time can also be described as the start moment. The receiving time can also be described as the receiving moment. Without considering or ignoring the transmission delay between the terminal device and the access network device, the receiving time of the first information is the same as the sending time of the first information; when the transmission delay between the terminal device and the access network device is small, the receiving time of the first information is approximately the same as the sending time of the first information. The embodiment of the present application takes the example where the receiving time of the first information is the same as the sending time of the first information.

[0008] The start time of at least one measurement interval is later than the reception time of the first information, that is, at least one measurement interval is a measurement interval after the reception time of the first information. The first information indicates the first measurement interval among the at least one measurement interval, that is, the first information indicates a measurement interval for the terminal device to monitor scheduling information in the measurement interval after the reception time of the first information (or a measurement interval in which the terminal device does not perform inter-frequency or inter-system measurement, or a measurement interval skipped when the terminal device performs inter-frequency or inter-system measurement).

[0009] For a certain measurement interval, it is used for the terminal device to monitor scheduling information. It can also be understood that the measurement interval is not used for the terminal device to perform heterofrequency or heterosystem measurements, or the measurement interval is used for the terminal device not to perform heterofrequency or heterosystem measurements, or the measurement interval is used for the terminal device to skip the measurement interval to perform heterofrequency or heterosystem measurements, or the measurement interval is used for the terminal device to skip heterofrequency or heterosystem measurements, and so on.

[0010] Usually, the measurement interval is used for heterofrequency or heterosystem measurements. For the terminal device in the measurement interval, the terminal device will not send or receive any data, and the access network device will not perform uplink or downlink scheduling for the terminal device. However, in order to improve the system capacity in the XR scenario, in an embodiment of the present application, the access network device may instruct the terminal device not to perform heterofrequency or heterosystem measurements in one or some measurement intervals, but to perform scheduling information monitoring. One or some measurement intervals are the above-mentioned first measurement intervals. In the first measurement interval, the terminal device does not perform heterofrequency or heterosystem measurements, but performs scheduling information monitoring for uplink and downlink transmission, thereby helping to improve the system capacity in the XR scenario.

[0011] In one possible implementation, in response to the value of the first information being a threshold, the first information indicates that at least one measurement interval is used for the terminal device to monitor scheduling information. That is, when the value of the first information is a threshold, the first information indicates that the measurement intervals after the reception time of the first information are all used for the terminal device to monitor scheduling information, and are not used for the terminal device to perform inter-frequency or inter-system measurements. Conversely, when the value of the first information is not a threshold, the first information indicates that the measurement intervals after the reception time of the first information are all used for the terminal device to perform inter-frequency or inter-system measurements.

[0012] It can be seen that by taking the value of the first information as a threshold, the terminal device can be instructed to monitor the scheduling information in the next measurement interval, which is simple to implement and helps to improve the system capacity in the XR scenario.

[0013] In a possible implementation, the first information also indicates a second measurement interval, which is a measurement interval other than the first measurement interval in the at least one measurement interval mentioned above, and the second measurement interval is used to measure the synchronization signal / physical downlink broadcast channel block (SS / PBCH, SSB for short) of the neighboring cell; the above method also includes: measuring the SSB of the neighboring cell within the second measurement interval. Measuring the SSB of the neighboring cell means performing heterofrequency measurement, and the neighboring cell refers to the neighboring cell of the service cell of the terminal device, and the neighboring cell and the service cell are not on the same carrier frequency (or center frequency). That is to say, the first information indicates which measurement interval or intervals in the measurement interval after the reception time of the first information are used for the terminal device to monitor the scheduling information, and which measurement interval or intervals are used for the terminal device to measure the SSB of the neighboring cell, so as to improve the system capacity in the XR scenario.

[0014] In one possible implementation, the first information indicates a first pattern, the first pattern includes multiple bits, the value of bit n is a first value, indicating that the measurement interval corresponding to bit n is used for the terminal device to monitor scheduling information; or the value of bit n is a second value, indicating that the measurement interval corresponding to bit n is used for the terminal device to measure the SSB of the neighboring area. Bit n is any one of the multiple bits included in the first pattern, and n is a positive integer. That is, for any bit in the first pattern, its value can indicate that its corresponding measurement interval is used for the terminal device to monitor scheduling information or for the terminal device to measure the SSB of the neighboring area. Using a pattern to indicate the purpose of the measurement interval helps to save the bit overhead of the first information.

[0015] Optionally, before receiving the first information from the access network device, the terminal device receives configuration information from the access network device, where the configuration information is used to configure multiple patterns, including the first pattern. In this way, the first information can be an index of the first pattern, and the first pattern can be indicated using fewer bits.

[0016] In one possible implementation, the first information includes multiple bits, and the value of a bit indicates that the measurement interval corresponding to the bit is used by the terminal device to monitor scheduling information or measure the SSB of a neighboring cell. It is understandable that this method uses a bitmap to indicate the purpose of the measurement interval, which is more comprehensive, but has the disadvantage of large bit overhead.

[0017] In one possible implementation, the first information further indicates a first panel, which is the panel used by the terminal device to measure the SSB of a neighboring cell. By indicating the first panel, so that the terminal device uses the first panel to measure the SSB of the neighboring cell, the accuracy of the measurement result is improved. Optionally, the first panel can be the panel with the best transceiver capability, thereby improving the accuracy of the measurement result. Optionally, the access network device can determine the first panel based on the measurement result fed back by the terminal device, and the measurement result can be the measurement result of the terminal device measuring the SSB of the serving cell based on the panel.

[0018] Optionally, the terminal device further reports capability information to the access network device, which may include the number of panels supported by the terminal device and the transceiver capabilities of each panel. In this way, the access network device may determine the first panel based on the capability information and indicate the first panel to the terminal device.

[0019] In one possible implementation, the first information further indicates a first panel and a second panel, where the first panel is the panel used by the terminal device to measure the SSB of a neighboring cell during the measurement interval corresponding to bit n; and the second panel is the panel used by the terminal device to measure the SSB of a neighboring cell during the measurement interval corresponding to bit m. The first panel and the second panel may be the same or different, bit n and bit m both have the second value, and the multiple bits included in the first pattern include bit m, which is different from bit n. That is, for multiple measurement intervals used to measure the SSB of a neighboring cell, the access network device may separately indicate the panel used by the terminal device in each measurement interval to reflect the impact of the panel on the measurement results.

[0020] In one possible implementation, the first information further indicates a first time in the first measurement interval, where the first time is measured in units of one or more of milliseconds, time slots, or symbols. Monitoring scheduling information within the first measurement interval may include monitoring scheduling information within the first time in the first measurement interval. Taking milliseconds as an example, the first information further indicates which millisecond or milliseconds in the first measurement interval are used by the terminal device to monitor scheduling information, thereby further improving system capacity in XR scenarios.

[0021] In a possible implementation, the first information further indicates a second time in the first measurement interval, where the second time is used to measure the SSB of a neighboring cell, and the second time is the time in the first measurement interval excluding the first time.

[0022] In one possible implementation, after receiving the first information, the second information may be received from the access network device, where the second information indicates a third measurement interval and / or a fourth measurement interval, where the third measurement interval is used to measure the SSB of the neighboring cell, and the fourth measurement interval is used to monitor scheduling information, and where the receiving time of the second information is later than the end time of at least one of the above-mentioned measurement intervals. That is, after the above-mentioned at least one measurement interval, the second information is received, and the terminal device monitors the scheduling information or measures the SSB of the neighboring cell in the subsequent measurement interval based on the second information. In other words, the terminal device receives the first information, monitors the scheduling information or measures the SSB of the neighboring cell based on the first information, until the second information is received, and then monitors the scheduling information or measures the SSB of the neighboring cell based on the second information, thereby enabling the access network device to dynamically adjust the hetero-frequency or hetero-system measurement.

[0023] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: in response to receiving the first information, starting a timer; and in response to the timer expiring, measuring the SSB of the neighboring cell in a fifth measurement interval, where the start time of the fifth measurement interval is later than the timer expiration time. Upon receiving the first information, the terminal device starts the timer, and after the timer expires, measures the SSB of the neighboring cell in subsequent measurement intervals without monitoring scheduling information. In this way, the timer enables the terminal device to quickly switch to inter-frequency or inter-system measurement.

[0024] Optionally, the timer is predefined by the protocol, or the timer is configured by the access network device.

[0025] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: sending third information to the access network device, where the third information indicates a measurement interval during which the terminal device desires not to measure the SSB of a neighboring cell. That is, the terminal device reports to the access network device the measurement interval during which it desires to skip inter-frequency or inter-system measurements. The access network device may send the first information to the terminal device based on the third information, such that the first information meets the terminal device's expectations. The access network device may also ignore the third information when sending the first information.

[0026] In a second aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by an access network device or by a device compatible with the access network device, such as a processor or chip. The method may include: sending first information to a terminal device, where the first information indicates a first measurement interval among at least one measurement interval; the start time of the at least one measurement interval is later than the sending time of the first information; and the first measurement interval is used by the terminal device to monitor scheduling information, where the scheduling information is used to schedule transmission of uplink and downlink channels and / or signals.

[0027] Among them, the number of first measurement intervals is one or more. The start time of at least one measurement interval refers to the start time of the earliest measurement interval in at least one measurement interval. The start time can also be described as the start moment. The receiving time can also be described as the receiving moment. Without considering or ignoring the transmission delay between the terminal device and the access network device, the receiving time of the first information is the same as the sending time of the first information; when the transmission delay between the terminal device and the access network device is small, the receiving time of the first information is approximately the same as the sending time of the first information. The embodiment of the present application takes the example where the receiving time of the first information is the same as the sending time of the first information.

[0028] The start time of at least one measurement interval is later than the sending time of the first information, that is, at least one measurement interval is a measurement interval after the sending time of the first information. The first information indicates the first measurement interval in the at least one measurement interval, that is, the first information indicates a measurement interval in the measurement interval after the sending time of the first information for the terminal device to monitor the scheduling information (or a measurement interval in which the terminal device does not perform inter-frequency or inter-system measurements, or a measurement interval skipped when the terminal device performs inter-frequency or inter-system measurements).

[0029] For a certain measurement interval, it is used for the terminal device to monitor scheduling information. It can also be understood that the measurement interval is not used for the terminal device to perform heterofrequency or heterosystem measurements, or the measurement interval is used for the terminal device not to perform heterofrequency or heterosystem measurements, or the measurement interval is used for the terminal device to skip the measurement interval to perform heterofrequency or heterosystem measurements, or the measurement interval is used for the terminal device to skip heterofrequency or heterosystem measurements, and so on.

[0030] Usually, the measurement interval is used for heterofrequency or heterosystem measurements. For the terminal device in the measurement interval, the terminal device will not send any data, and the access network device will not perform uplink or downlink scheduling for the terminal device. However, in order to improve the system capacity in the XR scenario, in an embodiment of the present application, the access network device may instruct the terminal device not to perform heterofrequency or heterosystem measurements in one or some measurement intervals, but to perform scheduling information monitoring. One or some measurement intervals are the above-mentioned first measurement intervals. In the first measurement interval, the terminal device does not perform heterofrequency or heterosystem measurements, but performs scheduling information monitoring, thereby enabling the access network device to schedule the terminal device, which helps to improve the system capacity in the XR scenario.

[0031] In one possible implementation, in response to the value of the first information being a threshold, the first information indicates that at least one measurement interval is used for the terminal device to monitor scheduling information. That is, when the value of the first information is a threshold, the first information indicates that the measurement intervals after the reception time of the first information are all used for the terminal device to monitor scheduling information, and are not used for the terminal device to perform inter-frequency or inter-system measurements. Conversely, when the value of the first information is not a threshold, the first information indicates that the measurement intervals after the reception time of the first information are all used for the terminal device to perform inter-frequency or inter-system measurements.

[0032] It can be seen that by taking the value of the first information as a threshold, the terminal device can be instructed to monitor the scheduling information in the next measurement interval, which is simple to implement and helps to improve the system capacity in the XR scenario.

[0033] In one possible implementation, the first information also indicates a second measurement interval, which is a measurement interval other than the first measurement interval in the at least one measurement interval mentioned above. Measuring the SSB of the neighboring cell means performing inter-frequency measurement. The neighboring cell refers to the neighboring cell of the service cell of the terminal device, and the neighboring cell and the service cell are not on the same carrier frequency (or center frequency). That is to say, the first information indicates which measurement interval or intervals in the measurement interval after the reception time of the first information are used for the terminal device to monitor the scheduling information, and which measurement interval or intervals are used for the terminal device to measure the SSB of the neighboring cell, so as to improve the system capacity in the XR scenario.

[0034] In one possible implementation, the first information indicates a first pattern, the first pattern includes multiple bits, the value of bit n is a first value, indicating that the measurement interval corresponding to bit n is used for the terminal device to monitor scheduling information; or the value of bit n is a second value, indicating that the measurement interval corresponding to bit n is used for the terminal device to measure the SSB of the neighboring area. Bit n is any one of the multiple bits included in the first pattern, and n is a positive integer. That is, for any bit in the first pattern, its value can indicate that its corresponding measurement interval is used for the terminal device to monitor scheduling information or for the terminal device to measure the SSB of the neighboring area. Using a pattern to indicate the purpose of the measurement interval helps to save the bit overhead of the first information.

[0035] Optionally, before receiving the first information from the access network device, the terminal device receives configuration information from the access network device, where the configuration information is used to configure multiple patterns, including the first pattern. In this way, the first information can be an index of the first pattern, and the first pattern can be indicated using fewer bits.

[0036] In one possible implementation, the first information includes multiple bits, and the value of a bit indicates that the measurement interval corresponding to the bit is used by the terminal device to monitor scheduling information or measure the SSB of a neighboring cell. It is understandable that this method uses a bitmap to indicate the purpose of the measurement interval, which is more comprehensive, but has the disadvantage of large bit overhead.

[0037] In one possible implementation, the first information further indicates a first panel, which is the panel used by the terminal device to measure the SSB of a neighboring cell. Indicating the first panel so that the terminal device uses the first panel to measure the panel of the neighboring cell helps improve the accuracy of the measurement results. Optionally, the first panel can be the panel with the best transceiver capabilities, thereby improving the accuracy of the measurement results. Optionally, the access network device can determine the first panel based on the measurement result fed back by the terminal device, which can be the measurement result of the terminal device measuring the SSB of the serving cell based on the panel.

[0038] Optionally, the access network device further receives capability information reported from the terminal device, which may include the number of panels supported by the terminal device and the transceiver capabilities of each panel. In this way, the access network device may determine the first panel based on the capability information and indicate the first panel to the terminal device.

[0039] In one possible implementation, the first information further indicates a first panel and a second panel, where the first panel is the panel used by the terminal device to measure the SSB of a neighboring cell during the measurement interval corresponding to bit n; and the second panel is the panel used by the terminal device to measure the SSB of a neighboring cell during the measurement interval corresponding to bit m. The first panel and the second panel may be the same or different, bit n and bit m both have the second value, and the multiple bits included in the first pattern include bit m, which is different from bit n. That is, for multiple measurement intervals used to measure the SSB of a neighboring cell, the access network device may separately indicate the panel used by the terminal device in each measurement interval to reflect the impact of the panel on the measurement results.

[0040] In one possible implementation, the first information further indicates a first time in the first measurement interval, where the first time is measured in milliseconds, time slots, or symbols, or one or more of these. The first time is used to monitor scheduling information. Taking milliseconds as an example, the first information further indicates which millisecond or milliseconds in the first measurement interval are used by the terminal device to monitor scheduling information, thereby further improving system capacity in XR scenarios.

[0041] In a possible implementation, the first information further indicates a second time in the first measurement interval, where the second time is used to measure the SSB of a neighboring cell, and the second time is the time in the first measurement interval excluding the first time.

[0042] In one possible implementation, after sending the first information to the terminal device, the second information may be sent to the terminal device, where the second information indicates a third measurement interval and / or a fourth measurement interval, where the third measurement interval is used to measure the SSB of the neighboring cell, and the fourth measurement interval is used to monitor scheduling information, and the reception time of the second information is later than the end time of at least one of the above-mentioned measurement intervals.

[0043] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: sending timer configuration information to the terminal device, where the timer configuration information is used to configure the timer, for example, to configure the duration of the timer, etc. Upon receiving the first information, the terminal device may start the timer.

[0044] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving third information from the terminal device, the third information indicating that the terminal device desires not to measure the SSB measurement interval of the neighboring cell. In other words, the terminal device reports to the access network device the measurement interval in which it desires to skip inter-frequency or inter-system measurements. The access network device may send the first information to the terminal device based on the third information, so that the first information meets the terminal device's expectations. The access network device may also ignore the third information when sending the first information.

[0045] In a third aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which includes a module / unit for executing any method described in the first aspect and its possible implementations, or a module / unit for executing any method described in the second aspect and its possible implementations.

[0046] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which may be a terminal device, or a chip, chip system, or processor that supports the terminal device to implement the above-mentioned method, or a logical node, logic module, or software that can implement all or part of the terminal functions. Among them, the communication device may also be a chip system. The communication device can execute the method described in the first aspect. The functions of the communication device can be implemented by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more units corresponding to the above-mentioned functions. The unit may be software and / or hardware. The operations and beneficial effects performed by the communication device can refer to the methods and beneficial effects described in the first aspect above, and the repeated parts will not be repeated.

[0047] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which may be an access network device, or a chip, chip system, or processor that supports the access network device to implement the above-mentioned method, or a logical node, logic module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the access network device. Among them, the communication device may also be a chip system. The communication device can execute the method described in the second aspect. The functions of the communication device can be implemented by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more units corresponding to the above-mentioned functions. The unit may be software and / or hardware. The operations and beneficial effects performed by the communication device can refer to the method and beneficial effects described in the second aspect above, and the repeated parts will not be repeated.

[0048] In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which includes a processor, the processor is coupled to a memory, and the memory is used to store programs or instructions. When the program or instruction is executed by the processor, the communication device executes the method described in any one of the first to second aspects.

[0049] In the seventh aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which includes a processor and an interface circuit, wherein the interface circuit is used to receive signals from other communication devices outside the communication device and transmit them to the processor or send signals from the processor to other communication devices outside the communication device, and the processor is used to implement the method described in any one of the first to second aspects through logic circuits or execution code instructions.

[0050] In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, which is used to store computer execution instructions. When the computer execution instructions are executed, the method executed by the terminal in the method described in the first aspect is implemented; or, the method executed by the access network device in the method described in the second aspect is implemented.

[0051] In the ninth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product comprising a computer program, which, when executed, enables the method executed by the terminal in the method described in the first aspect to be implemented; or, enables the method executed by the access network device in the method described in the second aspect to be implemented.

[0052] In a tenth aspect, the present application provides a communication system, which includes a communication device (such as a terminal) for executing the method described in the first aspect and a communication device (such as an access network device) for executing the method described in the second aspect.

[0053] It can be understood that the beneficial effects that can be achieved by the communication method, communication device, computer-readable storage medium, and computer program product provided above can be referred to the beneficial effects in the first aspect or the second aspect and any possible implementation thereof, and will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0054] FIG1 is an exemplary diagram of a system architecture using an embodiment of the present application;

[0055] FIG2 is an example diagram of a panel on a terminal device;

[0056] FIG3 is an example diagram of sending SSB;

[0057] FIG4 is an example diagram showing the relationship between the measurement GAP and the SMTC window;

[0058] FIG5 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0059] FIG6 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a MAC-CE according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0060] FIG7A is an exemplary diagram illustrating the relationship between the purpose of measuring GAP and a timer according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0061] FIG7B is an example diagram of the relationship between the measured GAP and the pattern provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0062] FIG8 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0063] FIG9 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0064] The specific embodiments of the present application are further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0065] The terms "first" and "second" and the like in the specification, claims, and drawings of this application are used to distinguish between different objects, not to describe a particular order. Furthermore, the terms "including" and "having," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a process, method, system, product, or apparatus comprising a series of steps or elements is not limited to the listed steps or elements, but may optionally include steps or elements not listed, or may optionally include other steps or elements inherent to the process, method, product, or apparatus.

[0066] References herein to "embodiments" mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiments may be included in at least one embodiment of the present application. The appearance of this phrase in various places in the specification does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, nor does it constitute an independent or alternative embodiment that is mutually exclusive of other embodiments. It is understood, both explicitly and implicitly, by those skilled in the art that the embodiments described herein may be combined with other embodiments.

[0067] In this application, "at least one (item)" refers to one or more, "more than one" refers to two or more, "at least two (items)" refers to two or three and more than three, and "and / or" is used to describe the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, "A and / or B" can mean: only A exists, only B exists, and A and B exist at the same time, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following items" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single items or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b or c can mean: a, b, c, "a and b", "a and c", "b and c", or "a and b and c", where a, b, c can be single or multiple.

[0068] In this application, "sending information to... (e.g., a terminal device)" can be understood as the destination of the information being the terminal device. This can include sending information to the terminal device directly or indirectly. "Receiving information from... (e.g., a terminal device)" or "receiving information from... (e.g., a terminal device)" can be understood as the source of the information being the terminal device, which can include receiving information from the terminal device directly or indirectly. The information may be processed as necessary between the source and destination of the information, such as format changes, but the destination can understand the valid information from the source. Similar expressions in this application can be understood similarly and will not be elaborated on here.

[0069] In the description of this application, "indication" may include direct indication and indirect indication, and may also include explicit indication and implicit indication. The information indicated by a certain information (such as the indication information described below) is called information to be indicated. In the specific implementation process, there are many ways to indicate the information to be indicated. For example, the information to be indicated can be directly indicated, such as indicating the information to be indicated itself or the index of the information to be indicated. For another example, the information to be indicated can also be indirectly indicated by indicating other information, and there is an association between the other indicated information and the information to be indicated. For another example, only a part of the information to be indicated can be indicated, while the other parts of the information to be indicated are known or agreed in advance. In addition, the indication of specific information can be achieved by means of the pre-agreed (such as specified in the protocol) order of arrangement of each information, thereby reducing the indication overhead to a certain extent.

[0070] To better understand the embodiments of the present application, the following first introduces the system architecture involved in the embodiments of the present application:

[0071] The embodiments of the present application can be applied to communication systems evolved after 5G, such as long term evolution (LTE) systems, fifth generation mobile communication (5G) systems, sixth generation mobile communication (6G) systems, satellite communications, and short-range wireless communication systems. Among them, the wireless communication systems mentioned in the embodiments of the present application include but are not limited to: three major application scenarios of 5G / 6G mobile communication systems: enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra reliable low latency communication (URLLC) and massive machine type communication (mMTC), long range Internet of Things (LoRa) systems or vehicle networking systems. The wireless communication system may include one or more access network devices, and one or more terminal devices.

[0072] The following explanation uses the system architecture shown in Figure 1 as an example. As shown in Figure 1, communication system 1000 includes a radio access network (RAN) 100 and a core network (CN) 200. RAN 100 includes at least one access network device (e.g., 110a and 110b in Figure 1, collectively referred to as 110) and at least one terminal device (e.g., 120a-120j in Figure 1, collectively referred to as 120). RAN 100 may also include other RAN nodes, such as wireless relay devices and / or wireless backhaul devices (not shown in Figure 1). Terminal 120 is wirelessly connected to access network device 110. Access network device 110 is wirelessly or wiredly connected to core network 200. The core network devices in core network 200 and access network device 110 in RAN 100 can be separate physical devices, or they can be a single physical device that integrates core network logical functions and radio access network logical functions.

[0073] It should be noted that RAN 100 can be a cellular system related to the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), for example, a 4G or 5G mobile communication system, or an evolved system after 5G (for example, a 6G mobile communication system). RAN 100 can also be an open access network (open RAN, O-RAN or ORAN), a cloud radio access network (CRAN), etc. RAN 100 can also be a communication system that is a fusion of two or more of the above systems. It should be stated that the number of access network devices and terminal devices in Figure 1 is only for illustration and should not be regarded as a specific limitation on the present application. The terminal devices and access network devices involved in the system architecture are described in detail below.

[0074] 1. Terminal Equipment

[0075] Terminal devices can also be called user equipment (UE), mobile station (MS), mobile terminal (MT), etc. They are devices used to provide voice or data connectivity to users, or they can be IoT devices. For example, terminal devices include handheld devices with wireless connectivity, in-vehicle devices, etc. Currently, terminal devices can include: mobile phones, tablet computers, laptop computers, PDAs, mobile internet devices (MIDs), wearable devices (such as smart watches, smart bracelets, pedometers, etc.), vehicle-mounted devices (such as cars, bicycles, electric vehicles, airplanes, ships, trains, high-speed trains, etc.), satellite terminals, virtual reality (VR) devices, augmented reality (AR) devices, smart point-of-sale (POS) machines, customer-premises equipment (CPE), wireless terminals in industrial control, smart home devices (such as refrigerators, televisions, air conditioners, electricity meters, etc.), intelligent robots, robotic arms, workshop equipment, wireless terminals in unmanned driving, wireless terminals in telemedicine, wireless terminals in smart grids, wireless terminals in transportation safety, wireless terminals in smart cities, wireless terminals in smart homes, and flying devices (such as intelligent robots, hot air balloons, drones, airplanes). Terminal devices can also be other devices with terminal functions, for example, terminal devices can also be devices that function as terminals in D2D communication.

[0076] The embodiments of this application do not limit the form factor of the terminal device. The device used to implement the functions of the terminal device can be the terminal device; it can also be a device that supports the terminal device to implement the functions, such as a chip system. The device can be installed in the terminal device or used in conjunction with the terminal device. In the embodiments of this application, the chip system can be composed of a chip or include a chip and other discrete components.

[0077] 2. Access Network Equipment

[0078] An access network device is a node in a radio access network (RAN), and can also be referred to as a network device or a RAN node (or device). An access network device is used to help terminal devices achieve wireless access. The multiple access network devices 110 in the communication system 1000 can be nodes of the same type or different types. In some scenarios, the roles of the access network device 110 and the terminal device 120 are relative. For example, the network element 120i in Figure 1 can be a helicopter or a drone, which can be configured as a mobile base station. For terminal devices 120j that access the RAN 100 through the network element 120i, the network element 120i is a base station; but for the network element 110a, the network element 120i is a terminal device. The access network device 110 and the terminal device 120 are sometimes referred to as communication devices. For example, the network elements 110a and 110b in Figure 1 can be understood as communication devices with base station functions, and the network elements 120a-120j can be understood as communication devices with terminal device functions.

[0079] In one possible scenario, an access network device can be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a transmitting and receiving point (TRP), a transmitting point (TP), a next-generation NodeB (gNB), a next-generation base station in a sixth-generation (6G) mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, a satellite, an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node, a mobile switching center, or an access network device in a non-terrestrial network (NTN) communication system, i.e., it can be deployed on a high-altitude platform or satellite. The access network device can be a macro base station (such as 110a in Figure 1), a micro base station or an indoor station (such as 110b in Figure 1), a relay node or a donor node, or a wireless controller in a CRAN scenario. The access network device can also function as a base station in device-to-device (D2D) communication, vehicle-to-vehicle communication, drone communication, or machine communication. Optionally, the access network device may also be a server, a wearable device, a vehicle or an onboard device, etc. For example, the access network device in vehicle to everything (V2X) technology may be a road side unit (RSU).

[0080] All or part of the functions of the access network device in this application may also be implemented through software functions running on hardware, or through virtualization functions instantiated on a platform (such as a cloud platform). The access network device in this application may also be a logical node, logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the access network device.

[0081] In another possible scenario, multiple access network devices collaborate to assist the terminal in achieving wireless access, and different access network devices respectively implement part of the functions of the base station. For example, the access network device can be a centralized unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU). The CU and DU can be set separately, or they can also be included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in a radio frequency device or a radio frequency unit, such as a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH). It can be understood that the access network device can be a CU node, a DU node, or a device including a CU node and a DU node. In addition, the CU can be divided into an access network device in the access network RAN, or the CU can be divided into an access network device in the core network CN, which is not limited here.

[0082] In different systems, CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU or RU may also have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in the ORAN system, CU may also be called O-CU (Open CU), DU may also be called O-DU, CU-CP may also be called O-CU-CP, CU-UP may also be called O-CU-UP, and RU may also be called O-RU. For the convenience of description, this application uses CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU and RU as examples for description. Any unit of CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU and RU in this application can be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0083] In the embodiments of the present application, the form of the access network device is not limited. The device used to implement the functions of the access network device can be the access network device; it can also be a device that supports the access network device to implement the functions, such as a chip system. The device can be installed in the access network device or used in conjunction with the access network device.

[0084] In order to facilitate understanding of the contents of this solution, some of the terms involved in the embodiments of this application are explained below to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art. This part is only for ease of understanding and cannot be regarded as a specific limitation of this application.

[0085] 1. XR business

[0086] Real-time broadband communication (RTBC) in future communication systems aims to support high bandwidth and low interaction latency. This approach, while maintaining a given latency and reliability, improves bandwidth and creates an immersive experience for users interacting with the virtual world. XR technology, which encompasses virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR), is a technology that enables the interaction between virtual and real worlds. VR, AR, and MR are collectively referred to as XR. XR services refer to those based on XR technology.

[0087] During the downlink transmission of XR services, the server's XR content module generates data content at a fixed frequency (e.g., 30Hz, 60Hz, 120Hz, etc.) and transmits it to the XR terminal device through the network device. During the uplink transmission of XR services, devices such as AR terminal devices or MR terminal devices can capture the current scene image through the built-in camera and continuously upload the current scene image at a specific frequency (e.g., 60Hz).

[0088] XR services are primarily video services, and video data is generated in bursts, meaning that data for the same service is generated periodically. For example, if one second contains 60 frames of video data, then a video frame is generated every 16.6 milliseconds. Because a video frame is so large, it is split into dozens of Internet Protocol (IP) packets. For networks transmitting XR services, dozens of IP packets must be transmitted every 16.6 milliseconds, and the arrival time of these IP packets is uncertain. The difference between the arrival time of an IP packet and a periodic time point (e.g., 0ms, 16.6ms, 33.2ms, etc.) is approximately in the range of [-4, 4]ms or [-5, 5]ms, and follows a truncated Gaussian distribution. This range of [-4, 4]ms or [-5, 5]ms can be understood as the jitter range. In other words, XR service data is characterized by large data volumes.

[0089] 2. Panel

[0090] A panel refers to an antenna panel. In a communication system, both the transmitting and receiving ends are equipped with antenna panels, which are equipped with an antenna array consisting of multiple antenna elements. The embodiments of the present application relate to panels on a terminal device, and multiple panels can be deployed on the terminal device. For an example, see Figure 2, which shows an example of a panel on a terminal device. In Figure 2, each diagonally striped box represents a panel, and a terminal device with three panels is used as an example.

[0091] The transceiver capabilities of each panel on a terminal device may vary depending on factors such as placement, holding position, and environment. For example, in Figure 2, when the user is holding the terminal device, if panels 2 and 3 are blocked by the user's hand, the transceiver capabilities of panel 1 are the strongest, while the transceiver capabilities of panels 2 and 3 are weaker.

[0092] When measuring SSB, the terminal device can use the same panel. For example, when the terminal device is held in the hand, panel 1 with the strongest transceiver capability can be used. The terminal device can also change panels over time, for example, using panel 1 for a period of time and panel 2 for the next period of time.

[0093] 3. SSB

[0094] The SSB consists of primary synchronization signals (PSS), secondary synchronization signals (SSS) and physical downlink broadcast channel (PBCH).

[0095] In the time domain, one SSB occupies 4 orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols; in the frequency domain, one SSB occupies 20 consecutive physical resource blocks (PRBs). The symbols and PRBs occupied by the specific PSS, SSS, and PBCH are not limited in the embodiments of this application. For the convenience of description, OFDM symbols can be referred to as symbols. In the time domain, within half a frame (i.e., 5ms), the number and position of SSBs are determined according to the subcarrier spacing and frequency band; multiple SSBs within a half frame form an SS burst set (SS burstset); SS burst sets are sent at a certain period.

[0096] Among them, for the SSB included in the half-frame, the index of the first symbol of each SSB can be determined according to the sub-carrier space (SCS) of the SSB, as shown below:

[0097] Case A: 15 kHz SCS, the index of the first symbol of each SSB is {2, 8} + 14·n. For operation without shared spectrum channel access: for carrier frequencies less than or equal to 3 GHz, n = 0, 1; for carrier frequencies within FR1 greater than 3 GHz, n = 0, 1, 2, 3. For operation with shared spectrum channel access: n = 0, 1, 2, 3, 4.

[0098] Case B: 30 kHz SCS, the index of the first symbol of each SSB is {4, 8, 16, 20} + 28·n. For carrier frequencies less than or equal to 3 GHz, n = 0; for carrier frequencies greater than 3 GHz within FR1, n = 0, 1.

[0099] Case C: 30 kHz SCS, the index of the first symbol of each SSB is {2, 8} + 14·n. For operation without shared spectrum channel access: For paired spectrum operation, for carrier frequencies less than or equal to 3 GHz, n = 0, 1; for carrier frequencies within FR1 greater than 3 GHz, n = 0, 1, 2, 3. For unpaired spectrum operation, for carrier frequencies less than 1.88 GHz, n = 0, 1; for carrier frequencies within FR1 greater than or equal to 1.88 GHz, n = 0, 1, 2, 3. For operation using shared spectrum channel access: n = 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.

[0100] Case D: 120 kHz SCS, the index of the first symbol of each SSB is {4, 8, 16, 20} + 28·n. For carrier frequencies in FR2, n = 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18.

[0101] Case E: 240 kHz SCS, the index of the first symbol of each SSB is {8, 12, 16, 20, 32, 36, 40, 44} + 56 n. For carrier frequencies within FR2-1, n = 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8.

[0102] Case F: 480 kHz SCS, the index of the first symbol of each SSB is {2, 9} + 14 n. For carrier frequencies within FR2-2, n = 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31.

[0103] For example, based on Case A, 15KHz SCS, for a carrier frequency less than or equal to 3GHz without shared spectrum channel access, when n=0, the indices of the first symbols of the two SSBs in a time slot are 2 and 8 respectively; when n=1, the indices of the first symbols of the two SSBs in a time slot are 16 and 22 respectively.

[0104] The number of SSBs varies across frequency bands. For example, for sub-3G, frequency division duplexing (FDD) and time division duplexing (TDD) below 2.4G, a maximum of 4 SSBs are defined, while for TDD above 2.4G, a maximum of 8 SSBs are defined. For sub-3G to sub-6G, a maximum of 8 SSBs are defined, and for sub-6G and above, a maximum of 64 SSBs are defined.

[0105] 4. An SSB-based measurement timing configuration (SMTC) window

[0106] Terminal devices can measure SSB. During the measurement process, to reduce the power consumption of terminal devices, 5G introduces SSB measurement based on the SMTC window. The terminal device measures the SSB of the serving cell within the SMTC window; no measurement is required outside the SMTC window. The configuration parameters of an SMTC window include: SMTC timing: The period and offset information of the SMTC window. The SMTC period can be 5, 10, 20, 40, 80, or 160ms. SMTC duration: The length of the SMTC window. The granularity of the SMTC window length is also 1ms, and the length can be 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5m.

[0107] For example, see Figure 3, which shows an example of sending SSBs. Figure 3 takes an SSburstset period of 20 milliseconds (ms), an SMTC window of 5ms, an SMTC window including 10 time slots, and a time slot including 14 OFDM symbols as an example, wherein an SSburstset includes an SMTC window. In Figure 3, two SSBs are sent in one time slot, and the indexes of the first symbols of these two SSBs are 3 and 9 respectively. The access network device can send SSBs on time slots 0 to 3 at most, so a maximum of 8 SSBs can be sent in one SMTC window.

[0108] For FR2, taking the SSB burst set (SSBburstset) period of 20 milliseconds (ms) and the SMTC window of 5ms as an example, an SMTC window can include 40 time slots, and the access network device can send SSB on up to 32 of these time slots. Therefore, a maximum of 64 SSBs can be sent in one SMTC window.

[0109] 5. Measurement interval (i.e. measurement GAP)

[0110] During a reserved period (the measurement gap), the terminal device does not send or receive any data. Instead, it tunes its receiver to the frequency of the neighboring cell and performs inter-frequency measurements. At the end of this period, it switches back to the serving cell. Inter-frequency measurements involve measuring the SSB of a neighboring cell, where the neighboring cell and the serving cell are not on the same carrier frequency. The measurement gap can be understood as a time window, and can also be referred to as the measurement gap time window or measurement gap time period.

[0111] The measurement gap is used when the terminal device's receiver bandwidth is insufficient to cover both the serving cell's frequency and the frequency of the cell under test (e.g., a neighboring cell). The measurement gap is used to measure the SSB of the cell under test using a specific measurement gap. Currently, when using a single radio, terminal devices typically use the measurement gap to assist in effective measurements of inter-frequency and inter-system signals.

[0112] The terminal device can determine the system frame and subframe for measuring GAP based on the following formula: SFN mod T = FLOOR (gapOffset / 10) subframe = gapOffset mod 10 T = MGRP / 10

[0113] SFN represents the system frame; subframe represents the subframe; MGRP represents the period for measuring the GAP; gapOffset represents the offset value of the GAP mode, which can be configured in the GapConfig information element; FLOOR represents rounding down; and mod represents the modulo operation.

[0114] For example, the relationship between the measurement GAP and the SMTC window can be seen in Figure 4. Figure 4 takes the SMTC window as 5ms and the measurement GAP as 6ms as an example. The SSB in Figure 4 refers to the SSB sent by the neighboring cell in the SMTC window.

[0115] It can be understood that the serving cell can configure a measurement GAP for the terminal device based on the SMTC window configuration and SSB configuration of the neighboring cell. The time length of the measurement GAP is greater than the time length of the SMTC window, so that the terminal device can measure the SSB sent by the neighboring cell within the measurement GAP.

[0116] In XR scenarios, due to the large amount of data consumed by XR services, access network equipment can only dispatch a limited number of terminal devices, resulting in limited system capacity. For example, an access network device can dispatch a maximum of 10 terminal devices within its coverage area to support XR services, meaning that the system can accommodate a maximum of 10 terminal devices. Therefore, increasing system capacity in XR scenarios is a pressing technical issue.

[0117] In view of this, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method and a communication device, which are helpful to improve the system capacity in the XR scenario. In an embodiment of the present application, the measurement GAP used for hetero-frequency or hetero-system measurements is used for scheduling for uplink and downlink transmission, thereby improving the system capacity in the XR scenario. It can be understood that before the embodiment of the present application, for a terminal device in the measurement GAP, it will not send and receive any data, and the access network device will not perform uplink or downlink scheduling on it. However, the embodiment of the present application uses the measurement GAP for scheduling to improve the system capacity, and will not affect the measurement of hetero-frequency or hetero-system.

[0118] It should be noted that the embodiments of the present application can be applied not only in XR scenarios, but also in other scenarios that require increasing system capacity.

[0119] The communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application is described in detail below based on the system architecture shown in FIG1 .

[0120] Please refer to FIG5 , which is a flowchart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. The method may include but is not limited to the following steps:

[0121] 501. An access network device sends first information to a terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first information from the access network device. The first information indicates a first measurement GAP among at least one measurement GAP.

[0122] For the access network device, the start time (or start moment) of at least one measurement GAP is later than the sending time (or sending moment) of the first information. For the terminal device, the start time of at least one measurement GAP is later than the receiving time (or receiving moment) of the first information. Without considering or ignoring the transmission delay between the terminal device and the access network device, the receiving time of the first information is the same as the sending time of the first information; when the transmission delay between the terminal device and the access network device is small, the receiving time of the first information is approximately the same as the sending time of the first information.

[0123] The start time of at least one measurement gap refers to the start time of the earliest measurement gap among the at least one measurement gap. For example, if the measurement gaps that occur later than the time the first information is sent are, in order of appearance, measurement gap 1, measurement gap 2, and measurement gap 3, then the start time of these three measurement gaps is the start time of measurement gap 1. For a measurement gap, its start time refers to the beginning of the time window. For example, the start time of the measurement gap shown in Figure 4 is the time point corresponding to the leftmost dashed line, and its end time is the time point corresponding to the rightmost dashed line.

[0124] If the start time of at least one measurement gap is later than the time of receiving the first information, the at least one measurement gap is a measurement gap after the first information is received. The first information indicates a first measurement gap among the at least one measurement gaps. That is, the first information indicates a measurement gap after the time of receiving the first information that is used by the terminal to monitor scheduling information. There may be one or more first measurement gaps, and the number of first measurement gaps may be the same as or less than the number of the at least one measurement gaps.

[0125] For a certain measurement GAP, it is used for the terminal device to monitor scheduling information. It can also be understood that the measurement GAP is not used for the terminal device to perform hetero-frequency or hetero-system measurements, or the measurement GAP is used for the terminal device not to perform hetero-frequency or hetero-system measurements, or the measurement GAP is used for the terminal device to skip the measurement GAP, or the measurement GAP is used for the terminal device to perform uplink and downlink transmission, or the measurement GAP is used for the terminal device to skip hetero-frequency or hetero-system measurements, and so on.

[0126] Optionally, the first information may be carried in downlink control information (DCI). That is, the access network device indicates the first measurement GAP for monitoring scheduling information to the terminal device through the DCI.

[0127] Optionally, the first information may be carried in a media access control-control element (MAC-CE). That is, the access network device indicates the first measurement GAP for monitoring scheduling information to the terminal device through the MAC-CE.

[0128] Optionally, the first information may be carried in a radio resource control (RRC) message. That is, the access network device indicates the first measurement GAP for monitoring scheduling information to the terminal device through the RRC message.

[0129] 502. The terminal device monitors scheduling information within the first measurement GAP.

[0130] The terminal device monitors the scheduling information within the first measurement GAP, and the scheduling information may be DCI. The scheduling information is used to schedule the transmission of uplink and downlink channels and / or signals. The uplink and downlink channels may include uplink channels and / or downlink channels, the uplink channels may include physical uplink control channels (PUCCH) and / or physical uplink shared channels (PUSCH), and the downlink channels may include physical downlink control channels (PDCCH) and / or physical downlink shared channels (PDSCH). The uplink and downlink signals may include uplink signals and / or downlink signals, the uplink signals may include sounding reference signals (SRS), and the downlink signals may include channel state information-reference signals (CSI-RS).

[0131] In the embodiment shown in FIG5 , within the first measurement GAP, the terminal device does not perform heterogeneous frequency or heterogeneous system measurements, but performs scheduling information monitoring for uplink and downlink transmission, thereby helping to improve system capacity in the XR scenario.

[0132] There are multiple implementation schemes for the first information in the embodiment shown in FIG5 , which are described below.

[0133] Solution 1: The first information indicates at least one measurement GAP for the terminal device to monitor scheduling information.

[0134] That is, the first information indicates that all measurement gaps after the reception time of the first information are used for the terminal device to monitor the scheduling information. In other words, all measurement gaps after the reception time of the first information are first measurement gaps, or the number of first measurement gaps is the same as the number of at least one measurement gap.

[0135] Optionally, when the value of the first information is a threshold, the first information indicates at least one measurement GAP for the terminal device to monitor scheduling information; when the value of the first information is not a threshold, the first information indicates at least one measurement GAP for the terminal device to measure the SSB of the neighboring area.

[0136] When the first information is carried in an RRC message, the first information may be an information element (IE) in the RRC message, the value of which is used to indicate at least one measurement GAP for the terminal device to monitor scheduling information, or for the terminal device to measure the SSB of a neighboring cell. The RRC message may be, for example, an RRC reconfiguration message, and the information element may be, for example, a newly added information element.

[0137] Exemplarily, the information element may be RelaxGapMeasurement, and its type may be an enumeration type, which indicates that at least one measurement GAP is used for the terminal device to monitor scheduling information, and may be represented as follows:

[0138] RelaxGapMeasurement ENUMERATED{true}

[0139] Alternatively, the type of the information element may be a Boolean type, which indicates that at least one measurement GAP is used for the terminal device to monitor scheduling information, and may be represented as:

[0140] RelaxGapMeasurement BOOLEAN{true}

[0141] In other words, the value of this information element is "true" (i.e., the threshold), indicating that at least one measurement GAP is used for the terminal device to monitor scheduling information; the value of this information element is "false", indicating that at least one measurement GAP is used for the terminal device to measure the SSB of the neighboring area.

[0142] Optionally, the RRC message may include at least one information element, wherein the value of one information element indicates that the measurement GAP corresponding to the information element is used for the terminal device to monitor scheduling information, or for the terminal device to measure the SSB of the neighboring cell. The type of the at least one information element may be an enumeration type or a Boolean type.

[0143] For the first information carried in the MAC-CE, the MAC-CE may refer to the structural example diagram of the MAC-CE shown in Figure 6. In Figure 6, N represents the first information and R represents the reserved bit. The value of N indicates that at least one measurement GAP is used for the terminal device to monitor scheduling information, or for the terminal device to measure the SSB of the neighboring cell. For example, a value of N of 1 indicates that at least one measurement GAP is used for the terminal device to monitor scheduling information; a value of N of 0 indicates that at least one measurement GAP is used for the terminal device to measure the SSB of the neighboring cell.

[0144] Optionally, the MAC-CE may include at least one N, and the value of an N indicates that the measurement GAP corresponding to the N is used for the terminal device to monitor scheduling information, or for the terminal device to measure the SSB of the neighboring area.

[0145] When the first information is carried in the DCI, the first information may be a field in the DCI, the value of which is used to indicate that at least one measurement GAP is used by the terminal device to monitor scheduling information, or is used by the terminal device to measure the SSB of a neighboring cell. The field may be, for example, RelaxSmtcMeas, and its field length may be 1 bit. For example, when the value of the bit is 1, it indicates that at least one measurement GAP is used by the terminal device to monitor scheduling information; when the value of the bit is 0, it indicates that at least one measurement GAP is used by the terminal device to measure the SSB of a neighboring cell.

[0146] Optionally, this field in the DCI includes at least one bit, and the value of one bit indicates that the measurement GAP corresponding to the bit is used for the terminal device to monitor scheduling information, or for the terminal device to measure the SSB of the neighboring area.

[0147] In one implementation, the at least one measurement GAP may be a measurement GAP between the time when the first information is received and the time when the second information is received. The second information is information sent again by the access network device to the terminal device, instructing the terminal device to change the purpose of the measurement GAP. Upon receiving the first information, the terminal device monitors scheduling information within the measurement GAP after the time when the first information is received until it receives the second information. In other words, the access network device can dynamically send an RRC message, MAC-CE, or DCI to the terminal device to dynamically adjust the purpose of the measurement GAP.

[0148] The second information may indicate a third measurement GAP and / or a fourth measurement GAP. The third GAP is used by the terminal device to measure the SSB of the neighboring cell, and the fourth measurement GAP is used by the terminal device to monitor scheduling information. The number of the third measurement GAPs may be one or more, and the number of the fourth measurement GAPs may be one or more.

[0149] In another implementation, at least one measurement GAP may be a measurement GAP within the duration of the timer. When the terminal device receives the first information, it starts the timer, and when the timer times out, it measures the SSB of the neighboring cell within the fifth measurement GAP, and the start time of the fifth measurement GAP is later than the timeout time of the timer. In the embodiment of the present application, the measurement GAP after the timer times out is referred to as the fifth measurement GAP. That is, within the measurement GAP within the duration of the timer, the terminal device monitors the scheduling information, and within the measurement GAP after the timer times out, the terminal device measures the SSB of the neighboring cell, that is, the function of the measurement GAP for measuring the SSB of the neighboring cell is restored.

[0150] For example, see the example diagram of the relationship between the purpose of the measurement GAP and the timer shown in Figure 7A. Figure 7A takes the timer duration as including 3 measurement GAPs, and the fifth measurement GAP as 1 as an example. When the terminal device receives the first information, it starts the timer and listens to the scheduling information within the 3 measurement GAPs within the timer duration; after the timer expires, it measures the SSB of the neighboring cell within the 4th measurement GAP. In Figure 7A, "×" indicates no measurement, that is, monitoring the scheduling information; "√" indicates measurement.

[0151] Among them, the timer can be predefined by the protocol, for example, the duration of the timer is predefined by the protocol. The timer can also be configured by the access network device, for example, the access network device sends timer configuration information to the terminal device to configure the timer, such as configuring the duration of the timer. The timer configuration information can be carried in the RRC message or MAC-CE or DCI. Taking DCI as an example, the DCI can be the same as or different from the DCI carrying the first information. If the same, the DCI can not only indicate the first measurement GAP for monitoring scheduling information, but also be used to indicate the timer.

[0152] Optionally, the access network device may configure at least one timer and a timer index for the terminal device through an RRC message, and then indicate the index of one of the at least one timers through another RRC message or MAC-CE or DCI, so that the terminal device may determine the corresponding timer based on the index.

[0153] For example, the RRC message configures at least one timer and the index of each timer, which can be expressed as:

[0154] gapMeasPatternList{{measPattern, timer},…,}

[0155] gapMeasPatternList{

[0156] {1010, timer1},

[0157] {1011, timer2},

[0158] …

[0159] }

[0160] 1010 and 1011 may represent timer indexes. Another RRC message or MAC-CE or DCI indicates 1010, and the terminal device may determine that the timer is timer1.

[0161] Solution 2: The first information indicates multiple bits, and the value of one bit indicates that the measured GAP corresponding to the bit is used to monitor scheduling information or to measure the SSB of the neighboring cell.

[0162] That is, the first information indicates which measurement GAPs of the at least one measurement GAP are used to monitor scheduling information and which measurement GAPs are used to measure the SSB of the neighboring cell. In this embodiment of the present application, the measurement GAP used to monitor scheduling information among the at least one measurement GAP is referred to as the first measurement GAP, and the measurement GAP used to measure the SSB of the neighboring cell is referred to as the second measurement GAP. In other words, the first information indicates the first measurement GAP and the second measurement GAP among the at least one measurement GAP.

[0163] The first information indicates a plurality of bits, and may be a pattern including a plurality of bits; or the first information indicates a bitmap, and one bit in the bitmap corresponds to a measurement GAP.

[0164] In one implementation, the first information indicates a pattern, and the embodiment of the present application refers to the pattern as the first pattern. The first pattern is applicable to at least one measurement GAP. The first pattern includes multiple bits, and the value of a bit indicates that the measurement GAP corresponding to the bit is used to monitor scheduling information or to measure the SSB of a neighboring area. For example, the value of a bit is a first value (for example, "1"), indicating that the measurement GAP corresponding to the bit is used to measure the SSB of a neighboring area; the value of the bit is a second value (for example, "0"), indicating that the measurement GAP corresponding to the bit is used to monitor scheduling information.

[0165] The first information indicating the first pattern may be that the first information includes multiple bits of the first pattern, or the first information indicates an index of the first pattern, so that the terminal device can determine the first pattern based on the index. For example, the first pattern may be represented as "1010", the first information may include "1010", or the first information indicates an index of "1010". Taking "1" indicating the SSB for measuring the neighboring cell and "0" indicating the scheduling information for monitoring as an example, "1010" may indicate measuring within a measurement GAP, monitoring within the next measurement GAP, measuring within the next measurement GAP, and monitoring within the next measurement GAP.

[0166] For example, please refer to the example diagram of the relationship between the measurement GAP and the pattern shown in Figure 7B. In Figure 7B, taking the first pattern "1010" and 8 measurement GAPs as an example, "×" means no measurement, that is, monitoring the scheduling information; "√" means measurement. In Figure 7B, when the terminal device receives the first information, in the 8 measurement GAPs after the reception time, it measures the SSB of the neighboring cell in the first measurement GAP, monitors the scheduling information in the second measurement GAP, measures the SSB of the neighboring cell in the third measurement GAP, monitors the scheduling information in the fourth measurement GAP, measures the SSB of the neighboring cell in the fifth measurement GAP, monitors the scheduling information in the sixth measurement GAP, measures the SSB of the neighboring cell in the seventh measurement GAP, and monitors the scheduling information in the eighth measurement GAP. And so on. Figure 7B takes the case where the number of at least one measurement GAP is an integer multiple of 4 as an example. For cases where the number is not an integer multiple of 4, measurement or scheduling is also performed according to the value of each bit in the first pattern. For example, if the number of at least one measurement GAP is 3, the SSB of the neighboring cell is measured in the first measurement GAP, the scheduling information is monitored in the second measurement GAP, and the SSB of the neighboring cell is measured in the third measurement GAP.

[0167] Optionally, the access network device can configure multiple patterns for the terminal device through an RRC message, and the RRC message can be referred to as shown below.

[0168] gapMeasPatternList{{measPattern},…,}

[0169] gapMeasPatternList{

[0170] {00, 1010},

[0171] {01,1011},

[0172] …

[0173] }

[0174] Among them, "00" and "01" can represent the index of the pattern, and then the access network device can indicate the pattern index through MAC-CE, DCI, or another RRC message. Compared with directly indicating multiple bits of the pattern, the pattern indication overhead can be saved.

[0175] When the first information indicates the index of the first pattern, the first information may be carried in an RRC message, MAC-CE, or DCI. Taking DCI as an example, different values ​​of a field in the DCI represent different pattern indexes. The number of bits in the field is related to the number of patterns configured in the RRC message. For example, if the RRC message is configured with 8 patterns, the number of bits in the field may be 3 bits.

[0176] For the first information indicating the multiple bits included in the first pattern, the first information may be carried in an RRC message or a DCI. If carried in a MAC-CE, the multiple bits of the first pattern are indicated in the form of a bitmap.

[0177] Optionally, the first pattern can be represented by a combination of one or more indicator values ​​(for example, represented by 1-bit K) and one or more first indicator quantities (for example, represented by P1). The indicator value K is used to indicate that the terminal device measures the SSB of the neighboring area or monitors the scheduling information within the measurement GAP, and the first indicator quantity P1 is used to indicate that the terminal device measures the SSB of the neighboring area or monitors the scheduling information within consecutive P1 measurement GAPs. That is, through the combination of the indicator value and the first indicator quantity, it can be indicated whether the terminal device measures the SSB of the neighboring area within consecutive P1 measurement GAPs. In order to distinguish between K and P1 in the first information, the number of bits occupied by K and P1, that is, the bit width of K and P1, can be predefined.

[0178] Exemplarily, the bit width of K is 1, and the bit width of P1 is 2. In the first information, K = "0" is used to instruct the terminal device to listen to the scheduling information, and K = "1" is used to instruct the terminal device to measure the SSB of the neighboring cell. If the first information includes "1 11 0 101 01", the meaning may be: K = 0, P1 = 3, K = 0, P1 = 2, K = 1, P1 = 1, then the first information may instruct the terminal device to first measure the SSB of the neighboring cell within 3 consecutive measurement GAPs, then listen to the scheduling information within the next 2 consecutive measurement GAPs, and then continue to measure the SSB of the neighboring cell within the next 1 measurement GAP.

[0179] Further, optionally, the indicator value itself can indicate whether the terminal device measures the SSB of the neighboring area within a measurement GAP. That is, when the first pattern can be represented by a combination of one or more indicator values ​​(for example, represented by K) and one or more second indicator quantities (for example, represented by P2), in the case of discontinuously measuring the SSB of the neighboring area or monitoring the scheduling information in two or more measurement GAPs, the indicator value can be used to indicate whether the SSB of the neighboring area is measured within a measurement GAP, without the need for the second indicator quantity P2. The indicator value K is used to indicate that the terminal device measures the SSB of the neighboring area or monitors the scheduling information within the measurement GAP, and the second indicator quantity P2 is used to indicate that after the terminal device measures the SSB of the neighboring area within a measurement GAP, it also measures the SSB of the neighboring area or monitors the scheduling information within the next P2 consecutive measurement GAPs. In other words, through the combination of the indicator value and the second indicator quantity, it can be indicated whether the terminal device measures the SSB of the neighboring area within consecutive P2+1 measurement GAPs. In order to distinguish between K and P2 in the first information, the number of bits occupied by K and P2, that is, the bit width of K and P2, can be predefined.

[0180] Exemplarily, the bit width of K is 1, and the bit width of P2 is 2. In the first information, K = "0" is used to indicate that the terminal device monitors the scheduling information, and K = "1" is used to indicate that the terminal device measures the SSB of the neighboring area. In an example, if the first information includes "0 11 1 00 0 10", the meaning may be: K = 0, P2 = 3, K = 1, P2 = 0, K = 0, P2 = 2, then the first information can be used to indicate that the terminal device first monitors the scheduling information in 4 consecutive measurement GAPs, and then measures the SSB of the neighboring area in the next measurement GAP, and then continues to monitor the scheduling information in the next 3 consecutive measurement GAPs. If the indication value K itself does not indicate whether the terminal device measures the SSB of the neighboring area in a measurement GAP, it is necessary to use 3 bits (the values ​​of the 3 bits are 1, 0, and 0 respectively) to indicate whether the SSB of the neighboring area is measured in 4 consecutive measurement GAPs. When the indication value itself also indicates whether the terminal device measures the SSB of the neighboring cell within a measurement GAP, two bits (the values ​​of the two bits are 1 and 1 respectively) can be used to indicate whether the SSB of the neighboring cell is measured within four consecutive measurement GAPs. For example, in the combination of K = 0 and P2 = 3, the monitoring scheduling information within four measurement GAPs can be indicated by two bits. Here, by making K itself indicate whether a measurement GAP measures the SSB of the neighboring cell, the indication overhead can be saved. In another example, if the first information includes "0 00 1 11 0 00 1 00", the meaning may be: K=0, P2=0, K=1, P2=3, K=0, P2=0, K=1, P2=0, then the first information can instruct the terminal device to first listen to the scheduling information within P2+1, that is, 1 measurement GAP, and then measure the SSB of the neighboring area within the next P2+1, that is, 4 measurement GAP times, and then continue to listen to the scheduling information within the next P2+1, that is, 1 measurement GAP, and then measure the SSB of the neighboring area within the next P2+1, that is, 1 measurement GAP.

[0181] In another implementation, the first information indicates a bitmap, where one bit in the bitmap corresponds to one measurement GAP. The number of bits included in the bitmap is the same as the number of at least one measurement GAP. For example, the number of at least one measurement GAP is 8, and the bit string corresponding to these 8 measurement GAPs can be represented as "10101111", which indicates measuring the SSB of the neighboring cell within the first measurement GAP, monitoring scheduling information within the second measurement GAP, measuring the SSB of the neighboring cell within the third measurement GAP, monitoring scheduling information within the fourth measurement GAP, and measuring the SSB of the neighboring cell within the fifth to eighth measurement GAPs. The disadvantage of this approach is that the bit overhead is large under FR2.

[0182] The at least one measurement gap in Solution 2 can be a measurement gap between the time when the first information is received and the time when the second information is received, or a measurement gap within the duration of a timer. For details, please refer to the detailed description in Solution 1 and will not be repeated here. Alternatively, the first information indicates a first pattern, and the second information indicates a second pattern, where the second pattern is different from the first pattern.

[0183] For the case in which the first information indicates the presence of a second measurement GAP in Solution 2, the access network device may also indicate the panel used for the measurement. The access network device may indicate the panel used for the measurement through the first information, or may indicate the panel used for the measurement through another RRC message or MAC-CE or DCI. For example, the access network device may send panel indication information to the terminal device, and the panel indication information is used to indicate the panel used for the measurement. Taking the case where the first information also indicates the panel used for the measurement as an example, the first information may indicate a panel that is applicable to all second measurement GAPs; the first information may also indicate multiple panels, and the panels corresponding to different measurement GAPs may be the same or different.

[0184] In one implementation, the first information indicates a panel that is applicable to all second measurement GAPs, which helps to improve the accuracy of the measurement results. In the embodiment of the present application, the indicated panel is referred to as the first panel. When the first information indicates the first panel, it may indicate the identifier or index of the first panel. The terminal device uses the first panel to measure the SSB of the neighboring area within the second measurement GAP. For example, based on the example diagram shown in Figure 7B, the terminal device uses the first panel to measure the SSB of the neighboring area within the first, third, fifth and seventh measurement GAPs. This method is applicable to the first information being carried in MAC-CE or DCI.

[0185] Optionally, the first panel may be the panel with the best transceiver capabilities. For example, the terminal device may report capability information to the access network device, including the number of panels it supports and the transceiver capabilities of each panel. The access network device then determines the first panel based on the capability information. Optionally, the access network device may determine the first panel based on measurement results fed back by the terminal device. The measurement results may be the terminal device's measurement results of the SSB of the serving cell based on the panel. The access network device may also determine the first panel using other methods.

[0186] In another implementation, the first information indicates one or more panels, with the specific number depending on the number of bits indicating the measurement in the pattern or bitmap. The panels corresponding to each measurement gap used for measurement can be the same or different, which helps reflect the impact of the panel on the measurement result. For example, the first pattern can be represented as "1010," and the information indicating the panel can be represented as "0101," where "01" represents panel 1. Thus, the first information can be represented as "1010|0101." That is, within one measurement gap, panel 1 is used to measure the SSB of the neighboring cell, but not within the next measurement gap. Furthermore, within the next measurement gap, panel 1 is used to measure the SSB of the neighboring cell, but not within the next measurement gap. For another example, the first pattern can be represented as "1010," and the information indicating the panel can be represented as "0110," where "01" represents panel 1 and "10" represents panel 2. Thus, the first information can be represented as "1010|0110." That is, within one measurement GAP, panel 1 is used to measure the SSB of the neighboring cell, and no measurement is performed within the next measurement GAP. Within the next measurement GAP, panel 2 is used to measure the SSB of the neighboring cell, and no measurement is performed within the next measurement GAP. This method is applicable when the first information is carried in the MAC-CE, or when the first information indicating the first measurement GAP and the second measurement GAP is carried in the RRC message or DCI, and the indication information indicating one or more panels is carried in the MAC-CE.

[0187] Optionally, for Scheme 1 and Scheme 2, the first information may also indicate the first time in the first measurement GAP, and the first time is used to monitor scheduling information. The unit of the first time is one or more of ms, time slot, micro time slot, symbol or transmission time interval (TTI). ms can be 1ms or 0.5ms, etc. Optionally, the first information may also indicate the second time in the first measurement GAP, and the second time is used to measure the SSB of the neighboring cell. The unit of the second time is the same as the unit of the first time. This helps to improve the utilization of time domain resources. Optionally, the number of first times in the first measurement GAP is greater than the number of second times, so that the first measurement GAP is mainly used to monitor scheduling information. For the second measurement GAP, the granularity based on ms, time slot or symbol can also be split.

[0188] For example, if the duration of the first measurement GAP is 3ms, then 3 bits can be used to indicate the first time and the second time. For example, "110" can be indicated as the first two ms are the first time, used to monitor scheduling information, and the last ms is the second time, used to measure the SSB of the neighboring cell.

[0189] Solution 3: The first information indicates the first time unit and / or the second time unit in each measurement GAP, the first time unit is used to measure the SSB of the neighboring cell, and the second time unit is used to monitor the scheduling information.

[0190] The time unit can be one or more of ms, slots, mini-slots, symbols, or TTIs. An ms can be 1 ms, 0.5 ms, or the like. The first information can indicate the first time unit and / or second time unit in each measurement GAP. The distribution of the first time unit and the second time unit in each measurement GAP can be different, which has the disadvantage of large bit overhead. The first information can also indicate the distribution of the first time unit and the second time unit in a measurement GAP, and this distribution applies to all measurement GAPs.

[0191] For example, taking a measurement GAP of 3 ms, a 3-bit indication can be used. For example, "110" indicates that the SSB of the neighboring cell is measured in the first two ms and not in the last ms. Assuming the measurement GAP occupies 10 time slots, a 10-bit indication can be used. Assuming the measurement GAP occupies 24 symbols, a 24-bit indication can be used. The duration of the measurement GAP, the number of occupied time slots, and the number of symbols can be configured by the access network device through RRC messaging.

[0192] Optionally, the first information may indicate the first time and / or the second time within the measurement GAP in the form of a bitmap. The bitmap may be a whitelist, for example, "1" may be used to indicate measuring the SSB of the neighboring cell within the unit time within the measurement GAP, and "0" may be used to indicate monitoring scheduling information within the unit time within the measurement GAP; or it may be a blacklist, that is, "0" may be used to indicate measuring the SSB of the neighboring cell within the unit time within the measurement GAP, and "1" may be used to indicate monitoring scheduling information within the unit time within the measurement GAP. The unit time may be 1ms, 0.5ms, etc., and this is not limited in the embodiment of the present application. For example, if the unit time is 1ms, 1 bit may be used to indicate whether the terminal device measures the SSB of the neighboring cell within the 1ms time of the measurement GAP. That is, when the length of the measurement GAP is Nms, N bits may be used in the first information to indicate whether the terminal device measures the SSB of the neighboring cell within the Nms time of a measurement GAP. In one embodiment, assuming that the length of a measurement GAP is 6 ms and the unit time is 1 ms, the first information may be 6 bits, and the value of one bit indicates whether the terminal device measures the SSB of the neighboring cell in the corresponding unit time. For example, if the first information is 110000, it may instruct the terminal device to monitor scheduling information in the first and second ms of a measurement GAP, and to measure the SSB of the neighboring cell in the third to sixth ms.

[0193] In mode 1, the first information indicates the time slot for measuring the SSB of the neighboring cell in the measurement GAP. The number of time slots can be determined by the SCS. For example, for 30Khz, a 6ms measurement GAP can include 12 time slots; for 120Khz, a 6ms measurement GAP can include 48 time slots. In one embodiment, taking SCS=30Khz and a 6ms measurement GAP including 12 time slots as an example, the first information can be 12 bits, and the value of one bit indicates whether the terminal device measures the SSB of the neighboring cell in the corresponding time slot. For example, if the first information is 111100000000, it can indicate that the terminal device measures the SSB of the neighboring cell in time slots 0 to 3 (the 1st to 4th time slots) in a measurement GAP, and listens to the scheduling information in time slots 4 to 11 (the 5th to 12th time slots). In one embodiment, taking SCS=120Khz and a 6ms measurement GAP including 48 time slots as an example, the first information can be 48 bits. For example, the first information is 1111000000000 111100000000 111100000000 111100000000, which can instruct the terminal device to measure the SSB of the neighboring cell in time slots 0 to 3, 12 to 15, 24 to 27, and 36 to 39 in a measurement GAP, and listen to the scheduling information in time slots 4 to 11, 16 to 23, 28 to 35, and 40 to 47.

[0194] In mode 2, when the first information indicates the time slots for measuring the SSB of the neighboring cells in the measurement GAP, the first information also indicates the symbols in these time slots. The network equipment can be divided into two levels for indication, the first level indicates the time slots (for details, please refer to the above mode 1), and the second level indicates the symbols in the time slots. The number of time slots can be determined by the SCS, and 1 time slot corresponds to 14 symbols. Similarly, the first information can be in the form of a bitmap. For example, the bitmap corresponding to a time slot is "1", indicating that the terminal device measures the SSB of the neighboring cell on the time slot in a measurement GAP, and further indicates whether the SSB of the neighboring cell is measured on each symbol of all the symbols in the time slot. For example, for 30Khz, the first information can be at most 12+12*14 bits, that is, 12 bits are used to indicate whether the terminal device measures the SSB of the neighboring cell in 12 time slots, and 12*14 bits are used to indicate whether the terminal device measures the SSB of the neighboring cell on all symbols in each time slot. For example, 1 time slot corresponds to 14 symbols. For each time slot, 14 bits can be used to indicate whether each symbol in all symbols corresponding to the time slot measures the SSB of the neighboring cell. In one embodiment, an example is given in which SCS=30 kHz and a 6 ms measurement GAP includes 12 time slots. For example, the first information is 111100000000 00111100111100 00111100111100 00111100111100 or the first information is 1 00111100111100 1 00111100111100 1 00111100111100 1 00111100111100 0 0 0 0 0 0 0. The difference between the two types of first information is that it can first uniformly instruct the terminal device whether to measure the SSB of the neighboring cell on all 10 time slots, and then instruct whether to measure the SSB of the neighboring cell on each symbol of all symbols in the time slot where the SSB of the neighboring cell is measured, or it can separately instruct whether to measure the SSB of the neighboring cell on each time slot and all symbols corresponding to the time slot. Both types of first information can instruct the terminal device to measure the SSB of the neighboring cell on time slots 0 to 3 in a measurement GAP, monitor scheduling information on time slots 4 to 11, and further measure the SSB of the neighboring cell on symbols 2 to 5 and 8 to 11 in each time slot from 0 to 3, and monitor scheduling information on symbols 0 to 1, 6 to 7, and 12 to 13.In one embodiment, SCS=30Khz and a 6ms measurement GAP including 12 time slots are used as an example for illustration. For example, if the first information is 111100000000000111100111100, the terminal device can also be instructed to measure the SSB of the neighboring cell on time slots 0 to 3 in a measurement GAP, and listen to the scheduling information on time slots 4 to 11. Further, the SSB of the neighboring cell is measured on symbols 2 to 5 and 8 to 11 in each time slot in time slots 0 to 3, and the scheduling information is listened to on symbols 0 to 1, 6 to 7, and 12 to 13. It can be understood that since the symbols of each time slot in time slot 0 to time slot 3 measure the SSB of the neighboring area, the indication is the same. Therefore, it is only necessary to indicate whether all the symbols of any time slot in time slot 0 to time slot 3 measure the SSB of the neighboring area. That is to say, on the basis of using 12 bits to indicate whether the 12 time slots measure the SSB of the neighboring area, it is only necessary to use 14 bits to indicate whether the symbols of any time slot in time slot 0 to time slot 3 measure the SSB of the neighboring area, without the need for 14*4 bits to indicate separately, thereby achieving the effect of saving bits.

[0195] Among them, for a bitmap corresponding to a certain time slot being "0", indicating that the terminal device monitors scheduling information in the time slot in a measurement GAP, it is not necessary to indicate all symbols of the time slot. Not indicating symbols that do not require measurement of the SSB of the neighboring cell can save signaling bits, thereby saving signaling overhead. It can be understood that if the first information indicates that a certain time slot in the measurement GAP does not measure the SSB of the neighboring cell, then there is no need for the second level indication described above.

[0196] In mode 3: When the first information indicates the time slots for measuring neighboring cell SSBs in the measurement GAP, the first information also indicates the SSBs corresponding to these time slots. The network device can be divided into two levels for indication, the first level indicates the time slot (for details, please refer to the above mode 1), and the second level indicates the SSBs corresponding to the time slots. The number of time slots can be determined by the SCS, and 1 time slot corresponds to 2 SSBs. Similarly, the first information can be in the form of a bitmap. For example, a bitmap corresponding to a certain time slot is "1", indicating that the terminal device measures the neighboring cell SSB in the time slot in a measurement GAP, and further indicates whether to measure each SSB in all SSBs corresponding to the time slot. For example, for 30Khz, the first information can be up to 12+12*2 bits, that is, 12 bits are used to indicate whether the terminal device measures the neighboring cell SSB in 12 time slots, and 12*2 bits are used to indicate whether the terminal device measures all SSBs in each time slot. For example, 1 time slot corresponds to 2 SSBs. For each time slot, 2 bits can be used to indicate whether to measure each SSB in all SSBs corresponding to the time slot. In one embodiment, an example is given in which SCS=30Khz and a 6ms measurement GAP include 12 time slots. For example, the first information is 111100000000 01 11 11 10 or the first information is 1 01 1 10 1 11 1 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0. The difference between the two first information is that the terminal device can be instructed first to uniformly indicate whether to measure the SSB of the neighboring cell in all 12 time slots, and then indicate whether to measure each SSB in all SSBs in the time slot where the SSB of the neighboring cell needs to be measured, or whether to measure each time slot and all SSBs corresponding to the time slot. Both types of first information can instruct the terminal device to measure the SSB of the neighboring cell in time slots 0 to 3 in a measurement GAP, listen to scheduling information in time slots 4 to 11, and further indicate to measure the second SSB of time slot 0, the two SSBs in time slots 1 and 2, and the first SSB of time slot 3.

[0197] Among them, for a bitmap corresponding to a certain time slot being "0", indicating that the terminal device does not measure the SSB of the neighboring cell in the time slot in a measurement GAP, it is not necessary to indicate the SSB corresponding to the time slot. Not indicating the SSB that does not need to be measured can save signaling bits, thereby saving signaling overhead. It can be understood that if the first information indicates that the SSB of the neighboring cell is not measured in a certain time slot in the measurement GAP, then the second level indication described above is not necessary.

[0198] In mode 4: the first information indicates information about the beam for measuring the SSB of the neighboring cell in the measurement GAP, for example, it may be a beam index. Specifically, the network device may use the first information to inform the terminal device which beams to use for measurement in the current measurement GAP and / or all subsequent measurement GAPs, and may use the beam index to indicate this. For example, assuming that the network device has configured 8 beams for the terminal device, 8 bits may be used to indicate whether the 8 beams are used for measurement. That is, each bit may represent a beam. For example, if the first information is 00111100, it may indicate that the terminal device uses the 3rd to 6th beams to measure the SSB of the neighboring cell.

[0199] The number of each measurement GAP in Solution 3 may refer to the number of at least one measurement GAP in Solution 1.

[0200] As an optional embodiment, before step 501, the terminal device may send third information to the access network device, where the third information indicates that the terminal device desires not to measure the measurement gaps of the SSBs of the neighboring cells. In other words, the terminal device reports to the access network device that it desires to skip the measurement gaps of inter-frequency or inter-system measurements. The access network device may send the first information to the terminal device based on the third information, so that the first information meets the terminal device's expectations. The access network device may also ignore the third information when sending the first information and independently decide which measurement gaps to skip.

[0201] The third information may be carried in an uplink RRC message, an uplink MAC-CE, or uplink control information (UCI). The uplink RRC message may include uplink assistance information (UE assistance information, UAI), which may indicate that the terminal device desires not to measure the measurement GAP of the SSB of the neighboring cell.

[0202] The third information indicates that the terminal device does not expect to measure the measurement GAP of the SSB of the neighboring cell. Please refer to the above-mentioned solutions 1 to 3 and will not be repeated here.

[0203] The present application provides a communication device that can be used to implement the functions of the above-mentioned terminal equipment or access network equipment. The communication device can be a terminal device or an access network device. The communication device includes a unit that corresponds one-to-one to the method / operation / step / action performed by the terminal device or access network device in the above-mentioned method embodiment. The unit can be a hardware circuit, or software, or a combination of a hardware circuit and software. Please refer to Figure 8, which shows a structural diagram of a communication device 800 of an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 800 may include an interface unit 801 and a processing unit 802. Specifically, the processing unit 802 is used to process signaling and / or data, and the signaling and / or data may be data received by the interface unit 801, and the processed signaling and / or data may also be sent by the interface unit 801;

[0204] In one embodiment, when the communication device 800 is a terminal device, wherein:

[0205] An interface unit 801 is configured to receive first information from an access network device, where the first information indicates a first measurement interval among at least one measurement interval, a start time of the at least one measurement interval being later than a time when the first information is received, and the first measurement interval is used to monitor scheduling information;

[0206] The processing unit 802 is configured to monitor scheduling information within a first measurement interval, where the scheduling information is used to schedule transmission of uplink and downlink channels and / or signals.

[0207] In this embodiment, for the specific implementation of the above-mentioned interface unit 801 and processing unit 802, reference may be made to the specific implementation steps of the terminal device in FIG5 , which will not be repeated here.

[0208] In another embodiment, when the communication device shown in FIG8 is an access network device, wherein:

[0209] Interface unit 801 is used to send first information to the terminal device, where the first information indicates the first measurement interval in at least one measurement interval; the start time of at least one measurement interval is later than the sending information of the first information; the first measurement interval is used for the terminal device to monitor scheduling information, and the scheduling information is used to schedule the transmission of uplink and downlink channels and / or signals.

[0210] In this embodiment, for the specific implementation of the above-mentioned interface unit 801 and processing unit 802, reference may be made to the specific implementation steps of the access network device in FIG5 , which will not be repeated here.

[0211] As shown in Figure 9, a communication device 900 provided in an embodiment of the present application is used to implement the functions of the terminal device or access network device described above. The device can be a communication device or a device used in a communication device, and the communication device can be a terminal device or an access network device. The device used in the communication device can be a chip system or chip within the communication device. The chip system can be composed of a chip or can include a chip and other discrete components.

[0212] The communication device 900 includes at least one processor 910 for implementing the processing function of the device (such as a terminal device or an access network device) in the method provided in the embodiment of the present application. The communication device 900 may also include a communication interface 920 for implementing the transceiver operation of the device (such as a terminal device or an access network device) in the method provided in the embodiment of the present application. In the embodiment of the present application, the communication interface can be a transceiver, a circuit, a bus, a module or other type of communication interface for communicating with other devices through a transmission medium. For example, the communication interface 920 is used for the device in the communication device 900 to communicate with other devices. The processor 910 uses the communication interface 920 to send and receive data and is used to implement the method described in the above method embodiment.

[0213] The communication device 900 may also include at least one memory 930 for storing program instructions and / or data. The memory 930 is coupled to the processor 910. The coupling in the embodiments of the present application is an indirect coupling or communication connection between devices, units, or modules, which can be electrical, mechanical, or other forms, and is used for information exchange between devices, units, or modules. The processor 910 may operate in conjunction with the memory 930. The processor 910 may execute program instructions stored in the memory 930. At least one of the at least one memory may be included in the processor.

[0214] The specific connection medium between the communication interface 920, processor 910, and memory 930 is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. In FIG9 , the embodiment of the present application shows that the memory 930, processor 910, and communication interface 920 are connected via a bus. The bus is represented by a bold line in FIG9 . The connection method between other components is only for schematic illustration and is not intended to be limiting. The bus can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of representation, FIG9 only uses a bold line, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

[0215] When the communication device 900 is specifically a device for a device (such as a terminal device or an access network device), for example, when the communication device 900 is specifically a chip or a chip system, the communication interface 920 may output or receive a baseband signal. When the communication device 900 is specifically a device (such as a terminal device or an access network device), the communication interface 920 may output or receive a radio frequency signal. In an embodiment of the present application, the processor may be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application-specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component, and may implement or execute the various methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present application. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, etc. The steps of the method disclosed in conjunction with the embodiments of the present application may be directly embodied as being executed by a hardware processor, or may be executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor.

[0216] When the above-mentioned communication device 900 is a module applied to a base station, the base station module implements the functions of the base station in the above-mentioned method embodiment. The base station module receives information from other modules in the base station (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna), and the information is sent by the terminal to the base station; or, the base station module sends information to other modules in the base station (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna), and the information is sent by the base station to the terminal. The base station module here can be a baseband chip of a base station, or a CU, DU or other module, or a device under the O-RAN architecture, such as an open CU, open DU and other devices.

[0217] It should be noted that the above-mentioned communication interface 920 can be used to perform the functions of the above-mentioned interface unit 801, and the above-mentioned processor 910 can be used to perform the functions of the above-mentioned processing unit 802, which will not be repeated here.

[0218] When the above-mentioned communication device is a chip applied to a terminal device, the chip implements the functions of the terminal device in the above-mentioned method embodiment, and the chip receives information from other devices; or, the chip sends information to other devices.

[0219] When the communication device is a chip used in an access network device, the chip implements the functions of the access network device in the above method embodiment. The chip receives information from other devices; or the chip sends information to other devices.

[0220] It is understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be a central processing unit (CPU), or may be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0221] The method steps in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented by hardware or by a processor executing software instructions. The software instructions can be composed of corresponding software modules, which can be stored in random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), registers, hard disks, mobile hard disks, compact discs (CD-ROMs), or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. Of course, the storage medium can also be an integral part of the processor. The processor and storage medium can be located in an ASIC. In addition, the ASIC can be located in an access network device or a terminal. Of course, the processor and storage medium can also exist as discrete components in a terminal or access network device.

[0222] 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 programs or instructions. When the computer program or instruction is loaded and executed on a computer, the process or function described in the embodiment of the present application is executed 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 program or instruction can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted via the computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server that integrates one or more available media. The available medium can be a magnetic medium, such as a floppy disk, a hard disk, or a magnetic tape; it can also be an optical medium, such as a digital video disk (DVD); it can also be a semiconductor medium, such as a solid state drive (SSD).

[0223] In the various embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified or there is a logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions between different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced by each other. The technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationships.

[0224] It is understood that the various numbers used in the embodiments of this application are merely for ease of description and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application. The order of the sequence numbers of the above-mentioned processes does not necessarily imply a specific order of execution; the order of execution of the processes should be determined by their functions and inherent logic.

[0225] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores computer execution instructions. When the computer execution instructions are executed, the method executed by the terminal device or access network device in the above method embodiment is implemented.

[0226] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product, which includes a computer program. When the computer program is executed, the method performed by the terminal device or access network device in the above method embodiment is implemented.

[0227] The present application also provides a communication system including a terminal device and a network device. Optionally, the system also includes a model management platform. Each device is configured to execute the method executed by each device in the above method embodiment.

[0228] It should be noted that for the aforementioned method embodiments, for the sake of simplicity, they are all expressed as a series of action combinations, but those skilled in the art should be aware that this application is not limited by the order of the actions described, because according to this application, certain steps can be performed in other orders or simultaneously. Secondly, those skilled in the art should also be aware that the embodiments described in the specification are all preferred embodiments, and the actions and modules involved are not necessarily required by this application.

[0229] The descriptions of the various embodiments provided in this application can refer to each other. The descriptions of each embodiment have their own focus. For parts not described in detail in a particular embodiment, please refer to the relevant descriptions of other embodiments. For the convenience and brevity of description, for example, the functions and execution steps of the various devices and equipment provided in the embodiments of this application can refer to the relevant descriptions of the method embodiments of this application. The various method embodiments and the various device embodiments can also refer to, be combined with, or quote each other.

[0230] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, rather than to limit them. Although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions described in the aforementioned embodiments, or make equivalent replacements for some or all of the technical features therein. These modifications or replacements do not deviate the essence of the corresponding technical solutions from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: include: receiving first information from an access network device, where the first information indicates a first measurement interval of at least one measurement interval; A start time of the at least one measurement interval is later than a reception time of the first information; The first measurement interval is used to monitor scheduling information; During the first measurement interval, scheduling information is monitored, where the scheduling information is used to schedule transmission of uplink and downlink channels and / or signals.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein In response to a value of the first information being a threshold, the first information indicates that the at least one measurement interval is used to monitor scheduling information.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein The first information further indicates a second measurement interval, where the second measurement interval is a measurement interval other than the first measurement interval in the at least one measurement interval, and the second measurement interval is used to measure a synchronization signal / physical downlink broadcast channel block (SSB) of a neighboring cell; and the method further includes: In the second measurement interval, the SSB of the neighboring cell is measured.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein The first information indicates a first pattern, and the first pattern includes a plurality of bits; The value of bit n is a first value, indicating that the measurement interval corresponding to the bit n is used for monitoring scheduling information; or, The value of bit n is the second value, indicating that the measurement interval corresponding to the bit n is used to measure the SSB of the neighboring cell; The multiple bits include the bit n, where n is a positive integer.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein Before receiving the first information from the access network device, the method further includes: Configuration information is received from the access network device, where the configuration information is used to configure a plurality of patterns, and the plurality of patterns include the first pattern.

6. The method according to claim 3 or 4, wherein: The first information also indicates a first panel, which is a panel used to measure SSB of a neighboring cell.

7. The method according to claim 4, wherein The first information further indicates a first panel and a second panel, the first panel being a panel used to measure the SSB of a neighboring cell in the measurement interval corresponding to the bit n, and the second panel being a panel used to measure the SSB of a neighboring cell in the measurement interval corresponding to the bit m; The first panel is the same as or different from the first panel, the values of the bit n and the bit m are both the second value, the multiple bits include the bit m, and the bit m is different from the bit n.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein: The first information further indicates a first time in the first measurement interval; the first time is in units of one or more of milliseconds, time slots, or symbols; The monitoring scheduling information within the first measurement interval includes: During the first time in the first measurement interval, scheduling information is monitored.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein The first information further indicates a second time in the first measurement interval, where the second time is used to measure the SSB of a neighboring cell, and the second time is the time in the first measurement interval excluding the first time.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein The method further comprises: Receive second information from the access network device, where the second information indicates a third measurement interval and / or a fourth measurement interval, the third measurement interval is used to measure the SSB of the neighboring cell, and the fourth measurement interval is used to monitor scheduling information; the reception time of the second information is later than the end time of the at least one measurement interval.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein: The method further comprises: In response to receiving the first information, starting a timer; In response to the timer timing out, measuring the SSB of the neighboring cell in a fifth measurement interval; the start time of the fifth measurement interval is later than the timeout time of the timer.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein The timer is predefined by a protocol, or the timer is configured by the access network device.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein: The method further comprises: Send third information to the access network device, where the third information indicates a measurement interval in which it is desired not to measure the SSB of a neighboring cell.

14. A communication method, characterized in that: include: Sending first information to a terminal device, where the first information indicates a first measurement interval in at least one measurement interval; a start time of the at least one measurement interval is later than the sending information of the first information; The first measurement interval is used by the terminal device to monitor scheduling information, and the scheduling information is used to schedule the transmission of uplink and downlink channels and / or signals.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein In response to a value of the first information being a threshold, the first information indicates that the at least one measurement interval is used for the terminal device to monitor scheduling information.

16. The method according to claim 14, wherein The first information also indicates a second measurement interval, where the second measurement interval is used by the terminal device to measure the SSB of a neighboring cell, and the second measurement interval is a measurement interval in the at least one measurement interval except the first measurement interval.

17. The method according to claim 14, wherein The first information indicates a first pattern, and the first pattern includes a plurality of bits; The value of bit n is a first value, indicating that the measurement interval corresponding to the bit n is used for the terminal device to monitor scheduling information; or, The value of bit n is the second value, indicating that the measurement interval corresponding to the bit n is used by the terminal device to measure the SSB of the neighboring cell; The multiple bits include the bit n, where n is a positive integer.

18. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 17, wherein: The first information further indicates a first time in the first measurement interval, where the first time is used by the terminal device to monitor scheduling information; wherein the unit of the first time is one or more of milliseconds, time slots or symbols.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein The first information also indicates a second time in the first measurement interval, where the second time is used by the terminal device to measure the SSB of a neighboring cell, and the second time is the time in the first measurement interval excluding the first time.

20. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 19, wherein: The method further comprises: Sending second information to the terminal device, the second information indicates a third measurement interval and / or a fourth measurement interval, the third measurement interval is used by the terminal device to measure the SSB of the neighboring area, and the fourth measurement interval is used by the terminal device to monitor scheduling information; the sending information of the second information is later than the end time of the at least one measurement interval.

21. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 20, wherein: The method further comprises: Send timer configuration information to the terminal device, where the timer configuration information is used to configure a timer, and the timer is used by the terminal device to measure the SSB of the neighboring cell within the fifth measurement interval in response to the timer timing out; the start time of the fifth measurement interval is later than the timeout time of the timer.

22. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 20, wherein: The method further comprises: Receive third information from the terminal device, where the third information indicates that the terminal device expects not to measure the measurement interval of the SSB of the neighboring cell.

23. A communication device, characterized in that: Comprising means for performing the method of any one of claims 1 to 13, or means for performing the method of any one of claims 14 to 22.

24. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises a processor, wherein the processor is configured to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 13 or the method according to any one of claims 14 to 22 through logic circuits and / or by executing computer programs or instructions.

25. The communication device according to claim 24, characterized in that Also includes: A memory is used to store the computer program or instructions.

26. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises a processor and an interface circuit, wherein the interface circuit is used to receive signals from other communication devices outside the communication device and transmit them to the processor or send signals from the processor to other communication devices outside the communication device, and the processor is used to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 13 through a logic circuit or by executing code instructions; or the method according to any one of claims 14 to 22.

27. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that The storage medium stores a computer program or instruction. When the computer program or instruction is executed by the communication device, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 13 or the method according to any one of claims 14 to 22 is implemented.

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