Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

Provided in the present application are a communication method and apparatus. The method comprises: a first communication apparatus determining the lengths of information bits respectively corresponding to M transport blocks to be encoded, wherein the lengths of the information bits respectively corresponding to the M transport blocks are not equal, M being an integer greater than 1; the first communication apparatus adjusting the information bits on the basis of the lengths of the information bits respectively corresponding to the M transport blocks, so as to obtain M adjusted transport blocks, wherein the lengths of the information bits respectively corresponding to the M adjusted transport blocks are equal; the first communication apparatus performing encoding processing on the basis of the M adjusted transport blocks, so as to obtain M encoded transport blocks; and the first communication apparatus sending the M encoded transport blocks to a second communication apparatus. By means of the method, it can be effectively ensured that the lengths of information bits corresponding to transport blocks (TBs) before outer code encoding are equal, thereby meeting the requirements for executing outer code encoding.

Description

Communication method and device

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China on March 6, 2024, with application number 202410258477.3 and application name "A Communication Method and Device", the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

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

[0004] Compared to terrestrial communications, non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) offer wide coverage and flexible networking, enabling seamless global network coverage. NTNs utilize drones, high-altitude platforms, satellites, and other equipment to form networks and provide data transmission, voice communication, and other services to user equipment (UE).

[0005] Furthermore, unlike terrestrial communications, NTN communications involve greater distances between base stations and terminals, resulting in longer round-trip transmission times. When decoding errors occur at the receiving end, data retransmission delays are significant, leading to significant transmission delays for the entire system. Therefore, to improve transmission reliability and reduce the probability of retransmissions, a TB-wise outer code encoding scheme is proposed, which uses TBs as units for outer code encoding.

[0006] Typically, before outer code encoding, the lengths of multiple source information bit groups to be encoded are required to be equal so that outer code encoding can be performed on the multiple source information bit groups separately. However, in actual applications, during the execution of TB-level outer code encoding, the problem of unequal information bit lengths of multiple source TBs to be encoded may occur, making it impossible to perform outer code encoding. For example, each time slot carries a TB, so the transmitter determines the information bit lengths corresponding to the multiple source TBs based on the multiple time slot resources scheduled. According to current technology, a TB is mapped to a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) or physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) resource within a time slot. However, due to the fact that synchronization signals, reference signals, etc. occupy part of the time-frequency resources during the same period, the multiple time slot resources scheduled are not necessarily equal, which leads to unequal information bit lengths corresponding to the multiple source TBs determined based on the multiple time slot resources, which does not meet the requirements for executing outer code encoding, and therefore outer code encoding cannot be performed. Summary of the Invention

[0007] The present application provides a communication method and apparatus, which can effectively ensure that the information bit lengths corresponding to each transmission block TB before outer code encoding are equal, meeting the requirements for executing outer code encoding.

[0008] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a first communication device, such as a terminal device or an access network device (such as a base station / satellite, etc.), or by a chip, or a chip system, or a logic module or software corresponding to the first communication device, without limitation. Taking the first communication device as an example, the method may include: the first communication device determines the lengths of information bits corresponding to M transmission blocks to be encoded, and the lengths of the information bits corresponding to the M transmission blocks are not equal; M is an integer greater than 1; the first communication device adjusts the information bits based on the lengths of the information bits corresponding to the M transmission blocks, to obtain M adjusted transmission blocks, and the lengths of the information bits corresponding to the M adjusted transmission blocks are equal; the first communication device performs encoding processing based on the M adjusted transmission blocks to obtain M coded transmission blocks; and the first communication device sends the M coded transmission blocks to the second communication device.

[0009] In the implementation method of the present application, when the first communication device determines that the lengths of the information bits corresponding to the M transmission blocks to be encoded are not equal, it can effectively adjust the lengths of the information bits corresponding to the M transmission blocks, so that the lengths of the information bits corresponding to the M adjusted transmission blocks are equal, thereby meeting the requirements of outer code encoding (that is, the lengths of multiple segments of information bits to be encoded are equal), and then effectively performing outer code encoding processing and completing efficient transmission of data / information.

[0010] In one possible implementation, the first communication device determines the length of the information bits corresponding to the M transmission blocks to be encoded, which may include: obtaining first transmission resource information and a coding modulation strategy, the first transmission resource information including time-frequency resource information corresponding to N time slots, and the time slot resources corresponding to the N time slots are used to transmit the M transmission blocks; N is a positive integer; then, based on the time-frequency resource information and the coding modulation strategy corresponding to the N time slots, determining the coding bit length corresponding to the M transmission blocks; and then, based on the coding bit length corresponding to the M transmission blocks and the coding modulation strategy, determining the information bit length corresponding to the M transmission blocks.

[0011] For example, if the first communication device is a terminal device and the second communication device is a base station, the first communication device can obtain the first transmission resource information from the second communication device. If the first communication device is a base station and the second communication device is a terminal device, the first communication device can configure and obtain the first transmission resource information and send the first transmission resource information to the second communication device.

[0012] In the embodiment of the present application, the N time slots may all be adjacent time slots, or may all be non-adjacent time slots, or some time slots may be adjacent and other time slots may be non-adjacent, which is not specifically limited.

[0013] In a possible implementation, when N=M, the time-frequency resources corresponding to the N time slots can be applied one by one to transmit the M transport blocks.

[0014] Through this implementation, the first communication device can effectively learn the lengths of the information bits corresponding to the M transport blocks to be encoded, so as to determine whether to adjust the length of the information bits of each transport block subsequently.

[0015] In the embodiment of the present application, the first communication device adjusts the information bits based on the information bit lengths corresponding to the M transport blocks to obtain M adjusted transport blocks, which may include but is not limited to the following implementations:

[0016] Implementation method 1: The first communication device determines a target transmission block with the largest information bit length from the M transmission blocks based on the information bit lengths corresponding to the M transmission blocks; then, based on the information bit length of the target transmission block, adds zero-value bits to the information bits of each remaining transmission block to obtain a corresponding adjusted transmission block; wherein the information bit length of the adjusted transmission block corresponding to each remaining transmission block is equal to the information bit length of the target transmission block; the remaining transmission blocks are the transmission blocks other than the target transmission block in the M transmission blocks.

[0017] In the embodiment of the present application, although no zero-value bit is added to the target transport block, it participates in the adjustment process. Therefore, after adding zero-value bits to the information bits of the remaining transport blocks, the M transport blocks can be regarded as M adjusted transport blocks.

[0018] Implementation method two: The first communication device adjusts the information bits based on the information bit lengths corresponding to the M transmission blocks to obtain M adjusted transmission blocks, including: first determining the length of the total information bits based on the information bit lengths corresponding to the M transmission blocks; then, based on the length of the total information bits, equally dividing the total information bits to obtain M groups of information bits, and the lengths of the M groups of information bits are equal; finally, using the M groups of information bits as the information bits of the M adjusted transmission blocks.

[0019] In implementation manner 2, if the length of the total information bits cannot be evenly divided into M groups of information bits with integer lengths; the first communication device evenly divides the total information bits based on the length of the total information bits to obtain M groups of information bits, which may include the following methods:

[0020] Method 1: The first communication device groups the total information bits based on the target value to obtain M groups of information bits, where the M groups of information bits include a group of information bits whose length is not equal to the target value and M-1 groups of information bits whose length is equal to the target value; wherein the target value is obtained by rounding up the ratio between the length of the total information bits and M; further, zero-value bits are added to the group of information bits whose length is not equal to the target value to obtain an adjusted information bit group, where the length of the adjusted information bit group is equal to the target value.

[0021] Method 2: The first communication device groups the total information bits based on the target value to obtain M groups of information bits, where the M groups of information bits include a group of information bits whose length is equal to the target value and M-1 groups of information bits whose length is not equal to the target value; wherein the target value is obtained by rounding down the ratio between the length of the total information bits and M; further, zero-value bits are added to the M-1 groups of information bits whose length is not equal to the target value to obtain adjusted M-1 groups of information bits, and the length of the adjusted M-1 groups of information bits is equal to the target value.

[0022] The first communication device can flexibly and effectively adjust the information bit lengths corresponding to the M transport blocks through, but not limited to, the above implementation methods, so that the information bit lengths corresponding to the M adjusted transport blocks are equal, thereby meeting the requirements of outer code encoding.

[0023] In one possible implementation, the first communication device performs encoding processing based on the M adjusted transport blocks to obtain M coded transport blocks, which may include the following steps:

[0024] Step 1: The first communication device performs outer code encoding on the information bits of the M adjusted transport blocks to obtain M information bits of the first transport block and Q information bits of the check transport block; Q is a positive integer.

[0025] Step 2: The first communication device performs channel coding on the information bits of the M first transmission blocks to obtain M coded transmission blocks.

[0026] In a possible implementation, the method may further include: the first communication device determines a code rate for channel coding; and then, based on the code rate for channel coding, performs channel coding on the information bits of the Q check transmission blocks to obtain encoded Q check transmission blocks.

[0027] In an embodiment of the present application, the first communication device determines the code rate of the channel coding, which may include: obtaining second transmission resource information, the second transmission resource information including information about the time-frequency resources corresponding to the Q check transmission blocks; and then determining the code rate of the channel coding based on the information about the time-frequency resources corresponding to the Q check transmission blocks.

[0028] For example, if the first communication device is a base station and the second communication device is a terminal device, the base station can be configured to obtain the second transmission resource information and determine the channel coding code rate. If the first communication device is a terminal device and the second communication device is a base station, the terminal device can obtain the second transmission resource information from the base station and then determine the channel coding code rate, or the terminal device can obtain the channel coding code rate from the base station.

[0029] Through this implementation, the first communication device can effectively perform encoding processing on the M transmission blocks to facilitate subsequent efficient transmission.

[0030] In one possible implementation, the method may further include: the first communication device sending the channel coding code rate to the second communication device. Through this implementation, the second communication device can subsequently effectively perform channel decoding processing based on the channel coding code rate.

[0031] For example, the first communication device is a base station, and the second communication device is a terminal device. The base station can send downlink control information (DCI) to the terminal device. The DCI is used to indicate the coding modulation strategy (MCS), and the coding modulation strategy MCS can carry the code rate of the channel coding.

[0032] In one possible implementation, the information bits of the M coded transport blocks include added zero-valued bits; and the method further includes: the first communications device removing the added zero-valued bits from the information bits of the M coded transport blocks. This implementation ensures that the first communications device provides valid coded information bits to the second communications device, while avoiding additional resource overhead.

[0033] In one possible implementation, the first communications device sending the M coded transport blocks to the second communications device may include: sending the M coded transport blocks to the second communications device based on the time-frequency resources corresponding to the N time slots. With this implementation, the first communications device can effectively send the M coded transport blocks to the second communications device based on the time-frequency resources corresponding to the N scheduled time slots.

[0034] In another possible implementation, the method may further include: the first communication device determining a target ratio based on the lengths of the information bits corresponding to the M adjusted transport blocks; and then, based on the target ratio, reallocating the time-frequency resources corresponding to the N time slots to obtain M groups of time-frequency resources, where the ratio of the data amounts of the M groups of time-frequency resources is equal to the target ratio. Furthermore, the first communication device sending the M coded transport blocks to the second communication device may include: the first communication device sending the M coded transport blocks to the second communication device based on the M groups of time-frequency resources; the M groups of time-frequency resources corresponding to the M coded transport blocks.

[0035] In an embodiment of the present application, if the information bits corresponding to the M adjusted transmission blocks respectively do not include added zero-value bits, then the first communication device determines the target ratio based on the lengths of the information bits corresponding to the M adjusted transmission blocks respectively, which may include: using the ratio between the lengths of the information bits corresponding to the M adjusted transmission blocks respectively as the target ratio.

[0036] If the information bits of at least one of the M adjusted transport blocks include added zero-value bits; the method also includes: the first communication device removes the added zero-value bits in the information bits of the at least one adjusted transport block; further, the first communication device determines the target ratio based on the lengths of the information bits of the M adjusted transport blocks, which may include: taking the ratio between the lengths of the information bits corresponding to the M adjusted transport blocks as the target ratio, and the information bits corresponding to the M adjusted transport blocks do not include added zero-value bits.

[0037] Through this implementation, reasonable and accurate time-frequency resources can be allocated for the transmission of the M coded transport blocks, which not only ensures the reliability of transmitting each coded transport block, but also ensures that the time-frequency resources corresponding to each time slot can be effectively utilized.

[0038] In one possible implementation, the method may further include: the first communication device sending the encoded Q check transport blocks to the second communication device based on the time-frequency resources corresponding to the Q check transport blocks. This implementation ensures that the second communication device (receiving end) can subsequently effectively perform decoding processing.

[0039] In one possible embodiment, the method may further include: the first communication device sends first information to the second communication device, where the first information is used to indicate at least two of the following: (1) the length of the information bits corresponding to the M transmission blocks, (2) the length of the information bits corresponding to the M adjusted transmission blocks, (3) information used to determine the transmission block to which zero-value bits are added, such as the index number, sequence number or identifier of the transmission block, etc., and (4) the number of zero-value bits added in the transmission block to which zero-value bits are added.

[0040] For example, if the first communication device (sending end) is a base station and the second communication device (receiving end) is a terminal device, the first information sent by the first communication device to the second communication device may be a DCI or a media access control (MAC) message, etc.

[0041] In an embodiment of the present application, if the first communication device (transmitting end) is a terminal device and the second communication device (receiving end) is a base station, the second communication device sends the first information to the first communication device. The first information can be downlink control information DCI or media access control MAC message, etc., and then the first communication device can perform corresponding information bit length adjustment and encoding processing and transmission based on the first information.

[0042] Through this implementation, the subsequent second communication device can effectively and accurately adjust the length of the information bits of the received M coded transport blocks based on the information indicated by the first information to meet the requirements of outer code decoding.

[0043] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a second communication device, such as a terminal device or an access network device (such as a base station / satellite, etc.), or by a chip, or a chip system, or a logic module or software corresponding to the second communication device, without limitation. Taking the second communication device as an example, the method may include: the second communication device receives M coded transmission blocks, the lengths of the information bits corresponding to the M coded transmission blocks are unequal; M is an integer greater than 1; then, based on the M coded transmission blocks, adjusting the information bits to obtain M adjusted coded transmission blocks; the lengths of the information bits corresponding to the M adjusted coded transmission blocks are equal; finally, decoding processing is performed based on the M adjusted coded transmission blocks to obtain M transmission blocks.

[0044] In the implementation method of the present application, when the second communication device determines that the lengths of the information bits corresponding to the M received coded transmission blocks are not equal, it can effectively adjust the lengths of the information bits corresponding to the M coded transmission blocks, so that the lengths of the information bits corresponding to the M adjusted coded transmission blocks are equal, thereby meeting the requirements of outer code decoding (that is, the lengths of multiple segments of information bits to be decoded are equal), and then can effectively perform outer code decoding processing to obtain the corresponding M transmission blocks.

[0045] In one possible implementation, the method may further include: a second communication device obtaining first transmission resource information, the first transmission resource information including time-frequency resource information corresponding to N time slots, the time-frequency resources corresponding to the N time slots being applied one by one to transmit the M coded transport blocks. Corresponding to the first communication device, the second communication device receiving the M coded transport blocks from the first communication device may include the following situations:

[0046] Case 1: The second communication apparatus receives M coded transport blocks from the first apparatus based on the time slot resources corresponding to the N time slots.

[0047] Case 2: The second communication device reallocates the time-frequency resources corresponding to the N time slots based on the lengths of the information bits corresponding to the M coded transport blocks, and obtains M groups of time-frequency resources, where the ratio between the data amounts of the M groups of time-frequency resources is equal to the ratio between the information bit lengths of the M coded transport blocks; and then receives the M coded transport blocks from the first communication device based on the M groups of time-frequency resources.

[0048] In the embodiment of the present application, the N time slots may all be adjacent time slots, or may all be non-adjacent time slots, or some time slots may be adjacent and other time slots may be non-adjacent, which is not specifically limited.

[0049] Through this implementation, the second communication device can effectively obtain information about the time-frequency resources for transmitting the M coded transport blocks, so as to accurately receive the M coded transport blocks subsequently.

[0050] In one possible embodiment, the method may further include: the second communication device receives first information from the first communication device, the first information being used to indicate at least two of the following: (1) the lengths of the information bits corresponding to the M transmission blocks, (2) the lengths of the information bits corresponding to the M adjusted transmission blocks, (3) information used to determine the transmission block to which zero-value bits are added, such as the index number, sequence number, or identifier of the transmission block, and (4) the number of zero-value bits added in the transmission block to which zero-value bits are added. Through this embodiment, the second communication device can learn that the first communication device has adjusted the lengths of the information bits of the M transmission blocks, so that the second communication device can subsequently effectively and accurately adjust the lengths of the information bits of the received M transmission blocks to ensure that the requirements of the outer code decoding are met.

[0051] In one possible implementation, when the first information is used to indicate a transport block with added zero-value bits and the corresponding number of zero-value bits in M ​​transport blocks; the second communication device adjusts the information bits based on the M coded transport blocks to obtain M adjusted coded transport blocks, which may include: first, based on the transport block with added zero-value bits in the M transport blocks, determining the coded transport block to which zero-value bits are to be added from the M coded transport blocks; and then, based on the number of zero-value bits added in the transport block to which zero-value bits are added, adding zero-value bits to the information bits of the coded transport block to which zero-value bits are to be added to obtain the adjusted coded transport block.

[0052] In another possible implementation, when the first information is used to indicate the lengths of information bits corresponding to each of the M transport blocks and the lengths of information bits corresponding to each of the M adjusted transport blocks, the method may further include: the second communication device may determine, based on the lengths of information bits corresponding to each of the M transport blocks and the lengths of information bits corresponding to each of the M adjusted transport blocks, the transport blocks to which zero-valued bits are added and the number of corresponding zero-valued bits added. Through this implementation, the second communication device may also indirectly and accurately determine the transport blocks to which zero-valued bits are added and the number of corresponding zero-valued bits added in the M transport blocks.

[0053] Furthermore, the second communication device adjusts the information bits based on M coded transport blocks to obtain M adjusted coded transport blocks, which may include: the second communication device determines the coded transport blocks to be added with zero-value bits from the M coded transport blocks based on the transport blocks to which zero-value bits are added in the M transport blocks; and then adds zero-value bits to the information bits of the coded transport blocks to be added with zero-value bits based on the number of zero-value bits added in the transport blocks to which zero-value bits are added, to obtain the adjusted coded transport blocks.

[0054] Through this implementation, the second communication device can effectively and accurately adjust the lengths of the information bits of the received M coded transport blocks, and can meet the requirements of subsequent outer code decoding.

[0055] In one possible implementation, the second communication device performs decoding processing based on the M adjusted coded transport blocks to obtain M transport blocks, which may include: first performing channel decoding on the information bits of the M adjusted coded transport blocks to obtain M information bits of the first transport blocks; and then performing outer code decoding based on the information bits of the M first transport blocks to obtain M transport blocks.

[0056] Through this implementation, the second communication device can effectively complete the decoding process to obtain M transport blocks.

[0057] In one possible implementation, the method may further include: a second communication device receives the encoded Q check transmission blocks and the channel coding code rate from the first communication device; and then based on the channel coding code rate, performs channel decoding on the information bits of the encoded Q check transmission blocks to obtain the information bits of the Q check transmission blocks.

[0058] In an embodiment of the present application, the second communication device receives the Q encoded check transmission blocks from the first communication device, which may include: obtaining second transmission resource information, the second transmission resource information including information of time-frequency resources corresponding to the Q encoded check transmission blocks; and then receiving the Q encoded check transmission blocks from the first communication device based on the time-frequency resources corresponding to the Q encoded check transmission blocks.

[0059] Exemplarily, the first communication device is a base station, and the second communication device is a terminal device. The base station can indicate the second transmission resource information to the terminal device, and can also send or indicate the channel coding rate to the terminal device. For example, the base station can send downlink control information DCI to the terminal device to indicate the coding modulation strategy MCS, and the MCS can carry the channel coding rate.

[0060] Furthermore, the second communication device performs outer code decoding based on the information bits of the M first transmission blocks to obtain M transmission blocks, which may include: performing outer code decoding based on the information bits of the M first transmission blocks and the information bits of the Q check transmission blocks to obtain M transmission blocks.

[0061] Through this implementation, it can be ensured that the second communication device effectively performs outer code decoding on the information bits of the M first transmission blocks.

[0062] In one possible implementation, if the information bits of the M transport blocks include added zero-valued bits, the method may further include: the second communication device removing the added zero-valued bits from the information bits of the M transport blocks. Through this implementation, valid information bits of the M transport blocks can be obtained.

[0063] In a third aspect, the present application further provides a communication device, which is a first communication device or a chip in the first communication device. The communication device has the function of implementing any of the methods provided in the first aspect above. The communication device can be implemented by hardware or by hardware executing corresponding software implementations. The hardware or software includes one or more units or modules corresponding to the above functions.

[0064] In one possible design, the communication device includes a processor configured to support the communication device in executing the corresponding functions of the first communication device in the method described above. The communication device may also include a memory, which may be coupled to the processor and stores program instructions and data necessary for the communication device. Optionally, the communication device also includes an interface circuit for supporting communication between the communication device and equipment such as a service satellite, such as the transmission and reception of data or signals. Exemplarily, the communication interface may be a transceiver, circuit, bus, module, or other type of communication interface.

[0065] In one possible design, the communication device includes corresponding functional modules for implementing the steps in the above method. The functions can be implemented by hardware or by hardware executing corresponding software implementations. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions.

[0066] In one possible design, the structure of the communication device includes a processing unit and a communication unit, which can perform the corresponding functions in the above method example. For details, please refer to the description of the method provided in the first aspect, which will not be repeated here.

[0067] In a fourth aspect, the present application further provides a communication device, which is a second communication device or a chip in the second communication device. The communication device has the function of implementing any of the methods provided in the second aspect above. The communication device can be implemented by hardware or by hardware executing corresponding software implementations. The hardware or software includes one or more units or modules corresponding to the above functions.

[0068] In one possible design, the communication device includes: a processor configured to support the communication device in executing the corresponding functions of the second communication device in the method shown above. The communication device may also include a memory, which may be coupled to the processor and stores the necessary program instructions and data for the communication device. Optionally, the communication device also includes an interface circuit, which is used to support communication between the communication device and a terminal device, a core network device, or other device, such as the transmission and reception of data or signals. Exemplarily, the communication interface may be a transceiver, circuit, bus, module, or other type of communication interface.

[0069] In one possible design, the communication device includes corresponding functional modules for implementing the steps in the above method. The functions can be implemented by hardware or by hardware executing corresponding software implementations. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions.

[0070] In one possible design, the structure of the communication device includes a processing unit and a communication unit, which can perform the corresponding functions in the above method example. For details, please refer to the description of the method provided in the second aspect, which will not be repeated here.

[0071] In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising 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 in the aforementioned first aspect and any possible implementation method through logic circuits or execution code instructions.

[0072] In the sixth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising a processor and an interface circuit, the interface circuit being used to receive signals from other communication devices outside the communication device and transmit them to the processor or to send signals from the processor to other communication devices outside the communication device, the processor being used to implement the method in the aforementioned second aspect and any possible design through logic circuits or executing code instructions.

[0073] In the seventh aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which stores a computer program or instruction. When the computer program or instruction is executed by a processor, it implements the method in any one of the first to second aspects and any possible implementation methods.

[0074] In an eighth aspect, a computer program product storing instructions is provided, which, when executed by a processor, implements the methods in the aforementioned first to second aspects and any possible implementation methods.

[0075] In a ninth aspect, a chip system is provided, comprising a processor and a memory, for implementing the method of the first and second aspects and any possible implementation. The chip system may be composed of a chip or may include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0076] In a tenth aspect, a communication system is provided, comprising the first communication device described in the first aspect and the second communication device described in the second aspect.

[0077] The technical effects that can be achieved by the technical solutions in any of the third to tenth aspects mentioned above can be described with reference to the technical effects that can be achieved by the technical solutions in the first to second aspects mentioned above, and the repeated parts will not be repeated. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0078] FIG1A is a flow chart of a TB group retransmission solution in a large delay scenario;

[0079] FIG1B is a schematic diagram of a PHY / MAC layer retransmission TB in a large delay scenario;

[0080] FIG2A is a schematic diagram of an external code encoding;

[0081] FIG2B is a schematic diagram of a flow chart of external code encoding;

[0082] FIG3A is a schematic diagram of time-frequency resources corresponding to two time slots;

[0083] FIG3B is a schematic diagram showing that the lengths of the information bits carried by the two time slots are not equal and do not meet the outer code encoding requirements;

[0084] FIG4A is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system applicable to an embodiment of the present application;

[0085] FIG4B is a schematic diagram of an ORAN system applicable to an embodiment of the present application;

[0086] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture of another communication system applicable to an embodiment of the present application;

[0087] FIG6 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0088] FIG7A is an example diagram of adjusting the information bit length of a transport block provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0089] FIG7B is a schematic diagram of transmission resources corresponding to a coded transport block provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0090] FIG8A is another example diagram of adjusting the information bit length of a transport block provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0091] FIG8B is a schematic diagram of reallocation of transmission resources corresponding to a coded transport block provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0092] FIG9A is another example diagram of adjusting the information bit length of a transport block provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0093] FIG9B is a schematic diagram of transmission resource reconfiguration and allocation corresponding to a coded transport block provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0094] FIG10 is a schematic diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0095] FIG11 is a schematic diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0096] FIG12 is a schematic diagram of a chip device that can be adapted by an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0097] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described clearly and completely below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. The terms used in the following embodiments are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to be limiting of the present application. As used in the specification and appended claims of this application, the singular expressions "one", "a kind", "said", "above", "the" are intended to also include expressions such as "one or more", unless there is a clear contrary indication in the context. It should also be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, "one or more" refers to one, two or more; "and / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist; for example, A and / or B can represent: the existence of A alone, the existence of A and B at the same time, and the existence of B alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the related objects before and after are in an "or" relationship.

[0098] References to "one embodiment" or "some embodiments" described in this specification mean that one or more embodiments of the present application include specific features, structures or characteristics described in conjunction with the embodiment. The terms "including", "comprising", "having" and their variations involved in this application all mean "including but not limited to", unless otherwise specifically emphasized. Words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations or descriptions, and any embodiment or design described as "exemplary" or "for example" should not be interpreted as being more preferred or more advantageous than other embodiments or designs. The use of words such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present related concepts in a concrete way for easy understanding.

[0099] The multiple involved in the embodiments of the present application refers to greater than or equal to two. It should be noted that, in the description of the embodiments of the present application, words such as "first" and "second", as well as "1", "2" and the like (except for the case of expressing numerical values) are only used to distinguish the purpose of description, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance, nor can they be understood as indicating or implying order. In addition, the term "used to indicate" mentioned in the description of the embodiments of the present application can include being used for direct indication and being used for indirect indication. When describing a certain indication information for indicating A, it can include that the indication information directly indicates A or indirectly indicates A, and it does not mean that the indication information must carry A.

[0100] In order to better understand the solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application, the following first explains the terms (words), concepts, and processes involved in the embodiments of the present application. It should be noted that these explanations are intended to make the embodiments of the present application easier to understand and should not be regarded as limiting the scope of protection claimed by this application.

[0101] 1. Non-terrestrial networks (NTN):

[0102] NTN, proposed in contrast to traditional terrestrial networks, refers to networks built using non-terrestrial communication technologies. NTN communications can include, but are not limited to, networking using drones, high-altitude platforms, satellites, and other equipment to provide data transmission, voice communication, and other services to user equipment (UE). High-altitude platform equipment is generally 8 to 50 km above the ground. Satellite communication systems can be divided into three types based on the satellite's orbital altitude: geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) satellite communication systems, also known as synchronous orbit satellite systems; medium Earth orbit (MEO) satellite communication systems; and low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite communication systems. GEO satellites have an orbital altitude of 35,786 km. Their main advantage is that they can remain stationary relative to the ground and provide a large coverage area. However, GEO satellite communications also have significant disadvantages: 1) GEO satellite orbits are far from Earth, resulting in significant free-space propagation losses, which constrain communication link budgets. To maximize transmit / receive gain, satellites must be equipped with larger antennas. 2) Communication transmission latency is significant, reaching around 500ms round-trip, making it inadequate for low-latency services. 3) GEO orbital resources are relatively limited, launch costs are high, and coverage of the polar regions is limited. MEO satellites, operating at an altitude between 2000 and 35,786 km, offer the advantage of achieving global coverage with a relatively small number of satellites. However, their higher orbital altitudes compared to LEO satellites still result in higher transmission latency compared to LEO satellites. Considering the advantages and disadvantages of MEO satellite communications, MEO satellites are primarily used for positioning and navigation. LEO satellites, operating at an altitude between 300 and 2000 km, offer advantages such as lower data transmission latency, reduced transmission losses, and lower launch costs than both MEO and GEO satellites. Consequently, LEO satellite communications have garnered increasing attention in recent years.

[0103] Compared to terrestrial communications, non-terrestrial (NTN) communications offer a wider coverage area and flexible networking, enabling seamless global network coverage. NTN networks complement existing terrestrial networks and can also be considered an independent communications system providing users with global high-speed network access. Currently, research institutes, communications organizations, and telecommunications companies around the world are participating in the research and development of NTN communication technologies and standards, striving to build a unified network for space, air, and ground communications.

[0104] Currently, 5G New Radio (NR) technology is evolving from Release 18 to Release 19. NR technology has also moved from standardization to commercial deployment. We note that the original intention of the NR standard protocol research was to design wireless communication technologies for terrestrial cellular network scenarios, capable of providing users with wireless communication services with ultra-low latency, ultra-reliability, ultra-high speeds, and a large number of connections. However, cellular networks cannot achieve seamless global coverage. For example, in areas without terrestrial base stations, such as ocean surfaces, polar regions, and rainforests, voice and data services cannot be provided in these areas without cellular network coverage.

[0105] 2. PHY / MAC layer retransmission mechanism in high-latency scenarios:

[0106] In NTN communications, the distance between base stations and terminals is long, resulting in long round-trip transmission times. When decoding errors occur at the receiving end, data retransmission delays are significant, leading to significant transmission delays for the entire system. Therefore, to improve transmission reliability and reduce the probability of retransmissions, a TB-wise outer code encoding scheme is proposed, which uses TBs as units for outer code encoding.

[0107] FIG1A shows a flow chart of a TB group retransmission solution in a large delay scenario. As shown in FIG1A , the flow of the TB group retransmission solution includes the following steps:

[0108] S101A: The satellite base station side determines the length of the process window.

[0109] In a possible implementation, the satellite base station may determine the length of the process window based on the satellite orbit altitude, the positional relationship between the satellite and the service area, and the like.

[0110] S102A: The satellite base station configures or sends the length of the process window to the terminal device.

[0111] All TBs transferred within the length of the process window belong to the same process.

[0112] S103A: The satellite base station sends downlink data to the terminal device within the process window, that is, at least one TB.

[0113] S104A: The terminal device decodes the downlink data (ie, at least one TB) in the process window.

[0114] S105A: The terminal device feeds back the TB decoding result within the process window to the satellite base station.

[0115] For example, the terminal device feeds back the decoding result of each TB transmitted in the process window to the satellite base station; or the terminal device feeds back the number of TBs with decoding errors among the TBs transmitted in the process window to the satellite base station.

[0116] S106A: The satellite base station sends the corresponding retransmitted data in the process window to the terminal device in the process window with the same process number based on the TB decoding result in the process window fed back by the terminal device.

[0117] For example, in S105A, the terminal device decodes m TBs incorrectly, then in S106A, the satellite base station sends m check TBs corresponding to the process window to the terminal device, or resends the m TBs to the terminal device; m is a positive integer.

[0118] S107A: The terminal device (UE) decodes the retransmitted data in the process window or jointly decodes it with the previously received TB.

[0119] If the terminal device receives m TBs resent by the satellite base station, it decodes the m TBs. If the terminal device receives m check TBs corresponding to m TBs that were decoded incorrectly, it jointly decodes the m check TBs with the m TBs received previously.

[0120] S108A: The terminal device feeds back the TB decoding result within the process window to the satellite base station.

[0121] The terminal device sends the decoding result of each TB transmitted in the process window or the number of TBs with decoding errors to the satellite base station. Here, the steps S105A-S107A above can be referred to and will not be repeated here.

[0122] Figure 1B shows a schematic diagram of the PHY / MAC layer retransmission of TB in a large latency scenario. The upper part corresponds to uplink transmission and the lower part corresponds to downlink transmission. As shown in Figure 1B, within the process window, the TBs sent by the satellite base station to the terminal device constitute a process or are mapped into a process. The terminal device feeds back the decoding results of the TBs received within the process to the satellite base station and performs retransmission according to the process window.

[0123] The process window in the solution described in Figure 1A can be replaced with the number of TBs in the TB group to which the process is mapped. This means that "the satellite base station configures the number of TBs corresponding to a process for the terminal device" replaces "the satellite base station configures the length of a process window for the terminal device." In high-latency scenarios, this solution can achieve higher spectral efficiency and lower transmission latency.

[0124] 3. Outer code method:

[0125] Before sending data, the transmitter performs the following steps: channel coding, outer code coding, and modulation on the data to be sent. After receiving the data, the receiver performs the reverse process of the transmitter.

[0126] The outer code encoding method may include Reed Solomon code (RS code), fountain code, algebraic code, Raptor code, minimum distance separable (MDS) code, etc.

[0127] The information bits are outer-coded at the MAC layer or physical layer, and the bits after outer-code coding are used as source information bits. The source information bits are then LDPC-coded, and finally the LDPC-coded blocks are mapped to different time slots as multiple transmission TBs (transport blocks).

[0128] As shown in Figure 2A, it is assumed that at the media access control (MAC) layer or the physical PHY (physical) layer, the information bits of the four TBs are respectively outer-coded (e.g., raptorQ coding), and two parity TB information bits are added to the original four TB information bits, i.e., as parity TBs. Further, the 6 TB information bits after outer-code coding are LDPC-coded to obtain 6 TB-coded bits. Finally, these 6 TBs are mapped to 6 different time domain slots for transmission.

[0129] The difference from using only LDPC coding is that it adds outer code encoding of the source information bits, and thus adds multiple parity TB information bits. The parity TB is used to effectively assist decoding and ensure the probability of correct decoding.

[0130] As shown in FIG2B , the specific process of external code encoding includes the following:

[0131] S201B: Divide the source information bits of the source block into multiple groups of source information bits (hereinafter referred to as Info.bits). The lengths of these multiple groups of source information bits (Info.bits) are equal (requirement of outer code encoding).

[0132] For example, as shown in FIG2B , the source information bits of a source block are equally divided into four groups (also referred to as four segments), and the length (or number) of the source information bits (Info.bits) in each group is equal.

[0133] S202B: Perform outer code encoding on the multiple groups of source information bits to obtain multiple groups of outer code encoded source bits (ie, Info.bits shown in FIG. 2B ) and multiple groups of parity bits.

[0134] If it is systematic code encoding, the source bits are the same as the Info.bits before external code encoding.

[0135] S203B: Encode the multiple groups of outer code-encoded source bits and the multiple groups of parity bits using LDPC channel coding to obtain multiple groups of LDPC-encoded source bits and multiple groups of LDPC-encoded parity bits.

[0136] In order to ensure that the decoding performance of the source bits and the parity bits at the receiving end is the same or similar, in S203B, the same code rate is used to perform channel coding on the two.

[0137] For example, as shown in FIG2B , LDPC channel coding is used to encode four groups of source bits and four groups of parity bits to obtain four groups of LDPC coded source bits and four groups of LDPC coded parity bits.

[0138] S204B: Map multiple groups of LDPC coded source bits and multiple groups of LDPC coded parity bits to corresponding time-frequency resources after modulation and inverse discrete Fourier transform (IDFT) for transmission.

[0139] To ensure that the receiving end has the same or similar decoding performance for source bits and parity bits, the same modulation scheme is used to modulate the LDPC coded source bits and the LDPC coded parity bits.

[0140] In the above, each group can be collectively referred to as a TB.

[0141] Ultimately, since each set of Info.bits (TB) and each set of parity bits (check TB) have the same length, the same channel coding rate, and the same modulation scheme, each encoded TB occupies the same number of time-frequency resources. As shown in Figure 2B, each set of LDPC coded source bits and each set of LDPC coded parity bits have the same number (length) of time-frequency resources.

[0142] Based on the above, it can be seen that before performing outer code encoding, the lengths of multiple information bit groups to be encoded are generally required to be equal, so that outer code encoding can be performed on each of the multiple information bit groups. However, in actual applications, when performing terabyte-level outer code encoding, the lengths of the information bits in the multiple terabytes to be encoded may be unequal, making outer code encoding impossible.

[0143] For example, assuming each time slot carries one TB, the transmitter can determine the source information bit length corresponding to the source TB based on the multiple slot time-frequency resources scheduled. For example, the source information bit length carried by the source TB corresponding to the slot is determined based on the number of time-frequency resources available for data transmission within the slot and the MCS (modulation coding scheme) used (including the modulation order and the channel coding rate).

[0144] However, a TB is mapped to the PDSCH / PUSCH resources within a slot. Due to the resources occupied by synchronization signals, reference signals, etc., the number of PDSCH / PUSCH time-frequency resources carrying data TBs in each slot is different. Taking Figure 3A as an example, the left side of Figure 3A shows the time-frequency resources of time slot 0 (slot 0), taking RB0 and RB1 as examples. Slot 0 includes PDCCH data, demodulation reference signal (DMRS), channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), phase tracking reference signal (PTRS), and PDSCH data, and the final number of resource elements (REs) carrying PDSCH data is 244. The right side of Figure 3A shows the time-frequency resources of time slot 1, taking RB0 and RB1 as examples. Slot 1 includes DMRS, PTRS, and PDSCH data, and the final number of resource elements (REs) carrying PDSCH data is 300.

[0145] Based on this, as shown in Figure 3B, the number of time-frequency resources in slot 0 and slot 1 is different, and the number of time-frequency resources corresponding to slot 1 is greater than the number of time-frequency resources corresponding to slot 0. Therefore, when the same MCS mode is used, based on the MCS value corresponding to the MCS mode, as well as the number of time-frequency resources corresponding to slot 0 and the number of time-frequency resources corresponding to slot 1, it is determined that the source information bit length corresponding to the source TB carried by slot 0 is different from the source information bit length corresponding to the source TB carried by slot 1. The length ratio of the source information bits corresponding to these two source TBs is related to the corresponding ratio of the number of time-frequency resources between slot 0 and slot 1. Since the lengths of the source information bits (Info.bits or information bits) of the source TBs carried by slot 0 and slot 1 are not equal, the requirement of equal source information bit length during outer code encoding is not met, and therefore outer code encoding cannot be performed.

[0146] To address the above issues, an embodiment of the present application proposes a communication method that can effectively ensure that the information bit lengths corresponding to each transport block (TB) before outer code encoding are equal, meeting the requirements for executing outer code encoding.

[0147] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as terrestrial communication systems, non-terrestrial communication systems, such as satellite communication systems. Among them, the satellite communication system can be integrated with the mobile communication system. For example, the mobile communication system can be a fourth generation (4G) communication system (for example, a long term evolution (LTE) system), a world-wide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication system, a fifth generation (5G) communication system (for example, a new radio (NR) system), and future mobile communication systems. The mobile communication system can also be a vehicle to everything (V2X) system and an Internet of Things (IoT) system.

[0148] FIG4A exemplarily illustrates a possible architectural diagram of a communication system 4000 used in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG4A , the communication system includes a radio access network (RAN) 100 and a core network 200. Optionally, the communication system 4000 may also include the Internet 300. The RAN 100 includes at least one RAN node (e.g., 110a and 110b in FIG4A , collectively referred to as 110), and may also include at least one terminal (e.g., 120a-120j in FIG4A , collectively referred to as 120). The RAN 100 may also include other RAN nodes, such as wireless relay devices and / or wireless backhaul devices (not shown in FIG4A ). The terminal 120 is wirelessly connected to the RAN node 110, and the RAN node 110 is wirelessly or wiredly connected to the core network 200. The core network devices in the core network 200 and the RAN node 110 in the RAN 100 may be independent and distinct physical devices, or they may be a single physical device that integrates the logical functions of the core network devices and the logical functions of the RAN nodes. Terminals and RAN nodes may be connected to each other via wired or wireless means.

[0149] RAN100 can be an evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) system, a new radio (NR) system, or a future radio access system defined in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), or a WiFi system. RAN100 can also include two or more of the aforementioned different radio access systems. RAN100 can also be an open RAN (O-RAN).

[0150] A RAN node, also known as a radio access network device, RAN entity, or access node, is used to help terminals access a communication system wirelessly. In one application scenario, a RAN node can be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next-generation NodeB (gNB) in a fifth-generation (5G) mobile communication system, a next-generation base station in a future mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a WiFi system. A RAN node can be a macro base station (such as 110a in Figure 4A), a micro base station, an indoor station (such as 110b in Figure 4A), a relay node, or a donor node.

[0151] In another application scenario, multiple RAN nodes can collaborate to help terminals achieve wireless access, with different RAN nodes implementing portions of the base station's functions. For example, a RAN node can be a centralized unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), or a radio unit (RU). The CU implements the base station's radio resource control protocol and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) functions, as well as the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) functions. The DU implements the base station's radio link control layer and medium access control (MAC) layer functions, as well as some or all of the physical layer functions. For detailed descriptions of each of the above protocol layers, please refer to the relevant 3GPP technical specifications. The RU can be used to implement the transmission and reception of radio frequency signals. The CU and DU can be two independent RAN nodes, or they can be integrated into the same RAN node, such as in a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in radio frequency equipment, such as a remote radio unit (RRU) or an active antenna unit (AAU). The CU can be further divided into two types of RAN nodes: CU-control plane and CU-user plane.

[0152] In different systems, RAN nodes may have different names. For example, in an O-RAN system, a CU may be called an open CU (O-CU), a DU may be called an open DU (O-DU), and a RU may be called an open RU (O-RU). The RAN node in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module. For example, the RAN node may be a server loaded with the corresponding software module. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the RAN node. For ease of description, the following description takes a base station as an example of a RAN node.

[0153] Figure 4B shows a schematic diagram of an O-RAN system. It is understood that the O-RAN system may include other components in addition to the components shown in Figure 4B. As shown in Figure 4B, the access network device RAN (for example, it can be an eNB or gNB or a next-generation access network device) communicates with the core network (CN) through a backhaul link and communicates with the user equipment (UE) through an air interface. Specifically, the baseband unit (BBU) in the access network device communicates with the core network CN through a backhaul link, and the radio unit (RU) in the access network device communicates with at least one UE through an air interface. The BBU communicates with at least one RU through a fronthaul link, and the BBU and RU may be co-located or not. Among them, the BBU includes at least one control unit (CU) and at least one distributed unit (DU), which can communicate through at least one midhaul link. For example, in an embodiment of the present application, if the base station (gNB) transmits at least one source TB and / or check TB to a terminal device (UE), this can be implemented by the BBU and sent to the terminal device. In addition, the base station can implement outer code encoding, channel coding, etc. through the DU and RU to send at least one source TB and / or check TB to the terminal device.

[0154] A terminal is a device with wireless transceiver capabilities that can send signals to a base station or receive signals from a base station. A terminal may also be referred to as a terminal device, user equipment (UE), mobile station, mobile terminal, etc. Terminals can be widely used in various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D), V2X communication, machine-type communication (MTC), IoT, virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wearable, smart transportation, smart city, etc. A terminal can be a mobile phone, tablet computer, computer with wireless transceiver capabilities, wearable device, vehicle, airplane, ship, robot, robotic arm, smart home device, etc. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the terminal.

[0155] Base stations and terminals can be fixed or mobile. They can be deployed on land, indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; on water; or on aircraft, balloons, and satellites. The embodiments of this application do not limit the application scenarios of base stations and terminals.

[0156] The roles of base stations and terminals can be relative. For example, the helicopter or drone 120i in Figure 4A can be configured as a mobile base station. For terminals 120j accessing the wireless access network 100 via 120i, terminal 120i is a base station. However, for base station 110a, 120i is a terminal, meaning that communication between 110a and 120i occurs via a wireless air interface protocol. Of course, communication between 110a and 120i can also occur via a base station-to-base station interface protocol. In this case, 120i is also a base station relative to 110a. Therefore, base stations and terminals can be collectively referred to as communication devices. 110a and 110b in Figure 4A can be referred to as communication devices with base station functionality, while 120a-120j in Figure 4A can be referred to as communication devices with terminal functionality.

[0157] Communication between base stations and terminals, between base stations, and between terminals can be carried out through authorized spectrum, unauthorized spectrum, or both; communication can be carried out through spectrum below 6 gigahertz (GHz), spectrum above 6 GHz, or spectrum below 6 GHz and spectrum above 6 GHz. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the spectrum resources used for wireless communication.

[0158] In the embodiments of the present application, the functions of the base station may also be performed by a module (such as a chip) in the base station, or by a control subsystem that includes the base station functions. The control subsystem that includes the base station functions here may be a control center in the above-mentioned application scenarios such as smart grid, industrial control, smart transportation, and smart city. The functions of the terminal may also be performed by a module (such as a chip or modem) in the terminal, or by a device that includes the terminal functions.

[0159] In this application, a base station sends downlink signals or downlink information to a terminal, and the downlink information is carried on a downlink channel; the terminal sends uplink signals or uplink information to the base station, and the uplink information is carried on an uplink channel. In order to communicate with the base station, the terminal needs to establish a wireless connection with the cell controlled by the base station. The cell with which the terminal has established a wireless connection is called the serving cell of the terminal. When the terminal communicates with the serving cell, it will also be subject to interference from signals in neighboring cells.

[0160] As another example, see Figure 5, which is a schematic diagram of the architecture of another communication system applicable to an embodiment of the present application. The communication system includes a satellite, a terminal device, and a gateway. The satellite can be a high elliptical orbit (HEO) satellite, a geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellite, a medium earth orbit (MEO) satellite, and a low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite. In addition, the NTN system can also include a high altitude platform station (HAPS), etc., which is not limited here. A gateway (also known as a ground station, earth station, gateway, or gateway) can be used to connect a satellite and a ground base station gateway station / gateway. One or more satellites can be connected to one or more ground base stations through one or more gateways, which is not limited here. Terminal devices, for example, include mobile phones, airplanes, etc. (Figure 5 is used as an example). The link between the satellite and the terminal device is called a service link, and the link between the satellite and the gateway is called a feeder link.

[0161] The embodiments of the present application do not limit the working mode of the satellite. For example, the working mode of the satellite can be a transparent mode or a regenerative mode.

[0162] In transparent transmission mode, the satellite acts as an analog RF repeater, providing relay and forwarding capabilities. It can perform wireless frequency conversion and amplification, transparently transmitting or replicating signals between the base station and the terminal device. For example, a signal sent by a terminal device can be transparently transmitted via the satellite and then forwarded to the ground base station via the gateway. The gateway has some or all of the functions of a base station, so it can be considered a base station. Network elements and base stations can be deployed together or separately. If the gateway is deployed separately from the base station, the feeder link latency includes both the satellite-to-gateway and gateway-to-base station latency.

[0163] In regenerative mode, the satellite acts as a wireless communication base station, performing some or all of the base station's functions. It regenerates signals received from the ground and can understand and process them. For example, the satellite can be a base station on an artificial satellite or high-altitude aircraft, such as an evolved base station (eNB) or a 5G base station (gNB). The gateway forwards signaling between the satellite (i.e., base station) and the core network.

[0164] The system architecture and business scenarios described in the embodiments of the present application are intended to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that, with the evolution of the system architecture and the emergence of new business scenarios, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application may also be applicable to similar technical problems.

[0165] In this application, the names of the messages in the following processes are merely examples. As communication technologies evolve, the names of the messages in the following processes may change. However, regardless of how the names change, as long as their meanings are the same as the functions or meanings of the messages in this application, they fall within the scope of protection of this application. For example, the first information in this application can also be replaced by DCI, MAC message, or uplink control information. The length of the information bits can be replaced by the number of information bits, etc.

[0166] The communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application may involve interaction between two devices (or two ends), such as a first communication device and a second communication device, wherein the first communication device can serve as a transmitter or a receiver, and the second communication device can also serve as a transmitter or a receiver. For example, when the first communication device serves as a transmitter, the second communication device serves as a receiver; when the second communication device serves as a transmitter, the first communication device serves as a receiver. In the following, the embodiment of the present application is described by taking the first communication device as the transmitter and the second communication device as the receiver as an example.

[0167] For example, in the communication system shown in FIG4A above, the first communication device may be an access network device, and the second communication device may be a terminal device; or the first communication device may be a terminal device, and the second communication device may be an access network device. In the satellite system shown in FIG5 above, the first communication device may be a satellite, and the second communication device may be a terminal device; or the first communication device may be a terminal device, and the second communication device may be a satellite. In the embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified, "terminal device" may refer to the terminal device itself, or to a component in the terminal device, such as a chip or a chip system; "network device (including access network device, such as a base station or satellite)" may refer to the network device itself, or to a component in the network device, such as a chip or a chip system.

[0168] The following is a corresponding introduction to the solutions of the embodiments of the present application.

[0169] The embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which is applicable to but not limited to the communication system shown in Figure 4A or Figure 5. The method can be executed by a first communication device and a second communication device; or the method can be executed by components (modules, chips, etc.) corresponding to the first communication device and the second communication device; or the method can be executed by a device corresponding to the first communication device and the second communication device; it can be understood that the present application does not specifically limit the specific structure of the execution subject of the method provided in the embodiment of the present application and the number of each execution subject, as long as it can communicate according to the method provided in the embodiment of the present application by running a program that records the code of the method provided in the embodiment of the present application. It should be noted that in this embodiment, the first communication device is a sending device, which can be understood as the sending end of data, and the second communication device is a receiving device, which can be understood as the receiving end of data. The method provided in the present application can be applied in a scenario where a terminal communicates with a network device (such as a base station / satellite). In uplink transmission, the terminal is the sending end and the base station / satellite is the receiving end; in downlink transmission, the base station / satellite is the sending end and the terminal is the receiving end. For ease of description, the interaction between the first communication device (sending end) and the second communication device (receiving end) is used as an example for explanation. The order of steps in the following processes is only an example. In actual applications, the execution order of steps in each process can be adjusted.

[0170] Referring to FIG6 , the specific process of the method may include the following:

[0171] S601: The first communication device determines the lengths of information bits corresponding to M transport blocks to be encoded, where the lengths of the information bits corresponding to the M transport blocks are not equal; M is an integer greater than 1.

[0172] In one possible implementation, the first communication device determines the length of the information bits corresponding to the M transmission blocks to be encoded, which may include: first obtaining first transmission resource information and a coding modulation strategy, the first transmission resource information including time-frequency resource information corresponding to N time slots, and the time slot resources corresponding to the N time slots are used to transmit the M transmission blocks; N is a positive integer; then, based on the time-frequency resource information corresponding to the N time slots and the coding modulation strategy, determining the coding bit length corresponding to the M transmission blocks; finally, based on the coding bit length corresponding to the M transmission blocks and the coding modulation strategy, determining the information bit length corresponding to the M transmission blocks.

[0173] In the above description, the N time slots may be adjacent time slots or non-adjacent time slots, and this application does not impose any specific limitation on this.

[0174] Furthermore, the values ​​of N and M may be equal or unequal. When N is equal to M, the time-frequency resources corresponding to each of the N time slots may be applied one-by-one to transmit the M transport blocks. When N is not equal to M, the N time slot resources are divided into M groups of symbols, each group containing an equal or unequal number of symbols. The time-frequency resources corresponding to each of the M groups of symbols may be applied one-by-one to transmit the M transport blocks. The following description uses the case where N is equal to M as an example.

[0175] S602: The first communication device adjusts the information bits based on the information bit lengths respectively corresponding to the M transport blocks to obtain M adjusted transport blocks, where the information bits respectively corresponding to the M adjusted transport blocks have the same lengths.

[0176] In the embodiment of the present application, when the first communication device executes S602, the following implementations may be included but are not limited to:

[0177] Implementation method 1: The first communication device adjusts the information bits based on the information bit lengths corresponding to the M transmission blocks to obtain M adjusted transmission blocks, including: the first communication device determines a target transmission block with the largest information bit length from the M transmission blocks based on the information bit lengths corresponding to the M transmission blocks; then, based on the information bit length of the target transmission block, adds zero-value bits to the information bits of each remaining transmission block to obtain the corresponding adjusted transmission blocks; the information bit length of the adjusted transmission block corresponding to each remaining transmission block is equal to the information bit length of the target transmission block; the remaining transmission blocks are transmission blocks other than the target transmission block in the M transmission blocks.

[0178] In the embodiment of the present application, although no zero-value bit is added to the target transport block, it participates in the adjustment process. Therefore, after adding zero-value bits to the information bits of the remaining transport blocks, the M transport blocks can be regarded as M adjusted transport blocks.

[0179] For example, referring to FIG7A , taking the scheduling of time-frequency resources corresponding to four time slots (time slot 0, time slot 1, time slot 2, and time slot 3) as an example, the first communication device performs the following steps:

[0180] Step 1: Calculate the bit lengths of the four coded source TBs based on the time-frequency resources corresponding to the four time slots and the coding modulation strategy MCS.

[0181] Optionally, the time-frequency resources corresponding to the four time slots may be applied one by one to transmit the four coded source TBs.

[0182] For example, the first communication device first determines that the current modulation and coding strategy is MCS1. Further,

[0183] The first communication device determines the bit length of the encoded source TB1 according to the time-frequency resources corresponding to time slot 0 and MCS1.

[0184] The first communication device determines the bit length of the encoded source TB2 according to the time-frequency resources corresponding to time slot 1 and MCS1.

[0185] The first communication device determines the bit length of the encoded source TB3 according to the time-frequency resources corresponding to time slot 2 and MCS1.

[0186] The first communication device determines the bit length of the encoded source TB4 according to the time-frequency resources corresponding to time slot 3 and MCS1.

[0187] Step 2: Calculate the source information bit (info.bis) lengths of the four source TBs based on the bit lengths of the four coded source TBs and the coding and modulation strategy MCS. The source information bit (info.bis) lengths of the four source TBs are not equal.

[0188] For example, the first communication device determines the source information bit length of the source TB1 according to the encoded bit length of the source TB1 and the MCS1.

[0189] The first communication device determines the source information bit length of the source TB2 according to the encoded bit length of the source TB2 and MCS1.

[0190] The first communication device determines the source information bit length of the source TB3 according to the encoded bit length of the source TB3 and MCS1.

[0191] The first communication device determines the source information bit length of the source TB4 according to the encoded bit length of the source TB4 and MCS1.

[0192] Step 3: From the four source TBs, select the source TB with the longest information bit length as the reference source TB (ie, the target transport block mentioned above).

[0193] Step 4: Based on the reference source TB, perform a padding 0 operation on the source information bits of other source TBs.

[0194] For example, source TB1 has 2 source information bits, source TB2 has 4 source information bits, source TB3 has 2 source information bits, and source TB4 has 3 source information bits. Then, using source TB2, which has the largest number of source information bits (i.e., the largest length), as the reference object (benchmark), two zero-valued bits are added to the source information bits of source TB1 (zero-valued bits do not carry or indicate any valid information), two zero-valued bits are added to the source information bits of source TB3, and one zero-valued bit is added to the source information bits of source TB4. Through the above operations, the number of information bits corresponding to source TB1, source TB2, source TB3, and source TB4 is 4, as shown in FIG7A .

[0195] After the operation of step 4, the lengths of the information bits of the four source TBs can be made equal, thereby meeting the requirements of outer code encoding.

[0196] Implementation method two: The first communication device adjusts the information bits based on the information bit lengths corresponding to the M transmission blocks to obtain M adjusted transmission blocks, including: determining the length of the total information bits according to the information bit lengths corresponding to the M transmission blocks; based on the length of the total information bits, equally dividing the total information bits to obtain M groups of information bits, and the lengths of the M groups of information bits are equal; finally, the M groups of information bits are used as the information bits of the M adjusted transmission blocks.

[0197] Based on the second implementation, if the total length of the information bits cannot be evenly divided into M groups of information bits with integer lengths, the first communication device may implement the method in the following ways:

[0198] Method 1 (rounding up): The first communication device equally divides the total information bits based on the length of the total information bits to obtain M groups of information bits, which may include: grouping the total information bits based on the target value to obtain M groups of information bits, the M groups of information bits including a group of information bits whose length is not equal to the target value and M-1 groups of information bits whose length is equal to the target value; wherein the target value is obtained by rounding up the ratio between the length of the total information bits and M; further, adding zero-value bits to the group of information bits whose length is not equal to the target value to obtain an adjusted information bit group, and the length of the adjusted information bit group is equal to the target value.

[0199] In one possible implementation, the target value may satisfy the following formula 1:

[0200] Where T represents the total information bit length of M transmission blocks, / is the division sign, The operator symbol for rounding up.

[0201] For example, referring to FIG8A , taking the scheduling of time-frequency resources corresponding to four time slots (time slot 0, time slot 1, time slot 2, and time slot 3) as an example, the first communication device performs the following steps:

[0202] Step 1: Calculate the bit lengths of the four coded source TBs based on the time-frequency resources corresponding to the four time slots and the first MCS.

[0203] Step 2: Calculate the source information bit (info.bis) lengths of the four source TBs based on the bit lengths of the four coded source TBs and the first MCS. The source information bit (info.bis) lengths of the four source TBs are not equal.

[0204] Step 1 and step 2 can be implemented one by one with reference to step 1 and step 2 in the above-mentioned implementation method 1, and will not be repeated here.

[0205] Step 3: Regroup the source information bits of the four source TBs by rounding up to obtain three source TBs with equal source information bit lengths and one source TB with a shorter source information bit length.

[0206] For example, the four source TBs are: source TB1 has 2 source information bits, source TB2 has 4 source information bits, source TB3 has 2 source information bits, and source TB4 has 3 source information bits. The total number of source information bits is 11. According to the target value 3, 3 information bits are allocated to each of the 3 source TBs, and 1 information bit is allocated to the remaining source TB. For example, 3 information bits are allocated to each of source TB1, source TB2, and source TB3, and 2 information bits are allocated to source TB4, as shown in FIG8A . The operator symbol for rounding up.

[0207] Step 4: Perform a zero padding operation on the source TB with a short source information bit length.

[0208] For example, as shown in Figure 8A, source TB1, source TB2, and source TB3 each have 3 information bits, and source TB4 has 2 information bits. Then, a zero-valued bit is added to the information bits of source TB4, so that the information bits of the four source TBs each have 3.

[0209] After the operation of step 4, the lengths of the information bits of the four source TBs can be made equal, thereby meeting the requirements of outer code encoding and enabling subsequent outer code encoding to be performed.

[0210] Method 2 (rounding down): The first communication device equally divides the total information bits based on the length of the total information bits to obtain M groups of information bits, which may include: grouping the total information bits based on the target value to obtain M groups of information bits, the M groups of information bits including a group of information bits whose length is equal to the target value and M-1 groups of information bits whose length is not equal to the target value; wherein the target value is obtained by rounding down the ratio between the length of the total information bits and M; further, adding zero-value bits to the M-1 groups of information bits whose length is not equal to the target value to obtain adjusted M-1 groups of information bits, and the length of the adjusted M-1 groups of information bits is equal to the target value.

[0211] In a possible implementation, the target value may satisfy the following formula 2:

[0212] Where T represents the total information bit length of M transmission blocks, / is the division sign, The operator symbol for rounding down.

[0213] For example, referring to FIG9A , taking the scheduling of time-frequency resources corresponding to four time slots (time slot 0, time slot 1, time slot 2, and time slot 3) as an example, the first communication device performs the following steps:

[0214] Step 1: Calculate the bit lengths of the four coded source TBs based on the time-frequency resources corresponding to the four time slots and the coding modulation strategy MCS.

[0215] Step 2: Calculate the source information bit (info.bis) lengths of the four source TBs based on the bit lengths of the four coded source TBs and the coding and modulation strategy MCS. The source information bit (info.bis) lengths of the four source TBs are not equal.

[0216] Step 1 and step 2 can be implemented one by one with reference to step 1 and step 2 in the above-mentioned implementation method 1, and will not be repeated here.

[0217] Step 3: Regroup the source information bits of the four source TBs by rounding down to obtain three source TBs with equal and shorter source information bits and one source TB with longer source information bits.

[0218] For example, the four source TBs are: source TB1 has 2 source information bits, source TB2 has 4 source information bits, source TB3 has 2 source information bits, and source TB4 has 3 source information bits. The total number of source information bits is 11. According to the target value 2, 2 information bits are allocated to each of the three source TBs, and 5 information bits are allocated to the remaining source TB. For example, 2 information bits are allocated to each of source TB1, source TB2, and source TB3, and 5 information bits are allocated to source TB4, as shown in FIG9A . The operator symbol for rounding down.

[0219] Step 4: Perform zero padding operation on the three source TBs with shorter information bit lengths respectively.

[0220] For example, as shown in FIG9A , source TB1, source TB2, and source TB3 each have 2 information bits, and source TB4 has 5 information bits. Therefore, 3 zero-valued bits are added to the information bits of source TB1, source TB2, and source TB3, respectively, so that the information bits of the four source TBs each have 5.

[0221] After the operation of step 4, the lengths of the information bits of the four source TBs can be made equal, thereby meeting the requirements of outer code encoding and enabling subsequent outer code encoding to be performed.

[0222] S603: The first communication device performs encoding processing based on the M adjusted transport blocks to obtain M coded transport blocks.

[0223] In an embodiment of the present application, the first communication device performs encoding processing based on M adjusted transmission blocks to obtain M coded transmission blocks, which may include: performing outer code encoding on the information bits of the M adjusted transmission blocks to obtain M information bits of the first transmission blocks and Q information bits of the check transmission blocks; Q is a positive integer; and then performing channel coding on the information bits of the M first transmission blocks to obtain M coded transmission blocks. In an embodiment of the present application, the channel coding method may be, but is not limited to, low-density parity check code (LDPC) coding. This article introduces the solution using LDPC coding as an example of the channel coding method.

[0224] In one possible implementation, the method of the embodiment of the present application may further include: the first communication device determining a code rate for channel coding; and then, based on the code rate for the channel coding, performing channel coding on the information bits of the Q check transport blocks to obtain encoded Q check transport blocks;

[0225] In an embodiment of the present application, the first communication device determines the code rate of the channel coding, which may include: obtaining second transmission resource information, the second transmission resource information including information about the time-frequency resources corresponding to the Q check transmission blocks; and then determining the code rate of the channel coding based on the information about the time-frequency resources corresponding to the Q check transmission blocks.

[0226] For example, if the first communication device is a base station and the second communication device is a terminal device, the base station can be configured to obtain the second transmission resource information and determine the channel coding code rate. If the first communication device is a terminal device and the second communication device is a base station, the terminal device can obtain the second transmission resource information from the base station and then determine the channel coding code rate, or the terminal device can obtain the channel coding code rate from the base station.

[0227] In a possible implementation, the method may further include: the first communication device sending the channel coding code rate to the second communication device. Through this implementation, the second communication device can subsequently effectively perform channel decoding processing based on the channel coding code rate.

[0228] For example, the first communication device is a base station, and the second communication device is a terminal device. The base station can send downlink control information DCI to the terminal device. The DCI is used to indicate the coding modulation strategy MCS, and the coding modulation strategy MCS can carry the code rate of the channel coding.

[0229] For example, referring to FIG. 7A , FIG. 8A , or FIG. 9A , after the first communication device performs step 4 (i.e., after adjusting the information bit length of the source TB), the first communication device performs the following steps:

[0230] Step 5: Perform outer code encoding on the information bits corresponding to the four source TBs with equal information bit lengths to obtain four encoded source TBs and four check TBs.

[0231] In the embodiment of the present application, the bit length of each check TB is equal to the information bit length of the corresponding source TB.

[0232] Step 6: Perform LDPC encoding on the information bits of the four encoded source TBs to obtain four LDPC-encoded source TBs; and perform LDPC encoding on the information bits of the four check TBs to obtain four LDPC-encoded check TBs.

[0233] In one possible implementation, the first communication device performs LDPC encoding on the information bits of the four check TBs to obtain four LDPC-encoded check TBs, which may include: the first communication device obtains the number of time-frequency resources used to carry the check TB, and determines the code rate of the channel coding of the check TB according to the number of time-frequency resources carrying the check TB; and then, based on the code rate of the channel coding of the check TB, performs LDPC encoding on the information bits of the four check TBs to obtain four LDPC-encoded check TBs.

[0234] Optionally, the number of time slots used to carry the check TBs is equal to the number of the check TBs. For example, the time slots used to carry the four check TBs are time slot 4, time slot 5, time slot 6, and time slot 7.

[0235] S604: The first communication device sends M coded transport blocks to the second communication device. Correspondingly, the second communication device receives the M coded transport blocks from the first communication device.

[0236] In one possible implementation, if the information bits of the M coded transport blocks include added / supplemented zero-value bits, the method may further include: the first communication device removing the added / supplemented zero-value bits in the information bits of the M coded transport blocks.

[0237] In one possible implementation, the method of the embodiment of the present application may further include: the first communication device sending the Q encoded check transport blocks to the second communication device based on the time-frequency resources corresponding to the Q check transport blocks. In the embodiment of the present application, the first communication device sending the M encoded transport blocks and the Q encoded check transport blocks to the second communication device may be synchronous or asynchronous, and the order of sending is not limited.

[0238] In the embodiment of the present application, when the first communication device executes S604 (i.e., sends M coded transport blocks to the second communication device), the following possible implementations may be included but are not limited to:

[0239] Implementation method 1: The first communication device may send M coded transmission blocks to the second communication device based on the time-frequency resources corresponding to the N time slots (ie, the time slot resources corresponding to the N time slots originally scheduled).

[0240] The first communication device can also obtain the time-frequency resource information corresponding to the N time slots in the above S601. Therefore, in S604, the first communication device can send the M coded transmission blocks using the time-frequency resources corresponding to the N time slots based on the time-frequency resource information corresponding to the N time slots.

[0241] For example, when implementation mode 1 is used in the above S602, the first communication device performs the following steps after performing step 6:

[0242] Step 7: The first communication device sends four LDPC-coded source TBs to the second communication device based on the time-frequency resources corresponding to the four time slots. The first communication device also sends four LDPC-coded check TBs to the second communication device based on the time-frequency resources of the four check TBs, as shown in FIG7B .

[0243] In step 7, when four LDPC-coded source TBs are sent based on the time-frequency resources corresponding to the four time slots, the zero-valued bits supplemented in S602 are not included. Optionally, after step 6, the supplemented zero-valued bits can be removed from the four LDPC-coded source TBs (zero-valued bits do not carry or indicate any valid information).

[0244] For example, referring to the zero bits added in step 4 above (i.e., the zero-padded TB shown in FIG7A ), source TB2 has the largest bit length (i.e., the largest number of bits), and no zero-padded operation is performed before outer code encoding. Source TB1, source TB3, and source TB4 all undergo corresponding zero-padded operations before outer code encoding. Therefore, here, the two added zero-valued bits are removed from the four information bits of LDPC-encoded source TB1, resulting in two information bits in the final LDPC-encoded source TB1.

[0245] The two supplementary zero-valued bits are removed from the four information bits of the LDPC-coded source TB3, and finally the LDPC-coded source TB3 has two information bits.

[0246] The supplemented 1 zero-value bit is removed from the 4 information bits of the LDPC-coded source TB4, and finally the LDPC-coded source TB4 has 3 information bits.

[0247] Through the above operations, the information bits of the four LDPC-coded source TBs do not include supplementary zero-value bits.

[0248] Furthermore, the first communication device (transmitter) may send four LDPC-coded source TBs and four LDPC-coded check TBs to the second communication device (receiver) as follows:

[0249] On the time-frequency resources corresponding to time slot 0, the LDPC-coded source TB1 (excluding the aforementioned supplementary zero-valued bits) is transmitted.

[0250] On the time-frequency resources corresponding to time slot 1, the LDPC-coded source TB2 is sent.

[0251] On the time-frequency resources corresponding to time slot 2, the LDPC-coded source TB3 (excluding the above-mentioned supplementary zero-valued bits) is sent.

[0252] On the time-frequency resources corresponding to time slot 3, the LDPC-coded source TB4 (excluding the above-mentioned supplementary zero-valued bits) is sent.

[0253] On the time-frequency resource corresponding to time slot 4, the LDPC-coded check TB1 is sent.

[0254] On the time-frequency resources corresponding to time slot 5, the LDPC-coded check TB2 is sent.

[0255] On the time-frequency resources corresponding to time slot 6, the LDPC-coded checksum TB3 is sent.

[0256] On the time-frequency resources corresponding to time slot 7, the LDPC-coded check TB4 is sent.

[0257] Implementation method 2: The first communication device may send M coded transport blocks to the second communication device based on M groups of time-frequency resources; the M groups of time-frequency resources correspond one-to-one to the M coded transport blocks.

[0258] In a possible implementation, when implementation 2 or implementation 3 is used in S602, the first communication device may further include the following steps before executing S604:

[0259] Step 1: The first communication device determines a target ratio based on the lengths of information bits corresponding to the M adjusted transport blocks.

[0260] In one possible implementation, the information bits corresponding to the M adjusted transmission blocks do not include added / supplemented zero-value bits, and the first communication device determines the target ratio based on the lengths of the information bits corresponding to the M adjusted transmission blocks, which may include: using the ratio between the lengths of the information bits corresponding to the M adjusted transmission blocks as the target ratio.

[0261] In another possible implementation, the information bits of at least one adjusted transport block among the M adjusted transport blocks include added / supplemented zero-value bits; the method may also include: the first communication device removes the added / supplemented zero-value bits in the information bits of the at least one adjusted transport block.

[0262] Furthermore, the first communication device determines the target ratio based on the lengths of the information bits of the M adjusted transmission blocks, which may include: taking the ratio between the lengths of the information bits corresponding to the M adjusted transmission blocks as the target ratio, wherein the information bits corresponding to the M adjusted transmission blocks do not include added / supplemented zero-value bits.

[0263] Step 2: The first communication device allocates time-frequency resources corresponding to N time slots based on the target ratio to obtain M groups of time-frequency resources, where the ratio between the data amounts of the M groups of time-frequency resources is equal to the target ratio.

[0264] For example, referring to FIG8B or FIG9B , the first communication device can reallocate the time slot resources corresponding to the four time slots according to the four adjusted information bit lengths of the source TBs (excluding supplementary zero-value bits), and obtain four groups of time-frequency resources, and the ratio between the numbers of the four groups of time-frequency resources is equal to the ratio between the information bit lengths of the four adjusted source TBs.

[0265] For example, when the method of adjusting the information bit length of the source TBs (rounding up) shown in FIG8A is used, 3 information bits are allocated to each of source TB1, source TB2, and source TB3, and 2 information bits are allocated to source TB4. Therefore, referring to FIG8B , based on the reallocated or adjusted information bit numbers of source TB1, source TB2, source TB3, and source TB4, the ratio (i.e., the target ratio) between the information bit numbers (i.e., information bit lengths) corresponding to these four source TBs is determined to be 3:3:3:2.

[0266] Furthermore, based on the above ratio of 3:3:3:2, the number of time-frequency resources corresponding to the 4 time slots is redivided into 4 groups. These 4 groups correspond to the 4 time slots one by one, and the ratio between the number of time-frequency resources in the 4 groups is 3:3:3:2.

[0267] For another example, when the method of adjusting the information bit length of the source TBs (rounding down) shown in FIG9A is used, 2 information bits are allocated to each of source TB1, source TB2, and source TB3, and 5 information bits are allocated to source TB4. Therefore, referring to FIG9B , based on the reallocated or adjusted numbers of information bits corresponding to source TBs, source TB2, source TB3, and source TB4, the ratio (i.e., the aforementioned target ratio) of the numbers of information bits (i.e., information bit lengths) corresponding to these four source TBs is determined to be 2:2:2:5.

[0268] Furthermore, based on the above ratio of 2:2:2:5, the number of time-frequency resources corresponding to the 4 time slots is redivided into 4 groups. These 4 groups correspond one-to-one to the 4 time slots, and the ratio between the number of time-frequency resources in the 4 groups is 2:2:2:5.

[0269] In the above step 1, the first communication device may also determine the target ratio based on the corresponding bit lengths of the M adjusted transport blocks after outer code encoding (excluding supplementary zero-valued bits), and specifically refer to the examples corresponding to Figures 8B or 9B above.

[0270] In another embodiment of the present application, in the above step 1, the first communication device can also determine the target ratio based on the corresponding bit length (excluding supplementary zero-value bits) of the M adjusted transmission blocks after outer code encoding and channel encoding.

[0271] For example, referring to Figure 8B or Figure 9B, assuming that the bit length of source TB1 after outer code encoding and LDPC encoding is a, the bit length of source TB2 after outer code encoding and LDPC encoding is c, the bit length of source TB3 after outer code encoding and LDPC encoding is d, and the bit length of source TB4 after outer code encoding and LDPC encoding is d, it can be determined that the ratio between the number (length) of information bits corresponding to these four source TBs after outer code encoding and LDPC encoding (that is, the above-mentioned target ratio) is a:b:c:d.

[0272] In the embodiment of the present application, when determining the target ratio, the supplemented zero-value bits in each TB are removed, that is, the bits of each TB after outer code encoding and LDPC encoding do not contain supplemented zero-value bits.

[0273] In one possible implementation, before the second communication device receives M coded transmission blocks from the first communication device, the method may also include: the second communication device obtains first transmission resource information, the first transmission resource information includes time-frequency resource information corresponding to N time slots, and the time-frequency resources corresponding to the N time slots are applied one by one to transmit the M coded transmission blocks.

[0274] For example, if the first communication device is a base station and the second communication device is a terminal device, the base station can configure the time-frequency resources corresponding to the N time slots respectively, and send the first transmission resource information to the terminal device to indicate the time-frequency resource information corresponding to the N time slots respectively to the terminal device. If the first communication device is a terminal device and the second communication device is a base station, the base station itself can configure or schedule the time-frequency resources corresponding to the N time slots respectively. In the embodiment of the present application, the N time slots can be adjacent time slots or non-adjacent time slots, and there is no specific limitation on this.

[0275] In the embodiment of the present application, corresponding to the first communication device side, the second communication device receives M coded transport blocks from the first communication device, which may include the following possible implementations:

[0276] Implementation method 1: The second communication device receives M coded transmission blocks from the first communication device based on time slot resources corresponding to N time slots respectively.

[0277] The second communication device receives M coded transmission blocks from the first communication device based on the time slot resources corresponding to the N time slots. Specifically, it can be implemented by referring to the above-mentioned method of the first communication device side sending M coded transmission blocks based on the time slot resources corresponding to the N time slots, which will not be repeated here.

[0278] Implementation method 2: The second communication device may receive M coded transport blocks from the first communication device based on M groups of time-frequency resources; the M groups of time-frequency resources correspond one-to-one to the M coded transport blocks.

[0279] In one possible implementation, the second communication device may receive M coded transmission blocks from the first communication device based on M groups of time-frequency resources, and may also include: the second communication device reallocates the time-frequency resources corresponding to N time slots based on the lengths of the information bits corresponding to the M coded transmission blocks, to obtain M groups of time-frequency resources, and the ratio between the data amounts of the M groups of time-frequency resources is equal to the ratio between the information bit lengths of the M coded transmission blocks; based on the M groups of time-frequency resources, receives M coded transmission blocks from the first communication device.

[0280] The second communication device can receive M coded transmission blocks from the first communication device based on M groups of time-frequency resources. Specifically, this can be achieved by referring to the above-mentioned method in which the first communication device sends M coded transmission blocks to the second communication device based on M groups of time-frequency resources, which will not be repeated here. In addition, in an embodiment of the present application, the first communication device can also directly indicate the M groups of time slot resources to the second communication device, and / or send information for determining the M groups of time slot resources, which is not limited to this. For example, if the first communication device is a base station and the second communication device is a terminal device, the base station can indicate / send information about the M groups of time-frequency resources to the terminal device, such as the size and position corresponding to the M groups of time-frequency resources, etc.

[0281] In one possible implementation, the method of the embodiment of the present application may further include: the first communication device sends the first information to the second communication device, and accordingly, the second communication device receives the first information. In the embodiment of the present application, the first information may be used to indicate at least two of the following:

[0282] (1) The length of the information bits corresponding to the M transport blocks; (2) The length of the information bits corresponding to the M adjusted transport blocks; (3) Information used to determine the transport block to which the zero-value bit is added, such as the index number or sequence number of the transport block; (4) The number of zero-value bits added in the transmission of the added zero-value bits.

[0283] The first information may be downlink control information DCI, media access control MAC message, uplink control information, etc. This application does not limit the first information.

[0284] Exemplarily, if the first communication device (sending end) is a base station and the second communication device (receiving end) is a terminal device, the first information sent by the first communication device to the second communication device may be downlink control information DCI or media access control MAC message, etc.

[0285] In an embodiment of the present application, if the first communication device (transmitting end) is a terminal device and the second communication device (receiving end) is a base station, the second communication device sends the first information to the first communication device. The first information can be downlink control information DCI or media access control MAC message, etc., and then the first communication device performs corresponding information bit length adjustment and encoding processing and transmission based on the first information.

[0286] For example, as shown in FIG7A , the first information may be used to indicate at least two of the following:

[0287] (1) The number of original information bits in these four source TBs.

[0288] That is, source TB1 has 2 information bits, source TB2 has 4 information bits, source TB3 has 2 information bits, and source TB4 has 3 information bits.

[0289] (2) The information bit length of each source TB after adjusting the information bit length of the source TB.

[0290] That is, source TB1 has 4 information bits, source TB2 has 4 information bits, source TB3 has 4 information bits, and source TB4 has 4 information bits.

[0291] (3) The index number / serial number of the source TB where the zero padding operation is performed.

[0292] The source TBs for performing the zero-padding operation are: source TB1, source TB3, source TB4, that is, the first information indicates that the index numbers / serial numbers of the source TBs for performing the zero-padding operation are: 1, 3, 4.

[0293] (4) The number of zero-valued bits added in the source TB for the zero-padding operation.

[0294] The number of zero-valued bits supplemented to source TB1 is 2, the number of zero-valued bits supplemented to source TB3 is 2, and the number of zero-valued bits supplemented to source TB4 is 1.

[0295] Optionally, the first information may also be used to indicate an adjustment method used by the first communication device, ie, to adjust the information bit length of the source TB using the TB with the largest length / largest number as a reference TB.

[0296] For example, as shown in FIG8A , the first information may be used to indicate at least two of the following:

[0297] (1) The number of original information bits in these four source TBs.

[0298] That is, source TB1 has 2 information bits, source TB2 has 4 information bits, source TB3 has 2 information bits, and source TB4 has 3 information bits.

[0299] (2) The information bit length of each source TB after adjusting the information bit length of the source TB.

[0300] That is, source TB1 has 3 information bits, source TB2 has 3 information bits, source TB3 has 3 information bits, and source TB4 has 3 information bits.

[0301] (3) The index number / serial number of the source TB where the zero padding operation is performed.

[0302] The source TB for performing the zero-padding operation is source TB4. The first information is used to indicate that the index number / serial number of the source TB for performing the zero-padding operation is 4.

[0303] (4) The number of zero-valued bits added in the source TB to which the zero-padding operation is performed, that is, the number of zero-valued bits added to the source TB4 is 1.

[0304] Optionally, the first information may also be used to indicate an adjustment method used by the first communication device, that is, an equal division method with rounding up.

[0305] For example, as shown in FIG9A , the first information may be used to indicate at least two of the following:

[0306] (1) The number of original information bits in these four source TBs.

[0307] That is, source TB1 has 2 information bits, source TB2 has 4 information bits, source TB3 has 2 information bits, and source TB4 has 3 information bits.

[0308] (2) The information bit length of each source TB after adjusting the information bit length of the source TB.

[0309] That is, source TB1 has 5 information bits, source TB2 has 5 information bits, source TB3 has 5 information bits, and source TB4 has 5 information bits.

[0310] (3) The index number / serial number of the source TB where the zero padding operation is performed.

[0311] That is, the source TBs for which the zero-padding operation is performed are: source TB1, source TB2, and source TB3. The first information is used to indicate that the index numbers / serial numbers of the source TBs for which the zero-padding operation is performed are 1, 2, and 3.

[0312] (4) The number of zero-valued bits added in the source TB for the zero-padding operation.

[0313] The number of zero-valued bits supplemented to source TB1 is 3, the number of zero-valued bits supplemented to source TB2 is 3, and the number of zero-valued bits supplemented to source TB3 is 3.

[0314] Optionally, the first information may also be used to indicate an adjustment method used by the first communication device, that is, an equal division method with rounding down.

[0315] S605: The second communication device adjusts the information bits based on the M coded transport blocks to obtain M adjusted coded transport blocks; the lengths of the information bits corresponding to the M adjusted coded transport blocks are equal.

[0316] In one possible implementation, the second communication device adjusts information bits based on the M coded transport blocks to obtain M adjusted coded transport blocks, including the following:

[0317] Step 1: Based on the transport blocks with newly added zero-valued bits in the M transport blocks, determine the coded transport blocks to which the zero-valued bits are to be added from the M coded transport blocks. Step 2: Based on the number of zero-valued bits corresponding to the transport blocks with newly added zero-valued bits, add zero-valued bits to the information bits of the coded transport blocks to which the zero-valued bits are to be added, thereby obtaining an adjusted coded transport block.

[0318] Exemplarily, the second communication device adjusts the information bits based on the M coded transport blocks to obtain M adjusted coded transport blocks, which may include but is not limited to the following situations:

[0319] Case 1: The first information is used to indicate information of the transport block with newly added zero-valued bits (such as an index number or a sequence number, etc.) and the number of newly added zero-valued bits in the transport block with newly added zero-valued bits.

[0320] For example, as shown in FIG7A , the first information is used to indicate the following:

[0321] (1) The index number / serial number of the source TB for performing the zero-fill operation is 1, 3, and 4.

[0322] (2) The number of zero-valued bits added in the source TB for the zero-padding operation is 2, 2, and 1.

[0323] If the second communication device receives four encoded TBs from the first communication device, namely, encoded TB1, encoded TB2, encoded TB3, and encoded TB4.

[0324] According to (1) and (2) indicated by the first information, the second communication device can determine that the source TBs for performing the zero-padding operation are: source TB1, source TB3, source TB4; and the number of zero-valued bits supplemented in source TB1 is 2, the number of zero-valued bits supplemented in source TB3 is 2, and the number of zero-valued bits supplemented in source TB4 is 1.

[0325] Correspondingly, the second communication device can add 2 zero-value bits to the encoded TB1, 2 zero-value bits to the encoded TB3, and 1 zero-value bit to the encoded TB4. After this adjustment operation, the number of bits in these 4 encoded TBs is equal, which meets the requirements of outer code decoding, and subsequent outer code decoding can be performed.

[0326] For example, as shown in FIG8A , the first information is used to indicate the following items:

[0327] (1) The index number / serial number of the source TB for performing the zero-fill operation is 4.

[0328] (2) The number of zero-valued bits added in the source TB for performing the zero-padding operation is 1.

[0329] If the second communication device receives four encoded TBs from the first communication device, namely, encoded TB1, encoded TB2, encoded TB3, and encoded TB4.

[0330] According to (1) and (2) indicated by the first information, the second communication device can determine that the source TB to be padded with zero is: source TB4, and the number of padded zero-valued bits in source TB4 is 1.

[0331] Correspondingly, the second communication device can add one zero-value bit to the encoded TB4. After this adjustment operation, the number of bits in the four encoded TBs is equal, which meets the requirements of outer code decoding, and subsequent outer code decoding can be performed.

[0332] For example, as shown in FIG9A , the first information is used to indicate the following items:

[0333] (1) The index number / serial number of the source TB for performing the zero-filling operation is 1, 2, 3.

[0334] It can be known that the source TBs for performing the zero-filling operation are: source TB1, source TB2, and source TB3.

[0335] (2) The number of zero-valued bits added in the source TB for the zero-padding operation is 3, 3, 3.

[0336] It can be seen that three zero-value bits are added to the source TB1, the source TB2, and the source TB3.

[0337] If the second communication device receives four encoded TBs from the first communication device, namely, encoded TB1, encoded TB2, encoded TB3, and encoded TB4.

[0338] The second communication device may determine, based on the first information, that the source TBs to be zero-padded are: source TB1, source TB2, and source TB3, and that the number of zero-valued bits padded in source TB1, source TB2, and source TB3 is 3.

[0339] Correspondingly, the second communication device can add 3 zero-value bits to the encoded TB1, the encoded TB2 and the encoded TB3. After this adjustment operation, the number of bits in these 4 encoded TBs is equal, which meets the requirements of outer code decoding, and subsequent outer code decoding can be performed.

[0340] Case 2: The first information is used to indicate the lengths (or numbers) of information bits corresponding to the M transport blocks and the lengths (or numbers) of information bits corresponding to the M adjusted transport blocks.

[0341] For example, as shown in FIG7A , the first information is used to indicate the following items:

[0342] (1) The numbers of original information bits corresponding to the four source TBs are: 2, 4, 2, and 3 respectively.

[0343] (2) The numbers of information bits corresponding to the four source TBs after adjustment are: 4, 4, 4, 4.

[0344] If the second communication device receives four encoded TBs from the first communication device, namely, encoded TB1, encoded TB2, encoded TB3, and encoded TB4.

[0345] If the first communication device adopts the method described in the above-mentioned implementation method 1 (i.e., taking the TB with the largest length as the reference TB for adjustment) to adjust the information bit length of multiple TBs, then the method described in the implementation method 1 can be pre-set and known to the first communication device and the second communication device; or the method described in the implementation method 1 is pre-negotiated and agreed upon between the first communication device and the second communication device, or the method described in the implementation method 1 can be indicated by the first communication device (transmitting end) to the second communication device (receiving end) through the first information, that is, the first information can also be used to indicate the method of adjusting the length (or number) of the information bits (i.e., taking the TB with the largest length as the reference TB for adjustment), and this application does not limit this.

[0346] The second communication device can determine, based on the first information indication and the method for adjusting the length (or number) of information bits, that the source TBs for which the zero-padding operation is performed include source TB1, source TB2, and source TB3, and can determine that the number of zero-valued bits supplemented in source TB1 is 2, the number of zero-valued bits supplemented in source TB3 is 2, and the number of zero-valued bits supplemented in source TB4 is 1. No zero-padding operation is performed on source TB2.

[0347] Correspondingly, the second communication device can add two zero-valued bits to the encoded TB1, two zero-valued bits to the encoded TB3, and one zero-valued bit to the encoded TB4. After this adjustment operation, the number of bits / lengths of the four encoded TBs are equal, meeting the requirements for outer code decoding, and subsequent outer code decoding can be performed.

[0348] For example, as shown in FIG8A , the first information is used to indicate the following items:

[0349] (1) The number of information bits corresponding to the four source TBs before the zero-padding operation is performed is: 3, 3, 3, and 2.

[0350] (2) After the zero-padding operation is performed, the number of information bits corresponding to the four source TBs is 3, 3, 3, and 3.

[0351] If the second communication device receives four encoded TBs from the first communication device, namely, encoded TB1, encoded TB2, encoded TB3, and encoded TB4.

[0352] The second communication device can determine, based on (1) and (2) indicated by the first information, that the source TB on which the zero-padding operation is performed is source TB4, and the number of the supplemented zero-valued bits is 1.

[0353] Correspondingly, the second communication device can add one zero-valued bit to the encoded TB4. After this adjustment operation, the bit number / length of the four encoded TBs are equal, meeting the requirements of outer code decoding, and subsequent outer code decoding can be performed.

[0354] Alternatively, as shown in FIG8A , the first information is used to indicate the following items:

[0355] (1) A method for adjusting the length (or number) of information bits (rounding up) (optional).

[0356] (1) is an optional item. If the method of adjusting the length of the information bits is pre-agreed upon and known by both parties, the first information may not indicate this item.

[0357] (2) The numbers of original information bits corresponding to the four source TBs are: 2, 4, 2, and 3 respectively.

[0358] (3) After the zero-padding operation is performed, the number of information bits corresponding to the four source TBs is 3, 3, 3, and 3.

[0359] If the second communication device receives four encoded TBs from the first communication device, namely, encoded TB1, encoded TB2, encoded TB3, and encoded TB4.

[0360] Based on (1) and (2) above, the second communication device can determine that the number of information bits corresponding to the four source TBs before the zero-padding operation is performed is 3, 3, 3, and 2. Based on the number of information bits corresponding to the four source TBs before the zero-padding operation is performed and (3) above, it can be determined that the source TB on which the zero-padding operation is performed is source TB4, and the number of supplemented zero-valued bits is 1.

[0361] Correspondingly, the second communication device can add one zero-valued bit to the encoded TB4. After this adjustment operation, the bit number / length of the four encoded TBs are equal, meeting the requirements of outer code decoding, and subsequent outer code decoding can be performed.

[0362] For example, as shown in FIG9A , the first information is used to indicate the following items:

[0363] (1) The number of information bits corresponding to the four source TBs before the zero-padding operation is performed is: 2, 2, 2, 5.

[0364] (2) After the zero-padding operation is performed, the number of information bits corresponding to the four source TBs is 5, 5, 5, and 5.

[0365] If the second communication device receives four encoded TBs from the first communication device, namely, encoded TB1, encoded TB2, encoded TB3, and encoded TB4.

[0366] According to (1) and (2) indicated by the first information, the second communication device can determine that the source TBs on which the zero-padding operation is performed are source TB1, source TB2, and source TB3, and the number of zero-value bits supplemented by source TB1, source TB2, and source TB3 is 3.

[0367] Correspondingly, the second communication device can add three zero-valued bits to the encoded TB1, the encoded TB2, and the encoded TB3, respectively. After this adjustment operation, the number of bits / lengths of the four encoded TBs are equal, meeting the requirements of the outer code decoding, and subsequent outer code decoding can be performed.

[0368] Alternatively, as shown in FIG9A , the first information is used to indicate the following items:

[0369] (1) A method for adjusting the length (or number) of information bits (rounding down) (optional).

[0370] (1) is an optional item. If the method of adjusting the length of the information bits is pre-agreed upon and known by both parties, the first information may not indicate this item.

[0371] (2) The numbers of original information bits corresponding to the four source TBs are: 2, 4, 2, and 3 respectively.

[0372] (3) After the zero-padding operation is performed, the number of information bits corresponding to the four source TBs is 5, 5, 5, and 5.

[0373] If the second communication device receives four encoded TBs from the first communication device, namely, encoded TB1, encoded TB2, encoded TB3, and encoded TB4.

[0374] Based on (1) and (2) above, the second communication device can determine that the number of information bits corresponding to the four source TBs before the zero-padding operation is performed is 2, 2, 2, and 5. Based on the number of information bits corresponding to the four source TBs before the zero-padding operation is performed and (3) above, it can be determined that the source TBs that have undergone the zero-padding operation are source TB1, source TB2, and source TB3, and the number of supplemented zero-valued bits is 1.

[0375] Correspondingly, the second communication device can add three zero-valued bits to the encoded TB1, the encoded TB2, and the encoded TB3, respectively. After this adjustment operation, the number of bits / lengths of the four encoded TBs are equal, meeting the requirements of outer code decoding, and subsequent outer code decoding can be performed.

[0376] S606: The second communication device performs decoding processing based on the M adjusted coded transport blocks to obtain M transport blocks.

[0377] In one possible implementation, the second communication device performs decoding processing based on the M adjusted coded transmission blocks to obtain M transmission blocks, which may include: first performing channel decoding on the information bits of the M adjusted coded transmission blocks to obtain M information bits of the first transmission blocks; and then performing outer code decoding based on the information bits of the M first transmission blocks to obtain M transmission blocks.

[0378] In one possible implementation, before performing outer code encoding, the method of the embodiment of the present application may further include: a second communication device receiving the encoded Q check transport blocks and a code rate of channel coding; and then, based on the code rate of the channel coding, performing channel decoding on the information bits of the encoded Q check transport blocks to obtain information bits of the Q check transport blocks;

[0379] In an embodiment of the present application, the second communication device receives the Q encoded check transmission blocks from the first communication device, which may include: obtaining second transmission resource information, the second transmission resource information including information of time-frequency resources corresponding to the Q encoded check transmission blocks; and then receiving the Q encoded check transmission blocks from the first communication device based on the time-frequency resources corresponding to the Q encoded check transmission blocks.

[0380] Exemplarily, the first communication device is a base station, and the second communication device is a terminal device. The base station can indicate the second transmission resource information to the terminal device, and can also send or indicate the channel coding rate to the terminal device. For example, the base station can send downlink control information DCI to the terminal device to indicate the coding modulation strategy MCS, and the MCS can carry the channel coding rate.

[0381] Furthermore, the second communication device performs outer code decoding based on the information bits of the M first transmission blocks to obtain M transmission blocks, which may include: the second communication device performs outer code decoding based on the information bits of the M first transmission blocks and the information bits of the Q check transmission blocks to obtain M transmission blocks.

[0382] In one possible implementation, if the information bits of the M transmission blocks obtained after decoding processing by the second communication device include added zero-value bits, the method may also include: the second communication device removes the added zero-value bits in the M transmitted information bits.

[0383] In summary, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, comprising: a first communication device determining the lengths of information bits corresponding to M transport blocks to be encoded, wherein the lengths of the information bits corresponding to the M transport blocks are unequal; M is an integer greater than 1; the first communication device adjusts the information bits based on the information bit lengths corresponding to the M transport blocks, obtaining M adjusted transport blocks, wherein the lengths of the information bits corresponding to the M adjusted transport blocks are equal; the first communication device performs encoding processing based on the M adjusted transport blocks, obtaining M encoded transport blocks; and the first communication device sends the M encoded transport blocks to a second communication device. This method effectively ensures that the lengths of the information bits corresponding to each transport block TB before outer code encoding are equal, thereby meeting the requirements for performing outer code encoding.

[0384] In the embodiments provided in the present application above, the methods provided in the embodiments of the present application are introduced from the perspective of interaction between various devices. In order to implement the various functions in the methods provided in the embodiments or implementations of the present application above, the first communication device or the second communication device may include a hardware structure and / or a software module to implement the above functions in the form of a hardware structure, a software module, or a hardware structure plus a software module. Whether a function of the above functions is executed in the form of a hardware structure, a software module, or a hardware structure plus a software module depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0385] The division of modules in the embodiments of the present application is illustrative and is merely a logical functional division. In actual implementation, other division methods may be used. Furthermore, the functional modules in the various embodiments or implementations of the present application may be integrated into a single processor, or may exist physically separately, or two or more modules may be integrated into a single module. The aforementioned integrated modules may be implemented in the form of hardware or software functional modules.

[0386] Similar to the above concept, as shown in FIG10 , an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device 1000 for implementing the functions of the first communication device or the second communication device in the above method. For example, the communication device 1000 may be a software module or a chip system. In the embodiment of the present application, the chip system may be composed of a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete devices. The communication device 1000 may include: a communication unit 1001 and a processing unit 1002.

[0387] In the embodiments of the present application, the communication unit 1001 may also be referred to as a transceiver unit, and may include a transmitting unit and / or a receiving unit, each configured to execute the steps of transmitting and receiving by the first communication device or the second communication device in the above method embodiments, respectively. The processing unit 1002 may be configured to read instructions and / or data from the storage module to enable the communication device 1000 to implement the above method embodiments.

[0388] Optionally, the communication device 1000 may further include a storage unit 1003 , which is equivalent to a storage module and may be used to store instructions and / or data.

[0389] The communication device provided in the embodiment of the present application is described in detail below with reference to Figures 10 and 11. It should be understood that the description of the device embodiment corresponds to the description of the method embodiment. Therefore, the content not described in detail can be implemented with reference to the method shown in Figure 6 above, and for the sake of brevity, it will not be repeated here.

[0390] Communication unit 1001 may also be referred to as a transceiver, transceiver, or transceiver device. A processing unit may also be referred to as a processor, processing board, processing module, or processing device. Alternatively, the device in communication unit 1001 that implements the receiving function may be considered a receiving unit, and the device in communication unit 1001 that implements the transmitting function may be considered a transmitting unit. That is, communication unit 1001 includes both a receiving unit and a transmitting unit. A communication unit may also be referred to as a transceiver, transceiver, or transceiver circuit. A receiving unit may also be referred to as a receiver, receiver, or receiving circuit. A transmitting unit may also be referred to as a transmitter, transmitter, or transmitting circuit.

[0391] When the communication device 1000 executes the first communication device of the process shown in Figure 6 of the above embodiment: the processing unit 1002 is used to determine the lengths of the information bits corresponding to the M transmission blocks to be encoded, and the lengths of the information bits corresponding to the M transmission blocks are not equal; M is an integer greater than 1; the processing unit 1002 is also used to adjust the information bits based on the information bit lengths corresponding to the M transmission blocks, to obtain M adjusted transmission blocks, and the lengths of the information bits corresponding to the M adjusted transmission blocks are equal; and based on the M adjusted transmission blocks, encoding processing is performed to obtain M encoded transmission blocks; the communication unit 1001 is used to send the M encoded transmission blocks to the second communication device.

[0392] In one possible implementation, when the first communication device 1000 is a network device (access network device) in the system architecture shown in Figure 4A in the above embodiment: the communication unit 1001 and the processing unit 1002 in the communication device 1000 are both located in the network device; or the communication unit 1001 is located in the DU of the network device, and the processing unit 1002 is located in the CU of the network device; or in the O-RAN architecture, the communication unit 1001 is located in the O-DU and / or O-RU of the network device, and the processing unit 1002 is located in the O-CU and / or O-DU of the network device.

[0393] When the communication device 1000 executes the second communication device of the process shown in FIG. 6 in the above embodiment: the communication unit 1001 is configured to receive M coded transport blocks, where the lengths of information bits corresponding to the M coded transport blocks are unequal; and M is an integer greater than 1;

[0394] The processing unit 1002 is used to adjust the information bits based on the M coded transport blocks to obtain M adjusted coded transport blocks; the lengths of the information bits corresponding to the M adjusted coded transport blocks are equal; the processing unit 1002 is also used to perform decoding processing based on the M adjusted coded transport blocks to obtain M transport blocks.

[0395] In one possible implementation, when the second communication device is a network device (access network device) in the system architecture shown in Figure 4A of the above embodiment: the communication unit 1001 and the processing unit 1002 in the communication device 1000 are both located in the network device; or the communication unit 1001 is located in the DU of the network device, and the processing unit 1002 is located in the CU of the network device; or in the O-RAN architecture, the communication unit 1001 is located in the O-DU and / or O-RU of the network device, and the processing unit 1002 is located in the O-CU and / or O-DU of the network device.

[0396] The above is just an example. The communication unit 1001 and the processing unit 1002 can also perform other functions. For more detailed description, please refer to the relevant description in the method embodiment shown in Figure 6, which is not repeated here.

[0397] FIG11 shows a communication device 1100 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device shown in FIG11 may be a hardware circuit implementation of the communication device shown in FIG10 . The communication device 1100 may be used in the flowcharts shown above to perform the functions of the first communication device or the second communication device in the above-described method embodiments. For ease of illustration, FIG11 only shows the main components of the communication device.

[0398] As shown in Figure 11, communication device 1100 includes a communication interface 1101 and a processor 1102. Communication interface 1101 and processor 1102 are coupled to each other. It is understood that communication interface 1101 can be a transceiver or input / output interface, or an interface circuit such as a transceiver circuit. Optionally, communication device 1100 can also include a memory 1103 for storing instructions executed by processor 1102, input data required by processor 1102 to execute instructions, or data generated by processor 1102 after executing instructions.

[0399] When the communication device 1100 is used to implement the method shown in FIG6 , the communication interface 1101 is used to implement the functions of the communication unit 1001 , and the processor 1102 is used to implement the functions of the processing unit 1002 .

[0400] The specific connection medium between the communication interface 1101, the processor 1102, and the memory 1103 is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. In Figure 11, the embodiment of the present application shows that the memory 1103, the processor 1102, and the communication interface 1101 are connected via a communication bus 1104. The communication bus 1104 is represented by a bold line in Figure 11. The connection method between other components is only for schematic illustration and is not intended to be limiting. The communication bus 1104 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 11, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

[0401] When the communication device is a chip, FIG12 shows a simplified schematic diagram of the chip structure, wherein the chip 1200 includes an interface circuit 1201 and one or more processors 1202. Optionally, the chip 1200 may further include a bus.

[0402] The processor 1202 may be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. During implementation, each step of the above-mentioned method for determining service node information can be completed by hardware integrated logic circuits or software instructions in the processor 1202. The above-mentioned processor 1202 can be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, or discrete hardware components. It can implement or execute the various methods and steps disclosed in the embodiments of this application. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or the processor can also be any conventional processor, etc.

[0403] The interface circuit 1201 can be used to send or receive data, instructions or information. The processor 1202 can use the data, instructions or other information received by the interface circuit 1201 to process it, and can send the processing completion information through the interface circuit 1201.

[0404] Optionally, the chip further includes a memory 1203, which may include a read-only memory and a random access memory, and provides operating instructions and data to the processor. A portion of the memory 1203 may also include a non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM).

[0405] Optionally, the memory stores an executable software module or a data structure, and the processor can perform corresponding operations by calling an operation instruction stored in the memory (the operation instruction may be stored in an operating system).

[0406] Optionally, the chip can be used in the first communication device or the second communication device involved in the embodiments of the present application. Optionally, the interface circuit 1201 can be used to output the execution result of the processor 1202. Regarding the communication method provided in one or more embodiments of the present application, reference can be made to the aforementioned embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0407] It should be noted that the corresponding functions of the interface circuit 1201 and the processor 1202 can be implemented through hardware design, software design, or a combination of hardware and software, and there is no limitation here.

[0408] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions for implementing the method executed by the first communication device or the second communication device in the above method embodiment.

[0409] For example, when the computer program is executed by a computer, the computer can implement the method performed by the first communication device or the second communication device in the above method embodiment.

[0410] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed by a computer, enables the computer to implement the method performed by the first communication device or the second communication device in the above method embodiment.

[0411] An embodiment of the present application also provides a chip, including a processor, for calling a computer program or computer instruction stored in the memory so that the processor executes the communication method of the implementation shown in FIG. 6 above.

[0412] In one possible implementation, the input of the chip corresponds to the receiving operation in the implementation shown in FIG. 6 , and the output of the chip corresponds to the sending operation in the implementation shown in FIG. 6 .

[0413] Optionally, the processor is coupled to the memory via an interface.

[0414] Optionally, the chip further includes a memory in which computer programs or computer instructions are stored.

[0415] The processor mentioned in any of the above may be a general-purpose central processing unit, a microprocessor, an ASIC, or one or more integrated circuits for controlling the execution of a program of a communication method in the implementation shown in FIG6 . The memory mentioned in any of the above may be a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device capable of storing static information and instructions, a random access memory (RAM), etc.

[0416] It should be noted that, for the sake of convenience and brevity of description, the explanation of the relevant contents and beneficial effects of any of the communication devices provided above may refer to the embodiments of the corresponding communication methods provided above, and will not be repeated here.

[0417] In the present application, the communication devices may further include a hardware layer, an operating system layer running on top of the hardware layer, and an application layer running on the operating system layer. The hardware layer may include hardware such as a central processing unit (CPU), a memory management unit (MMU), and memory (also known as main memory). The operating system of the operating system layer may be any one or more computer operating systems that implement business processing through processes, such as the Linux operating system, Unix operating system, Android operating system, iOS operating system, or Windows operating system. The application layer may include applications such as browsers, address books, word processing software, and instant messaging software.

[0418] The division of modules in the embodiments of the present application is illustrative and is merely a logical functional division. In actual implementation, other division methods may be used. Furthermore, the functional modules in the various embodiments of the present application may be integrated into a single processor, or may exist physically separately, or two or more modules may be integrated into a single module. The aforementioned integrated modules may be implemented in the form of hardware or software functional modules.

[0419] Through the description of the above embodiments, it will be clear to those skilled in the art that the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in hardware, firmware, or a combination thereof. When software is used for implementation, the above functions can be stored in a computer-readable medium or transmitted as one or more instructions or codes on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media include computer storage media and communication media, wherein the communication media include any medium that facilitates the transmission of a computer program from one place to another. The storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access. For example, but not limited to: a computer-readable medium may include RAM, ROM, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disc storage, a magnetic disk storage medium or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store a desired program code in the form of an instruction or data structure and can be accessed by a computer. In addition, any connection can be appropriately a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of the medium. As used in the embodiments of the present application, disk and disc include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and Blu-ray disc, where disks typically reproduce data magnetically and discs use lasers to reproduce data optically. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of protection of computer-readable media.

[0420] In short, the above description is only an embodiment of the present application and is not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present application. Any modifications, equivalent replacements, improvements, etc. made based on the disclosure of the present application should be included in the scope of protection of the present application.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: The method is applied to a first communication device, and the method includes: Determining the lengths of information bits corresponding to M transport blocks to be encoded, respectively, where the lengths of the information bits corresponding to the M first transport blocks are unequal; M is an integer greater than 1; Adjusting the information bits based on the information bit lengths respectively corresponding to the M transport blocks to obtain M adjusted transport blocks, where the information bits respectively corresponding to the M adjusted transport blocks have the same length; Performing encoding processing based on the M adjusted transport blocks to obtain M coded transport blocks; The M coded transport blocks are sent.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein The determining of the lengths of the information bits respectively corresponding to the M transport blocks to be encoded includes: Obtaining first transmission resource information and a coding modulation strategy, where the first transmission resource information includes time-frequency resource information corresponding to N time slots, where the time slot resources corresponding to the N time slots are used to transmit the M transport blocks; N is a positive integer; Determining, according to the time-frequency resource information corresponding to the N time slots and the coding and modulation strategy, the coded bit lengths corresponding to the M transport blocks respectively; The information bit lengths respectively corresponding to the M transport blocks are determined according to the coded bit lengths respectively corresponding to the M transport blocks and the coding and modulation strategy.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein N=M, and the time-frequency resources corresponding to the N time slots are applied one by one to transmit the M transport blocks.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The adjusting the information bits based on the information bit lengths respectively corresponding to the M transport blocks to obtain M adjusted transport blocks includes: Determining, from the M transport blocks, a target transport block having a largest information bit length according to the information bit lengths corresponding to the M transport blocks; Based on the information bit length of the target transport block, zero-value bits are added to the information bits of each remaining transport block to obtain a corresponding adjusted transport block; the information bit length of the adjusted transport block corresponding to each remaining transport block is equal to the information bit length of the target transport block; the remaining transport blocks are the transport blocks other than the target transport block in the M transport blocks.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The adjusting the information bits based on the information bit lengths respectively corresponding to the M transport blocks to obtain M adjusted transport blocks includes: Determining a total information bit length according to the information bit lengths respectively corresponding to the M transport blocks; Based on the length of the total information bits, the total information bits are equally divided to obtain M groups of information bits, where the M groups of information bits have the same length; The M groups of information bits are used as the information bits of the M adjusted transport blocks.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein If the length of the total information bits cannot be equally divided into M groups of information bits with integer lengths, the equally dividing the total information bits based on the length of the total information bits to obtain the M groups of information bits includes: Based on a target value, grouping the total information bits to obtain the M groups of information bits, the M groups of information bits including a group of information bits whose length is not equal to the target value and M-1 groups of information bits whose length is equal to the target value; wherein the target value is obtained by rounding up the ratio of the length of the total information bits to M; A zero-valued bit is added to the group of information bits whose length is not equal to the target value to obtain an adjusted information bit group, wherein the length of the adjusted information bit group is equal to the target value.

7. The method according to claim 5, wherein If the length of the total information bits cannot be equally divided into M groups of information bits with integer lengths, the equally dividing the total information bits based on the length of the total information bits to obtain the M groups of information bits includes: Based on a target value, grouping the total information bits to obtain the M groups of information bits, the M groups of information bits including a group of information bits having a length equal to the target value and M-1 groups of information bits having a length not equal to the target value; wherein the target value is obtained by rounding down a ratio between the length of the total information bits and M; Adding zero-value bits to the M-1 groups of information bits whose lengths are not equal to the target value respectively to obtain adjusted M-1 groups of information bits, wherein the lengths of the adjusted M-1 groups of information bits are equal to the target value.

8. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 7, characterized in that The performing encoding processing based on the M adjusted transport blocks to obtain M coded transport blocks includes: Performing outer code encoding on the information bits of the M adjusted transport blocks to obtain M information bits of a first transport block and Q information bits of a check transport block, where Q is a positive integer; Channel coding is performed on the information bits of the M first transport blocks to obtain the M coded transport blocks.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein The method further comprises: Determining a code rate for channel coding; performing channel coding on the information bits of the Q check transport blocks based on the code rate for the channel coding to obtain encoded Q check transport blocks; Among them, determining the code rate of channel coding includes: obtaining second transmission resource information, the second transmission resource information including information of time-frequency resources corresponding to the Q check transmission blocks; and determining the code rate of the channel coding based on the information of time-frequency resources corresponding to the Q check transmission blocks.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein The method further includes: The code rate of the channel coding is sent to the second communication device.

11. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 10, characterized in that The information bits of the M coded transport blocks include added zero-valued bits, and the method further includes: The added zero-valued bits in the information bits of the M coded transport blocks are removed.

12. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 11, characterized in that The sending of the M coded transport blocks comprises: The M coded transport blocks are sent based on the time-frequency resources corresponding to the N time slots respectively.

13. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 11, characterized in that The method further comprises: Determining a target ratio based on the lengths of information bits respectively corresponding to the M adjusted transport blocks; Based on the target ratio, reallocate the time-frequency resources corresponding to the N time slots to obtain M groups of time-frequency resources, where the ratio between the data amounts of the M groups of time-frequency resources is equal to the target ratio; The sending of the M coded transport blocks comprises: Based on the M groups of time-frequency resources, the M coded transport blocks are sent; the M groups of time-frequency resources correspond one-to-one to the M coded transport blocks.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein The information bits respectively corresponding to the M adjusted transport blocks do not include added zero-valued bits; and determining the target ratio based on the lengths of the information bits respectively corresponding to the M adjusted transport blocks includes: The ratio between the lengths of the information bits respectively corresponding to the M adjusted transport blocks is used as the target ratio.

15. The method according to claim 13, wherein The information bits of at least one adjusted transport block in the M adjusted transport blocks include a newly added zero-valued bit; the method further includes: removing the added zero-valued bit in the information bits of the at least one adjusted transport block; The determining a target ratio based on the lengths of the information bits of the M adjusted transport blocks includes: The ratio between the lengths of the information bits respectively corresponding to the M adjusted transport blocks is used as the target ratio, wherein the information bits respectively corresponding to the M adjusted transport blocks do not include added zero-value bits.

16. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 15, characterized in that The method further comprises: The encoded Q check transport blocks are sent based on the time-frequency resources corresponding to the Q check transport blocks.

17. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 16, characterized in that The method further comprises: Sending first information, where the first information is used to indicate at least two of the following: The lengths of the information bits corresponding to the M transport blocks, the lengths of the information bits corresponding to the M adjusted transport blocks, information used to determine the transport blocks to which zero-value bits are added, and the number of zero-value bits added in the transport blocks to which zero-value bits are added.

18. A communication method, characterized in that: The method is applied to a second communication device, and the method includes: Receive M coded transport blocks, where the lengths of information bits corresponding to the M coded transport blocks are unequal; M is an integer greater than 1; Adjusting information bits based on the M coded transport blocks to obtain M adjusted coded transport blocks; the lengths of information bits corresponding to the M adjusted coded transport blocks are equal; Decoding is performed based on the M adjusted coded transport blocks to obtain M transport blocks.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein The method further comprises: First transmission resource information is obtained, where the first transmission resource information includes time-frequency resource information corresponding to N time slots respectively, and the time-frequency resources corresponding to the N time slots are applied one by one to transmit the M coded transmission blocks.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein The receiving M coded transport blocks includes: receiving the M coded transport blocks from a first communication device based on time slot resources corresponding to the N time slots respectively; or Based on the lengths of information bits respectively corresponding to the M coded transport blocks, reallocate the time-frequency resources respectively corresponding to the N time slots to obtain M groups of time-frequency resources, where a ratio between data amounts of the M groups of time-frequency resources is equal to a ratio between the information bit lengths of the M coded transport blocks; The M coded transport blocks are received from a first communication device based on the M groups of time-frequency resources.

21. The method according to any one of claims 18 to 20, characterized in that The method further comprises: Receive first information from a first communication device, where the first information is used to indicate at least two of the following: The lengths of the information bits corresponding to the M transport blocks, the lengths of the information bits corresponding to the M adjusted transport blocks, information used to determine the transport blocks to which zero-value bits are added, and the number of zero-value bits added in the transport blocks to which zero-value bits are added.

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein The adjusting information bits based on the M coded transport blocks to obtain M adjusted coded transport blocks includes: Determining, from the M coded transport blocks, a coded transport block to be added with a zero-valued bit based on the transport block with the zero-valued bit added in the M transport blocks; Based on the number of added zero-valued bits corresponding to the transport block to which zero-valued bits are added, zero-valued bits are added to the information bits of the coded transport block to which zero-valued bits are to be added to obtain an adjusted coded transport block.

23. The method according to any one of claims 18 to 22, characterized in that The performing decoding processing based on the M adjusted coded transport blocks to obtain M transport blocks includes: performing channel decoding on the information bits of the M adjusted coded transport blocks to obtain M information bits of a first transport block; Outer code decoding is performed based on the information bits of the M first transmission blocks to obtain M transmission blocks.

24. The method according to claim 23, wherein The method further comprises: receiving the encoded Q check transport blocks and the code rate of the channel coding; performing channel decoding on the encoded information bits of the Q check transport blocks based on a code rate of the channel coding to obtain information bits of the Q check transport blocks; The receiving of the Q coded check transmission blocks includes: obtaining second transmission resource information, wherein the second transmission resource information includes information of time-frequency resources corresponding to the Q coded check transmission blocks; and receiving the Q coded check transmission blocks based on the time-frequency resources corresponding to the Q coded check transmission blocks.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein: The performing outer code decoding based on the information bits of the M first transport blocks to obtain M transport blocks includes: Outer code decoding is performed based on the information bits of the M first transmission blocks and the information bits of the Q check transmission blocks to obtain the M transmission blocks.

26. The method according to any one of claims 23 to 25, characterized in that The information bits of the M transmission blocks include added zero-value bits, and the method further includes: removing the added zero-value bits in the M transmitted information bits.

27. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises a unit or module for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 17, or comprises a unit or module for executing the method according to any one of claims 18 to 26.

28. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises a processor and a memory, wherein the memory is used to store program instructions. When the processor executes the program instructions, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 17 is executed, or the method according to any one of claims 18 to 26 is executed.

29. A communication system, characterized in that: The communication system includes a first communication device and a second communication device, the first communication device being configured to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 17, and the second communication device being configured to execute the method according to any one of claims 18 to 26.

30. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that The computer storage medium stores computer-readable instructions, which, when executed on a communication device, cause the method according to any one of claims 1 to 17 or the method according to any one of claims 18 to 26 to be executed.

31. A computer program product, characterized in that When the computer program product is run on a device, the device is caused to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 26.

32. A chip, characterized in that: The chip is coupled to a memory and is configured to read and execute program instructions stored in the memory to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 26.

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