Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

The present application discloses a communication method and apparatus. The method comprises: receiving first configuration information of a first signal; receiving second configuration information, the second configuration information being used for configuring N first synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel block bursts (SSB bursts), and N being a positive integer; and, when the first signal overlaps with at least one first SSB burst among the N first SSB bursts in the time domain, determining that the first signal is valid or invalid, the first signal overlapping with at least one first SSB burst among the N first SSB bursts in the time domain being determined on the basis of the first configuration information and the second configuration information. According to the method, when a first SSB burst overlaps with a pre-configured signal in the time domain, incorrect behavior of a terminal device can be prevented, such as incorrect measurement of the signal by the terminal device.

Description

Communication method and device

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the China Patent Office on March 30, 2024, with application number 202410387295.6 and application name “A Communication Method and Device”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0002] The embodiments of the present application relate to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method and apparatus. Background Art

[0003] In existing communication systems, network equipment can improve system capacity by configuring carrier aggregation (CA), where the carrier includes a primary carrier (PCC) and a secondary carrier (SCC). The cell corresponding to the PCC is called the primary cell (PCell), and the cell corresponding to the SCC is called the secondary cell (SCell). After the network equipment adds the SCell through radio resource control (RRC) signaling, it activates the SCell through MAC information, and the SCell has the ability to send and receive data. For example, after the user equipment (UE) receives the SCell activation command, it can complete the automatic gain control (AGC), cell search and fine synchronization of the SCell. The network equipment completes the above process by sending a synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block (SSB), and the UE completes the above process by measuring the SSB.

[0004] Currently, the SCell activation time can be shortened by reducing the SSB transmission period. Assuming the original SSB burst window (referred to as the legacy SSB burst for ease of description) has a transmission period of 20ms, the network device can send multiple SSB bursts within 20ms, thereby shortening the SSB burst transmission period. However, non-legacy SSB bursts among multiple SSB bursts may overlap with preconfigured signals in the time domain, causing UE behavior errors. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The present application discloses a communication method and apparatus, which can avoid erroneous behavior of a terminal device when an SSB burst overlaps with a preconfigured signal in the time domain.

[0006] The present application is introduced below from different aspects. It should be understood that the implementation methods and beneficial effects of the following different aspects can be referenced to each other.

[0007] In the first aspect, the present application discloses a communication method, which can be executed by a terminal device or a module (for example, a chip) in the terminal device, and the method may include: receiving first configuration information of a first signal; receiving second configuration information, the second configuration information being used to configure N first synchronization signals / physical broadcast channel block bursts SSBburst, where N is a positive integer; when the first signal overlaps with at least one first SSBburst in the N first SSB bursts in the time domain, determining whether the first signal is valid or invalid, wherein the overlap of the first signal with at least one first SSBburst in the N first SSB bursts in the time domain is determined based on the first configuration information and the second configuration information.

[0008] In the present application, after receiving the first configuration information of the first signal and the second configuration information, the terminal device can determine whether a signal overlaps with the N first SSB bursts in the time domain; if the first signal overlaps with at least one first SSB burst in the N first SSB bursts in the time domain, then determine whether the first signal is valid. This method can avoid erroneous behavior of the terminal device when the first signal overlaps with the first SSB burst in the time domain, such as erroneous measurement of the first signal by the terminal device.

[0009] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation, third configuration information is received, and the third configuration information is used to configure M second SSB bursts, where M is a positive integer; wherein, the first SSB burst and the second SSB burst have at least one of the following differences: the number of SSBs in the first SSB burst is different from the number of SSBs in the second SSB burst; the interval between the first SSB burst and the interval between the second SSB burst are different; the interval between SSBs in the first SSB burst is different from the interval between SSBs in the second SSB burst; the first SSB burst is determined based on at least one of the second configuration information and the second indication information, and the second indication information is used to indicate to stop sending the first SSB burst.

[0010] In combination with the first aspect, in one possible implementation, the number of SSBs in a first SSB burst in a time slot is greater than the number of SSBs in a second SSB burst in a time slot, and / or, during the period when N first SSB bursts are effective, the number of first SSBbursts is greater than the number of second SSBbursts.

[0011] Optionally, N first SSB bursts are used to activate the secondary cell of the user equipment; while the secondary cell of the user equipment is inactive, the network device may send a second SSB burst to the terminal device. Optionally, while the secondary cell of the user equipment is active, the network device may also send a second SSB burst to the terminal device, and this second SSB burst may also be used to activate the secondary cell of the user equipment. This method can increase the activation speed of the secondary cell by using the first SSB burst.

[0012] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation, the terminal device may determine that the first signal is invalid based on the overlap of the first signal and the first SSB burst in the time domain.

[0013] In an embodiment of the present application, a terminal device may determine that the first signal is invalid when the first signal overlaps with at least one of the N first SSB bursts in the time domain. This method can avoid erroneous behavior of the terminal device when the first signal overlaps with the first SSB burst in the time domain, such as an error in the terminal device measuring the first signal.

[0014] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving third indication information, the third indication information being used to indicate that the first signal is valid or the third indication information being used to indicate that the first signal is invalid; the above-mentioned determination of whether the first signal is valid or invalid includes: determining whether the first signal is valid or invalid based on the third indication information.

[0015] In an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device can determine whether the first signal is valid based on the third indication information sent by the network device.

[0016] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation, N first SSB bursts are used to activate the secondary cell of the user equipment, and the method also includes: sending a fourth indication information, the fourth indication information being used to indicate the number of SSB bursts required to activate the secondary cell of the user equipment; wherein the second configuration information is determined based on the fourth indication information.

[0017] In an embodiment of the present application, N first SSB bursts are used to activate a secondary cell of a user equipment, and the terminal device is the user equipment. The terminal device can send the number of SSB bursts required for the secondary cell of the terminal device to the network device, so that the network device determines the configuration information of the N first SSB bursts based on the number of SSB bursts. This method can avoid the network device sending unnecessary SSB bursts and causing waste of resources.

[0018] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation, N first SSB bursts are used to activate the secondary cell of the user equipment, and the method also includes: sending fifth indication information, the fifth indication information is used to indicate that the user equipment has activated the secondary cell; receiving second indication information, the second indication information is used to indicate to stop sending the first SSB burst.

[0019] In an embodiment of the present application, N first SSB bursts are used to activate a secondary cell of a user equipment, and the terminal device is the user equipment. After completing the secondary cell activation in advance, the terminal device may send fifth indication information to the network device to cause the network device to stop sending the first SSB burst in advance. This method can avoid wasting resources caused by the network device sending unnecessary SSB bursts.

[0020] In conjunction with the first aspect, in one possible implementation, the first signal is a downlink signal, and the user equipment does not measure the first signal when the first signal is invalid. This method can avoid errors in the terminal equipment's measurement of the first signal when the first signal overlaps with the first SSB burst in the time domain.

[0021] Exemplarily, the downlink signal may be a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), and the CSI-RS may be a periodic CSI-RS or a semi-static CSI-RS.

[0022] Optionally, if the first signal is an aperiodic CSI-RS, the CSI-RS is considered valid.

[0023] In conjunction with the first aspect, in one possible implementation, the first signal is an uplink signal, and the user equipment does not send the first signal when the first signal is invalid. This method can prevent the terminal equipment from still sending the first signal when the network equipment cannot receive other signals due to sending compact SSB.

[0024] Exemplarily, the uplink signal may be a sounding reference signal (SRS), and the SRS may be a periodic SRS or a semi-static SRS.

[0025] In combination with the first aspect, in one possible implementation, the N first SSB bursts and the M second SSB bursts do not overlap in the time domain; or, the third SSB burst overlaps with at least one second SSB burst of the M second SSB bursts in the time domain, the third SSB burst belongs to the N first SSB bursts, the third SSB burst is valid, and at least one second SSB burst is invalid.

[0026] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation, the third SSB burst overlaps with the second SSB burst in the time domain, and the method further includes: performing SSB measurement on the fourth SSB burst, the fourth SSB burst belonging to N first SSB bursts; wherein the fourth SSB burst satisfies one of the following: the fourth SSB burst is any SSB burst among the N first SSB bursts; the fourth SSB burst is an SSB burst among the N first SSB bursts that overlaps with the second SSB burst in the time domain; the fourth SSB burst is the previous SSB burst or the next SSB burst of the SSB burst among the N first SSB bursts that overlaps with the second SSB burst in the time domain.

[0027] In an embodiment of the present application, N first SSB bursts are used to activate a secondary cell of a user equipment, and the terminal device is another terminal device in the same cell as the user equipment. Assuming that the first SSB burst and the second SSB burst overlap in the time domain, the first SSB burst is valid, and the second SSB burst is invalid, the terminal device can select a third SSB burst from the N first SSB bursts for SSB measurement. This method can avoid the situation where the other terminal devices are unable to perform SSB measurement when the secondary cell of the user equipment is activated, or a measurement error occurs when performing SSB measurement.

[0028] In combination with the first aspect, in one possible implementation, the third SSB burst is valid, at least one second SSB burst is invalid, and the user equipment does not perform mobility measurement or layer 3 measurement on the first cell during the period when N first SSB bursts are sent / effective. The first cell is the cell that sends N first SSB bursts.

[0029] In an embodiment of the present application, N first SSB bursts are used to activate a secondary cell of a user equipment, and the terminal device is another terminal device in the same cell as the user equipment. Assuming that the first SSB burst and the second SSB burst overlap in the time domain, the first SSB burst is valid and the second SSB burst is invalid, the terminal device may not perform mobility measurement or layer 3 measurement on the first cell during the period when the first SSB burst is sent / valid. The first cell is the cell that sends the first SSB burst. This method can avoid measurement errors when the other terminal devices perform mobility measurement or layer 3 measurement on the first cell when activating the secondary cell of the user equipment.

[0030] In combination with the first aspect, in one possible implementation, the third SSB burst is valid, at least one second SSB burst is invalid, the N first SSB bursts include sixth indication information, the sixth indication information is used for the pattern of the first SSB burst, and the method also includes: performing SSB measurement on the first cell based on the N first SSB bursts, where the first cell is the cell that sends the N first SSB bursts.

[0031] With reference to the first aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the first signal is a preconfigured signal, and the first signal is an uplink signal or a downlink signal.

[0032] In a second aspect, the present application discloses a communication method, which can be executed by a network device or a module (for example, a chip) in the network device, and the method may include: sending first configuration information of a first signal; sending second configuration information, the second configuration information being used to configure N SSB bursts, where N is a positive integer; when the first signal overlaps with at least one first SSB burst in the N first SSB bursts in the time domain, determining whether the first signal is valid or invalid, wherein the overlap of the first signal with at least one first SSB burst in the N first SSB bursts in the time domain is determined based on the first configuration information and the second configuration information.

[0033] In the present application, a network device can send first configuration information and second configuration information of a first signal to a terminal device, and can also determine whether any signal overlaps with the first SSB burst in the time domain; if the first signal overlaps with at least one of the N first SSB bursts in the time domain, then determine whether the first signal is valid. This method can avoid incorrect behavior of the network device when the first signal overlaps with the first SSB burst in the time domain, such as when the first signal is invalid and the terminal device does not measure the first signal, but the network device still sends the first signal.

[0034] In combination with the second aspect, in a possible implementation, the method also includes: sending third configuration information, the third configuration information is used to configure M second SSB bursts, where M is a positive integer; wherein, the first SSB burst and the second SSB burst have at least one of the following differences: the number of SSBs in the first SSB burst is different from the number of SSBs in the second SSB burst; the interval between the first SSB burst and the interval between the second SSB burst are different; the interval between SSBs in the first SSB burst is different from the interval between SSBs in the second SSB burst; the first SSB burst is determined based on at least one of the second configuration information and the second indication information, and the second indication information is used to indicate to stop sending the first SSB burst.

[0035] In combination with the second aspect, in one possible implementation, the number of SSBs in a first SSB burst in a time slot is greater than the number of SSBs in a second SSB burst in a time slot, and / or, during the period when N first SSB bursts are effective, the number of first SSB bursts is greater than the number of second SSB bursts.

[0036] In combination with the second aspect, in a possible implementation, the method further includes: based on the overlap of the first signal and N first SSB bursts in the time domain, sending third indication information, the third indication information being used to indicate that the first signal is valid or the third indication information being used to indicate that the first signal is invalid.

[0037] In combination with the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the first signal is a downlink signal, and the network device does not send the first signal when the first signal is invalid.

[0038] In combination with the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the first signal is a downlink signal, the third indication information is used to indicate that the first signal is valid, and the method further includes: sending the first signal.

[0039] In combination with the second aspect, in a possible implementation, N first SSB bursts are used to activate the secondary cell of the user equipment, and the method also includes: receiving fourth indication information, the fourth indication information being used to indicate the number of SSB bursts required to activate the secondary cell of the user equipment; wherein the second configuration information is determined based on the fourth indication information.

[0040] In combination with the second aspect, in a possible implementation, N first SSB bursts are used to activate the secondary cell of the user equipment, and the method also includes: receiving fifth indication information, the fifth indication information is used to indicate that the user equipment has activated the secondary cell; based on the fifth indication information, sending second indication information, the second indication information is used to indicate to stop sending the first SSB burst.

[0041] In combination with the second aspect, in one possible implementation, the N first SSB bursts and the M second SSB bursts do not overlap in the time domain; or, the third SSB burst overlaps with at least one second SSB burst of the M second SSB bursts in the time domain, the third SSB burst belongs to the N first SSB bursts, the third SSB burst is valid, and at least one second SSB burst is invalid.

[0042] In combination with the second aspect, in one possible implementation, the third SSB burst is valid and at least one second SSB burst is invalid. The method also includes: sending at least one of the second configuration information and the second indication information to the network device that uses the first cell as a neighboring cell, the second indication information being used to indicate stopping sending the first SSB burst, the first cell being a cell that sends N first SSB bursts.

[0043] In combination with the second aspect, in a possible implementation, the third SSB burst is valid, at least one second SSB burst is invalid, and the N first SSB bursts include sixth indication information, where the sixth indication information is used to indicate a pattern of the first SSB.

[0044] With reference to the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the first signal is a preconfigured signal, and the first signal is an uplink signal or a downlink signal.

[0045] In a third aspect, the present application discloses a communication method, which can be executed by a terminal device or a module (for example, a chip) in the terminal device. The method may include: sending a first indication information, wherein the first indication information is used to indicate the number of SSB bursts required to activate the secondary cell of the terminal device; receiving configuration information of the first SSB burst, wherein the configuration information of the first SSB burst is determined based on the first indication information; receiving N first SSB bursts, wherein the N first SSB bursts are used to activate the secondary cell of the terminal device, and N is a positive integer.

[0046] In combination with the third aspect, in a possible implementation, the number of the above-mentioned N first SSB bursts is greater than or equal to the number of SSB bursts indicated by the first indication information.

[0047] In combination with the third aspect, in a possible embodiment, the method may include: receiving a second SSB burst, wherein the first SSB burst and the second SSB burst have at least one of the following differences: the configuration information of the first SSB burst is different from the configuration information of the second SSB burst; the interval between the first SSB burst and the interval between the second SSB burst are different; the number of SSBs in the first SSBburst is different from the number of SSBs in the second SSBburst; the interval of SSBs in the first SSB burst is different from the interval of SSBs in the second SSB burst; the first SSB burst is determined based on at least one of the first indication information, the configuration information of the first SSB burst and the second indication information, and the second indication information is used to indicate to stop sending the first SSB burst.

[0048] In combination with the third aspect, in one possible implementation, the second SSBburst is used to activate the secondary cell of the terminal device, and the total number of the above-mentioned N first SSB bursts and the second SSBburst is greater than or equal to the number of SSB bursts indicated by the first indication information. In this embodiment of the present application, unnecessary waste of resources can be avoided by the terminal device that needs to activate the secondary cell reporting the number of SSBs required to activate the secondary cell to the network device.

[0049] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which may be a terminal device or a chip / circuit therein. The communication device is configured to perform the method of the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect. The communication device includes a unit configured to perform the method of the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect.

[0050] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which may be a network device or a chip / circuit therein. The communication device is configured to perform the method of the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect. The communication device includes a unit configured to perform the method of the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect.

[0051] In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which may be a terminal device or a chip / circuit therein. The communication device is configured to perform the method of the third aspect or any possible implementation of the third aspect. The communication device includes a unit configured to perform the method of the third aspect or any possible implementation of the third aspect.

[0052] In the fourth, fifth, or sixth aspects, the communication device may include a transceiver unit and a processing unit. For a detailed description of the transceiver unit and the processing unit, reference may be made to the device embodiments shown below. The beneficial effects of the fourth to fifth aspects may be referenced to the relevant descriptions of the first and second aspects, and are not further elaborated here.

[0053] In a seventh aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which may include a processor and an interface circuit, and the processor is connected to the interface circuit. Wherein, the interface circuit is used to interact (or receive and send or input and output) information or data, and the processor is used to run program instructions so that the communication device executes the method described in any possible implementation of the first aspect, the second aspect, the third aspect, or any of the aspects above. Wherein, the interface circuit may be a communication interface, or a transceiver. The transceiver may be a radio frequency module in a communication device, or a combination of a radio frequency module and an antenna, or an input and output interface of a chip or circuit.

[0054] In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a readable storage medium having program instructions stored thereon, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the method described in any possible implementation of the first aspect, the second aspect, the third aspect, or any one of the aspects above.

[0055] In a ninth aspect, the present application provides a program product comprising program instructions, which, when executed, enables the method described in the first aspect, the second aspect, the third aspect, or any possible implementation of any of the aspects to be executed.

[0056] In the tenth aspect, the present application provides a device, which can be implemented in the form of a chip or in the form of a device, and the device includes a processor. The processor is used to read and execute a program stored in a memory to execute the information interaction method provided by one or more of the above-mentioned first aspect, or the above-mentioned second aspect, or the third aspect, or any possible implementation of any aspect thereof. Optionally, the device also includes a memory, which is connected to the processor through a circuit. Further optionally, the device also includes a communication interface, and the processor is connected to the communication interface. The communication interface is used to receive information to be processed, and the processor obtains the information from the communication interface, processes the information, and outputs the processing results through the communication interface. The communication interface can be an input and output interface.

[0057] In a possible implementation, the processor and memory may be physically independent units, or the memory may be integrated with the processor.

[0058] In the eleventh aspect, the present application provides a communication system, which includes a terminal device and a network device; the terminal device is used to execute the method described in the above-mentioned first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, and the network device is used to execute the method described in the above-mentioned second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect.

[0059] The technical effects achieved in the above-mentioned aspects can be referred to each other or to the beneficial effects in the method embodiments shown below, and will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0060] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of an FR2 SCell activation process provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0061] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a time domain distribution of SSB provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0062] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of the patterns of compact SSB and legacy SSB provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0063] FIG4A and FIG4B exemplarily show two schematic diagrams of adding a compact SSB burst on the basis of a legacy SSB burst;

[0064] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of adaptively adjusting SSB density provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0065] FIG6 is a schematic diagram of a collision between a compact SSBburst and a CSI-RS reception / transmission according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0066] FIG7 is a schematic diagram of avoidance and non-avoidance scenarios provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0067] FIG8 is a schematic diagram of a system architecture of a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0068] FIG9 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0069] FIG10 is a flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0070] FIG11A and FIG11B are schematic diagrams of two exemplary configurations of compact SSBs provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0071] FIG12 is a flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0072] FIG13A and FIG13B are schematic diagrams of selecting a compact SSB burst according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0073] FIG14 is a flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0074] FIG15 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0075] FIG16 is another schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0076] FIG17 is another structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0077] 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.

[0078] In the description of this application, words such as "first" and "second" are used only to distinguish different objects and do not limit the quantity or execution order. Moreover, words such as "first" and "second" do not necessarily mean different. In addition, the terms "including" and "having" and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a process, method, system, product, or device that includes a series of steps or units is not limited to the listed steps or units, but may optionally include steps or units that are not listed, or may optionally include other steps or units inherent to the process, method, product, or device.

[0079] In the description of this application, unless otherwise specified, " / " means "or", for example, A / B can mean A or B. "And / or" in this article is merely a description of the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone. In addition, "at least one (item)", "the following one (item) or more (items)" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items (items). For example, at least one item (item) of a, b, or c can mean: a, b, c; a and b; a and c; b and c; or a, b, and c. Among them, a, b, and c can be single or multiple.

[0080] In the description of this application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate an example, illustration, or description. Any embodiment or design described in this application as "exemplary," "for example," or "for example" should not be construed as being preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, the use of words such as "exemplary," "for example," or "for example" is intended to present the relevant concepts in a concrete way.

[0081] It should be understood that in the description of this application, the terms "when," "if," and "if" all refer to the device performing a corresponding action under certain objective circumstances. They do not limit the time, do not require the device to perform a judgment action during implementation, and do not imply any other limitations. Specifically, "the device performing a corresponding action under certain objective circumstances" includes: the device performing the corresponding action under certain objective circumstances can perform the corresponding action only if the objective circumstances are met; or the device performing the corresponding action can perform the corresponding action only if the objective circumstances and other circumstances are met.

[0082] The term "simultaneously" in this application may be understood as at the same time point, within a period of time, or within the same cycle, and may be understood in conjunction with the context.

[0083] Elements used in the singular herein are intended to mean "one or more" rather than "one and only one" unless specifically stated otherwise.

[0084] Additionally, the terms "system" and "network" are often used interchangeably herein.

[0085] It should be understood that in the various embodiments of the present application, "A corresponds to B," "A corresponds to B," "A corresponds to B," or similar expressions indicate that B is associated with A and B can be determined based on A. Determining B based on A does not mean determining B based solely on A; B can also be determined based on A and / or other information.

[0086] With the application of massive antenna technology, by adjusting the weights of the antenna array, a directional beam can be formed, improving beam gain and reducing surrounding interference. Especially in 5G systems, as frequency bands increase, high-frequency transmission path loss increases, requiring beamforming technology to form beams pointing in different directions to improve coverage performance. In the millimeter wave frequency range (FR2), the UE can use antenna arrays to form beams to overcome high-frequency coverage issues. The resulting problem is that the UE needs to perform beam scanning to identify the best receiving beam. In the existing standard, it is assumed that the UE's beam scanning factor is 8. This means that the UE's SSB measurement needs to be measured in eight directions through beam scanning to obtain a valid SSB measurement result. This means that compared to FR1, the SSB measurement time in FR2 will increase exponentially.

[0087] Currently, the network device sends SSBs, and the UE measures SSBs to complete the SCell activation process. This means that compared to FR1, FR2 SCell activation time will also increase.

[0088] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of an FR2 SCell activation process exemplarily provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 1, a network device (such as a base station) can send an Scell ​​activation command to a UE. After receiving the Scell ​​activation command, the UE sends a hybrid automatic repeat request (HAQR) to the base station. The base station sends an SSB, and the UE measures the SSB to complete the AGC, cell search, and determination of the best beam (beam process in Figure 1) as shown in Figure 1. Figure 1 exemplarily shows that the beam scanning coefficient of the UE is 8, and the gray oval is used to represent the beam direction of the best beam determined by the UE. Then, the UE completes the following steps through the determined best beam, such as the UE sends layer 1 reference signal received power (RSRP) to the base station; the base station sends a transmission configuration indication (TCI), i.e., TCI, to the UE; the UE completes the timing of the cell through the SSB; after the UE measures the CSI-RS, it sends a CSI report to the base station. Among them, the AGC process may require two SSBs (not shown in Figure 1).

[0089] Currently, in practical scenarios, the SSB transmission period is 20ms. For example, the time domain distribution of SSB can be shown in Figure 2. An SSB burst includes 32 SSBs, and the 32 SSBs correspond to the 32 directions in which the network device transmits the beam. For ease of description, this application refers to an existing SSB burst as a legacy SSB burst, and the SSB in a legacySSBburst can also be referred to as a legacySSB. It should be understood that an existing SSB burst can also be referred to by other names, and this application does not limit this.

[0090] Assuming that four SSBs are required to complete the SCell activation process in FR1, this requires 20*4ms, or approximately 80ms. However, due to the beam scanning process, SCell activation in FR2 requires 20*4*8=640ms. To shorten FR2 SCell activation time, the current standard considers reducing the SSB transmission period as an enhancement.

[0091] For example, as shown in Figure 2, the original transmission period of an SSBburst (i.e., the legacy SSB burst) is 20ms. Then, the network device can send multiple SSBbursts within 20ms to shorten the transmission period of the SSBburst, thereby reducing the activation time of the FR2 SCell. For the convenience of description, this application refers to the newly added SSBburst as a compact SSBburst, and the SSB in the compactSSBburst can also be referred to as a compactSSB.

[0092] Optionally, the patterns of compact SSB and legacy SSB can be the same or different. For example, in Figure 3, white rectangles represent legacy SSBs, and gray rectangles represent compact SSBs. As shown in Figure 3, two legacy SSBs can be sent in one slot, while compact SSBs can be sent according to a more compact pattern, such as three compact SSBs in one slot. This allows all SSBs to be sent in a shorter time.

[0093] Figures 4A and 4B illustrate two schematic diagrams of adding compactSSBburst on the basis of legacySSBburst. In Figures 4A and 4B, white rectangles represent legacySSB and gray rectangles represent compactSSB. Figure 4A illustrates that the interval between SSBs in legacySSBburst is the same as the interval between SSBs in compactSSBburst, both of which are a; Figure 4B illustrates that the interval between SSBs in legacySSBburst is a, and the interval between SSBs in compactSSBburst is b, where b<a. It should be understood that in this application, the interval between SSBs in legacySSBburst can also be greater than the interval between SSBs in compactSSBburst, and this application does not limit this.

[0094] For example, assuming that the original SSB is sent according to the pattern shown in Figure 2, it takes 4ms to send a legacySSB burst (an SSB burst includes 32 SSBs, the corresponding network device sends SSBs in 32 directions, and the UE selects the best SSB to complete activation), then the activation time of FR2 SCell is 20*4*8; assuming that the SSB is sent according to the pattern as shown in Figure 4A after the above-mentioned enhanced solution is adopted, the pattern of compactSSBburst is the same as that of legacySSBburst (that is, both are 4ms), then 5 SSB bursts can be sent within 20ms, that is, 1 legacySSBburst and 4 compactSSBbursts, and the activation time of FR2 SCell can be shortened from the original 20*4*8 to 4*4*8=128ms.

[0095] As another example, assuming that the SSB sent after adopting the above-mentioned enhanced solution is in accordance with the pattern as shown in Figure 4B, the pattern of compactSSBburst is different from that of legacySSBburst. It takes 4ms to send a legacySSB burst, while it only takes 3ms to send a compactSSBburst. Then, within 20ms, the network device can send 6 SSB bursts, namely 1 legacySSBburst and 5 compactSSBbursts.

[0096] In this way, the network device can adaptively adjust the SSB density. When there is a UE to be activated in the cell, the network device can send according to a denser SSB (as shown in Figures 4A and 4B) to speed up the activation process; at other times, it sends according to the normal SSB (as shown in Figure 2). For example, as shown in Figure 5, in the first 20ms and the last 20ms, the network device sends according to the normal SSB; in the middle time, the network device can send according to a denser SSB. It should be understood that the duration shown in Figure 5 is only an example. In application, the transmission time of the network device to adaptively adjust the SSB density can be determined by the actual situation, and this application does not limit this.

[0097] The inventors of this application discovered that the aforementioned enhanced solution may result in a collision between the compact SSBburst and the reception / transmission of the first signal. The first signal may be a preconfigured signal, such as a periodic CSI-RS signal; the first signal may be either an uplink signal or a downlink signal; and the collision refers to the time domain overlap of the compact SSBburst with the other signal. As shown in Figure 6 , for example, the legacy SSB burst and the CSI-RS do not overlap in the time domain; however, the compact SSBburst and the CSI-RS do overlap in the time domain.

[0098] It should be understood that the overlapping of the first signal and the compact SSB burst means that the first signal overlaps with one or more SSBs in the compact SSB burst in the time domain.

[0099] Since the compact SSB is sent during the activation process of a certain UE, it will affect other UEs in the cell. The UEs in the cell may be configured to receive or send periodic or semi-static signals (i.e., the first signal mentioned above). For example, the UE needs to periodically receive the reference signal CSI-RS. Then, at the location where the compact SSB and CSI-RS overlap in time domain, the network device may not be able to send CSI-RS due to the need to send the compact SSB; for the UE configured to measure the CSI-RS, if it does not perceive the existence of the compact SSB and still measures at the original location, it may not be able to measure the CSI-RS, resulting in erroneous measurement results.

[0100] In addition, in the above-mentioned enhanced solution, when the network device sends compact SSB, the compact SSB can avoid the existing SSB (i.e., legacySSB) or not avoid the existing SSB. As shown in Figure 7, Figure 7 (A) shows the avoidance scenario, and Figure 7 (B) shows the non-avoidance scenario. Among them, avoidance means not sending compact SSB in the time domain where legacySSB is located, and continuing to send legacySSB; non-avoidance means not continuing to send legacySSB in the time domain where legacySSB is located, but sending compact SSB instead of legacySSB.

[0101] In the case of no avoidance, existing UEs or UEs that cannot perceive compact SSBs may not be able to measure the SSB at the original SSB position, or the measured SSB position may be offset, resulting in inaccurate measurement, which may cause a series of problems, such as: the UE's timing of the cell is inaccurate, affecting data reception; the UE's link quality assessment of the cell is inaccurate, and radio link failure (RLF) is falsely triggered; the UE may be configured with mobility measurement of the frequency point (measuring all cells on the frequency point). If a cell sends compact SSBs in a non-avoidant manner for a period of time, other UEs may not be able to measure the cell when measuring according to the original configuration, or the same SSB of the cell may be offset, resulting in erroneous measurement results.

[0102] The present application provides a communication method, in which a terminal device (such as the above-mentioned UE) can receive first configuration information of a first signal; receive second configuration information, the second configuration information is used to configure N first synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block bursts SSB burst, N is a positive integer; when the first signal overlaps with at least one first SSB burst in the N first SSB bursts in the time domain, determine whether the first signal is valid or invalid, wherein the overlap of the first signal with at least one first SSB burst in the N first SSB bursts in the time domain is determined based on the first configuration information and the second configuration information. Wherein, valid or invalid can refer to the processing of the first signal (measurement, reception or non-measurement, etc.) or the processing of the measurement result of the first signal (such as the terminal device does not use the measurement result of the first signal for filtering, or the terminal device does not use the measurement result of the first signal for reporting), and the first SSB burst can be the above-mentioned compact SSBburst. This method can avoid behavioral errors of the terminal device caused by the overlap of the first signal and the first SSB burst in the time domain, such as measurement errors of the first signal by the terminal device.

[0103] In addition, for the above-mentioned scenario where no avoidance is required, the present application can also target the terminal device to select an SSB burst from the above-mentioned multiple first SSB bursts for measurement, and / or the network device 1 that manages the cell that sends the first SSB burst notifies the network device 2 that uses the cell that sends the first SSB burst as a neighboring cell of the sending status of the first SSB burst of the cell, so that the network device 2 notifies all terminal devices under the network device 2, thereby avoiding the terminal device from failing to measure the SSB at the original SSB position, or finding an offset in the measured SSB position, resulting in inaccurate measurement, which will cause the above-mentioned series of problems.

[0104] Based on the above, in order to better understand the communication method and related devices proposed in this application, the system architecture of the embodiment of this application is described below. It should be noted that the system architecture described in this application is to more clearly illustrate the technical solution of this application and does not constitute a limitation on the technical solution provided by this application. Those skilled in the art will know that with the evolution of the system architecture and the emergence of new business scenarios, the technical solution provided by this application is also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0105] Please refer to Figure 8, which is a schematic diagram of the system architecture of a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0106] As shown in Figure 8, the system architecture may include a network device 101 and a terminal device 102. The terminal device 102 may be wirelessly connected to the network device 101 and may be connected to the core network through the network device 101. The terminal device 102 may be fixed or mobile.

[0107] In some embodiments, the terminal device 102 can access any cell managed by the network device 101 to achieve communication.

[0108] In the present application, the network device 101 may send first configuration information and second configuration information of a first signal to the terminal device 102, where the second configuration information is used to configure N first synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block bursts (SSB bursts), where N is a positive integer; if the first signal overlaps with at least one of the N first SSB bursts in the time domain, the network device 101 and the terminal device 102 may determine whether the first signal is valid or invalid. The specific process can be found in the relevant description below and will not be expanded here.

[0109] The network device 101 can be an entity for transmitting or receiving signals, or a device for communicating with the terminal device 102. The network device can be a base transceiver station (BTS) in a global system for mobile communications (GSM) system or a code division multiple access (CDMA) system, or a base station (NodeB, NB) in a wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) system, or an evolved NodeB (eNB or eNodeB) in an LTE system, or a wireless controller in a cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenario, or the network device can be a relay station, an access point, an in-vehicle device, a wearable device, a network device in a 5G network, or a network device in a future evolved PLMN network, etc., and the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto. The network device can be a device in a wireless network, such as a RAN node that connects the terminal device 102 to a wireless network. Currently, some examples of RAN nodes include base stations, next-generation base stations (gNBs), transmission reception points (TRPs), evolved Node Bs (eNBs), home base stations, baseband units (BBUs), or access points (APs) in Wi-Fi systems. In one network architecture, network equipment may include centralized unit (CU) nodes, distributed unit (DU) nodes, or RAN equipment including CU nodes and DU nodes. In an O-RAN system, the CU may also be referred to as an O-CU, and the DU may also be referred to as an O-DU.

[0110] The terminal device 102 is an entity on the user side for receiving or transmitting signals, and is mainly used to realize the function of wireless communication with the network device 101.

[0111] For example, terminal device 102 can be an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a mobile station, a mobile station, a remote station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a user terminal, a terminal, a wireless communication device, a user agent, or a user device. The terminal device 102 may also be a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver function, a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handheld device with wireless communication function, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, an in-vehicle device, a wireless terminal in self-driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical, a wireless terminal in a smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in a smart city, a wireless terminal in a smart home, a wearable device (such as a smart watch, a smart bracelet, a pedometer, etc.), a terminal device in a 5G network, or a future-evolved public land mobile communication network. The terminal device 102 may be a terminal device in a wireless network (PLMN), etc., and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this. The terminal device 102 may be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld, wearable or vehicle-mounted, or may be deployed on water (such as ships, etc.), or may be deployed in the air (such as airplanes, balloons, and satellites, etc.). In the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device 102 may be a legacy UE, or may be an RB-level partial frequency hopping (RPFS) UE that supports SRS coverage and capacity enhancement, or may be other UEs. The present application does not limit the type of the terminal device 102. Among them, legacy UE refers to user equipment that supports existing mechanisms, for example, user equipment that supports release-15 and release-16.

[0112] In an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device 102 or the network device 101 includes a hardware layer, an operating system layer running on the hardware layer, and an application layer running on the operating system layer. The hardware layer includes hardware such as a central processing unit (CPU), a memory management unit (MMU), and memory (also known as main memory). The operating system can be any one or more computer operating systems that implement business processing through processes, such as a Linux operating system, a Unix operating system, an Android operating system, an iOS operating system, or a Windows operating system. The application layer includes applications such as browsers, address books, word processing software, and instant messaging software. In addition, the embodiment of 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. As long as it is possible to 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, for example, the execution subject of the method provided in the embodiment of the present application can be the terminal device 102 or the network device 101, or it can be a functional module in the terminal device 102 or the network device 101 that can call and execute a program.

[0113] It should be noted that the number and type of terminal devices 102 included in the system architecture shown in FIG8 is merely an example, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto. For example, more or fewer terminal devices 102 communicating with the network device 101 may be included. For the sake of simplicity, they are not described one by one in the accompanying drawings.

[0114] In addition, in the system architecture shown in Figure 8, although the network device 101 and the terminal device 102 are shown, the application scenario may not be limited to including the network device 101 and the terminal device 102. For example, it may also include a core network device or a device for carrying virtualized network functions, etc., wherein the core network device communicates through the network device 101 and the terminal device 102.

[0115] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: global system of mobile communication (GSM) system, code division multiple access (CDMA) system, wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) system, general packet radio service (GPRS), long term evolution (LTE) system, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) system, LTE time division duplex (TDD), universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS), world-wide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication system, fifth generation (5G) system or new radio (NR) and future communication systems, etc., without limitation here.

[0116] In combination with the above system architecture, a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application is described below.

[0117] Please refer to Figure 9, which is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. The functions performed by the terminal device in the embodiment of the present application can also be performed by a module (e.g., a chip) in the terminal device, and the functions performed by the network device in the embodiment of the present application can also be performed by a module (e.g., a chip) in the network device.

[0118] As shown in FIG9 , the communication method may include the following steps:

[0119] S901: The network device sends first configuration information of a first signal to the terminal device.

[0120] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first configuration information of the first signal from the network device.

[0121] The first signal is a preconfigured signal, and the first signal is an uplink signal or a downlink signal. For example, the first signal may be a signal preconfigured between the network device and the terminal device before executing step S902.

[0122] Optionally, the first signal may be a periodic signal. For example, the first signal may be a CSI-RS.

[0123] S902: The network device sends second configuration information to the terminal device, where the second configuration information is used to configure N first SSB bursts, where N is a positive integer.

[0124] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the second configuration information from the network device.

[0125] Among them, the above-mentioned second configuration information is used to indicate the triggering of N first SSB bursts; the second configuration information is used to indicate the effective time of the N first SSB bursts, such as the above-mentioned second configuration information at least includes the specific effective time (or start sending) of the N first SSB bursts or the first indication information (also called trigger signaling), and the first indication information is used to indicate the specific effective time (or start sending) of the N first SSB bursts.

[0126] In one implementation, the second configuration information includes a time domain configuration of each of the N first SSB bursts, such as a period, a pattern, an effective time, a number of transmissions, a transmission duration, etc. For example, the second configuration information may be RRC configuration information.

[0127] In another implementation, the second configuration information may include the first indication information and the configuration information of each first SSB burst in the N first SSB bursts, and the configuration information of the first SSB burst includes the period, pattern, number of transmissions, transmission duration, etc. Among them, the first indication information and the configuration information of the first SSB burst may be sent to the terminal device through different messages (or signaling). Exemplarily, the first indication information may be the MAC CE for activating the SCell, that is, the MAC CE for SCell activation, and at the same time triggering the first SSB burst (also referred to as compact SSB), which is not limited in this application.

[0128] In some embodiments, before the network device sends the first indication information to the terminal device, the SSB sent by the network device to the terminal device is a second SSB burst. The network device may send third configuration information to the terminal device, where the third configuration information is used to configure M second SSB bursts, where M is a positive integer. The second configuration information may be different from the third configuration information.

[0129] Exemplarily, there is at least one difference between the first SSB burst and the second SSB burst: the interval between the first SSB burst and the interval between the second SSB burst are different; the interval of SSBs in the first SSB burst is different from the interval of SSBs in the second SSB burst; the number of SSBs in the first SSBburst is different from the number of SSBs in the second SSBburst; the first SSB burst is determined based on at least one of the second configuration information and the second indication information, and the second indication information is used to indicate to stop sending the first SSB burst.

[0130] Exemplarily, the number of SSBs in a time slot of the first SSB burst is greater than the number of SSBs in a time slot of the second SSB burst, and / or, during the period when N first SSB bursts are effective, the number of first SSB bursts is greater than the number of second SSB bursts.

[0131] Exemplarily, the second SSB burst may be the legacy SSB burst in Figure 2, a second SSB burst may be SSB1 to SSB32 shown by the white rectangle in Figure 2, and the period for the network device to send the second SSB burst may be 20ms; the first SSB burst may be the compact SSB burst in Figure 4A or 4B, and a first SSBburst may refer to SSB1 to SSB32 indicated by the gray rectangle in Figure 4A or 4B.

[0132] S903: When the first signal overlaps with at least one first SSB burst among N first SSB bursts in the time domain, the network device determines whether the first signal is valid or invalid, wherein the overlap of the first signal with at least one first SSB burst among N first SSB bursts in the time domain is determined based on the first configuration information and the second configuration information.

[0133] In some embodiments, before sending the above-mentioned N first SSB bursts to the terminal device, the network device may determine whether there is a signal that overlaps with the first SSBburst in the time domain; if there is a signal that overlaps with the first SSBburst in the time domain, the network device determines whether the signal (i.e., the above-mentioned first signal) is valid. Exemplarily, the first configuration information of the above-mentioned first signal includes the time domain information of the first signal, and the above-mentioned second configuration information includes the time domain information of the above-mentioned N first SSB bursts. The network device determines that the first signal overlaps with the above-mentioned N first SSB bursts in the time domain based on the time domain information of the first signal and the time domain information of the above-mentioned N first SSB bursts; then, the network device determines whether the signal (i.e., the above-mentioned first signal) is valid. Exemplarily, the specific process of the network device determining whether the first signal is valid can refer to the relevant content of step S902.

[0134] It should be understood that the above-mentioned situation in which the first signal overlaps with at least one first SSB burst of the N first SSB bursts in the time domain indicates the situation, rather than limiting the time for determining whether the first signal is valid.

[0135] Optionally, after determining whether the first signal is valid, the network device may send third indication information to the terminal device, where the third indication information is used to indicate that the first signal is valid or the third indication information is used to indicate that the first signal is invalid.

[0136] Optionally, if the first signal is a downlink signal, the network device may determine whether to send the first signal to the terminal device based on whether the first signal is valid. For example, if the first signal is valid, the network device may send the first signal to the terminal device. For another example, if the signal is invalid, the network device may not send the first signal.

[0137] It should be noted that the method shown in FIG. 9 may include at least one of steps S904 and S903 , that is, include S904 and S903 , or include only one of S904 and S903 .

[0138] Exemplarily, for a network device, the first signal being valid may mean that the network device sends the first signal; the first signal being invalid may mean that the network device does not send the first signal.

[0139] S904: When the first signal overlaps with at least one first SSBburst in N first SSB bursts in the time domain, the terminal device determines whether the first signal is valid or invalid, wherein the overlap of the first signal with at least one first SSBburst in the N first SSB bursts in the time domain is determined based on the first configuration information and the second configuration information.

[0140] In some embodiments, after receiving the first configuration information and the second configuration information of the first signal, the terminal device determines whether there is a signal overlapping with the N first SSB bursts in the time domain; if there is a signal overlapping with the N first SSB bursts in the time domain, the terminal device determines whether the signal is valid. For the convenience of description, this application refers to the signal that overlaps with the N first SSB bursts in the time domain as the first signal. Exemplarily, the first configuration information of the first signal includes the time domain information of the first signal, and the second configuration information includes the time domain information of the N first SSB bursts. The terminal device determines that the first signal overlaps with the N first SSB bursts in the time domain based on the time domain information of the first signal and the time domain information of the N first SSB bursts; then, the terminal device determines whether the signal (i.e., the first signal) is valid.

[0141] In the present application, the first signal is valid and may refer to the terminal device receiving the first signal, or the terminal device measuring the first signal, or the terminal device sending the first signal, or the network device sending the first signal; the first signal is invalid and may refer to the terminal device not receiving the first signal, or the terminal device not measuring the first signal, or the terminal device not using the first signal measurement result for filtering, or the terminal device not using the first signal measurement result for reporting, or the terminal device not sending the first signal, or the network device not sending the first signal. It should be understood that the first signal is valid and may refer to the communication device (such as the above-mentioned terminal device or network device) processing the first signal (or the first signal measurement result) according to the pre-configuration, and the processing is not limited to the above-mentioned reception, transmission, measurement, etc.; the first signal is invalid and may refer to the communication device (such as the above-mentioned terminal device or network device) not processing the first signal (or the first signal measurement result) according to the pre-configuration, and the present application does not limit the processing of the first signal by the communication device when the first signal is invalid.

[0142] Two exemplary implementations of the terminal device determining whether the first signal is valid are given below.

[0143] In one implementation, the terminal device may determine that the first signal is invalid based on the fact that the first signal overlaps with the first SSB burst in the time domain. That is, if the terminal device determines that the signal overlaps with the first SSB burst in the time domain, then the terminal device determines that the signal is invalid.

[0144] In one implementation, the terminal device may determine that the first signal is invalid based on the fact that the first signal overlaps with the first SSB burst in the time domain and that the first signal and the SSB that overlap with the first SSBburst in the time domain do not have a quasi co-location (QCL) relationship. That is, if the terminal device determines that the signal that overlaps with the first SSB burst in the time domain and the first signal and the SSB that overlap with the first SSBburst in the time domain do not have a QCL relationship, then the terminal device determines that the signal is invalid.

[0145] Optionally, the first SSBburst that collides with the first signal may be any first SSBburst, or may be a first SSBburst that the terminal device does not need to measure.

[0146] For example, assuming that the first signal overlaps with the first SSBburst that needs to be measured in the time domain, the first signal is invalid; assuming that the first signal overlaps with the first SSBburst that does not need to be measured in the time domain, if the first signal and the SSB that overlap with the first SSBburst in the time domain do not have a QCL relationship (that is, the QCL is different), the signal is judged to be invalid; if the first signal and the SSB that overlaps with the first SSBburst in the time domain have a QCL relationship (that is, the QCL is the same), the signal is judged to be possibly valid.

[0147] In another implementation, the terminal device may receive third indication information from the network device, where the third indication information is used to indicate that the first signal is valid or the third indication information is used to indicate that the first signal is invalid. The terminal device may then determine whether the first signal is valid based on the third indication information. If the third indication information indicates that the first signal is invalid, the terminal device may determine that the first signal is invalid; if the third indication information indicates that the first signal is valid, the terminal device may determine that the first signal is valid.

[0148] In some embodiments of the present application, the network device may first determine whether the first signal is valid (i.e., execute step S903), and then send the third indication information to the terminal device. The terminal device executes step S904 based on the third indication information. In this case, step S903 is executed before step S904. It should be noted that in other embodiments of the present application, step S904 is executed before step S903. The present application does not limit the execution order of S904 and S903.

[0149] The following exemplifies three types of indication contents of the third indication information.

[0150] The first indication content is: the third indication information is used to indicate whether the signal overlapping with the first SSB burst in the time domain is valid.

[0151] The second indication content is: the third indication information is used to indicate whether the signal overlapping with the SSB that does not need to be measured in the first SSB burst in the time domain is valid.

[0152] The third indication content is: when the first signal overlaps with the first SSB burst in the time domain, the overlapping SSB does not need to be measured and the first signal and the SSB that overlaps with the first SSBburst in the time domain have a QCL relationship, whether the first signal is valid.

[0153] Optionally, the above-mentioned first indication information and the above-mentioned third indication information can be sent separately; or they can indicate whether the first signal is valid (sending the third indication information) at the same time when triggered (i.e., sending the first indication information), such as the first indication information and the second indication information can be sent through the same message.

[0154] Optionally, the terminal device may determine whether to receive or send the first signal based on whether the first signal is valid. Exemplarily, the first signal is a downlink signal, and when the first signal is invalid, the terminal device (e.g., user equipment) does not measure the first signal. In another exemplary embodiment, the first signal is an uplink signal, and when the first signal is invalid, the terminal device (e.g., user equipment) does not send the first signal.

[0155] In some embodiments of the present application, the network device may send the above-mentioned at least one first SSB burst to the terminal device.

[0156] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives at least one first SSB burst from the network device.

[0157] The following description is made by exemplifying N first SSB bursts as a plurality of first SSB bursts.

[0158] In one implementation, multiple first SSB bursts are used to activate a secondary cell of a terminal device (such as a user equipment). Before step S902, the terminal device may send fourth indication information to the network device, where the fourth indication information is used to indicate the number of SSB bursts required to activate the secondary cell of the terminal device (such as the user equipment). Furthermore, the network device determines configuration information of the first SSB burst based on the fourth indication information and sends the configuration information of the first SSB burst to the terminal device. Furthermore, the terminal device may determine the location of the first SSB burst based on the configuration information and the first indication information; and complete AGC / search / measurement and other processes in the secondary cell activation process based on the first SSB burst.

[0159] Optionally, the first indication information and the configuration information of the first SSB burst may be sent independently; or the network device may configure multiple sets of the configuration information of the first SSB burst during configuration, and send the configuration information of the first SSB burst when triggered (i.e., sending the first indication information). For example, the first indication information and the configuration information of the first SSB burst may be sent through the same message. Optionally, the network device may determine the number of SSB bursts required to activate the secondary cell of the terminal device (such as the user equipment) based on the number of SSBs required for activation as defined by the protocol.

[0160] Optionally, the network device can send the above-mentioned second SSB burst to the terminal device, and the second SSB burst and the above-mentioned first SSB burst are both used to activate the secondary cell of the terminal device. Then, the terminal device can complete the AGC / search / measurement and other processes in the secondary cell activation process based on the second SSB burst and the above-mentioned first SSB burst.

[0161] It can be understood that when the secondary cell of the terminal device is activated only by the above-mentioned multiple first SSB bursts, the number of the above-mentioned multiple first SSB bursts is greater than or equal to the number of SSB bursts indicated by the above-mentioned fourth indication information; when the secondary cell of the terminal device is activated by the above-mentioned multiple first SSB bursts and second SSB bursts, the total number of the above-mentioned multiple first SSB bursts and second SSB bursts is greater than or equal to the number of SSB bursts indicated by the above-mentioned fourth indication information.

[0162] In some embodiments of the present application, multiple first SSB bursts are used to activate a secondary cell of a terminal device (such as a user device). The terminal device may send a fifth indication message to the network device when completing the secondary cell activation in advance. The fifth indication message is used to indicate that the terminal device (such as the user device) has activated the secondary cell. After receiving the fifth indication message, the base station may send a second indication message to the terminal device. The second indication message is used to indicate to stop sending the first SSB burst. In other words, the terminal device does not expect to stop the first SSB burst before sending the fifth indication message. Exemplarily, the fifth indication message may be the first CSI report fed back by the terminal device, or the valid CSI report fed back by the terminal device, or the L1-RSRP reported by the terminal device, or it may be indication information indicating that the terminal device has completed processes such as AGC / time-frequency synchronization.

[0163] Optionally, the fifth indication information may be sent via another cell (eg, PCell). It is understandable that when the network device sends the compact SSB (ie, the SSB in the first SSB burst), the SCell may not have uplink (UL) resources.

[0164] In some embodiments of the present application, the N first SSB bursts and the M second SSB bursts do not overlap in the time domain, that is, the above-mentioned avoidance scenario, which can be seen in (A) of Figure 7; or, the third SSB burst overlaps with at least one second SSB burst of the M second SSB bursts in the time domain, the third SSB burst belongs to the N first SSB bursts, the third SSB burst is valid, and the above-mentioned at least one second SSB burst (that is, the second SSB burst overlapping with the third SSB burst in the time domain) is invalid, that is, the above-mentioned non-avoidance scenario, which can be seen in (B) of Figure 7. It should be understood that the third SSB burst is a first SSB burst among the N first SSB bursts. For the convenience of description, the first SSB burst overlapping with the second SSB burst in the time domain is referred to as the third SSB burst in this application.

[0165] The following is an illustrative introduction to an embodiment of a scenario in which no avoidance is required.

[0166] Optionally, assuming that the third SSB burst overlaps with the second SSB burst in the time domain (i.e., the above-mentioned scenario of no avoidance), the first SSB burst and the second SSB burst are used to activate the secondary cell of UE1, and the above-mentioned terminal device is other UE in the same cell as UE1, then the terminal device can select the fourth SSB burst from multiple first SSB bursts for SSB measurement; wherein, the fourth SSB burst satisfies one of the following: the fourth SSB burst is any SSB burst among multiple first SSB bursts; the fourth SSB burst is an SSB burst among multiple first SSB bursts that overlaps with the second SSB burst in the time domain; the fourth SSB burst is the previous SSB burst or the next SSB burst among multiple first SSB bursts that overlaps with the second SSB burst in the time domain. It should be understood that the previous and the next refer to the previous and the next in the time domain, that is, the fourth SSB burst is the SSB burst that overlaps with the second SSB burst in the time domain among multiple first SSB bursts (for the convenience of description, referred to as the overlapping SSB burst) that is closest to the previous SSB burst or the next SSB burst in the time domain, or in other words, the fourth SSB burst is the previous first SSB burst sent before sending the overlapping SSB burst or the next first SSB burst sent before sending the overlapping SSB burst. It should be understood that the overlapping SSB burst can be one or more first SSB bursts. This method can avoid the situation where the terminal device cannot measure the SSB at the original SSB (i.e., the second SSB burst) position when the third SSB burst is valid and the second SSB burst is invalid, or the position of the measured SSB is found to be offset, resulting in inaccurate measurement.

[0167] Optionally, assuming that the third SSB burst overlaps with the second SSB burst in the time domain (i.e., the above-mentioned scenario of no avoidance), the first SSB burst and the second SSB burst are used to activate the secondary cell of UE1, and the above-mentioned terminal devices are other UEs in the same cell as UE1, then the terminal device, such as the user equipment, does not perform mobility measurement or layer 3 measurement on the first cell during the transmission / effective period of the first SSB burst, and the first cell is the cell that sends the first SSB burst. This method can avoid the situation where the terminal device performs mobility measurement or layer 3 measurement on the first cell at the original SSB (i.e., the second SSB burst) when the third SSB burst is valid and the second SSB burst is invalid, resulting in inaccurate measurement.

[0168] Optionally, assuming that the third SSB burst overlaps with the second SSB burst in the time domain (i.e., the scenario without avoidance mentioned above), the first SSB includes sixth indication information, and the sixth indication information is used for the pattern of the first SSB burst. The terminal device can perform SSB measurement on the first cell based on the first SSB burst, and the first cell is the cell that sends the first SSB burst.

[0169] Optionally, assuming that the third SSB burst overlaps with the second SSB burst in the time domain (i.e., the above-mentioned scenario of no avoidance), the above-mentioned network device (for the convenience of description, referred to as the first network device) can send at least one of the second configuration information and the second indication information to the network device (for the convenience of description, referred to as the second network device) that uses the first cell as a neighboring cell. The second indication information is used to instruct to stop sending the first SSB burst, and the first cell is the cell that sends the first SSB burst. Furthermore, the second network device can send at least one of the above-mentioned second configuration information and the second indication information to the terminal devices under all cells of the second network device. This method can avoid the failure to measure the SSB at the original SSB (i.e., the second SSB burst) position, or the inaccurate measurement caused by the offset found in the measured SSB position.

[0170] It should be noted that the terminal device in steps S901, S902 and S904 can be a terminal device in a cell managed by the network device. Assuming that the first SSB burst is used to activate UE1 in the above-mentioned terminal device, for the convenience of description, the other UE in the same cell as UE1 is referred to as UE2, and the above-mentioned terminal device can refer to UE1 and UE2 or only UE1. Then, the execution of the above-mentioned S902 and S904 can specifically be that the network device sends the above-mentioned first indication information to both UE1 and UE2, UE1 and UE2 determine whether the first signal is valid, and the network device sends multiple first SSB bursts to UE1 and UE2; or the network device only sends the above-mentioned first indication information to UE1, UE1 determines whether the first signal is valid, and the network device sends multiple first SSB bursts to UE1 and UE2.

[0171] The method embodiment shown in Figure 9 above includes many possible implementation schemes. Some of the implementation schemes are illustrated below in conjunction with Figure 10. It should be noted that the relevant concepts, operations or logical relationships not explained in Figure 10 can refer to the corresponding descriptions in the embodiment shown in Figure 9.

[0172] In this application, the embodiments shown in FIG10 can be respectively regarded as a separate embodiment, and the embodiments shown in FIG10 can be independent of the technical solution of FIG9 ; some steps in the embodiment shown in FIG10 can also be regarded as a separate embodiment.

[0173] FIG10 is a flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0174] The embodiments of the present application can be applied to the above-mentioned avoidance scenario; for ease of understanding, the above-mentioned first SSB burst is called a compact SSB burst, and the above-mentioned second SSB burst is called a legacy SSB burst.

[0175] In the embodiment of the present application, the communication method provided by the present application is described in detail by taking the terminal device that needs to activate the SCell as UE1, the terminal device that belongs to the same cell as UE1 but does not need to activate the SCell as UE2, and the network device that provides services for UE1 as a base station as an example. The functions performed by UE1 in the embodiment of the present application can also be performed by a module (for example, a chip) in UE1, the functions performed by UE2 in the embodiment of the present application can also be performed by a module (for example, a chip) in UE2, and the functions performed by the base station in the embodiment of the present application can also be performed by a module (for example, a chip) in the base station.

[0176] As shown in FIG10 , the communication method may include some or all of the following steps:

[0177] S101: UE1 reports the number of SSBs required to activate the SCell.

[0178] In some embodiments, UE1 may send indication information to the base station, where the indication information is used to indicate the number of SSBs required to activate the SCell.

[0179] It should be understood that the dotted boxes in FIG10 are used to indicate optional steps, that is, S101 is optional.

[0180] S102: The base station determines configuration information of the compact SSB based on the number of SSBs required to activate the SCell.

[0181] In some embodiments, the base station may first determine the number of compact SSBs to be sent, and then determine the configuration information of the compact SSBs. The number of compact SSBs to be sent may be the number of SSBs required for activation according to the protocol definition, or may be reported based on the capability of UE1. If UE1 supports this feature, the number of SSBs required for activation is reported (i.e., step S101 is executed). The configuration information of the compact SSB may include at least one of the following: the number of compact SSB burst sets, the number of compact SSB bursts in each compact SSB burst set, the interval between compact SSB burst sets, and the interval between compact SSB bursts in a compact SSB burst set.

[0182] FIG11A and FIG11B are schematic diagrams of two exemplary configurations of compact SSBs provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0183] For example, as shown in FIG11A , the number of compact SSB burst sets (numberofset) is 2, the number of compact SSB bursts in the first compact SSB burst set is 4, and the number of compact SSB bursts in the second compact SSB burst set is 3; the interval between the two compact SSB burst sets is offset4; the interval between the compact SSB bursts in each compact SSB burst set is offset3; the interval between the legacy SSB burst and the compact SSB burst set is offset2, and offset1 is the interval between the starting position of the legacy SSB burst and the starting position of the first compact SSB burst thereafter.

[0184] For example, as shown in Figure 11B, the number of compact SSB burst Sets is 2, the number of compact SSB bursts in the first compact SSB burst Set is 3, and the number of compact SSB bursts in the second compact SSB burst Set is 2; the interval between the two compact SSB burst Sets is offset4; the interval between the compact SSB bursts in each compact SSB burst Set is offset3; the interval between the legacy SSB burst and the compact SSB burst Set is offset2, and offset1 is the interval between the starting position of the legacySSBburst and the starting position of the first compactSSBburst thereafter.

[0185] S103: The base station sends trigger signaling and compact SSB configuration information to UE1 and UE2. The trigger signaling is used to instruct to send the compact SSB.

[0186] In one implementation, the base station triggers the sending of the compact SSB and may notify the UEs (ie, UE1 and UE2) in the cell of the relevant configuration of the compact SSB obtained in step S102 (such as the configuration shown in FIG. 11A or FIG. 11B ) through a group command.

[0187] In the embodiment of the present application, the second configuration information including the trigger signaling and the configuration information of the compact SSB is taken as an example for description.

[0188] S104: The base station sends third indication information to UE1 and UE2, where the third indication information is used to indicate whether the first signal is valid, and the first signal overlaps with the compact SSB time domain.

[0189] In some embodiments, the base station can indicate in the same command (i.e., the above-mentioned group command) or other commands (i.e., the above-mentioned third indication information) whether the reception or transmission of compact SSB and other signals (i.e., the first signal) collides in the time domain, whether the other signals are still valid, that is, whether the UE (i.e., UE1 and UE2) still needs to receive or send other signals.

[0190] It should be understood that the dotted lines in FIG. 10 are used to indicate optional steps, that is, S104 is optional.

[0191] S105: UE1 and UE2 determine whether to send or receive a first signal.

[0192] Exemplarily, the first signal is a CSI-RS signal.

[0193] In one implementation, for CSI-RS signals (periodic or semi-static) that collide with the compact SSB in the time domain, UE1 and UE2 consider these CSI-RS signals to be invalid, that is, there is no need to measure these CSI-RS signals, or the measurement results of these CSI-RS signal positions cannot be used for filtering.

[0194] In another implementation, UE1 and UE2 may determine whether these CSI-RS signals can still be used for measurement / filtering based on a network indication (i.e., the third indication information described above). For example, if the third indication information indicates that the CSI-RS signal is invalid, UE1 and UE2 may determine that the CSI-RS signal cannot be used for measurement / filtering. If the third indication information indicates that the CSI-RS signal is valid, UE1 and UE2 may determine that the CSI-RS signal can be used for measurement / filtering.

[0195] Optionally, the CSI-RS signal includes the CSI-RS signal of the cell, and may also include the CSI-RS of other cells in the same frequency band as the cell that collides with the compact SSB in time.

[0196] S106: UE1 and UE2 determine the location of the compact SSB based on the configuration information of the compact SSB and the trigger signaling.

[0197] In some embodiments, after receiving the configuration information of the compact SSB and the trigger signaling, UE1 and UE2 may determine the location of the compact SSB based on the configuration information of the compact SSB. The present application does not limit the method for determining the location of the compact SSB.

[0198] S107: UE1 completes SCell activation according to compact SSB.

[0199] In some embodiments, after UE1 determines the location of the compact SSB, it can complete the AGC / search / measurement and other processes in the SCell activation process according to the compact SSB.

[0200] Optionally, in an avoidance scenario, UE1 may utilize existing SSB and compact SSB to jointly perform AGC and other processes.

[0201] S108: UE1 sends fifth indication information to the base station, where the fifth indication information is used to instruct UE1 to complete SCell activation.

[0202] In some embodiments, if UE1 completes the AGC / search / measurement and other processes required for SCell activation, it can send the fifth indication information to the base station.

[0203] Optionally, the above-mentioned sending of the fifth indication information can be implemented by any of the following: the first CSI report fed back by UE1; the valid CSI report fed back by UE1; the L1-RSRP reported by UE1; the indication sent by UE1, indicating that the AGC / time-frequency synchronization of UE1 is completed.

[0204] Optionally, the fifth indication information may have been sent through other cells, for example, sent to the base station through a PCell, because when the base station sends a compact SSB at this time, the SCell may not have UL resources.

[0205] S109: The base station sends sixth indication information to UE1 and UE2, where the sixth indication information is used to indicate termination of the compact SSB.

[0206] In some embodiments, the base station receives the fifth indication information from UE1, which may trigger a command (ie, the sixth indication information) to terminate the compact SSB in advance.

[0207] In the embodiment of the present application, UE1 can accelerate the SCell activation process by measuring the compact SSB; by introducing the reporting of the required number of SSBs in step S101, and by the indication from the UE to the base station in step S108 (i.e., the fifth indication information mentioned above), the base station can terminate the sending of the compact SSB in advance to avoid unnecessary waste of resources; for UE1 and UE2, the sending status of the compact SSB is obtained through the indication (such as the above-mentioned trigger signaling, configuration, and early termination command), and it can be determined whether to accept / send the first signal (such as the configured periodic / semi-static signal), so as to avoid the situation where the base station cannot send other signals or receive other signals due to sending the compact SSB, resulting in erroneous behavior of the UE.

[0208] In addition, since the embodiment of the present application is an avoidance scenario, it can avoid the impact on the existing SSB, avoid the impact on the original UE, and avoid the impact of other UEs (i.e., the above-mentioned UE2) on the L3 measurement / mobility measurement of the cell.

[0209] FIG12 is a flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0210] The embodiments of the present application can be applied to the above-mentioned scenario of no avoidance. For ease of understanding, the above-mentioned first SSB burst is referred to as a compact SSB burst, and the above-mentioned second SSB burst is referred to as a legacy SSB burst.

[0211] In the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device that needs to activate SCell is UE1, the terminal device that belongs to the same cell as UE1 but does not need to activate SCell is UE2, the network device that provides services for UE1 is base station 1, and the network device that uses the cell that sends compact SSB as a neighboring cell is base station 2 as an example to introduce the communication method provided by the present application in detail. The functions performed by UE1 in the embodiment of the present application can also be performed by a module (for example, a chip) in UE1, the functions performed by UE2 in the embodiment of the present application can also be performed by a module (for example, a chip) in UE2, the functions performed by base station 1 in the embodiment of the present application can also be performed by a module (for example, a chip) in base station 1, and the functions performed by base station 2 in the embodiment of the present application can also be performed by a module (for example, a chip) in base station 2.

[0212] As shown in FIG12 , the communication method may include some or all of the following steps:

[0213] S201: UE1 reports the number of SSBs required to activate the SCell.

[0214] For example, please refer to the relevant content of step S101 above.

[0215] S202: Base station 1 determines configuration information of the compact SSB based on the number of SSBs required to activate the SCell.

[0216] For example, please refer to the relevant content of the above step S102.

[0217] S2031: Base station 1 sends trigger signaling and compact SSB configuration information to UE1 and UE2. The trigger signaling is used to instruct to send the compact SSB.

[0218] For example, please refer to the relevant content of the above step S103.

[0219] S2032: Base station 1 notifies base station 2 of the compact SSB transmission status of the cell, so that base station 2 notifies the UE under the base station. Base station 2 regards the cell that transmits the compact SSB as a neighboring cell.

[0220] In some embodiments, base station 1 notifies other base stations (i.e., base station 2 mentioned above) of the compact SSB status of the cell. Other base stations need to send the compact SSB transmission status of this cell to UEs in cells under other base stations (UEs configured to measure compact SSB cells) to prevent errors when UEs measure the cell.

[0221] S204: Base station 1 sends third indication information to UE1 and UE2, where the third indication information is used to indicate whether the first signal is valid, and the first signal overlaps with the compact SSB time domain.

[0222] For example, please refer to the relevant content of the above step S104.

[0223] S2051: UE1 and UE2 determine whether to send or receive a first signal.

[0224] For example, please refer to the relevant content of the above step S105.

[0225] S2052: UE2 selects compact SSB burst for SSB measurement.

[0226] By way of example, several implementations of UE2 selecting a compact SSB burst are provided below.

[0227] In one implementation, UE2 may select any compact SSB burst for measurement within the SSB period. For example, if the original SSB period is 20 ms, UE2 may select any compact SSB burst for measurement within 20 ms.

[0228] In another implementation, UE2 may select the first compact SSBburst that overlaps with the original SSB burst for measurement. Figure 13A exemplifies that the original SSB (i.e., legacy SSB burst) period is 20 ms. In Figure 13A , a solid rectangle is used to indicate two compact SSBbursts (i.e., the third SSBburst) that overlap with the legacy SSB burst. UE2 may select the first compact SSB burst (i.e., the compact SSB within the first solid rectangle) that overlaps with the legacy SSB burst for measurement.

[0229] In another implementation, UE2 may select the first one before / after the original SSB burst for measurement. Figure 13B exemplarily shows that the original SSB (i.e., legacy SSB burst) period is 20ms. In Figure 13B, two compact SSBbursts (i.e., the third SSBburst) that overlap with the legacy SSB burst are indicated by dotted rectangular boxes and labeled lines, and two solid rectangular boxes respectively indicate the previous compact SSB burst and the next compact SSB burst of the compact SSB burst that overlaps with the legacy SSB burst. UE2 may select the first compact SSB burst that overlaps with the legacy SSB burst (i.e., the compact SSB within the first solid rectangle) or the first compact SSB burst that overlaps with the legacy SSB burst (i.e., the compact SSB within the second solid rectangle) for measurement.

[0230] S2053: If UE2 is configured with mobility measurement / layer 3 measurement for the frequency point, the configuration of the compact SSB of the cell at the frequency point is determined based on the indication of base station 1, or, when searching for the SSB of the cell in the configured cell list, it is determined whether the SSB is a legacy SSB or a compact SSB through the indication information in the SSB, thereby determining the frame header and timing of the cell.

[0231] In some embodiments, UE2 may receive an instruction from base station 1 to determine the configuration of the compact SSB of the cell at the frequency point.

[0232] For example, base station 1 may notify UE2 of the start information of compact SSB (such as the trigger signaling and early termination signaling mentioned above) in real time. Then, UE2 may avoid mobility measurement / layer 3 measurement of the cell during compact SSB.

[0233] In other embodiments, the base station is unable to notify UE2 in real time of the transmission and termination of a compact SSB in a particular cell. Base station 1 indicates to UE2 the cells and patterns where compact SSBs are present. UE2 selects a compact SSB for measurement and performs mobility measurements / Layer 3 measurements based on the configuration of the compact SSB. The compact SSB pattern differs from the original SSB pattern. UE2 needs to search / measure the SSB based on the compact SSB configuration and determine the timing of the cell.

[0234] For example, when configuring the MO (Measurement Object), the base station configures a list of cells that may send compact SSB, as well as the configuration of the compact SSB (pattern and other information); the base station includes indication information in the compact SSB, indicating whether it is a legacy SSB pattern or a compact SSB pattern; then, when UE2 searches for and measures the frequency point, for a cell in the configured cell list, when a certain SSB of the cell is searched, it determines whether it is a legacy SSB or a compact SSB through the indication information in the SSB, thereby determining the frame header and timing of the cell.

[0235] S206: UE1 and UE2 determine the location of the compact SSB based on the configuration information of the compact SSB and the trigger signaling.

[0236] For example, please refer to the relevant content of the above step S106.

[0237] S207: UE1 completes SCell activation according to compact SSB.

[0238] For example, please refer to the relevant content of the above step S107.

[0239] S208: UE1 sends fifth indication information to base station 1, where the fifth indication information is used to instruct UE1 to complete SCell activation.

[0240] For example, please refer to the relevant content of step S108 above.

[0241] S209: Base station 1 sends sixth indication information to UE1 and UE2, where the sixth indication information is used to indicate termination of compact SSB.

[0242] For example, please refer to the relevant content of the above step S109.

[0243] In the embodiment of the present application, the transmission of compact SSB is more compact, and the activation of SCell can be achieved faster; by selecting the compact SSB burst for measurement by UE2, the impact on SSB measurement can be avoided; the base station of the cell that sends the compact SSB is notified as a neighboring cell, so that it notifies all UEs under the base station, so that these UEs perceive the transmission status of the compact SSB when performing L3 measurement on the cell, which can prevent these UEs from making measurement errors when performing measurements according to the original SSB.

[0244] In some other embodiments of the present application, the above step S101 (ie, the UE reports the number of SSBs required to activate the SCell to the base station) can be used as a separate embodiment. For example, please refer to FIG14 .

[0245] FIG14 is a flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0246] The embodiments of the present application can be applied to the above-mentioned avoidance scenario or the non-avoidance scenario; for ease of understanding, the above-mentioned first SSB burst is called a compact SSB burst, and the above-mentioned second SSB burst is called a legacy SSB burst.

[0247] In the embodiment of the present application, the communication method provided by the present application is described in detail by taking the terminal device that needs to activate the SCell as UE1, the terminal device that belongs to the same cell as UE1 but does not need to activate the SCell as UE2, and the network device that provides services for UE1 as a base station as an example. The functions performed by UE1 in the embodiment of the present application can also be performed by a module (for example, a chip) in UE1, the functions performed by UE2 in the embodiment of the present application can also be performed by a module (for example, a chip) in UE2, and the functions performed by the base station in the embodiment of the present application can also be performed by a module (for example, a chip) in the base station.

[0248] In the embodiment of the present application, dotted lines represent optional steps, that is, step S306 and step S307 in Figure 14 are both optional steps, and the embodiment of the present application may not include the above steps S306 and S307.

[0249] As shown in FIG14 , the communication method may include some or all of the following steps:

[0250] S301: UE1 reports the number of SSBs required to activate the SCell.

[0251] In some embodiments, UE1 may send indication information to the base station, where the indication information is used to indicate the number of SSBs required to activate the SCell.

[0252] S302: The base station determines configuration information of the compact SSB based on the number of SSBs required to activate the SCell.

[0253] In some embodiments, the base station may first determine the number of compact SSBs to be sent, and then determine the configuration information of the compact SSB. The number of compact SSBs to be sent may be the number of SSBs required for activation according to the protocol definition, or may be reported based on the UE1 capability. If UE1 supports this feature, it reports the number of SSBs required for activation (i.e., executing step S101). The configuration information of the compact SSB may include at least one of the following: the number of compact SSB burst sets, the number of compact SSB bursts in each compact SSB burst set, the interval between compact SSB burst sets, and the interval between compact SSB bursts in a compact SSB burst set. See Figures 11A and 11B, which are schematic diagrams of two exemplary compact SSB configurations provided in embodiments of the present application.

[0254] S303: The base station sends trigger signaling and compact SSB configuration information to UE1 and UE2. The trigger signaling is used to instruct to send the compact SSB.

[0255] In one implementation, the base station triggers the sending of the compact SSB and may notify the UEs (ie, UE1 and UE2) in the cell of the relevant configuration of the compact SSB in step S102 through a group command.

[0256] S304: UE1 and UE2 determine the location of the compact SSB based on the configuration information of the compact SSB and the trigger signaling.

[0257] In some embodiments, after receiving the configuration information of the compact SSB and the trigger signaling, UE1 and UE2 may determine the location of the compact SSB based on the configuration information of the compact SSB. The present application does not limit the method for determining the location of the compact SSB.

[0258] S305: UE1 completes SCell activation according to compact SSB.

[0259] In some embodiments, after UE1 determines the location of the compact SSB, it can complete the AGC / search / measurement and other processes in the SCell activation process according to the compact SSB.

[0260] Optionally, in an avoidance scenario, UE1 may utilize existing SSB and compact SSB to jointly perform AGC and other processes.

[0261] S306: UE1 sends fifth indication information to the base station, where the fifth indication information is used to instruct UE1 to complete SCell activation.

[0262] In some embodiments, if UE1 completes the AGC / search / measurement and other processes required for SCell activation, it can send the fifth indication information to the base station.

[0263] Optionally, the above-mentioned sending of the fifth indication information can be implemented by any of the following: the first CSI report fed back by UE1; the valid CSI report fed back by UE1; the L1-RSRP reported by UE1; the indication sent by UE1, indicating that the AGC / time-frequency synchronization of UE1 is completed.

[0264] Optionally, the fifth indication information may have been sent through other cells, for example, sent to the base station through a PCell, because when the base station sends a compact SSB at this time, the SCell may not have UL resources.

[0265] S307: The base station sends sixth indication information to UE1 and UE2, where the sixth indication information is used to indicate termination of the compact SSB.

[0266] In some embodiments, the base station receives the fifth indication information from UE1 and may trigger a command (ie, send the sixth indication information) to terminate the compact SSB in advance.

[0267] In an embodiment of the present application, unnecessary waste of resources can be avoided by the terminal device (such as the above-mentioned UE1) that needs to activate the secondary cell reporting the number of SSBs required for activating the secondary cell to the network device (such as the above-mentioned base station).

[0268] The above content elaborates on the method provided by the present application. In order to facilitate the implementation of the above scheme of the embodiment of the present application, the embodiment of the present application also provides corresponding devices or equipment.

[0269] The present application divides the terminal equipment and network equipment into functional modules according to the above-mentioned method embodiment. For example, each functional module can be divided according to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing module. The above-mentioned integrated modules can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional modules. It should be noted that the division of modules in this application is schematic and is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation. The communication device of the embodiment of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to Figures 15 to 17.

[0270] 15 , which is a schematic diagram of a structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG15 , the communication device may include a transceiver unit 10 and a processing unit 20 .

[0271] In some embodiments of the present application, the communication device may be the terminal device shown above or a chip or circuit provided in the terminal device. That is, the communication device may be used to execute the steps or functions performed by the terminal device in the above method embodiments.

[0272] In one design, the transceiver unit 10 is used to: receive first configuration information of a first signal; receive second configuration information, where the second configuration information is used to configure N first synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block bursts SSB bursts, where N is a positive integer; and the processing unit 20 is used to: determine whether the first signal is valid or invalid when the first signal overlaps with at least one first SSB burst in the N first SSB bursts in the time domain, wherein the overlap of the first signal with at least one first SSB burst in the N first SSB bursts in the time domain is determined based on the first configuration information and the second configuration information.

[0273] In one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 10 is used to: receive third configuration information, where the third configuration information is used to configure M second SSB bursts, where M is a positive integer; wherein the first SSB burst and the second SSB burst differ in at least one of the following: the number of SSBs in the first SSB burst is different from the number of SSBs in the second SSB burst; the interval between the first SSB burst and the interval between the second SSB burst are different; the interval between the SSBs in the first SSB burst is different from the interval between the SSBs in the second SSB burst; the first SSB burst is determined based on at least one of the second configuration information and the second indication information, and the second indication information is used to indicate to stop sending the first SSB burst.

[0274] In one possible implementation, the number of SSBs in a time slot of the first SSB burst is greater than the number of SSBs in a time slot of the second SSB burst, and / or, during the period when N first SSB bursts are effective, the number of first SSB bursts is greater than the number of second SSB bursts.

[0275] In one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 10 is used to: receive third indication information, where the third indication information is used to indicate that the first signal is valid or the third indication information is used to indicate that the first signal is invalid; the processing unit 20 is used to: determine whether the first signal is valid or invalid, including: determining whether the first signal is valid or invalid based on the third indication information.

[0276] In one possible implementation, N first SSB bursts are used to activate the secondary cell of the user equipment, and the transceiver unit 10 is used to: send fourth indication information, where the fourth indication information is used to indicate the number of SSB bursts required to activate the secondary cell of the user equipment; wherein the second configuration information is determined based on the fourth indication information.

[0277] In one possible implementation, N first SSB bursts are used to activate the secondary cell of the user equipment, and the transceiver unit 10 is used to: send fifth indication information, the fifth indication information is used to indicate that the user equipment has activated the secondary cell; receive second indication information, the second indication information is used to indicate to stop sending the first SSB burst.

[0278] In a possible implementation, the first signal is a downlink signal, and when the first signal is invalid, the user equipment does not measure the first signal.

[0279] In a possible implementation, the first signal is an uplink signal, and when the first signal is invalid, the user equipment does not send the first signal.

[0280] In one possible implementation, the N first SSB bursts do not overlap with the M second SSB bursts in the time domain; or, the third SSB burst overlaps with at least one second SSB burst of the M second SSB bursts in the time domain, the third SSB burst belongs to the N first SSB bursts, the third SSB burst is valid, and at least one second SSB burst is invalid.

[0281] In one possible implementation, the third SSB burst overlaps with the second SSB burst in the time domain, and the processing unit 20 is used to: perform SSB measurement on the fourth SSB burst, and the fourth SSB burst belongs to N first SSB bursts; wherein the fourth SSB burst satisfies one of the following: the fourth SSB burst is any SSB burst among the N first SSB bursts; the fourth SSB burst is an SSB burst among the N first SSB bursts that overlaps with the second SSB burst in the time domain; the fourth SSB burst is the previous SSB burst or the next SSB burst among the N first SSB bursts that overlaps with the second SSB burst in the time domain.

[0282] In one possible implementation, the third SSB burst is valid, at least one second SSB burst is invalid, and the user equipment does not perform mobility measurement or layer 3 measurement on the first cell during the period when N first SSB bursts are sent / valid. The first cell is the cell that sends N first SSB bursts.

[0283] In one possible implementation, the third SSB burst is valid, at least one second SSB burst is invalid, the N first SSB bursts include sixth indication information, the sixth indication information is used for the pattern of the first SSB burst, and the processing unit 20 is used to: perform SSB measurement on the first cell based on the N first SSB bursts, and the first cell is the cell that sends the N first SSB bursts.

[0284] In a possible implementation, the first signal is a preconfigured signal, and the first signal is an uplink signal or a downlink signal.

[0285] In the embodiment of the present application, the description of the first SSB burst and the second SSB burst, etc. can be referred to the introduction in the method embodiments shown in Figures 9 to 10 above, and will not be described in detail here.

[0286] It is understood that the specific description of the transceiver unit 10 and the processing unit 20 shown in the embodiment of the present application is only an example. For the specific functions or execution steps of the transceiver unit 10 and the processing unit 20, reference can be made to the method embodiment shown in Figures 9 and 10 above, and no further details will be given here. In addition, the technical effects of the embodiment of the present application refer to the technical effects of the method embodiment shown in Figures 9 and 10 above, and for the sake of brevity, no further details will be given here.

[0287] Using Figure 15, in some embodiments of the present application, the communication device may be the network device shown above or a chip or circuit disposed in the network device. That is, the communication device may be used to execute the steps or functions performed by the network device in the above method embodiments.

[0288] In some embodiments of the present application, the communication device may be the terminal device shown above or a chip or circuit provided in the terminal device. That is, the communication device may be used to execute the steps or functions performed by the terminal device in the above method embodiments.

[0289] In one design, the transceiver unit 10 is used to: send first configuration information of a first signal; send second configuration information, where the second configuration information is used to configure N first synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block bursts SSB bursts, where N is a positive integer; the processing unit 20 is used to: determine whether the first signal is valid or invalid when the first signal overlaps with at least one first SSB burst in the N first SSB bursts in the time domain, wherein the overlap of the first signal with at least one first SSB burst in the N first SSB bursts in the time domain is determined based on the first configuration information and the second configuration information.

[0290] In one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 10 is used to: send third configuration information, where the third configuration information is used to configure M second SSB bursts, where M is a positive integer; wherein the first SSB burst and the second SSB burst are different in at least one of the following ways: the number of SSBs in the first SSB burst is different from the number of SSBs in the second SSB burst; the interval between the first SSB burst and the interval between the second SSB burst are different; the interval between the SSBs in the first SSB burst is different from the interval between the SSBs in the second SSB burst; the first SSB burst is determined based on at least one of the second configuration information and the second indication information, and the second indication information is used to indicate to stop sending the first SSB burst.

[0291] In one possible implementation, the number of SSBs in a time slot of the first SSB burst is greater than the number of SSBs in a time slot of the second SSB burst, and / or, during the period when N first SSB bursts are effective, the number of first SSB bursts is greater than the number of second SSB bursts.

[0292] In one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 10 is used to: send third indication information based on the overlap of the first signal and N first SSB bursts in the time domain, where the third indication information is used to indicate that the first signal is valid or the third indication information is used to indicate that the first signal is invalid.

[0293] In a possible implementation, the first signal is a downlink signal, and the network device does not send the first signal when the first signal is invalid.

[0294] In a possible implementation, the first signal is a downlink signal, the third indication information is used to indicate that the first signal is valid, and the transceiver unit 10 is used to send the first signal.

[0295] In one possible implementation, N first SSB bursts are used to activate the secondary cell of the user equipment, and the transceiver unit 10 is used to: receive fourth indication information, where the fourth indication information is used to indicate the number of SSB bursts required to activate the secondary cell of the user equipment; wherein the second configuration information is determined based on the fourth indication information.

[0296] In one possible implementation, N first SSB bursts are used to activate the secondary cell of the user equipment, and the transceiver unit 10 is used to: receive fifth indication information, the fifth indication information is used to indicate that the user equipment has activated the secondary cell; based on the fifth indication information, send second indication information, the second indication information is used to indicate to stop sending the first SSB burst.

[0297] In one possible implementation, the N first SSB bursts do not overlap with the M second SSB bursts in the time domain; or, the third SSB burst overlaps with at least one second SSB burst of the M second SSB bursts in the time domain, the third SSB burst belongs to the N first SSB bursts, the third SSB burst is valid, and at least one second SSB burst is invalid.

[0298] In one possible implementation, the third SSB burst is valid and at least one second SSB burst is invalid. The transceiver unit 10 is used to: send at least one of the second configuration information and the second indication information to the network device that uses the first cell as a neighboring cell, and the second indication information is used to indicate to stop sending the first SSB burst. The first cell is a cell that sends N first SSB bursts.

[0299] In one possible implementation, the third SSB burst is valid, at least one second SSB burst is invalid, and the N first SSB bursts include sixth indication information, where the sixth indication information is used to indicate a pattern of the first SSB.

[0300] In a possible implementation, the first signal is a preconfigured signal, and the first signal is an uplink signal or a downlink signal.

[0301] In the embodiment of the present application, the description of the first SSB burst and the second SSB burst, etc. can be referred to the introduction in the method embodiments shown in Figures 9 to 10 above, and will not be described in detail here.

[0302] It is understood that the specific description of the transceiver unit 10 and the processing unit 20 shown in the embodiment of the present application is only an example. For the specific functions or execution steps of the transceiver unit 10 and the processing unit 20, reference can be made to the method embodiment shown in Figures 9 and 10 above, and no further details will be given here. In addition, the technical effects of the embodiment of the present application refer to the technical effects of the method embodiment shown in Figures 9 and 10 above, and for the sake of brevity, no further details will be given here.

[0303] The above describes the terminal device and network device of the embodiments of the present application. The following describes possible product forms of the terminal device and network device. It should be understood that any product having the functions of the terminal device or network device described in FIG15 above falls within the scope of protection of the embodiments of the present application. It should also be understood that the following description is merely illustrative and does not limit the product forms of the communication devices of the embodiments of the present application to these examples.

[0304] In one possible implementation, in the communication device shown in FIG15 , the processing unit 20 may be one or more processors, and the transceiver unit 10 may be a transceiver. Alternatively, the transceiver unit 10 may be a transmitting unit and a receiving unit, wherein the transmitting unit may be a transmitter and the receiving unit may be a receiver, and the transmitting unit and receiving unit are integrated into a single device, such as a transceiver. In the embodiments of the present application, the processor and transceiver may be coupled, etc., and the connection method between the processor and transceiver is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. During the execution of the above-described method, the process of sending information in the above-described method can be understood as the process of the processor outputting the above-described information. When outputting the above-described information, the processor outputs the above-described information to the transceiver for transmission by the transceiver. After being output by the processor, the above-described information may require further processing before reaching the transceiver. Similarly, the process of receiving information in the above-described method can be understood as the process of the processor receiving the above-described input information. When the processor receives the input information, the transceiver receives the above-described information and inputs it into the processor. Furthermore, after the transceiver receives the above-described information, the above-described information may require further processing before being input into the processor.

[0305] Referring to Figure 16, Figure 16 is another structural diagram of the communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 16, the communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application can be used to implement the method described in the above method embodiment, and reference can be made to the description in the above method embodiment. The communication device can be a terminal device, or a network device, or a chip therein. Exemplarily, the communication device includes one or more processors 1001 and a transceiver 1002. The communication device may further include a memory 1003. In one implementation, the communication device also includes an input and output device (not shown in Figure 16).

[0306] Processor 1001 is primarily used to process communication protocols and communication data, control the entire communication device, execute software programs, and process software program data. Memory 1003 is primarily used to store software programs and data. Transceiver 1002 may include control circuitry and an antenna. The control circuitry is primarily used to convert baseband signals into radio frequency signals and process radio frequency signals. The antenna is primarily used to transmit and receive radio frequency signals in the form of electromagnetic waves. Input / output devices, such as a touch screen, display, and keyboard, are primarily used to receive user input and output data to the user.

[0307] When the communication device is powered on, the processor 1001 can read the software program in the memory 1003, interpret and execute the instructions of the software program, and process the data of the software program. When data needs to be sent wirelessly, the processor 1001 performs baseband processing on the data to be sent and outputs the baseband signal to the radio frequency circuit. The radio frequency circuit performs radio frequency processing on the baseband signal and then transmits the radio frequency signal to the outside in the form of electromagnetic waves through the antenna. When data is sent to the communication device, the radio frequency circuit receives the radio frequency signal through the antenna, converts the radio frequency signal into a baseband signal, and outputs the baseband signal to the processor 1001. The processor 1001 converts the baseband signal into data and processes the data.

[0308] In another implementation, the RF circuit and antenna may be provided independently of the processor performing baseband processing. For example, in a distributed scenario, the RF circuit and antenna may be remotely arranged independent of the communication device.

[0309] The processor 1001 , the transceiver 1002 , and the memory 1003 may be connected via a communication bus.

[0310] Exemplarily, when the communication device is used to execute the steps, methods or functions performed by the terminal device in the embodiment shown in Figure 9 above, the transceiver 1002 can be used to execute steps S901 and S902 in Figure 9, and the processor 1001 can be used to execute S904 in Figure 9, and / or other processes for the technology described herein.

[0311] Exemplarily, when the communication device is used to execute the steps, methods, or functions performed by the network device in the embodiment shown in FIG. 9 above, the transceiver 1002 can be used to execute steps S901 and S902 in FIG. 9 , and the processor 1001 can be used to execute S903 in FIG. 9 , and / or other processes for the technology described herein.

[0312] In any of the above implementations, the processor 1001 may include a transceiver for implementing receiving and transmitting functions. For example, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit, an interface, or an interface circuit. The transceiver circuit, interface, or interface circuit for implementing the receiving and transmitting functions may be separate or integrated. The transceiver circuit, interface, or interface circuit may be used for reading and writing code / data, or the transceiver circuit, interface, or interface circuit may be used for transmitting or delivering signals.

[0313] In any of the above implementations, the processor 1001 may store instructions, which may be computer programs. The computer programs, when executed on the processor 1001, may cause the communication device to perform the methods described in the above method embodiments. The computer programs may be embedded in the processor 1001, in which case the processor 1001 may be implemented by hardware.

[0314] In one implementation, the communication device may include a circuit that can implement the functions of sending, receiving, or communicating in the aforementioned method embodiment. The processor and transceiver described in this application can be implemented in an integrated circuit (IC), an analog IC, a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), a mixed signal IC, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a printed circuit board (PCB), an electronic device, etc. The processor and transceiver can also be manufactured using various IC process technologies, such as complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS), N-type metal oxide semiconductor (nMetal-oxide-semiconductor, NMOS), P-channel metal oxide semiconductor (positive channel metal oxide semiconductor, PMOS), bipolar junction transistor (bipolar junction transistor, BJT), bipolar CMOS (BiCMOS), silicon germanium (SiGe), gallium arsenide (GaAs), etc.

[0315] It is understood that the communication device shown in the embodiment of the present application may also have more components than those in Figure 16, and the embodiment of the present application is not limited to this. The method performed by the processor and transceiver shown above is only an example. For the specific steps performed by the processor and transceiver, please refer to the description of the method embodiment above.

[0316] In another possible implementation, the communication device shown in FIG16 may further include a processing unit, which may be one or more logic circuits, and the transceiver unit 10 may be an input / output interface, or may be referred to as a communication interface, or an interface circuit, or an interface, etc. Alternatively, the transceiver unit 10 may be a transmitting unit and a receiving unit, the transmitting unit may be an output interface, the receiving unit may be an input interface, and the transmitting unit and the receiving unit may be integrated into one unit, such as an input / output interface.

[0317] Referring to Figure 17, Figure 17 is another structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 17, the communication device shown in Figure 17 includes a logic circuit 901 and an interface 902. That is, the above-mentioned processing unit can be implemented using a logic circuit 901, and the transceiver unit 10 can be implemented using an interface 902. Among them, the logic circuit 901 can be a chip, a processing circuit, an integrated circuit or a system on chip (SoC) chip, etc., and the interface 902 can be a communication interface, an input and output interface, a pin, etc. Exemplarily, Figure 17 is shown as an example of a chip as the above-mentioned communication device, and the chip includes a logic circuit 901 and an interface 902.

[0318] In the embodiment of the present application, the logic circuit and the interface may also be coupled to each other. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific connection method between the logic circuit and the interface.

[0319] Exemplarily, when the communication device is used to execute the steps, methods or functions performed by the terminal device in the method embodiment shown in Figure 9 above, the interface 902 is used to receive the first configuration information and the second configuration information; the logic circuit 901 is used to determine whether the first signal is valid or invalid.

[0320] Exemplarily, when the communication device is used to execute the steps, methods or functions performed by the network device in the method embodiment shown in Figure 9 above, the interface 902 is used to send the first configuration information and the second configuration information; the logic circuit 901 is used to determine whether the first signal is valid or invalid.

[0321] In the embodiment of the present application, the description of the first configuration information, etc. can refer to the description of the method embodiment shown in Figure 9 above, and will not be described in detail here. It is understood that the specific description of the logic circuit 901 and the interface 902 can also refer to the description of the processing unit and the transceiver unit shown in Figure 15, and will not be repeated here.

[0322] It can be understood that the communication device shown in the embodiment of the present application can implement the method provided in the embodiment of the present application in the form of hardware, or can implement the method provided in the embodiment of the present application in the form of software, etc., and the embodiment of the present application is not limited to this.

[0323] For the specific implementation methods of the various embodiments shown in Figure 17, you can also refer to the above embodiments, which will not be described in detail here.

[0324] An embodiment of the present application also provides a communication system, which includes a terminal device and a network device. The terminal device and the network device can be used to execute the method in any of the aforementioned method embodiments (Figures 9 to 14).

[0325] In addition, the present application also provides a computer program, which is used to implement the operations and / or processing performed by the communication device (such as the above-mentioned terminal device and network device) in the method provided by the present application.

[0326] The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores computer code. When the computer code runs on a computer, it enables the computer to execute the operations and / or processing performed by the communication device (such as the above-mentioned terminal device and network device) in the method provided by the present application.

[0327] The present application also provides a computer program product, which includes computer code or computer program. When the computer code or computer program runs on a computer, the operations and / or processing performed by the communication device (such as the above-mentioned terminal device and network device) in the method provided by the present application are executed.

[0328] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only schematic. For example, the division of the units is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. In addition, the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, or can be electrical, mechanical or other forms of connection.

[0329] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the technical effects of the solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application.

[0330] In addition, the functional units in the various embodiments of the present application may be integrated into a single processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into a single unit. The aforementioned integrated units may be implemented in the form of hardware or software functional units.

[0331] If the integrated unit is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application is essentially or the part that contributes to the prior art, or all or part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product, and the computer software product is stored in a readable storage medium, including a number of instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned readable storage medium includes: U disk, mobile hard disk, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disk or optical disk, and other media that can store program code.

[0332] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present application, but the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in this application should be included in the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: The method comprises: receiving first configuration information of a first signal; Receive second configuration information, where the second configuration information is used to configure N first synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block bursts (SSBbursts), where N is a positive integer; When the first signal overlaps with at least one first SSBburst in the N first SSB bursts in the time domain, it is determined whether the first signal is valid or invalid, wherein the overlap of the first signal with at least one first SSBburst in the N first SSB bursts in the time domain is determined based on the first configuration information and the second configuration information.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The method further comprises: Receive third configuration information, where the third configuration information is used to configure M second SSB bursts, where M is a positive integer; Among them, there is at least one difference between the first SSB burst and the second SSB burst: the number of SSBs in the first SSBburst is different from the number of SSBs in the second SSBburst; the interval between the first SSB burst is different from the interval between the second SSB burst; the interval between SSBs in the first SSB burst is different from the interval between SSBs in the second SSB burst; the first SSB burst is determined based on at least one of the second configuration information and the second indication information, and the second indication information is used to indicate to stop sending the first SSB burst.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The number of SSBs in the first SSB burst in a time slot is greater than the number of SSBs in the second SSB burst in a time slot, and / or, during the period when the N first SSB bursts are effective, the number of the first SSB bursts is greater than the number of the second SSB bursts.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The method further comprises: receiving third indication information, where the third indication information is used to indicate that the first signal is valid or the third indication information is used to indicate that the first signal is invalid; The determining whether the first signal is valid or invalid includes: determining whether the first signal is valid or invalid according to the third indication information.

5. The method according to claims 1-4, characterized in that The N first SSB bursts are used to activate a secondary cell of the user equipment, and the method further includes: Sending fourth indication information, where the fourth indication information is used to indicate the number of SSB bursts required to activate the secondary cell of the user equipment; wherein the second configuration information is determined based on the fourth indication information.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that The N first SSB bursts are used to activate a secondary cell of the user equipment, and the method further includes: sending fifth indication information, where the fifth indication information is used to indicate that the user equipment has activated the secondary cell; Receive second indication information, where the second indication information is used to instruct to stop sending the first SSB burst.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that The first signal is a downlink signal. When the first signal is invalid, the user equipment does not measure the first signal.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1-6, wherein the first signal is an uplink signal, and when the first signal is invalid, the user equipment does not send the first signal.

9. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 8, characterized in that: The N first SSB bursts do not overlap with the M second SSB bursts in the time domain; or, the third SSBburst overlaps with at least one second SSB burst of the M second SSB bursts in the time domain, the third SSB burst belongs to the N first SSB bursts, the third SSBburst is valid, and the at least one second SSBburst is invalid.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that The third SSB burst overlaps with the second SSB burst in a time domain, and the method further includes: performing an SSB measurement on a fourth SSB burst, where the fourth SSB burst belongs to the N first SSB bursts; Among them, the fourth SSB burst satisfies one of the following: the fourth SSB burst is any one of the N first SSB bursts; the fourth SSB burst is an SSB burst in the N first SSB bursts that overlaps with the second SSB burst in the time domain; the fourth SSB burst is the previous SSB burst or the next SSB burst in the N first SSB bursts that overlaps with the second SSB burst in the time domain.

11. The method according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that The third SSB burst is valid, the at least one second SSB burst is invalid, and the user equipment does not perform mobility measurement or layer 3 measurement on the first cell during the sending / effectiveness of the N first SSB bursts. The first cell is the cell that sends the N first SSB bursts.

12. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 11, characterized in that: The third SSB burst is valid, the at least one second SSB burst is invalid, the N first SSB bursts include sixth indication information, and the sixth indication information is used for a pattern of the first SSB burst. The method further includes: Based on the N first SSB bursts, SSB measurement is performed on a first cell, where the first cell is the cell that sends the N first SSB bursts.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that The first signal is a preconfigured signal, and the first signal is an uplink signal or a downlink signal.

14. A communication method, characterized in that: The method comprises: Sending first configuration information of a first signal; Sending second configuration information, where the second configuration information is used to configure N first synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block bursts (SSB bursts), where N is a positive integer; When the first signal overlaps with at least one first SSB burst among the N first SSB bursts in the time domain, it is determined whether the first signal is valid or invalid, wherein the overlap of the first signal with at least one first SSB burst among the N first SSB bursts in the time domain is determined based on the first configuration information and the second configuration information.

15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that The method further comprises: Sending third configuration information, where the third configuration information is used to configure M second SSB bursts, where M is a positive integer; Among them, there is at least one difference between the first SSB burst and the second SSB burst: the number of SSBs in the first SSBburst is different from the number of SSBs in the second SSBburst; the interval between the first SSB burst is different from the interval between the second SSB burst; the interval between SSBs in the first SSB burst is different from the interval between SSBs in the second SSB burst; the first SSB burst is determined based on at least one of the second configuration information and the second indication information, and the second indication information is used to indicate to stop sending the first SSB burst.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that The number of SSBs in the first SSB burst in a time slot is greater than the number of SSBs in the second SSB burst in a time slot, and / or, during the period when the N first SSB bursts are effective, the number of the first SSB bursts is greater than the number of the second SSB bursts.

17. The method according to claim 14 or 15, characterized in that The method further comprises: Based on the overlap of the first signal and the N first SSB bursts in the time domain, third indication information is sent, where the third indication information is used to indicate that the first signal is valid or the third indication information is used to indicate that the first signal is invalid.

18. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 17, characterized in that: The first signal is a downlink signal, and the network device does not send the first signal when the first signal is invalid.

19. The method according to claim 17, wherein The first signal is a downlink signal, the third indication information is used to indicate that the first signal is valid, and the method further includes: The first signal is sent.

20. The method according to claims 14-19, characterized in that The N first SSB bursts are used to activate a secondary cell of the user equipment, and the method further includes: Receive fourth indication information, where the fourth indication information is used to indicate the number of SSB bursts required to activate the secondary cell of the user equipment; wherein the second configuration information is determined based on the fourth indication information.

21. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 20, characterized in that: The N first SSB bursts are used to activate a secondary cell of the user equipment, and the method further includes: receiving fifth indication information, where the fifth indication information is used to indicate that the user equipment has activated the secondary cell; Based on the fifth indication information, second indication information is sent, where the second indication information is used to instruct to stop sending the first SSB burst.

22. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 21, characterized in that The N first SSB bursts do not overlap with the M second SSB bursts in the time domain; or, a third SSB burst overlaps with at least one second SSB burst of the M second SSB bursts in the time domain, the third SSB burst belongs to the N first SSB bursts, the third SSB burst is valid, and the at least one second SSB burst is invalid.

23. The method according to claim 22, characterized in that The third SSB burst is valid, and the at least one second SSB burst is invalid, and the method further includes: At least one of the second configuration information and the second indication information is sent to a network device that uses the first cell as a neighboring cell, where the second indication information is used to indicate to stop sending the first SSB burst, and the first cell is the cell that sends the N first SSB bursts.

24. The method according to claim 22 or 23, characterized in that The third SSB burst is valid, the at least one second SSB burst is invalid, and the N first SSB bursts include sixth indication information, and the sixth indication information is used to indicate the pattern of the first SSB.

25. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 24, characterized in that The first signal is a preconfigured signal, and the first signal is an uplink signal or a downlink signal.

26. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises modules or units for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 25.

27. A communication device, characterized in that: It includes a processor and an interface circuit, wherein the interface circuit is used to receive signals from other communication devices and transmit them to the processor or send signals from the processor to other communication devices, and the processor is used to implement the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 25 through a logic circuit or executing code instructions.

28. A readable storage medium, characterized in that The device is used to store a program, wherein the program is executed by one or more processors, so that a device including the one or more processors performs the method according to any one of claims 1 to 16.

29. A communication system, characterized in that: include: A terminal device for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, and a network device for executing the method according to any one of claims 14 to 25.

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