Communication method, communication apparatus and computer-readable storage medium

Abstract

Disclosed in the present application are a communication method, a communication apparatus and a computer-readable storage medium, which can be applied to an extended reality (XR) scenario, and facilitate an improvement in the system capacity. The method comprises: sending first information to an access network device, which first information indicates a first time window and a reference value, wherein the first time window is a time window in which a terminal device expects not to measure an SSB, the reference value is used for the access network device to determine a sending moment of DCI, and first DCI is used for scheduling uplink and downlink transmission in a second time window; receiving first indication information from the access network device, wherein the first indication information indicates that the access network device has enabled a scheduling skip measurement function; and if the first DCI is received prior to a first moment, performing uplink and downlink transmission in the second time window, wherein the first moment is earlier than a starting moment of the second time window, and a time difference between the first moment and the starting moment of the second time window is greater than or equal to the reference value.

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 202410175994.4 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 embodiments of the present application relate 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 service data is characterized by large data packets.

[0004] Because XR services typically require large data packets, access network equipment in XR scenarios can only dispatch limited terminal device data. 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 an embodiment of a communication method, a communication device, and a computer-readable storage medium, which help to improve the system capacity in XR scenarios.

[0006] In a first aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a terminal device or by a device matched with the terminal device, such as a processor or a chip. The method may include: sending first information to an access network device, the first information indicating a first time window and a reference value, the first time window being a time window in which the terminal device expects not to measure a synchronization signal / physical downlink broadcast channel block (SS / PBCH, SSB for short), and the reference value being used by the access network device to determine a time to send a first DCI; receiving first indication information from the access network device, the first indication information indicating that the access network device has enabled a scheduling skip measurement function; receiving the first DCI before a first time point, and performing uplink and downlink transmission within a second time window; the first time point being earlier than a start time point of the second time window, and a time difference between the first time point and the start time point of the second time window being greater than or equal to the reference value.

[0007] The number of the first time windows can be one or more. When the transmission delay between the terminal device and the access network device is not considered or ignored, the reception time of the first DCI is the same as the transmission time of the first DCI; when the transmission delay between the terminal device and the access network device is small, the reception time of the first DCI is approximately the same as the transmission time of the first DCI. The embodiment of the present application takes the case where the reception time of the first DCI is the same as the transmission time of the first DCI as an example.

[0008] The original purpose of the time window is to measure SSB. During the time window, 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, to improve system capacity in XR scenarios, in an embodiment of the present application, the access network device supports a scheduling skip measurement function. This function means that the access network device can schedule the uplink and downlink transmission of the terminal device within the time window.

[0009] The terminal device reports to the access network device the time window and reference value in which it expects not to measure SSB, so that the access network device can determine whether to enable the scheduling skip measurement function. If enabled, the access network device can further send a first DCI to the terminal device to schedule the uplink and downlink transmission of the terminal device within the second time window, so that more terminal devices can be scheduled for uplink and downlink transmission, which helps to improve the system capacity in the XR scenario. The newly added scheduling skip measurement function on the access network device helps to improve the initiative of the access network device. That is to say, when this function is enabled, the access network device will schedule the uplink and downlink transmission of the terminal device within the second time window, which helps to improve the system capacity in the XR scenario; conversely, when this function is not enabled, the access network device will not schedule the uplink and downlink transmission of the terminal device within the second time window, and the terminal device will perform SSB measurement by default, thereby ensuring the performance of measuring SSB.

[0010] In one possible implementation, the reference value includes a minimum time interval between a time instant of receiving the first DCI and a time instant of receiving downlink data. The access network device determines a time instant of transmitting the first DCI based on the minimum time interval, so that the terminal device can receive the first DCI before the first time instant and can perform downlink transmission within the second time window.

[0011] In one possible implementation, the reference value includes a minimum time interval between a time instant of receiving the first DCI and a time instant of receiving uplink data. The access network device determines a time instant of transmitting the first DCI based on the minimum time interval, so that the terminal device can receive the first DCI before the first time instant and can perform uplink transmission within the second time window.

[0012] In one possible implementation, the reference value includes the minimum time interval between the reception time of the first DCI and the start time of the time window. This time interval can be understood as the minimum time interval that the first DCI needs to be sent earlier than the start time of the time window. For the access network device, it determines the transmission time of the first DCI based on the minimum time interval, so that the terminal device can receive the first DCI before the first moment, and enables the terminal device to perform uplink and downlink transmission within the second time window.

[0013] In one possible implementation, if the first DCI is not received before the first moment, the SSB is measured within the second time window. That is, if the access network device does not send the first DCI to the terminal device before the first moment, then the terminal device measures the SSB within the second time window, thus restoring the original purpose of the time window.

[0014] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving second indication information from the access network device, the second indication information indicating that the access network device has not enabled a scheduling skip measurement function; and in response to the second indication information, measuring the SSB within a time window after the time the second indication information is received. In other words, the time window after the time the second indication information is received is used by the terminal device to perform SSB measurements. This ensures the performance of SSB measurements.

[0015] In one possible implementation, the first information is carried in a radio resource control (RRC) message, or in a media access control-control element (MAC-CE), or in uplink control information (UCI). The RRC message refers to an uplink RRC message, and the MAC-CE refers to an uplink MAC-CE.

[0016] In a possible implementation manner, the first indication information is carried in an RRC message, and the RRC message is a downlink RRC message.

[0017] In one possible implementation, the first time window is a measurement timing configuration (SMTC) window of the first SSB, or a first measurement interval (GAP). The SMTC window is used for same-frequency measurement, and the measurement GAP is used for different-frequency or different-system measurement. For a time window that is an SMTC window, the measurement SSB may be the SSB of the measured serving cell; for a time window that is a measurement GAP, the measurement SSB may be the SSB of the measured neighboring cell. This allows the embodiments of the present application to be applied to same-frequency measurement scenarios, as well as to different-frequency or different-system measurement scenarios.

[0018] In a second aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by an access network device or by a device matched with the access network device, such as a processor or chip. The method may include: receiving first information from a terminal device, the first information indicating a first time window and a reference value, the first time window being a time window in which the terminal device expects not to measure SSB; determining to enable a scheduling skip measurement function, and sending first indication information to the terminal device, the first indication information indicating that the access network device has enabled the scheduling skip measurement function; determining a sending time of a first DCI based on the reference value and the start time of a second time window; the first DCI is used to schedule uplink and downlink transmissions within the second time window; the sending time of the first DCI is earlier than the start time of the second time window, and the time difference between the sending time of the first DCI and the start time of the second time window is greater than or equal to the reference value; and sending the first DCI to the terminal device based on the sending time of the first DCI.

[0019] The number of the first time windows can be one or more. When the transmission delay between the terminal device and the access network device is not considered or ignored, the reception time of the first DCI is the same as the transmission time of the first DCI; when the transmission delay between the terminal device and the access network device is small, the reception time of the first DCI is approximately the same as the transmission time of the first DCI. The embodiment of the present application takes the case where the reception time of the first DCI is the same as the transmission time of the first DCI as an example.

[0020] The original purpose of the time window is to measure SSB. During the time window, 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, to improve system capacity in XR scenarios, in an embodiment of the present application, the access network device supports a scheduling skip measurement function. This function means that the access network device can schedule the uplink and downlink transmission of the terminal device within the time window.

[0021] The access network device determines whether to enable the scheduling skip measurement function based on the first time window and reference value reported by the terminal device. If enabled, the access network device may further send a first DCI to the terminal device to schedule the uplink and downlink transmission of the terminal device within the second time window, so that more terminal devices can be scheduled for uplink and downlink transmission, which helps to improve the system capacity in the XR scenario. The newly added scheduling skip measurement function on the access network device helps to improve the initiative of the access network device. That is to say, when this function is enabled, the access network device will schedule the terminal device to perform uplink and downlink transmission within the second time window, which helps to improve the system capacity in the XR scenario; conversely, when this function is not enabled, the access network device will not schedule the uplink and downlink transmission of the terminal device within the second time window, and the terminal device will perform SSB measurement by default, thereby ensuring the performance of measuring SSB.

[0022] In one possible implementation, the reference value includes a minimum time interval between a time instant of receiving the first DCI and a time instant of receiving uplink data. The access network device determines a time instant of transmitting the first DCI based on the minimum time interval, so that the terminal device can receive the first DCI before the first time instant and can perform uplink transmission within the second time window.

[0023] In one possible implementation, the reference value includes the minimum time interval between the reception time of the first DCI and the start time of the time window. This time interval can be understood as the minimum time interval that the first DCI needs to be sent earlier than the start time of the time window. For the access network device, it determines the transmission time of the first DCI based on the minimum time interval, so that the terminal device can receive the first DCI before the first moment, and enables the terminal device to perform uplink and downlink transmission within the second time window.

[0024] In one possible implementation, if the first DCI is not received before the first moment, the SSB is measured within the second time window. That is, if the access network device does not send the first DCI to the terminal device before the first moment, then the terminal device measures the SSB within the second time window, thus restoring the original purpose of the time window.

[0025] In a possible implementation, the first information is carried in an RRC message, or in a MAC-CE, or in a UCI, wherein the RRC message refers to an uplink RRC message, and the MAC-CE refers to an uplink MAC-CE.

[0026] In a possible implementation manner, the first indication information is carried in an RRC message, and the RRC message is a downlink RRC message.

[0027] In one possible implementation, the first time window is the first SMTC window, or the first measurement GAP. The SMTC window is used for intra-frequency measurement, and the measurement GAP is used for inter-frequency or inter-system measurement. When the time window is the SMTC window, the measured SSB may be the SSB of the measured serving cell; when the time window is the measurement GAP, the measured SSB may be the SSB of the measured neighboring cell. This allows the embodiments of the present application to be applied to intra-frequency measurement scenarios as well as to inter-frequency or inter-system measurement scenarios.

[0028] 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.

[0029] 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.

[0030] 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.

[0031] 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.

[0032] 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.

[0033] 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.

[0034] 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.

[0035] 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.

[0036] 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

[0037] FIG1 is an exemplary diagram of a system architecture using an embodiment of the present application;

[0038] FIG2 is an example diagram of a panel on a terminal device;

[0039] FIG3 is an example diagram of sending SSB;

[0040] FIG4 is an example diagram showing the relationship between the measurement GAP and the SMTC window;

[0041] FIG5 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0042] FIG6A and FIG6B are example diagrams of two reference values ​​provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0043] 7 is an example diagram of the relationship between the reception time of the first DCI and the start time of the second time window provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0044] FIG8 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary structure of a MAC-CE provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0045] FIG9 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0046] FIG10 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0047] The specific embodiments of the present application are further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0048] 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.

[0049] 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.

[0050] 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.

[0051] 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.

[0052] 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.

[0053] To better understand the embodiments of the present application, the following first introduces the system architecture involved in the embodiments of the present application:

[0054] 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.

[0055] 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 device 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.

[0056] 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 network devices involved in the system architecture are described in detail below.

[0057] 1. Terminal Equipment

[0058] 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.

[0059] The embodiments of this application do not limit the device form factor of the terminal. 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 chips or include chips and other discrete devices.

[0060] 2. Access Network Equipment

[0061] 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.

[0062] 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).

[0063] 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.

[0064] 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.

[0065] 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.

[0066] 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.

[0067] 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.

[0068] 1. XR business

[0069] 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.

[0070] 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).

[0071] 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.

[0072] 2. Panel

[0073] 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.

[0074] 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.

[0075] 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.

[0076] 3. SSB

[0077] The SSB consists of primary synchronization signals (PSS), secondary synchronization signals (SSS) and physical downlink broadcast channel (PBCH).

[0078] 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 simply 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; and the SS burst set is sent at a certain period.

[0079] 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:

[0080] 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.

[0081] 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.

[0082] 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.

[0083] 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.

[0084] 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.

[0085] 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.

[0086] 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.

[0087] 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.

[0088] 4. Time Window

[0089] The original purpose of the time window is to measure SSB. During the time window, the terminal device will not send or receive any data, and the access network device will not perform uplink or downlink scheduling on the terminal device. In the embodiment of the present application, during the time window, the terminal device can transmit data, and the access network device can perform uplink or downlink scheduling on the terminal device. The time window can be divided into the SMTC window and the measurement gap.

[0090] (1)SMTC window

[0091] To reduce power consumption during the measurement process, 5G introduces SSB measurement based on the SMTC window. Within the SMTC window, the terminal device measures the SSB of the serving cell; outside the SMTC window, no measurement is required. The configuration parameters of an SMTC window include: SMTC timing: The period and offset of the SMTC window. The SMTC period can be 5, 10, 20, 40, 80, or 160 ms. SMTC duration: The length of the SMTC window, also with a granularity of 1 ms, and can be 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 meters.

[0092] For example, see Figure 3, which shows an example of sending an SSB. Figure 3 takes an SS burst set 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 SS burst set includes one 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.

[0093] For FR2, taking the SSB burst set 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 SSBs on up to 32 of these time slots. Therefore, a maximum of 64 SSBs can be sent in one SMTC window.

[0094] (2) Measuring GAP

[0095] 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.

[0096] 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.

[0097] 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

[0098] 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.

[0099] 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.

[0100] 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.

[0101] In XR scenarios, due to the large data volumes of 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 the system can accommodate a maximum of 10 terminal devices. Therefore, increasing system capacity in XR scenarios is a pressing technical challenge.

[0102] 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 access network device supports a scheduling skip measurement function, which means that for the access network device, the time window is not used to send SSB, for example, it can be used to schedule uplink and downlink transmissions, so that when the access network device enables this function, the access network device can schedule the uplink and downlink transmissions of the terminal device, thereby improving the system capacity in the XR scenario. It can be understood that before the embodiment of the present application, for the terminal device within the time window, it will not send and receive any data, and the access network device will not perform uplink or downlink scheduling on it. However, when the scheduling skip measurement is enabled in the embodiment of the present application, the time window can be used for scheduling to improve the system capacity.

[0103] 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.

[0104] The communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application is described in detail below based on the system architecture shown in FIG1 .

[0105] 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:

[0106] 501. A terminal device sends first information to an access network device. Correspondingly, the access network device receives the first information from the terminal device. The first information indicates a first time window and a reference value.

[0107] The first time window is a time window in which the terminal device expects not to measure SSB, and the number of the first time windows is one or more. The time window is periodic, and the first time window may be one or more time windows in the periodic time window. The first time window may also be described as a time window in which the terminal device expects to schedule, or a time window in which the terminal device expects to perform uplink and downlink transmission, or a time window in which the terminal device expects to skip, or a time window in which the terminal device expects not to perform SSB measurement, etc. The first time window is a time window after the time when the first information is sent.

[0108] The reference value is used by the access network device to determine the transmission time of the first DCI when the scheduling skip measurement function is enabled. The first DCI is used to schedule uplink and downlink transmissions within the second time window. One first DCI schedules one uplink and downlink transmission within the second time window. The second time window is a time window within the periodic time window. The second time window can be understood as a time window required for scheduling. The reference value can be in milliseconds (ms), time slots, or symbols, etc., where a millisecond can be 1ms or 0.5ms.

[0109] The second time window may be a first time window within the first time window. That is, the access network device selects a time window from the time windows in which the terminal device expects not to measure SSB as the second time window. The second time window and the first time window may not intersect, and the access network device may select a time window as the second time window without considering the first time window.

[0110] 502. The access network device determines to enable the scheduling skip measurement function.

[0111] In one implementation, upon receiving the first information, the access network device may determine whether to enable the scheduling skip measurement function based on information indicated by the first information, and, if it is determined that the scheduling skip measurement function is enabled, send first indication information to the terminal device to indicate that the access network device has enabled the scheduling skip measurement function. If it is determined that the scheduling skip measurement function is not enabled, send second indication information to the terminal device to indicate that the access network device has not enabled the scheduling skip measurement function.

[0112] In another implementation, after receiving the first information, the access network device may determine whether to enable the scheduling skip measurement function based on other information. Alternatively, the access network device may determine whether to enable the scheduling skip measurement function based on information such as load conditions and resource utilization. For example, if the load quantity is low and resource utilization is low, the access network device may determine to enable the scheduling skip measurement function. For another example, if the load quantity is high, the access network device may determine not to enable the scheduling skip measurement function.

[0113] Enabling the Scheduling Skip Measurement function means that the access network device does not send SSBs during the time window, but instead uses them for scheduling uplink and downlink transmissions. Disabling the Scheduling Skip Measurement function means that the access network device sends SSBs during the time window. The Scheduling Skip Measurement function can also be described as a Skip Measurement function, a Time Window for Scheduling function, a Skip SSB Measurement function, an Intelligent Scheduling function, or an Intelligent Measurement function. The embodiment shown in Figure 5 is based on the access network device enabling this function.

[0114] 503. The access network device sends first indication information to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first indication information from the access network device. The first indication information indicates that the access network device has enabled the scheduling skip measurement function.

[0115] The first indication information may be carried in an RRC message, which may be a downlink RRC message. The first indication information indicates that the access network device has enabled the scheduling skip measurement function. Optionally, the RRC message includes an information element, such as a smartMeasFunc information element. When the value of the information element is "enable", it indicates the first indication information, indicating that the access network device has enabled the scheduling skip measurement function. Conversely, when the value of the information element is "disable", it indicates the second indication information, indicating that the access network device has not enabled the scheduling skip measurement function.

[0116] Optionally, the first indication information may also be carried in the first DCI, which includes a field, for example, the field is a bit. When the value of the bit is "1", it represents the first indication information, indicating that the access network device has enabled the scheduling skip measurement function; when the value of the bit is "0", it indicates that the access network device has not enabled the scheduling skip measurement function.

[0117] 504. The access network device determines a sending time of the first DCI based on the reference value and the start time of the second time window.

[0118] When the access network device determines that the scheduling skip measurement function is enabled, the access network device may determine the transmission time of the first DCI based on the reference value and the start time of the second time window. The relationship between the transmission time of the first DCI and the second time window may satisfy the following conditions:

[0119] Condition 1: The sending time of the first DCI is earlier than the starting time of the second time window.

[0120] Condition 2: The time difference between the sending time of the first DCI and the starting time of the second time window is greater than or equal to the reference value, so that the terminal device can receive the first DCI within a period of time before the starting time of the second time window, and enable the terminal device to perform uplink and downlink transmission within the second time window.

[0121] In one implementation, the reference value includes a minimum time interval between a first DCI transmission time and a downlink data transmission time, wherein the downlink data may be a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) or data carried by the PDSCH.

[0122] For example, please refer to the example diagram of a reference value shown in Figure 6A. In Figure 6A, K0 represents the minimum time interval between the sending time of the first DCI and the sending time of the downlink data. The first DCI carries the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), and the first DCI is the first DCI format 1-0 or the first DCI format 1-1, and the index of the time slot occupied by the first DCI is 1. The downlink data refers to PDSCH, and the index of the time slot it occupies is 3. The value of K0 is 2, that is, the reference value is 2 time slots. For the second time window to be used for scheduling downlink transmission, the sending time of the first DCI needs to be at least 2 time slots earlier than the starting time of the second time window.

[0123] In another implementation, the reference value includes a minimum time interval between the transmission time of the first DCI and the transmission time of the uplink data, wherein the uplink data may be a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) or data carried by the PUSCH.

[0124] For example, please refer to the example diagram of another reference value shown in Figure 6B. In Figure 6B, K2 represents the minimum time interval between the sending time of the first DCI and the sending time of the uplink data. The first DCI carries PDCCH, the first DCI is the first DCI format 0-0 or the first DCI format 0-1, and the index of the time slot occupied by the first DCI is 4. The uplink data refers to PUSCH, and the index of the time slot it occupies is 9. The value of K2 is 5, that is, the first time interval is 5 time slots. For the second time window to be used for scheduling uplink transmission, the sending time of the first DCI needs to be at least 5 time slots earlier than the start time of the second time window.

[0125] In another implementation, the reference value includes the minimum time interval between the sending time of the first DCI and the starting time of the time window. The time interval can be understood as the minimum time interval that the first DCI needs to be sent earlier than the starting time of the time window. The time interval can be predefined by the protocol or determined by the terminal device. The access network device determines the sending time of the first DCI based on the minimum time interval, so that the terminal device can receive the first DCI within a period of time before the starting time of the second time window, and enables the terminal device to perform uplink and downlink transmission within the second time window.

[0126] The reference values ​​in the above three implementations are for illustrative purposes only and do not constitute a limitation on the embodiments of the present application.

[0127] 505. The access network device sends the first DCI to the terminal device based on the sending time of the first DCI, wherein the first DCI is used to schedule uplink and downlink transmissions in the second time window.

[0128] That is, the access network device sends the first DCI to the terminal device at the determined first DCI sending time; or, the access network device sends the first DCI to the terminal device at a time before the determined first DCI sending time. A first DCI is used to schedule uplink and downlink transmissions within a second time window.

[0129] 506. The terminal device receives the first DCI before the first moment and performs uplink and downlink transmission within the second time window, wherein the first moment is earlier than the start time of the second time window, and the time difference between the first moment and the start time of the second time window is greater than or equal to the reference value.

[0130] Among them, uplink and downlink transmission may include monitoring the second DCI, transmitting and / or receiving uplink and downlink channels or signals, which can be understood as transmitting the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) / PUSCH / sounding reference signal (SRS) or receiving PDCCH / PDSCH / channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS).

[0131] Uplink transmission may carry data or signaling, including but not limited to PUSCH, PUCCH, SRS, etc. In other words, the uplink transmission may be the transmission of uplink signaling, such as PUCCH; the transmission of uplink data, such as PUSCH; or a combination of uplink signaling and uplink data.

[0132] Downlink transmission may carry, but is not limited to, PDSCH, PDCCH, CSI-RS, etc. In other words, the downlink transmission may be downlink control signaling, such as PDCCH, downlink data, such as PDSCH, or a combination of downlink control signaling and downlink data.

[0133] The terminal device receives the first DCI before the first moment and performs uplink and downlink transmission within the second time window. That is, when the terminal device receives the DCI for scheduling uplink and downlink transmission within the second time window before the first moment, it performs uplink and downlink transmission within the second time window. It can also be understood that the access network device sends the first DCI to the terminal device based on the sending moment of the first DCI; or, the access network device schedules the uplink and downlink transmission of the terminal device within the second time window through the first DCI.

[0134] For example, see the example diagram of the relationship between the reception moment of the first DCI and the start moment of the second time window shown in Figure 7. The small black dot in Figure 7 represents the first moment, time window a represents a second time window, and time window b represents another second time window. The time difference between the first moment and the start moment of the second time window is equal to the reference value as an example. The reception moment of the first DCI is before the first moment, that is, the first DCI is received before the first moment, then the terminal device performs uplink and downlink transmission within time window a.

[0135] For any time window in the periodic time window, a first moment can be determined based on the reference value. If the first DCI is received before the first moment corresponding to any time window, the terminal device performs uplink and downlink scheduling within the time window.

[0136] 507. The terminal device does not receive the first DCI before the first moment, and measures the SSB within the second time window, wherein the first moment is earlier than the start time of the second time window, and the time difference between the first moment and the start time of the second time window is greater than or equal to a reference value.

[0137] The terminal device does not receive the first DCI before the first moment and measures the SSB within the second time window. That is, the terminal device does not receive the DCI for scheduling uplink and downlink transmissions within the second time window before the first moment and measures the SSB within the second time window. It can also be understood that the access network device does not send the first DCI based on the sending time of the first DCI; or the access network device does not send the first DCI; or the access network device does not schedule the uplink and downlink transmissions of the terminal device within the second time window.

[0138] For example, see the example diagram of the relationship between the reception time of the first DCI and the start time of the second time window shown in Figure 7. The small black dot in Figure 7 represents the first moment, time window a represents a second time window, and time window b represents another second time window. For example, the time difference between the first moment and the start time of the second time window is equal to the reference value. If the reception time of the second first DCI is after the first moment, that is, the first DCI is not received before the first moment, then the terminal device measures the SSB within time window b.

[0139] For any time window in the periodic time window, a first moment can be determined based on the reference value. If the first DCI is not received before the first moment corresponding to any time window, the terminal device measures the SSB within the time window.

[0140] Steps 506 and 507 can be understood as that when the access network device schedules the terminal device to perform uplink and downlink transmission within the second time window, if the terminal device receives the first DCI before the first moment, the uplink and downlink transmission is performed within the second time window, otherwise the SSB is measured. Alternatively, when the access network device does not schedule the terminal device to perform uplink and downlink transmission within the second time window, the terminal device measures the SSB within the second time window by default. That is to say, in the case of scheduling, if the DCI is received before the first moment, the uplink and downlink transmission is performed within the time window scheduled by the DCI, otherwise the SSB is measured; in the case of no scheduling, the SSB is measured within the time window.

[0141] In the embodiment shown in Figure 5, the terminal device reports the time window and reference value in which it is expected not to measure SSB to the access network device, so that the access network device determines whether to enable the scheduling skip measurement function. If enabled, the access network device may further send a first DCI to the terminal device to schedule the uplink and downlink transmissions of the terminal device within the second time window, so that the terminal device does not perform measurements within the second time window, thereby scheduling more terminal devices for uplink and downlink transmissions, which helps to improve the system capacity in the XR scenario.

[0142] In the embodiment shown in FIG5 , the first time window is taken as an example, in which the terminal device does not expect to measure the SSB. In another implementation, the first time window is a time window in which the terminal device expects to measure the SSB. The access network device may also determine the time to send the first DCI based on the time window in which the terminal device expects to measure the SSB and a reference value.

[0143] As an optional embodiment, when the access network device determines that the scheduling skip measurement function is not enabled, a second indication message is sent to the terminal device, indicating that the access network device has not enabled the scheduling skip measurement function. In response to the second indication message, the terminal device measures the SSB within the time window after the moment of receiving the second indication message. For example, the SSB is measured within the SMTC window after the moment of receiving the second indication message, or the SSB is measured within the measurement GAP after the moment of receiving the second indication message. That is, the terminal device receives the second indication message and measures the SSB by default in the subsequent time window.

[0144] As an optional embodiment, when the access network device determines not to enable the scheduling skip measurement function, it may not send the second indication information to the terminal device, and the terminal device will measure the SSB by default within the time window. Optionally, after sending the first information, if the terminal device does not receive the first indication information or the second indication information, the terminal device may measure the SSB within the time window after the first information is sent.

[0145] The time window in the embodiment shown in FIG5 may be an SMTC window or a measurement GAP.

[0146] When the time window is an SMTC window, the first information may indicate the first SMTC window that the terminal device does not want to measure through the following schemes: In the embodiment of the present application, the indication information indicating the first SMTC window in the first information is referred to as third indication information.

[0147] Solution 1: The third indication information indicates which SMTC windows to skip among all subsequent SMTC windows.

[0148] In one implementation, the third indication information indicates to skip all subsequent SMTC windows. That is, all SMTC windows after the time when the first information is sent are the first SMTC windows.

[0149] Optionally, when the value of the third indication information is a threshold, the third indication information indicates to skip all subsequent SMTC windows; when the value of the third indication information is not a threshold, the third indication information indicates not to skip all subsequent SMTC windows.

[0150] When the first information is carried in an RRC message, the third indication information may be an information element (IE) in the RRC message, the value of which is used to indicate whether to skip all subsequent SMTC windows. The RRC message may be, for example, an RRC reconfiguration message, and the information element may be, for example, a newly added information element.

[0151] Exemplarily, the information element may be RelaxGapMeasurement, and its type may be an enumeration type, which indicates that all subsequent SMTC windows may be skipped, and may be represented as follows:

[0152] RelaxGapMeasurement ENUMERATED{true}

[0153] Alternatively, the type of the information element may be a Boolean type, which indicates skipping all subsequent SMTC windows and may be represented as:

[0154] RelaxGapMeasurement BOOLEAN{true}

[0155] In other words, the value of this information element is "true" (ie, the threshold), indicating that all subsequent SMTC windows are skipped; the value of this information element is "false", indicating that all subsequent SMTC windows are not skipped.

[0156] For the first information carried in a MAC-CE, the MAC-CE may refer to the exemplary MAC-CE structure shown in Figure 8 . In Figure 8 , N represents the third indication information, and R represents a reserved bit. The value of N indicates whether all subsequent SMTC windows are skipped. For example, a value of 1 indicates that all subsequent SMTC windows are skipped; a value of 0 indicates that all subsequent SMTC windows are not skipped.

[0157] If the first information is carried in DCI, the third indication information may be a field in the DCI, the value of which is used to indicate whether to skip all subsequent SMTC windows. This field may be, for example, RelaxSmtcMeas, and its field length may be 1 bit. For example, when the value of this bit is 1, it indicates that all subsequent SMTC windows are skipped; when the value of this bit is 0, it indicates that all subsequent SMTC windows are not skipped.

[0158] Solution 2: The third indication information indicates which time slots to skip in all subsequent SMTC windows.

[0159] The terminal device can indicate which time slots in the SMTC window will be skipped in all subsequent SMTC windows through the third indication information. The number of time slots can be determined by the sub-carrier space (SCS). For example, for 30Khz, 5ms SMTC can include 10 time slots; for 120Khz, 5ms SMTC can include 40 time slots. The third indication information can indicate whether the time slot in the SMTC window is to measure SSB in the form of a bitmap. The bitmap can be a whitelist, that is, for example, "1" can be used to indicate that SSB is measured on the time slot, and "0" can be used to indicate that SSB is not measured on the time slot; it can also be a blacklist, that is, "0" can be used to indicate that SSB is measured on the time slot, and "1" can be used to indicate that SSB is not measured on the time slot. In one embodiment, taking SCS=30Khz and a 5ms SMTC including 10 time slots as an example, the third indication information can be 10 bits, and each bit corresponds to indicating whether the terminal device measures SSB in each time slot. For example, if the indication information is 1111000000, it can indicate that the terminal device measures SSB in time slots 0 to 3 (the 1st to 4th time slots) in an SMTC window, and does not measure SSB in time slots 4 to 9 (the 5th to 10th time slots).

[0160] For example, taking SCS=120Khz and a 5ms SMTC window including 40 time slots as an example, the indication information can be 40 bits, and each bit corresponds to indicating whether the terminal device performs measurement in each time slot. For example, the indication information is 1111000000 1111000000 1111000000 1111000000, which may indicate that the terminal device measures SSB in time slots 0 to 3, 10 to 13, 20 to 23, and 30 to 33 in an SMTC, and does not measure SSB in time slots 4 to 9, 14 to 19, 24 to 29, and 34 to 39.

[0161] Solution 3: The third indication information indicates which symbols of the time slots in all subsequent SMTC windows are used for SSB measurement.

[0162] When the third indication information indicates the time slot for measuring SSB in the SMTC window, it also indicates the symbol in the time slot for measuring SSB in the SMTC. Specifically, the terminal device can be divided into two levels for indication, the first level indicates the time slot (for details, please refer to the above solution 2), and the second level indicates the symbol in the time slot. The number of time slots can be determined by SCS, and 1 time slot corresponds to 14 symbols. Similarly, the third indication information can indicate whether the time slots and symbols in the SMTC window are to be measured for SSB in the form of a bitmap. For example, if the bitmap corresponding to a time slot is "1", it means that the terminal device expects to measure SSB on the time slot in an SMTC window, and further indicates whether to measure SSB on each symbol of all symbols in the time slot. For example, for 30Khz, the third indication information can be at most 10+10*14 bits, that is, 10 bits are used to indicate whether the terminal device measures SSB in 10 time slots, and 10*14 bits are used to indicate whether the terminal device measures SSB 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 is measured.

[0163] For example, taking SCS=30Khz and a 5ms SMTC including 10 time slots as an example, for example, the third indication information is 1111000000 00111100111100 00111100111100 00111100111100 or the third indication information is 1 00111100111100 1 00111100111100 1 00111100111100 1 00111100111100 0 0 0 0 0. The difference between the two types of third indication information is that it can first uniformly indicate whether the terminal device expects to measure SSB on all 10 time slots, and then indicate whether to measure SSB on each symbol of all symbols in the time slot where SSB measurement is required, or it can separately indicate whether to measure SSB on each time slot and all symbols corresponding to the time slot. Both types of third indication information can indicate that the terminal device expects to measure SSB on time slots 0 to 3 in an SMTC, and not measure SSB on time slots 4 to 9, and further measure SSB on symbols 2 to 5 and 8 to 11 in each time slot in time slots 0 to 3, and not measure SSB on symbols 0 to 1, 6 to 7, and 12 to 13.

[0164] For example, taking SCS=30Khz and a 5ms SMTC including 10 time slots as an example, if the third indication information is 1111000000 00111100111100, it may also indicate that the terminal device expects to measure SSB on time slots 0 to 3 in an SMTC, and not measure SSB on time slots 4 to 9, and further measure SSB on symbols 2 to 5 and 8 to 11 in each time slot in time slots 0 to 3, and not measure SSB on symbols 0 to 1, 6 to 7, and 12 to 13. It can be understood that since the indication of whether the symbols of each time slot in time slot 0 to time slot 3 are measured for SSB is the same, it is only necessary to indicate whether all the symbols of any time slot in time slot 0 to time slot 3 are measured for SSB. That is to say, on the basis of using 10 bits to indicate whether the SSB is measured for 10 time slots, 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 are measured for SSB, without the need for 14*5 bits to indicate separately, thereby achieving the effect of saving bits.

[0165] Solution 4: The third indication information, in addition to indicating the time slot for performing SSB measurement, also indicates the SSB corresponding to the time slot for performing SSB measurement.

[0166] The terminal device can be divided into two levels for indication. The first level indicates the time slot (for details, please refer to the above solution 2), and the second level indicates the SSB corresponding to the time slot. The number of time slots can be determined by the SCS, and 1 time slot corresponds to 2 SSBs. Similarly, the third indication information can indicate to the network device in the form of a bitmap whether the time slot and SSB in the SMTC window are measured. For example, if the bitmap corresponding to a certain time slot is "1", it means that the terminal device expects to measure the SSB on the time slot in an SMTC window, and further, it can indicate whether each SSB in all SSBs corresponding to the time slot is measured. For example, for 30Khz, the indication information can be up to 10+10*2 bits, that is, 10 bits are used to indicate whether the terminal device measures the SSB on 10 time slots, and 10*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 each SSB in all SSBs corresponding to the time slot is measured.

[0167] For example, taking SCS=30Khz and a 5ms SMTC including 10 time slots as an example, if the third indication information is 1111000000 01 11 11 10 or the third indication information is 1 01 1 10 1 11 1 10 0 0 0 0 0 0, the difference between the two third indication information is that the terminal device may first be uniformly instructed whether to measure SSB on all 10 time slots, and then be instructed whether to measure on each SSB of all SSBs on the time slot where SSB measurement is required, or whether to measure on each time slot and all SSBs corresponding to the time slot may be indicated separately. Both types of third indication information may indicate that the terminal device expects to measure SSB on time slots 0 to 3 in an SMTC, not to measure SSB on time slots 4 to 9, and further to measure the second SSB of time slot 0, the two SSBs of time slot 1 and time slot 2, and the first SSB of time slot 3.

[0168] Optionally, for Scheme 2 to Scheme 4 reporting the expectation to measure SSB, the third indication information may also indicate the panel that the terminal device expects to use to measure SSB. The number of panels may be one or more, and the multiple panels may be the same or different. For example, based on the above-mentioned Scheme 2, for 30Khz, the 5ms SMTC window may include 10 time slots. If the third indication information is 1010000000 01, it may indicate that the terminal device expects to use the same antenna panel when measuring SSB on time slot 0 and time slot 2, that is, to use the panel with an index of 1. In other words, the terminal device expects not to change the currently used antenna panel when performing the measurement. For another example, the third indication information is 1010000000 01 10, which may indicate that the terminal device expects to use different antenna panels when measuring SSB on time slot 0 and time slot 2, that is, to use the panel with an index of 1 on time slot 0 and the panel with an index of 2 on time slot 2.

[0169] For a time window being a measurement GAP, the first information may indicate the first measurement GAP that the terminal device desires not to measure through the following schemes: In the embodiment of the present application, the indication information indicating the first measurement GAP in the first information is referred to as fourth indication information.

[0170] Solution 1: The fourth indication information indicates which measurement GAPs to skip among all subsequent measurement GAPs.

[0171] Solution 1 is similar to Solution 1 above, except that one is an SMTC window and the other is a measurement GAP. For details, please refer to the specific description of Solution 1 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0172] Solution 2: The fourth indication information indicates multiple bits, and the value of one bit indicates that the measurement GAP corresponding to the bit is expected to be used for monitoring scheduling information or expected to be used for measuring the SSB of the neighboring cell.

[0173] That is, the fourth indication information indicates which measurement GAPs among all subsequent measurement GAPs are expected to be used for monitoring scheduling information and which measurement GAPs are expected to be used for measuring the SSBs of neighboring cells.

[0174] The fourth indication information indicates multiple bits, and may be that the fourth indication information indicates a pattern, which includes multiple bits; or the fourth indication information indicates a bitmap, and one bit in the bitmap corresponds to one measurement GAP.

[0175] In one implementation, the fourth indication 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 all subsequent measurement GAPs. The first pattern includes multiple bits, and the value of a bit indicates that the measurement GAP corresponding to the bit is expected to be used for monitoring scheduling information or expected to be used to measure the SSB of the 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 expected to be used to measure the SSB of the neighboring area; the value of the bit is a second value (for example, "0"), indicating that the measurement GAP corresponding to the bit is expected to be used for monitoring scheduling information.

[0176] The fourth indication information indicating the first pattern may be that the first information includes multiple bits of the first pattern, or that the fourth indication information indicates an index of the first pattern, so that the access network device can determine the first pattern based on the index. For example, the first pattern may be represented as "1010", the fourth indication information may include "1010", or the fourth indication information indicates an index of "1010". Taking "1" indicating that it is expected to be used to measure the SSB of the neighboring cell and "0" indicating that it is expected to be used to monitor the scheduling information as an example, "1010" may indicate that measurement is expected within a measurement GAP, monitoring is expected within the next measurement GAP, measurement is expected within the next measurement GAP, and monitoring is expected within the next measurement GAP.

[0177] 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.

[0178] gapMeasPatternList{{measPattern},…,}

[0179] gapMeasPatternList{

[0180] {00, 1010},

[0181] {01,1011},

[0182] …

[0183] }

[0184] Among them, "00" and "01" can represent the index of the pattern, and then the terminal device can indicate the index of the pattern through the fourth indication information. Compared with directly indicating multiple bits of the pattern, the indication overhead of the pattern can be saved.

[0185] Solution three, the fourth indication information indicates the first time unit and / or the second time unit in each measurement GAP, the first time unit is expected to be used to measure the SSB of the neighboring cell, and the second time unit is expected to be used to monitor the scheduling information.

[0186] The time unit may be one or more of ms, time slots, or symbols. The fourth indication information may 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 may be different, which has the disadvantage of large bit overhead. The fourth indication information may 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.

[0187] For example, taking a measurement GAP of 3 ms, a 3-bit indication can be used. For example, "110" indicates that the neighboring cell's SSB is expected to be measured in the first two ms, and no measurement is expected in the next 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.

[0188] For time units such as time slots and symbols, hierarchical indication can be used. For example, for 2 time slots, the first time slot is not expected to be measured, the second time slot is expected to be measured, and the symbol indexes 3 to 6 of the time slot and the symbol indexes 9 to 12 are expected to be measured, which can be expressed as "01|00111100111100".

[0189] The above-mentioned Schemes 1 to 4 and Schemes 1 to 3 are for example only and do not constitute a limitation on the embodiments of the present application.

[0190] 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 9, which shows a structural diagram of a communication device 900 of an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 900 may include an interface unit 901 and a processing unit 902. Specifically, the processing unit 902 is used to process signaling and / or data, and the signaling and / or data may be data received by the interface unit 901, and the processed signaling and / or data may also be sent by the interface unit 901;

[0191] In one embodiment, when the communication device 900 is a terminal device, wherein:

[0192] Interface unit 901 is used to send first information to the access network device, where the first information indicates a first time window and a reference value, where the first time window is a time window in which the terminal device expects not to measure SSB, and the reference value is used by the access network device to determine the sending time of the first DCI; receive first indication information from the access network device, where the first indication information indicates that the access network device has enabled the scheduling skip measurement function; receive the first DCI before the first moment, and perform uplink and downlink transmission within the second time window; the first moment is earlier than the starting moment of the second time window, and the time difference between the first moment and the starting moment of the second time window is greater than or equal to the reference value.

[0193] In this embodiment, for the specific implementation of the above-mentioned interface unit 901 and processing unit 902, reference may be made to the specific implementation steps of the terminal device in FIG5 , which will not be repeated here.

[0194] In another embodiment, when the communication device shown in FIG9 is an access network device, wherein:

[0195] An interface unit 901 is configured to receive first information from a terminal device, where the first information indicates a first time window and a reference value, where the first time window is a time window in which the terminal device expects not to measure SSB;

[0196] A processing unit 902 is configured to determine whether to enable a scheduling skip measurement function;

[0197] The interface unit 901 is further configured to send first indication information to the terminal device, where the first indication information indicates that the access network device has enabled the scheduling skip measurement function;

[0198] The processing unit 902 is further configured to determine a sending time of a first DCI based on the reference value and the start time of the second time window; the first DCI is used to schedule uplink and downlink transmission within the second time window; the sending time of the first DCI is earlier than the start time of the second time window, and the time difference between the sending time of the first DCI and the start time of the second time window is greater than or equal to the reference value;

[0199] The interface unit 901 is also used to send the first DCI to the terminal device based on the sending time of the first DCI.

[0200] In this embodiment, for the specific implementation of the above-mentioned interface unit 901 and processing unit 902, reference may be made to the specific implementation steps of the access network device in FIG5 , which will not be repeated here.

[0201] As shown in Figure 10, a communication device 1001 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.

[0202] The communication device 1001 includes at least one processor 1010 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 1001 may also include a communication interface 1020 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 1020 is used for the device in the communication device 1001 to communicate with other devices. The processor 1010 uses the communication interface 1020 to send and receive data, and is used to implement the method described in the above method embodiment.

[0203] The communication device 1001 may further include at least one memory 1030 for storing program instructions and / or data. The memory 1030 is coupled to the processor 1010. The coupling in the embodiments of the present application is an indirect coupling or communication connection between devices, units, or modules, which may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms, and is used for information exchange between the devices, units, or modules. The processor 1010 may operate in conjunction with the memory 1030. The processor 1010 may execute program instructions stored in the memory 1030. At least one of the at least one memory may be included in the processor.

[0204] The specific connection medium between the communication interface 1020, processor 1010, and memory 1030 is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. In Figure 10, the embodiment of the present application shows that the memory 1030, processor 1010, and communication interface 1020 are connected via a bus. The bus is represented by a bold line in Figure 10. The connection method between other components is only for schematic illustration and is not limiting. The bus can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of representation, only one bold line is used in Figure 10, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

[0205] When the communication device 1001 is specifically a device for a device (such as a terminal device or an access network device), for example, when the communication device 1001 is specifically a chip or a chip system, the communication interface 1020 may output or receive a baseband signal. When the communication device 1001 is specifically a device (such as a terminal device or an access network device), the communication interface 1020 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.

[0206] When the above-mentioned communication device 1001 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 the baseband chip of the base station, or it can be a CU, DU or other module, or it can be a device under the O-RAN architecture, such as an open CU, open DU and other devices.

[0207] It should be noted that the above-mentioned communication interface 1020 can be used to execute the functions of the above-mentioned interface unit 901, and the above-mentioned processor 1010 can be used to execute the functions of the above-mentioned processing unit 902, which will not be repeated here.

[0208] 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.

[0209] 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.

[0210] 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.

[0211] 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.

[0212] 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).

[0213] 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.

[0214] 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.

[0215] 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.

[0216] 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.

[0217] 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.

[0218] 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.

[0219] 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.

[0220] 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: Sending first information to the access network device, where the first information indicates a first time window and a reference value; The first time window is a time window in which the terminal device expects not to measure the synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block SSB; the reference value is used by the access network device to determine the sending time of the first downlink control information DCI; the first DCI is used to schedule uplink and downlink transmissions in the second time window; receiving first indication information from the access network device, where the first indication information indicates that the access network device has enabled a scheduling skip measurement function; The first DCI is received before the first moment, and uplink and downlink transmission is performed within the second time window; the first moment is earlier than the starting moment of the second time window, and the time difference between the first moment and the starting moment of the second time window is greater than or equal to the reference value.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein The reference value includes a minimum time interval between a reception time of the first DCI and a reception time of downlink data.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein The reference value includes a minimum time interval between a reception time of the first DCI and a reception time of uplink data.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein The reference value includes a minimum time interval between a reception time of the first DCI and a start time of a time window.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that The method further comprises: If the first DCI is not received before the first moment, the SSB is measured within the second time window.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that The method further comprises: receiving second indication information from the access network device, where the second indication information indicates that the access network device does not enable the scheduling skip measurement function; In response to the second indication information, the SSB is measured within a time window after the moment of receiving the second indication information.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein: The first information is carried in a radio resource control RRC message, or in a media access control-control signaling MAC-CE, or in uplink control information UCI.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein: The first indication information is carried in an RRC message.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein The first time window is a first SSB-based measurement timing configuration SMTC window, or a first measurement interval.

10. A communication method, characterized in that: include: receiving first information from a terminal device, wherein the first information indicates a first time window and a reference value; The first time window is a time window in which the terminal device expects not to measure the synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block SSB; Determine to enable the scheduling skip measurement function, and send first indication information to the terminal device, where the first indication information indicates that the scheduling skip measurement function has been enabled; Determining, based on the reference value and the start time of the second time window, a sending time of a first DCI, where the first DCI is used to schedule uplink and downlink transmission within the second time window; the sending time of the first DCI is earlier than the start time of the second time window, and the time difference between the sending time of the first DCI and the start time of the second time window is greater than or equal to the reference value; The first DCI is sent to the terminal device based on the sending time of the first DCI.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein The reference value includes a minimum time interval between a sending time of the first DCI and a sending time of downlink data.

12. The method according to claim 10, wherein The reference value includes a minimum time interval between a sending time of the first DCI and a sending time of uplink data.

13. The method according to claim 10, wherein The reference value includes a minimum time interval between a reception time of the first DCI and a start time of a time window.

14. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 13, wherein: The method further comprises: Determine not to enable the scheduling skip measurement function, and send second indication information to the terminal device, where the second indication information indicates that the scheduling skip measurement function is not enabled.

15. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 14, wherein: The first information is carried in an RRC message, or in a MAC-CE, or in a UCI.

16. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 15, wherein: The first indication information is carried in an RRC message.

17. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 16, wherein: The first time window is a first SMTC window, or a first measurement interval.

18. A communication device, characterized in that: Comprising a module for performing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, or a module for performing the method according to any one of claims 10 to 17.

19. A communication device, characterized in that: The device comprises a processor, wherein the processor is configured to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9 or the method according to any one of claims 10 to 17 through logic circuits and / or by executing computer programs or instructions.

20. The communication device according to claim 19, wherein Also includes: A memory is used to store the computer program or instructions.

21. 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 9; or the method according to any one of claims 10 to 17 through a logic circuit or executing code instructions.

22. 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 9; or the method according to any one of claims 10 to 17 is implemented.

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