Communication method for paging, apparatus and system

Abstract

A communication method for paging, an apparatus and a system, which are applied to a satellite system. The method comprises: acquiring first indication information, the first indication information indicating a corresponding relationship between a first physical downlink control channel monitoring occasion (PMO) set, a first terminal identifier set and a first beam set; and, on the basis of the first indication information, receiving a paging message, the paging message being used for paging a terminal device. The implementation mode provides an efficient paging mechanism, so that terminal devices can monitor paging messages in their associated PMOs, not only improving the paging capacity of systems, but also reducing the power consumption of the terminal devices.

Description

Communication method, apparatus and system for paging

[0001] The present application claims priority from the Chinese patent application No. 202410464845.X filed on April 15, 2024, and entitled "Communication method, apparatus and system for paging", the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and more particularly, to a communication method, apparatus and system for paging. BACKGROUND

[0003] Non-terrestrial networks (NTN) such as satellite communication have the advantages of global coverage, long-distance transmission, flexible networking, easy deployment, and no restriction by geographical conditions, and have been widely used in maritime communication, positioning and navigation, disaster relief, scientific experiments, video broadcasting, and earth observation.

[0004] In an NTN system, a satellite base station (which can be understood as a base station deployed on a satellite) can communicate with a core network device through a ground station, and the satellite base station can also communicate with a terminal device through an air interface. For example, the satellite base station can receive a paging request from the core network device through the ground station, and then initiate paging for the terminal device through the air interface.

[0005] However, how to design an efficient paging mechanism is a problem that needs to be considered. SUMMARY

[0006] The present application provides a communication method, apparatus and system for paging, in order to provide an efficient paging mechanism.

[0007] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be applied to a terminal side, such as a terminal device, or a communication module in the terminal device, or a circuit or chip responsible for communication functions in the terminal device (such as a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a system on chip (SoC) chip or system in package (SIP) chip containing a modem core), or a functional module or software capable of calling and executing programs in the terminal device, etc. For ease of description, the following will be described by taking the terminal device as an example.

[0008] The method comprises: obtaining first indication information, the first indication information indicating a correspondence relationship between a first physical downlink control channel monitoring occasion (PMO) set, a first terminal identifier set and a first beam set; and receiving a paging message according to the first indication information, the paging message being used for paging a terminal device.

[0009] Based on the above scheme, an efficient paging mechanism is provided. By obtaining the first indication information, the PMO and the beam associated with the terminal device can be determined, so that the terminal device can monitor the paging message in the associated PMO, without monitoring the paging message in other non-associated PMO. Compared with the existing paging mechanism in which the PMO corresponding to each beam is determined and the terminal devices paged by each PMO are the same, the implementation manner can not only improve the paging efficiency and reduce the power consumption of the terminal device, but also can be used to initiate paging for other terminal devices in other non-associated PMO, thereby improving the paging capacity of the network.

[0010] In some implementations of the first aspect, the method further comprises: obtaining second indication information, the second indication information indicating a correspondence relationship between a second PMO set, a second terminal identifier set and a second beam set, the PMOs in the second PMO set being different from the PMOs in the first PMO set.

[0011] It should be understood that the PMOs in the second PMO set are different from the PMOs in the first PMO set, including that the number of PMOs is different, and / or the resources indicated by the PMOs are different. Compared with the existing paging mechanism in which the PMOs contained in each PMO set are the same, the implementation manner can increase the paging capacity, improve the paging efficiency of the terminal device and ensure the paging performance.

[0012] In some implementations of the first aspect, the first indication information comprises a first mapping relationship and a second mapping relationship, the first mapping relationship being used to represent a correspondence relationship between a plurality of PMOs and a plurality of terminal identifiers, the second mapping relationship being used to represent a correspondence relationship between a plurality of beams and a plurality of PMOs, the plurality of PMOs belonging to the first PMO set, the plurality of terminal identifiers belonging to the first terminal identifier set, and the plurality of beams belonging to the first beam set.

[0013] Based on the above scheme, by obtaining the first mapping relationship and the second mapping relationship, the terminal device can determine the correspondence relationship between the plurality of PMOs and the plurality of terminal identifiers, and the correspondence relationship between the plurality of beams and the plurality of PMOs, so as to determine the associated beam and PMO of the terminal device according to the identifier of the terminal device, and monitor the paging message in the associated PMO, thereby improving the paging efficiency of the terminal device and avoiding unnecessary power consumption of the terminal device.

[0014] In some implementations of the first aspect, receiving the paging message according to the first indication information comprises: determining, according to the first indication information and the identity of the terminal device, a third PMO corresponding to the identity of the terminal device and a third beam, the third PMO belonging to the first PMO set and the third beam belonging to the first beam set; and receiving the paging message according to the third PMO and the third beam.

[0015] Based on the above scheme, according to the first indication information and the identity of the terminal device, the terminal device can explicitly associate itself with the third PMO and the third beam, and then receive the paging message in the third PMO. This implementation provides an efficient paging mechanism, which not only improves the paging efficiency of the terminal device, but also reduces the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0016] In some implementations of the first aspect, obtaining the first indication information comprises: receiving the first indication information from the network device; or obtaining the first indication information from the terminal device.

[0017] Optionally, the first indication can be predefined or preconfigured, which is not limited in the present application.

[0018] In some implementations of the first aspect, the PMOs in the second PMO set are different from the PMOs in the first PMO set, comprising: the first PMO set includes M PMOs, the second PMO set includes N PMOs, and the M PMOs and the N PMOs satisfy at least one of the following: M and N are different; the M PMOs and the N PMOs are partially the same; or the M PMOs and the N PMOs are completely different; wherein M and N are positive integers.

[0019] Compared with the existing paging mechanism, each PMO set contains the same PMO. This implementation can increase the paging capacity, improve the paging efficiency, and ensure the paging performance.

[0020] In some implementations of the first aspect, the terminal devices in the second terminal set corresponding to the second terminal identity set are different from the terminal devices in the first terminal set corresponding to the first terminal identity set, comprising: the first terminal set includes P terminals, the second terminal set includes Q terminals, and the P terminals and the Q terminals satisfy at least one of the following: P and Q are different; the P terminals and the Q terminals are partially the same; or the P terminals and the Q terminals are completely different; wherein P and Q are positive integers.

[0021] Compared with the existing paging mechanism, each PMO pages the same terminal device. This implementation can increase the paging capacity, reduce unnecessary signaling overhead and power consumption of the terminal device, and also improve the paging efficiency and ensure the paging performance.

[0022] In some implementations of the first aspect, the first set of beams includes a first beam, and indexes of the plurality of PMOs associated with the first beam satisfy: (X-1)*S+k; where k is an index of the first beam, X represents a number of PMOs associated with the first beam, S represents a number of beams transmitted by the network device, the first beam belongs to the first set of beams, the plurality of PMOs belong to the first set of PMOs, and k is an integer greater than zero and less than or equal to S.

[0023] In some implementations of the first aspect, the first set of PMOs includes a first PMO and a second PMO, the first PMO corresponds to a first terminal device, the second PMO corresponds to a second terminal device, the first terminal device and the second terminal device are different, and the first terminal device and the second terminal device belong to a terminal set corresponding to the first set of terminal identities.

[0024] Optionally, the number of the first terminal device or the second terminal device can be one or more, which is not limited in the present application.

[0025] That is, the terminal devices paged by the plurality of PMOs associated with the same beam are different, or in other words, the plurality of groups of terminal devices associated with the same beam can receive paging messages through the plurality of PMOs respectively.

[0026] Based on the above scheme, a terminal device grouping mechanism is designed to group different terminal devices associated with the same beam, and each terminal device group corresponds to different PMOs. The terminal device can only monitor paging messages in the PMO associated with itself, that is, the system paging capacity can be expanded and the power consumption of the terminal device can be reduced by multiplexing PMOs.

[0027] In some implementations of the first aspect, the first indication information is carried in a broadcast message, a multicast message, or radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

[0028] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be applied to a network side, such as a network device, or a communication module in the network device, or a chip or circuit responsible for communication functions in the network device, or a central unit (CU) or distributed unit (DU) in the network device, or a functional module or software capable of invoking and executing programs in the network device, and the like. For ease of description, the following is described by way of example of being executed by the network device.

[0029] The method includes: obtaining first indication information, the first indication information indicating a correspondence between a first set of physical downlink control channel monitoring occasions (PMOs), a first set of terminal identities, and a first set of beams; and transmitting a paging message according to the first indication information, the paging message being used to page a terminal device.

[0030] Based on the above scheme, an efficient paging mechanism is provided, and the PMO and the beam associated with the terminal device can be determined by obtaining the first indication information, so that the network device can be configured for on-demand paging in a targeted manner. Compared with the existing paging mechanism in which the PMO corresponding to each beam is determined, and the terminal devices paged by each PMO are the same, the implementation manner can not only improve the paging efficiency, reduce the signaling overhead of the network device and / or the power consumption of the terminal device, and ensure the paging performance.

[0031] In some implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: obtaining second indication information, the second indication information indicating a correspondence relationship between a second PMO set, a second terminal identifier set, and a second beam set, the PMOs in the second PMO set being different from the PMOs in the first PMO set.

[0032] In some implementations of the second aspect, the first indication information includes a first mapping relationship and a second mapping relationship, the first mapping relationship being used to represent a correspondence relationship between a plurality of PMOs and a plurality of terminal identifiers, and the second mapping relationship being used to represent a correspondence relationship between a plurality of beams and a plurality of PMOs, the plurality of PMOs belonging to the first PMO set, the plurality of terminal identifiers belonging to the first terminal identifier set, and the plurality of beams belonging to the first beam set.

[0033] In some implementations of the second aspect, the sending of the paging message according to the first indication information includes: determining, according to the first indication information and the identifier of the terminal device, a third PMO corresponding to the identifier of the terminal device and a third beam, the third PMO belonging to the first PMO set and the third beam belonging to the first beam set; and sending the paging message according to the third PMO and the third beam.

[0034] In some implementations of the second aspect, before the obtaining of the first indication information, the method further includes: determining the first beam set according to at least one of the following: historical location information of the terminal device; or speed information and / or direction information of the terminal device.

[0035] In some implementations of the second aspect, the PMOs in the second PMO set are different from the PMOs in the first PMO set, including: the first PMO set includes M PMOs, the second PMO set includes N PMOs, and the M PMOs and the N PMOs satisfy at least one of the following: M and N are different; the M PMOs and the N PMOs are partially the same; or the M PMOs and the N PMOs are completely different; wherein M and N are positive integers.

[0036] In some implementations of the second aspect, the terminal devices in the second terminal set corresponding to the second terminal identifier set are different from the terminal devices in the first terminal set corresponding to the first terminal identifier set, including: the first terminal set includes P terminal devices, and the second terminal set includes Q terminal devices, the P terminal devices and the Q terminal devices satisfy at least one of the following: P is different from Q; the P terminal devices and the Q terminal devices are partially the same; or the P terminal devices and the Q terminal devices are completely different; wherein P and Q are positive integers.

[0037] In some implementations of the second aspect, the first beam set includes a first beam, and indexes of the plurality of PMOs associated with the first beam satisfy: (X-1)*S+k; wherein k is an index of the first beam, X represents a number of PMOs associated with the first beam, S represents a number of beams sent by the network device, the first beam belongs to the first beam set, the plurality of PMOs belong to the first PMO set, and k is an integer greater than zero and less than or equal to S.

[0038] In some implementations of the second aspect, the first PMO set includes a first PMO and a second PMO, the first PMO corresponds to a first terminal device, the second PMO corresponds to a second terminal device, the first terminal device is different from the second terminal device, and the first terminal device and the second terminal device belong to the terminal set corresponding to the first terminal identifier set.

[0039] In some implementations of the second aspect, the first indication information is carried in a broadcast message, a multicast message, or RRC signaling.

[0040] The beneficial effects of the above-mentioned second aspect and some implementations of the second aspect can correspond to the description related to the first aspect, which will not be repeated here.

[0041] In a third aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which can be a receiving device, a module or unit or means (such as a chip or a chip system or a circuit) corresponding to the method or operation or step or action described in the first aspect, or a device that can be used with the receiving device. The receiving device can be a terminal device.

[0042] In a possible implementation, the communication apparatus includes a transceiver (or a communication module) and a processing unit (or a processing module) connected to the transceiver.

[0043] For example, the processing unit is configured to obtain first indication information, the first indication information indicating a correspondence between a first physical downlink control channel monitoring occasion (PMO) set, a first terminal identifier set, and a first beam set; and the transceiver is configured to receive a paging message according to the first indication information, the paging message being used for paging a terminal device.

[0044] In some implementations of the third aspect, the processing unit is further configured to obtain second indication information, the first indication information indicating a correspondence between a second set of PMOs, a second set of terminal identities, and a second set of beams, the PMOs in the second set of PMOs being different from the PMOs in the first set of PMOs.

[0045] In some implementations of the third aspect, the first indication information includes a first mapping relationship and a second mapping relationship, the first mapping relationship indicating a correspondence between a plurality of PMOs and a plurality of terminal identities, the second mapping relationship indicating a correspondence between a plurality of beams and the plurality of PMOs, the plurality of PMOs belonging to the first set of PMOs, the plurality of terminal identities belonging to the first set of terminal identities, and the plurality of beams belonging to the first set of beams.

[0046] In some implementations of the third aspect, the processing unit is further configured to determine, according to the first indication information and the identity of the terminal device, a third PMO corresponding to the identity of the terminal device and a third beam, the third PMO belonging to the first set of PMOs and the third beam belonging to the first set of beams, and receive the paging message according to the third PMO and the third beam.

[0047] In some implementations of the third aspect, the transceiver is further configured to receive the first indication information from the network device, or obtain the first indication information from the terminal device.

[0048] In some implementations of the third aspect, the PMOs in the second set of PMOs are different from the PMOs in the first set of PMOs, including that the first set of PMOs includes M PMOs, the second set of PMOs includes N PMOs, and the M PMOs and the N PMOs satisfy at least one of the following: the M and the N are different; the M PMOs and the N PMOs are partially the same; or the M PMOs and the N PMOs are completely different; wherein M and N are positive integers.

[0049] In some implementations of the third aspect, the terminal devices in a second terminal set corresponding to the second set of terminal identities are different from the terminal devices in a first terminal set corresponding to the first set of terminal identities, including that the first terminal set includes P terminals, the second terminal set includes Q terminals, and the P terminals and the Q terminals satisfy at least one of the following: the P and the Q are different; the P terminals and the Q terminals are partially the same; or the P terminals and the Q terminals are completely different; wherein P and Q are positive integers.

[0050] In some implementations of the third aspect, the first beam set comprises a first beam, and indexes of a plurality of PMOs associated with the first beam satisfy: (X-1)*S+k; where k is an index of the first beam, X represents a number of PMOs associated with the first beam, S represents a number of beams sent by the network device, the first beam belongs to the first beam set, the plurality of PMOs belong to the first PMO set, and k is an integer greater than zero and less than or equal to S.

[0051] In some implementations of the third aspect, the first PMO set comprises a first PMO and a second PMO, the first PMO corresponds to a first terminal device, the second PMO corresponds to a second terminal device, the first terminal device and the second terminal device are different, and the first terminal device and the second terminal device belong to a terminal set corresponding to the first terminal identifier set.

[0052] In some implementations of the third aspect, the first indication information is carried in a broadcast message, a multicast message, or RRC signaling.

[0053] In a fourth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided. The communication apparatus can be a sending terminal device, or a module or unit or means (for example, a chip or a chip system or a circuit) corresponding to the sending terminal device for performing the method or operation or step or action described in the second aspect, or an apparatus that can be used in conjunction with the sending terminal device. The sending terminal device can be a network device.

[0054] In a possible implementation, the communication apparatus comprises a transceiver (or a communication module) and a processing unit (or a processing module) connected to the transceiver.

[0055] For example, the processing unit is configured to obtain first indication information, the first indication information indicating a correspondence between a first physical downlink control channel monitoring occasion (PMO) set, a first terminal identifier set, and a first beam set; and the transceiver is configured to send a paging message according to the first indication information, the paging message being used for paging a terminal device.

[0056] In some implementations of the fourth aspect, the method further comprises obtaining second indication information, the first indication information indicating a correspondence between a second PMO set, a second terminal identifier set, and a second beam set, and a PMO in the second PMO set being different from a PMO in the first PMO set.

[0057] In some implementations of the fourth aspect, the first indication information includes a first mapping relationship and a second mapping relationship, the first mapping relationship is used to represent a correspondence between the plurality of PMOs and a plurality of terminal identifiers, and the second mapping relationship is used to represent a correspondence between the plurality of beams and the plurality of PMOs, the plurality of PMOs belong to a first PMO set, the plurality of terminal identifiers belong to a first terminal identifier set, and the plurality of beams belong to a first beam set.

[0058] In some implementations of the fourth aspect, the sending of the paging message according to the first indication information includes: determining, according to the first indication information and the identifier of the terminal device, a third PMO corresponding to the identifier of the terminal device and a third beam, the third PMO belonging to the first PMO set and the third beam belonging to the first beam set; and sending the paging message according to the third PMO and the third beam.

[0059] In some implementations of the fourth aspect, before the first indication information is acquired, the method further includes: determining the first beam set according to at least one of the following: historical location information of the terminal device; or speed information and / or direction information of the terminal device.

[0060] In some implementations of the fourth aspect, the PMOs in the second PMO set are different from the PMOs in the first PMO set, including: the first PMO set includes M PMOs, the second PMO set includes N PMOs, and the M PMOs and the N PMOs satisfy at least one of the following: M and N are different; the M PMOs and the N PMOs are partially the same; or the M PMOs and the N PMOs are completely different; wherein M and N are positive integers.

[0061] In some implementations of the fourth aspect, the terminal devices in a second terminal set corresponding to the second terminal identifier set are different from the terminal devices in a first terminal set corresponding to the first terminal identifier set, including: the first terminal set includes P terminals, the second terminal set includes Q terminals, and the P terminals and the Q terminals satisfy at least one of the following: P and Q are different; the P terminals and the Q terminals are partially the same; or the P terminals and the Q terminals are completely different; wherein P and Q are positive integers.

[0062] In some implementations of the fourth aspect, the first beam set includes a first beam, and indexes of a plurality of PMOs associated with the first beam satisfy: (X-1)*S+k; wherein k is an index of the first beam, X represents a number of PMOs associated with the first beam, S represents a number of beams sent by the network device, the first beam belongs to the first beam set, the plurality of PMOs belong to the first PMO set, and k is an integer greater than zero and less than or equal to S.

[0063] In some implementations of the fourth aspect, the first PMO set includes a first PMO and a second PMO, the first PMO corresponds to a first terminal device, the second PMO corresponds to a second terminal device, the first terminal device and the second terminal device are different, and the first terminal device and the second terminal device belong to a terminal set corresponding to the first terminal identifier set.

[0064] In some implementations of the fourth aspect, the first indication information is carried in a broadcast message, a multicast message, or RRC signaling.

[0065] In a fifth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided. The communication apparatus can be the receiving device or the sending device described above. The communication apparatus includes an interface circuit and a processor. The processor is coupled to a memory. The memory is configured to store computer programs or instructions necessary for implementing the functions related to the first aspect or the second aspect. The processor is configured to execute the computer programs or instructions, and when the computer programs or instructions are executed, the communication apparatus is caused to implement the method in any possible implementation of the first aspect or the second aspect. The interface circuit is configured to implement the communication function within the communication apparatus and / or the communication function between the communication apparatus and other devices or components.

[0066] In a possible design, the processor is configured to communicate with other devices or components via the interface circuit.

[0067] In a possible design, the communication apparatus can further include the memory.

[0068] Optionally, the processor is one or more, and the memory is one or more.

[0069] Optionally, the memory can be integrated with the processor, or the memory and the processor are separately arranged.

[0070] Optionally, the communication apparatus further includes a transmitter (transmitter) and a receiver (receiver).

[0071] In a sixth aspect, a communication system is provided. The communication system includes the communication apparatus in the third aspect and the communication apparatus in the fourth aspect.

[0072] In a seventh aspect, a computer readable storage medium is provided. The computer readable storage medium stores computer program codes or instructions, and when the computer program codes or instructions are run, the method in any possible implementation of the first aspect or the second aspect is implemented.

[0073] In an eighth aspect, a chip is provided. The chip includes at least one processor and a memory coupled to the at least one processor. The memory is configured to store a computer program, and when the computer program is run, the method in any possible implementation of the first aspect or the second aspect is implemented.

[0074] Exemplarily, the chip can include an input circuit or interface for sending information or data, and an output circuit or interface for receiving information or data.

[0075] In a ninth aspect, a computer program product is provided. The computer program product includes computer program codes or instructions, which, when executed, cause the method in any possible implementation of the first aspect or the second aspect to be implemented.

[0076] In a tenth aspect, a computer program is provided. When the computer program is executed, the method in any possible implementation of the first aspect or the second aspect is caused to be implemented.

[0077] It should be understood that the beneficial effects of the third aspect to the tenth aspect described above can refer to the first aspect or the second aspect and any possible implementation thereof, which will not be described here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0078] FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 are schematic diagrams of a communication system suitable for the present application;

[0079] FIG. 3 is an interaction flow diagram of a method for paging provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0080] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a terminal device in a beam scenario provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0081] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a correspondence between a PMO and a terminal device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0082] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of multiple PMOs in the same beam association paging different terminal devices provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0083] FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram of a communication apparatus provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0084] FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram of another communication apparatus provided by an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0085] The technical solutions in the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0086] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, for example: a long term evolution (LTE) system, an LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) system, an LTE time division duplex (TDD), a 5th generation (5G) system or a new radio (NR), and a future communication system. The technical solutions provided in the present application can also be applied to device to device (D2D) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine to machine (M2M) communication, machine type communication (MTC), and internet of things (IoT) communication system.

[0087] As an example, the V2X communication can include: vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication, vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P) communication, vehicle-to-network (V2N) communication.

[0088] The technical solutions provided in the present application can also be applied to a non-terrestrial network (NTN) system, for example: an inter-satellite communication system, a satellite communication system, a high altitude platform station (HAPS) communication, an integrated communication and navigation (ICaN) system, a global navigation satellite system (GNSS), etc.

[0089] As an example, the satellite communication system includes a satellite base station and a terminal device. The satellite base station provides communication services for the terminal device. The satellite base station can also communicate with the base station. The satellite can act as a base station or a terminal device. Among them, the satellite can refer to a drone, a hot air balloon, a low earth orbit satellite, a medium earth orbit satellite, a high earth orbit satellite, etc. The satellite can also refer to a non-ground base station or a non-ground device, etc. It should be understood that the satellite communication system can be integrated with the traditional mobile communication system.

[0090] A device in a communication system can transmit or receive signals to or from another device. Wherein, the signals can include reference signals, information, signaling or data, etc. In this application, the device can be replaced by entity, network entity, communication device, communication module, node, communication node, etc.

[0091] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system applicable to embodiments of the present application. As shown in FIG. 1, the communication system 10 includes a radio access network (RAN) 100 and a core network (CN) 200. The RAN 100 includes at least one RAN node (e.g., 110a and 110b in FIG. 1, collectively referred to as 110) and at least one terminal (e.g., 120a-120j in FIG. 1, collectively referred to as 120). The RAN 100 can further include other RAN nodes, such as wireless relay devices and / or wireless backhaul devices (not shown in FIG. 1), etc. The terminal 120 is connected to the RAN node 110 in a wireless manner. The RAN node 110 is connected to the CN 200 in a wireless or wired manner. The core network device in the CN 200 and the RAN node 110 in the RAN 100 can be different physical devices respectively, or can be the same physical device integrated with the logical functions of the core network and the logical functions of the radio access network.

[0092] The RAN 100 can be a 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) related cellular system, such as a 4th generation (4G) mobile communication system, a 5th generation (5G) mobile communication system, or a future-oriented evolved system. The RAN 100 can also be an open radio access network (O-RAN or ORAN), a cloud radio access network (CRAN), or a wireless fidelity (WiFi) system. The RAN 100 can also be a communication system that combines two or more of the above systems.

[0093] The RAN node 110, which can also be referred to as an access network device, a RAN entity, or an access node, or a network device, etc., forms part of a communication system to help terminals to access the network wirelessly. The RAN nodes 110 in the communication system can be of the same type or of different types. In some scenarios, the roles of the RAN node 110 and the terminal 120 are opposite to each other, for example, the network element 120i in Figure 1 can be a helicopter or a drone, which can be configured as a mobile base station, and for those terminals 120j accessing the RAN 100 through the network element 120i, the network element 120i is a base station; but for the base station 110a, the network element 120i is a terminal. The RAN nodes 110 and the terminals 120 are sometimes referred to as communication apparatuses, for example, the network elements 110a and 110b in Figure 1 can be understood as communication apparatuses with base station functions, and the network elements 120a-120j can be understood as communication apparatuses with terminal functions.

[0094] In a possible scenario, the RAN node can be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), an access point (AP), a transmission reception point (TRP), a base station (generation NodeB, gNB), a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a WiFi system, etc. The RAN node can be a macro base station (such as 110a in Figure 1), a micro base station or an indoor station (such as 110b in Figure 1), a relay node or a donor node, or a wireless controller in a CRAN scenario. Optionally, the RAN node can also be a server, a wearable device, a vehicle or a vehicle-mounted device, etc. For example, the access network device in vehicle to everything (V2X) technology can be a road side unit (RSU). All or part of the functions of the RAN node in this application can also be implemented by software functions running on hardware, or by virtualized functions instantiated on a platform (such as a cloud platform). The RAN node can also be provided with a communication module, circuit or chip for performing corresponding communication functions, and program instructions for performing corresponding communication functions. The RAN node in this application can also be a logic node, a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the RAN node.

[0095] In another possible scenario, multiple RAN nodes cooperate to assist a terminal to implement wireless access, and different RAN nodes respectively implement part of functions of a base station. For example, a RAN node can be a CU, a DU, a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU), etc. The CU and the DU can be separately configured, or can also be included in the same network element, for example, in a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in a radio frequency device or a radio frequency unit, for example, included in a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH).

[0096] In different systems, the CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), the DU, or the RU can also have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in an ORAN system, the CU can also be referred to as an O-CU (open CU), the DU can also be referred to as an O-DU, the CU-CP can also be referred to as an O-CU-CP, the CU-UP can also be referred to as an O-CU-UP, and the RU can also be referred to as an O-RU. For the convenience of description, the CU, the CU-CP, the CU-UP, the DU, and the RU are taken as examples for description in this application. Any one of the CU (or the CU-CP, the CU-UP), the DU, and the RU in this application can be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0097] A terminal 120 can be a device or module with corresponding communication functions and capable of accessing the above communication system. The terminal can also be referred to as a terminal device, user equipment (UE), mobile station, or mobile terminal, etc. The terminal can be widely applied to various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D), vehicle to everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), internet of things (IOT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, automatic driving, remote medical treatment, smart power grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wear, smart transportation, smart city, etc. The terminal can be a mobile phone, tablet computer, computer with wireless transceiver function, wearable device, vehicle, unmanned aerial vehicle, helicopter, airplane, ship, robot, mechanical arm, smart home device, transport vehicle with wireless communication function, communication module, etc. Embodiments of the present application do not limit the device form of the terminal. The terminal is usually provided with a communication module, circuit or chip for performing corresponding communication functions. The terminal is also configured with program instructions for performing corresponding communication functions.

[0098] The RAN 100 and the terminal 120 can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; can also be deployed on water; and can also be deployed on aircraft, balloons and satellites in the air. The present application does not limit the scenarios in which the RAN 100 and the terminal 120 are located.

[0099] The CN 200 can be a 5G core network or an evolved 5G core network. Taking the 5G core network as an example, the CN 200 includes an access and mobility management function (AMF) network element responsible for mobility management, access management and other services, a session management function (SMF) network element responsible for session management, a user plane function (UPF) network element responsible for user plane packet routing and forwarding and quality of service (QoS) control, a policy control function (PCF) network element, etc. The above core network elements can work independently or can be combined together to realize some control functions, such as: the AMF, SMF and PCF can be combined together as a core network device, which can also be referred to as a core network network element or entity, or network device, etc.

[0100] It should be understood that the above naming is only defined for the convenience of distinguishing different functions, and should not constitute any limitation to the present application. The present application does not exclude the possibility of using other names in 5G networks and future other networks. For example, part or all of the above-mentioned network elements can use the terms in 5G, or other names, etc.

[0101] It can be understood that FIG. 1 is only an example and does not constitute a limitation to the protection scope of the present application. The communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application can also involve network elements not shown in FIG. 1, and of course the communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application can also only include part of the network elements shown in FIG. 1.

[0102] The technical solutions of the present application can be applied to satellite communication systems, high altitude platform (HAPS) communication, non-terrestrial network (NTN) systems, such as integrated communication and navigation (ICaN) systems, global navigation satellite system (GNSS), etc.

[0103] The satellite communication system can be integrated with the traditional mobile communication system. For example, the mobile communication system can be a fourth generation (4G) communication system (e.g., a long term evolution (LTE) system), a worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication system, a fifth generation (5G) communication system (e.g., a new radio (NR) system), and a future mobile communication system, etc.

[0104] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of another communication system applicable to the embodiments of the present application. As shown in FIG. 2, the communication system takes NTN as an example. As an example, the system can include a gateway (GW), a satellite, a terminal device, a 5G core network, a 5G new radio, an Xn interface, an NG interface, and the like. Among them, the gateway can provide similar functions to the gateway in the terrestrial communication system, such as establishing a connection with the terminal device, communicating with the server. The gateway also has the functions of monitoring the satellite, fault query, packet switching of communication data, interface protocol conversion, and the like. As an example, the terminal device communicates with the satellite through a wireless link, and the satellite communicates with the 5G core network through a wireless link. For example, the satellite transmits downlink data to the terminal, wherein the data is encoded by channel coding, and the channel coded data is transmitted to the terminal after constellation modulation; the terminal transmits uplink data to the satellite, and the uplink data can also be encoded by channel coding, and the encoded data is transmitted to the satellite after constellation modulation. At the same time, there is a wireless link between the satellites to complete the signaling interaction and user data transmission between the satellites.

[0105] The various network elements in the figure and their interfaces are described as follows:

[0106] Terminal device: can be a mobile device supporting 5G new radio, such as a mobile phone device, a tablet device, a smart car, and the like. The terminal device can access the satellite network through the 5G new radio and initiate a call, access the Internet, and the like.

[0107] Satellite station: can be a 5G base station, mainly used to provide wireless access services, and schedule wireless resources for the accessed terminal device, and can provide reliable wireless transmission protocols and data encryption protocols, and the like. In addition, the satellite station can also be connected with the ground core network through a wireless link. At the same time, the satellite network can include multiple satellite stations, and there is a wireless link between the satellite stations to complete the signaling and data transmission between the multiple base stations.

[0108] 5G core network: used to implement user access control, mobility management, session management, user security authentication, charging management and other functions. For these functions, the 5G core network implements through corresponding functional units, and these functional units can be divided into control plane functional entities and user plane functional entities. For example, the access and mobility management (AMF) unit is responsible for user access management, security authentication, mobility management and other functions belonging to the control plane, the session management function (SMF) unit is used to support customized mobility management solutions together with the AMF unit, and the user plane function (UPF) unit is responsible for managing the transmission of user plane data, traffic statistics and other functions. The functional entity can also be referred to as a functional network element.

[0109] Ground station: used to forward signaling and service data between the satellite station and the 5G core network. The ground station can also implement the function of the 5G base station.

[0110] 5G new radio: used for the wireless link between the terminal device and the 5G base station.

[0111] Xn interface: the interface between the satellite station and the ground station, mainly used for interaction of signaling such as handover.

[0112] NG interface: the interface between the ground station and the 5G core network, mainly used for interaction of core network non-access layer (NAS) signaling and user data.

[0113] It should be understood that the satellite station in the present application can also be a CU or a DU or an RU, or an O-RAN node carried on a satellite.

[0114] It can be understood that FIG. 2 is only an example and does not limit the protection scope of the present application. The communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application can also involve network elements not shown in FIG. 2, and of course the communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application can also only include part of the network elements shown in FIG. 2.

[0115] In order to facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, first, the terms or technologies involved in the present application are explained.

[0116] 1. Beam

[0117] A beam is a kind of communication resource. The beam can be a wide beam, or a narrow beam, or other types of beams. The technology of forming a beam can be referred to as beamforming technology. The beamforming technology refers to adjusting the amplitude and / or phase of a signal so that the radiation signal radiated by an antenna array has a certain directivity, and higher antenna array gain can be achieved. The main lobe of the radiation pattern of the antenna array can be referred to as a beam.

[0118] In the beamforming technology, the amplitude and / or phase adjustment is achieved after the signal is filtered by a spatial domain transmission filter. Different spatial domain transmission filters adopt different spatial domain filter parameters to achieve beams in different directions. In the embodiments of the present application, the spatial domain filter parameter can be replaced by a beam, or the spatial domain filter parameter can be replaced by a spatial domain transmission filter. The spatial domain transmission filter can also be referred to as a spatial filter.

[0119] 2. Paging

[0120] The terminal device in the radio resource control idle state RRC_IDLE or the radio resource control inactive state RRC_INACTIVE monitors the paging message in the paging occasion (PO) in each paging cycle to determine whether the network is paged.

[0121] The basic flow of paging is briefly described below. For ease of description, the network device and the terminal device are taken as the execution subject for example. The network device can include a RAN (for example, the RAN 100 shown in FIG. 1, or a satellite station or a ground station as shown in FIG. 2), or a core network device (for example, the CN 200 shown in FIG. 1), for example, the network device can be a base station, and the terminal device can be a UE.

[0122] Step 1: The network device selects a certain paging range and sends paging downlink control information (DCI) in the PO.

[0123] It should be noted that the paging range is an area in which the network device sends the paging, and the area can include one or more cells under one or more base stations, and the area is determined by the network device, for example, for a radio resource control idle state (RRC_IDLE) UE, the network device can take a tracking area (TA) to which the UE belongs as the paging range; for a radio resource control inactive state (RRC_INACTIVE) UE, the network device can take a radio access network (RAN notification area, RAN) based notification area (RAN-based notification area, RNA) to which the UE belongs as the paging range.

[0124] In other words, the network device sends the downlink DCI in the PO, including: the RAN sends a paging message to the UE in the PO, or the core network device sends a paging request for the UE to the RAN, and then the RAN sends a paging message to the UE.

[0125] In the paging DCI, the scheduling information of the paging message (including the time-frequency domain information of the resource scheduling the paging message and other scheduling information) and / or the short message, etc. can be included.

[0126] After the terminal device (for example, the UE) receives the paging DCI sent by the network device, the subsequent operation is determined according to the content of the paging DCI, and the specific content is as follows:

[0127] If the scheduling information of the paging message is included in the paging DCI, the UE receives and decodes the paging message on the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) according to the scheduling information, and then determines the subsequent operation according to the content of the paging message. The paging message contains the UE identification information of one or more UEs sought by the network and / or the access type information of the sought UE. After the UE decodes the paging message, it is determined whether the UE identification of the UE itself is included in the paging message: if the UE identification of the UE itself is not included in the paging message, the UE ignores the paging message; if the UE identification of the UE itself is included in the paging message, the UE determines the subsequent operation according to other content in the paging message.

[0128] If the short message is included in the paging DCI, the UE receives the updated system information and / or the earthquake tsunami warning or commercial mobile warning according to the indication of the short message.

[0129] If the scheduling information of the paging message and the short message are included in the paging DCI, the UE receives the paging message, the updated system information and / or the earthquake tsunami warning or commercial mobile warning according to the specified process, respectively.

[0130] It should be understood that one or more UEs can be targeted in a paging initiated by the network device, i.e., one or more UE identities of the UEs can be carried in one paging message.

[0131] In the NR paging mechanism, the paging messages sent by the network device in different beam directions are the same, i.e., the same terminal device is paged in different beam directions, and correspondingly, the terminal device attempts to monitor all the paging messages in different beam directions, which undoubtedly leads to problems such as low paging efficiency, increase of power consumption of the terminal device, and limitation of paging capacity of the network system. However, in the satellite communication system, due to the large difference in the number of users covered by different beams, how to design an efficient paging mechanism is a problem that needs to be considered.

[0132] To solve the above technical problems, the present application provides a method and device for paging, by acquiring first indication information, the beam and PMO associated with the terminal device can be determined, and then the terminal device can monitor the paging message in the PMO associated with itself, which not only improves the paging efficiency and reduces the power consumption of the terminal device, but also improves the paging capacity of the network system.

[0133] The communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The communication method can be applied to the communication system shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2.

[0134] It should be understood that the embodiments of the present application can be applied to the communication scenarios of terminal side and network side communication. Exemplarily, the network side can include a network device, a CU or a DU in the network device, or a module (such as a circuit, a chip or a chip system, etc.) in the network device, or a logical node, a logical module or software capable of realizing all or part of the functions of the access network device, and the terminal side can include a terminal device, a communication module in the terminal device, or a circuit or a chip (such as a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a system on chip SoC chip containing a modem core, or a system in package SIP chip) responsible for communication functions in the terminal device, or a logical node, a logical module or software capable of realizing all or part of the functions of the access network device. For ease of description, the following communication method is described taking the network device and the terminal device as the execution subject, wherein the network device includes a radio access network device or a core network device. Alternatively, when the terminal side is other nodes, chips, circuits or entities, or when the network side is other nodes, chips, circuits or entities, the corresponding specific implementation manners are similar and will not be described herein.

[0135] FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 3, the method 300 includes the following steps.

[0136] S310, the terminal device acquires first indication information.

[0137] The first indication information indicates a correspondence relationship between the first PMO set, the first terminal identifier set, and the first beam set.

[0138] Exemplarily, the first PMO set includes one or more PMOs, the first terminal identifier set includes one or more terminal identifiers, and the first beam set includes one or more beams (for example, synchronization signal block (SSB) beams). The terminal identifier can be an identifier of a terminal device or location information of the terminal device, for example, a UE ID, or an internet protocol (IP) address of the UE, and the like.

[0139] In this application, the terminal identifier is used to identify a terminal device, and one terminal identifier can be used to identify one or more terminal devices.

[0140] Optionally, the first PMO set can be referred to as a first PMO list or a first PMO group, the first terminal identifier set can be referred to as a first terminal identifier list or a first terminal identifier group, and the first beam set can be referred to as a first beam list or a first beam group, and the like.

[0141] Optionally, the above-mentioned “set” can be omitted, or the “set” can be replaced by “list” or “group”, and the like.

[0142] In an implementation manner, the first indication information is configured by the network device through signaling. For example, the network device determines the first indication information and sends the first indication information to the terminal device. Optionally, the network device determines the first indication information according to predefinition or preconfiguration; or the network device determines the first indication information according to prior information (such as user distribution, or beam usage rate, and the like).

[0143] Exemplarily, the first indication information can be carried in a broadcast message, a multicast message, or RRC signaling, that is, the network device can broadcast a system message after determining the first indication information; or send RRC information carrying the first indication information to the terminal device.

[0144] In another implementation manner, the first indication information can be predefined or preconfigured. The predefinition can include predefinition, for example, protocol definition, and the preconfiguration can be implemented by pre-storing corresponding codes, tables, functions, texts, strings, or other ways that can be used to indicate related information (for example, the first indication information) in the network device and / or the terminal device, and the specific implementation manner is not limited in this application.

[0145] In the following, the first indication information is exemplarily illustrated in the form of a table, as shown in Table 1.

[0146] In the first implementation, the first indication information includes a correspondence between the first PMO set, the first terminal identifier set and the first beam set.

[0147] Table 1

[0148] As shown in Table 1, the first indication information indicates the correspondence between 4 beams (e.g., beam #0 to beam #3), 6 PMOs (e.g., PMO #0 to PMO #5) and 4 UE IDs (e.g., UE ID #1 to UE ID #4). Among them, beam #0 is associated with PMO #0, UE ID #1; beam #1 is associated with PMO #1, PMO #2, UE ID #3 and UE ID #4; beam #2 is associated with PMO #3, PMO #4, UE ID #2 and UE ID #3; and beam #3 is associated with PMO #5, UE ID #1 and UE ID #4. In other words, UE #1 (i.e., the UE identified by UE ID #1) is associated with PMO #0 and PMO #5, and then UE #1 can monitor the paging in PMO #0 and PMO #5 without monitoring the paging in other PMOs (e.g., PMO #1, PMO #2, PMO #3 or PMO #4); UE #2 (i.e., the UE identified by UE ID #2) is associated with PMO #3 and PMO #4, and then UE #2 can monitor the paging in PMO #3 and PMO #4 without monitoring the paging in other PMOs (e.g., PMO #0, PMO #1, PMO #2 or PMO #5); UE #3 (i.e., the UE identified by UE ID #3) is associated with PMO #1, PMO #2, PMO #3 and PMO #4, and then UE #3 can monitor the paging in PMO #1 to PMO #4 without monitoring the paging in other PMOs (e.g., PMO #0 or PMO #5); and UE #4 (i.e., the UE identified by UE ID #4) is associated with PMO #1, PMO #2 and PMO #5, and then UE #4 can monitor the paging in PMO #1, PMO #2 and PMO #5 without monitoring the paging in other PMOs (e.g., PMO #0, PMO #3 or PMO #4).

[0149] In summary, the number of PMOs associated with at least two beams in the first beam set is different, and the number of UE IDs associated with at least two PMOs in the first PMO set is different. Compared with the existing paging mechanism in which each beam corresponds to the same PMO and each PMO pages the same UE, the implementation provides an efficient paging mechanism, so that the terminal device (e.g., UE #1) can monitor the paging message in the PMO (e.g., PMO #0 and PMO #5) associated with itself, not only improving the paging efficiency and reducing the power consumption of the terminal device, but also improving the paging capacity of the network system.

[0150] In a second implementation, the first indication information includes a first mapping relationship and a second mapping relationship, the first mapping relationship is used to represent a correspondence between a plurality of PMOs and a plurality of terminal identifiers, and the second mapping relationship is used to represent a correspondence between a plurality of beams and a plurality of PMOs, the plurality of PMOs belong to a first PMO set, the plurality of terminal identifiers belong to a first terminal identifier set, and the plurality of beams belong to a first beam set.

[0151] In the following, the first mapping relationship is exemplified in the form of a table, as shown in Table 2 or Table 3.

[0152] Table 2

[0153] Table 3

[0154] As shown in Table 2, the first mapping relationship is used to represent a correspondence between a plurality of PMOs (for example, PMO#0, PMO#1, …, PMO#5, …) and a plurality of terminal identifiers (for example, UE ID#1, UE ID#2, …, UE ID#5, …), for example, the terminal identifiers associated with PMO#0, PMO#1, PMO#2, PMO#3, PMO#4 and PMO#5 are {UE ID#1}, {UE ID#3, UE ID#4}, {UE ID#3, UE ID#4}, {UE ID#2, UE ID#3}, {UE ID#2, UE ID#3} and {UE ID#1, UE ID#5}, etc.

[0155] As shown in Table 3, the first mapping relationship is used to represent a correspondence between a plurality of terminal identifiers (for example, UE ID#1, UE ID#2, …, UE ID#m, m is an integer) and a plurality of PMOs (for example, PMO#0, PMO#1, …, PMO#6, …), that is, the first mapping relationship is used to represent a plurality of UEs and their corresponding PMOs. For example, the PMOs associated with UE ID#1, UE ID#2, UE ID#3, UE ID#m are {PMO#0}, {PMO#1, PMO#2}, {PMO#3, PMO#4, PMO#5} and {PMO#6}, etc.

[0156] Compared with the existing paging mechanism, the terminal identifier paged by each PMO is completely the same, that is, the UEs paged in each PMO are the same, for example, the network device collectively pages UE#1 to UE#4 in PMO#0 to PMO#5. The first mapping relationship shown in the above Table 2 has at least two PMOs corresponding to different UE IDs, for example, PMO#0 and PMO#1 in Table 2, that is, the network device can page UE#1 corresponding to UE ID#1 in PMO#0, and page UE#3 corresponding to UE ID#3 and UE#4 corresponding to UE ID#4 in PMO#1. Alternatively, the first mapping relationship shown in the above Table 3 has at least two UE IDs corresponding to different PMOs, for example, UE ID#1 and UE ID#m in Table 3, that is, UE#1 corresponding to UE ID#1 can receive a paging message in PMO#0, and UE#m corresponding to UE ID#m can receive a paging message in PMO#6.

[0157] In this implementation mode, the terminal device can receive a paging message in the PMO associated with the terminal device, without monitoring paging messages in all PMOs, which not only improves paging efficiency and reduces power consumption of the terminal device, but also improves the paging capacity of the system, for example, can support a paging capacity of more than 32 UEs for a single PO, and reduces information carried by PDSCH.

[0158] In addition, even if the network device collectively pages UE#1 to UE#4 using PMO#0 to PMO#5 in the existing NR mechanism, that is, sends 6 same paging messages, the implementation mode provided by the above Table 2 can reduce signaling overhead, improve paging efficiency, and ensure user experience under the condition of ensuring the same paging capacity.

[0159] Next, the second mapping relationship is exemplified in the form of a table, as shown in Table 4.

[0160] Table 4

[0161] As shown in Table 4, the second mapping relationship is used to represent the correspondence between a plurality of beams (for example, beam#0, beam#1, …, beam#3, …) and a plurality of PMOs (for example, PMO#0, PMO#1, …, PMO#5, …), for example, the PMOs associated with beam#0, beam#1, beam#2 and beam#3 are {PMO#0}, {PMO#1, PMO#2}, {PMO#3, PMO#4} and {PMO#5}, respectively.

[0162] Optionally, there can be a case where a beam has no corresponding PMO, such as an ocean area, which can be understood as that the terminal device has no corresponding PMO.

[0163] Compared with the existing paging mechanism, the PMO corresponding to each beam is determined, for example, beam #0 corresponds to PMO #0, beam #1 corresponds to PMO #1, beam #2 corresponds to PMO #2, and so on. The second mapping relationship shown in Table 3 above, at least two beams correspond to different numbers of PMOs, for example, beam #0 and beam #1. That is, the number of PMOs corresponding to the i-th beam (for example, beam #2, i = 3) can not be equal to the number of PMOs corresponding to the j-th beam (for example, beam #3, j = 4) (where i is not equal to j).

[0164] It should be noted that the correspondence between at least two of the beams, PMOs and terminal identifiers in Tables 1 to 4 above is only an example given for ease of understanding, and other schemes are not excluded. Alternatively, the positions of the columns in any of the above tables are only examples, which are not limited by the present application.

[0165] Alternatively, the present application does not limit the number of correspondence relationships (for example, a row in the table) in any of the above tables, for example, one or more rows are added or reduced. Alternatively, any of the above tables can be split into multiple independent tables, and the splitting manner is not limited by the present application, for example, the first three rows and other rows in Table 1 can be independently formed into a new table, or the first mapping relationship of the first four rows and the first mapping relationship of other rows in Table 2 can be independently formed into a new table, or the second mapping relationship of the first two rows and the first mapping relationship of other rows in Table 4 can be independently formed into a new table. Alternatively, the above multiple tables can be combined into one table (for example, Table 2 and Table 4, or Table 3 and Table 4). Alternatively, Table 1 above can be split into multiple other tables for example, the three columns in Table 1 can be arbitrarily split into two columns, independently formed into a new table, and the first indication information can further include a third mapping relationship for representing the correspondence relationship between the multiple beams and the multiple terminal identifiers. For details, reference can be made to the related description above, and for brevity, no further description is given here.

[0166] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a beam scenario of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 4, it includes beams 1 to 11 (illustrated using Arabic numerals instead), UE1 is located in the overlapping area (or intersection area) of beams 1, 2 and 5, UE2 is located in the overlapping area of beams 3 and 6, and assuming that the satellite base station initiates paging for UE#1 and UE#2 at time t, the satellite base station can page UE#1 by sending beams #1, #2 and #5, and page UE#2 by sending beams #3 and #6.

[0167] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the correspondence between PMO and UE according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in (a) of FIG. 5, in the NR paging mechanism, the PMO corresponding to each beam is determined, for example, beam 1 corresponds to PMO 1, beam 2 corresponds to PMO 2, and so on, beam 11 corresponds to PMO 11, then the satellite base station sends beams 1 to 11, and PMOs 1 to 11 page the same UE, i.e., UE #1 and UE #2, which means that UE #1 and UE #2 both need to monitor the paging message in the PMOs #1 to #11, which not only reduces the paging efficiency, but also causes unnecessary power consumption of the terminal device, and also causes unnecessary signaling overhead on the satellite base station side. As shown in (b) of FIG. 5, in the NTN paging mechanism provided by the present application, the satellite base station can initiate paging to UE #1 in PMOs #1, #2 and #5, and initiate paging to UE #2 in PMOs #3 and #6 according to the first indication information. Accordingly, UE #1 can monitor the paging message in PMOs #1, #2 and #5, and UE #2 can monitor the paging message in PMOs #3 and #6, without the need to monitor in the PMO not associated with itself, which not only can effectively improve the paging efficiency, but also can reduce the power consumption of the terminal device. Alternatively, in order to expand the paging capacity of the system, the satellite base station can also initiate paging to other UEs in other unused PMOs, for example, page UE #3 in PMO #4, page UE #4 in PMOs #7 and #8, and so on.

[0168] In the paging mechanism, each PO usually contains S*X consecutive PMOs, corresponding to S beams. In other words, in each PO, the number of PMOs associated with each beam is X. For example, the first beam set includes a first beam, and the indexes of the plurality of PMOs associated with the first beam satisfy: (X-1)*S+k, where k is the index of the first beam, X represents the number of PMOs associated with the first beam, S represents the total number of beams sent by the network device, the plurality of PMOs belong to a first PMO set, k is an integer greater than zero and less than or equal to S, and X is an integer greater than or equal to 1. It should be understood that the index can also be replaced by position index, value, number or other expressions, which are not limited in the present application.

[0169] In an implementation manner, the first PMO set includes a first PMO and a second PMO, the first beam is associated with the first PMO and the second PMO, the first PMO corresponds to a first terminal device, the second PMO corresponds to a second terminal device, the first terminal device and the second terminal device are different, and the first terminal device and the second terminal device belong to a terminal set corresponding to a first terminal identifier set.

[0170] That is, for multiple PMOs (e.g., a first PMO and a second PMO) associated with a same beam (e.g., a first beam), the UEs associated with the multiple PMOs are different, or in other words, the UEs paged in the multiple PMOs associated with the same beam can be partially the same; optionally, the number of UEs associated with each of the multiple PMOs is not limited by the present disclosure. Alternatively, multiple UEs (e.g., a first terminal device and a second terminal device) associated with a same beam (e.g., a first beam) can receive a paging message through multiple PMOs.

[0171] The correspondence between multiple PMOs associated with a same beam (e.g., a kth beam) and different terminal identities is described below in Table 5. Here, k is an index of the first beam, X represents the number of PMOs associated with the first beam, S represents the number of beams sent by the network device, k is an integer greater than zero and less than or equal to S, and X is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0172] Table 5

[0173] Alternatively, the index mentioned above can be replaced by a value, or an identity, etc., for indicating a PMO associated with the kth beam.

[0174] As shown in Table 5, assuming X = 2, S = 4, and k = 1, it is illustrated that two PMOs (i.e., a first PMO and a second PMO) associated with a first beam (i.e., a first beam) of the four beams sent by the network device, and the indexes of the two PMOs are 1 and 5, respectively, that is, the PMOs with indexes 1 and 5 are associated with the first beam. For example, the terminal identities corresponding to the PMO with index 1 are {UE ID#1, UE ID#2}, and the terminal identities corresponding to the PMO with index 5 are {UE ID#3, UE ID#4}, which indicates that the first beam sends a paging message in the PMOs with indexes 1 and 5, and the first time is used to page UE ID#1 and UE ID#2, and the second time is used to page UE ID#3 and UE ID#4. As can be seen, different PMOs associated with a same beam can page different UEs, or in other words, different UEs associated with a same beam can receive a paging message through different PMOs.

[0175] Compared with the existing paging mechanism, multiple PMOs associated with the same beam are used to page the same UE, for example, PMO#0 and PMO#2 corresponding to beam #0, and PMO#0 and PMO#2 are used to page UE#1 and UE#2. In this implementation, the terminal device can receive the paging message in the PMO associated with itself, without the need to monitor the paging message in all PMOs, on the one hand, not only improving the paging efficiency and reducing the power consumption of the terminal device, on the other hand, the system paging capacity can be expanded.

[0176] It should be noted that the correspondence between the multiple PMOs associated with the kth beam and the terminal identifier in the above table 5 is only an example given for easy understanding, and the values of X, S and k are only examples, and other schemes are not excluded. Alternatively, the correspondence between the multiple PMOs associated with the kth beam and the terminal identifier can also be implemented in the form of code, function, text, string or other means that can be used to indicate related information, and the specific implementation mode is not limited in the present application. Alternatively, the present application does not limit the number of the above-mentioned correspondence in table 4 (for example, one row in the table), for example, one or more rows are added or reduced, which depends on the number of X, that is, the number of PMOs associated with the first beam.

[0177] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of the paging message corresponding to the SSB beam associated PMO according to the embodiments of the present application. As shown in Figure 6, assuming X=2, S=4, k=1, that is, the network device sends 4 beams, each beam is associated with two PMOs, for example, the PMOs associated with the first beam are PMO1 and PMO5. As shown in (a) of Figure 6, in the NR paging mechanism, the network device pages UE#1 and UE#2 in PMO1, and pages UE#1 and UE#2 again in PMO5, that is, multiple PMOs page the same UE. As shown in (b) of Figure 6, in the technical solution of the present application, the network device pages UE#1 and UE#2 in PMO1, and pages UE#3 and UE#4 in PMO5, that is, multiple PMOs page different UEs, which can maximize the system paging capacity, and UE#1 to UE#4 can monitor the paging message in the PMO associated with itself, which not only reduces the paging power consumption, but also improves the paging efficiency. As shown in (c) of Figure 6, in the technical solution of the present application, the network device pages UE#1 and UE#2 in PMO1, and pages UE#1 and UE#4 in PMO5, that is, multiple PMOs page the same UE, which can expand the system paging capacity while improving the possibility of UE#1 being successfully paged, and improving the paging performance.

[0178] It should be noted that the above is only an example given for the convenience of understanding, and the number of UEs associated with each PMO is not limited by the present application. By grouping terminal devices, different groups of UEs associated with the same beam receive paging messages on different PMOs, thereby expanding the paging capacity and reducing UE power consumption through multiplexing PMOs.

[0179] S320, the network device acquires the first indication information.

[0180] Wherein, the specific implementation can refer to the related description of step S310, and for the sake of brevity, it will not be repeated here.

[0181] It should be noted that the present application does not distinguish the order of steps S310 and S320.

[0182] Optionally, before performing the above step S320, that is, the method can also include the following step S301.

[0183] S301, the network device determines the first beam set according to at least one of the following.

[0184] The historical position information of the terminal device, or the speed information and / or direction information of the terminal device.

[0185] Exemplarily, the network device estimates the beam where the terminal device is located using an estimation algorithm according to the historical position information of the terminal device. The historical position information here can be the position information previously reported by the terminal device, or the position information of the terminal device previously stored by the network device. The implementation of the estimation algorithm and the estimation of the beam where the terminal device is located can refer to the existing description, which will not be repeated here. This way is mainly suitable for the scenario of satellite coverage containing more static internet of things (IoT) devices, such as stationary terminal devices, or terminal devices with small moving speed, or terminal devices moving within a certain time period with a moving range less than or equal to a certain threshold.

[0186] Exemplarily, the terminal device reports speed information and / or direction information of the terminal device to the network device, and the network device estimates a beam in which the terminal device is located according to the speed information and / or direction information of the terminal device. For example, the terminal device reports information with a size of 1 bit to indicate whether the terminal device is in a motion state, for example, "1" indicates that the terminal device is in a motion state, and "0" indicates that the terminal device is in a static state. This method is suitable for a scenario in which a satellite covers a large number of static IoT devices. For another example, the network device can quantize the speed information and / or direction information in an interval, thereby obtaining a mapping table of an index value and a speed and / or direction value. The network device can obtain a quantized speed and / or direction interval corresponding to the index value according to the index value reported by the terminal device and the mapping table, and then estimate the beam in which the terminal device is located. Alternatively, the mapping table can also be predefined or preconfigured, which is not limited in the present application.

[0187] S330, the network device sends a paging message to the terminal device according to the first indication information.

[0188] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the paging message according to the first indication information.

[0189] The paging message is used to page the terminal device.

[0190] Exemplarily, the network device sends the paging message to the terminal device; or the baseband chip (or baseband part) or processor of the network device generates the paging message, and then sends the paging message to the radio frequency unit (or radio frequency part) of the network device, which sends the paging message to the radio frequency unit (or radio frequency part) of the terminal device, and then the radio frequency unit (or radio frequency part) of the terminal device sends the paging message to the baseband unit (or baseband part) of the terminal device.

[0191] Alternatively, the paging message can carry the first resource and / or the first signaling, wherein the first signaling includes DCI or RRC signaling, and the first resource includes PDSCH or a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

[0192] In an implementation manner, the network device determines a third PMO corresponding to the identity of the terminal device and a third beam according to the first indication information and the identity of the terminal device, and sends the paging message according to the third PMO and the third beam. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the paging message according to the third PMO and the third beam. The third PMO belongs to the first PMO set, and the third beam belongs to the first beam set.

[0193] For example, taking the above Table 1 as an example, assuming that the identifier of the terminal device is UE ID #2, and the network device can determine that UE #2 is associated with beam #2, PMO #3 and PMO #4 by looking up the table, the network device can send a paging message to UE #2 through beam #2 in PMO #3 and PMO #4. Accordingly, UE #2 can monitor the paging message in PMO #3 and PMO #4 according to the first indication information and UE ID #2, which can improve the paging efficiency and reduce the power consumption of UE #2.

[0194] Optionally, the method further includes the following step S302.

[0195] S302, the terminal device or the network device obtains second indication information.

[0196] The second indication information indicates a correspondence between a second PMO set, a second terminal identifier set and a second beam set, and the PMOs in the second PMO set are different from the PMOs in the first PMO set. It should be understood that the PMOs in the second PMO set are different from the PMOs in the first PMO set, including that the number of PMOs is different, and / or the resources indicated by the PMOs are different.

[0197] The specific implementation of the terminal device or the network device obtaining the second indication information can refer to the related description of the terminal device or the network device obtaining the first indication information in the above steps S310 or S320. For the sake of brevity, it will not be repeated here.

[0198] The manifestation of the correspondence between the second PMO set, the second terminal identifier set and the second beam set indicated by the second indication information can refer to the related description of the manifestation of the first indication information in the above step S310. For the sake of brevity, it will not be repeated here.

[0199] Exemplarily, the first PMO set includes M PMOs, and the second PMO set includes N PMOs, and the M PMOs and the N PMOs satisfy at least one of the following: M and N are different; the M PMOs and the N PMOs are partially the same; or the M PMOs and the N PMOs are completely different; wherein M and N are positive integers.

[0200] For example, M=2, N=2, the first PMO set includes PMO#1 and PMO#2, and the second PMO set includes PMO#3 and PMO#4; or the first PMO set includes PMO#1 and PMO#2, and the second PMO set includes PMO#1 and PMO#4; for another example, M=3, N=2, then the first PMO set includes PMO#1, PMO#2 and PMO#3, and the second PMO set includes PMO#4 and PMO#5; or the first PMO set includes PMO#1, PMO#2 and PMO#3, and the second PMO set includes PMO#3 and PMO#4; or the first PMO set includes PMO#1, PMO#2 and PMO#3, and the second PMO set includes PMO#2 and PMO#3, and the like. Compared with the existing paging mechanism, each PMO set contains the same PMO, and the implementation manner can increase the paging capacity, improve the paging efficiency, and ensure the paging performance.

[0201] For example, the terminal devices in the second terminal set corresponding to the second terminal identifier set are different from the terminal devices in the first terminal set corresponding to the first terminal identifier set, including: the first terminal set includes P terminal devices, and the second terminal set includes Q terminal devices, and the P terminal devices and the Q terminal devices satisfy at least one of the following: P is different from Q; the P terminal devices and the Q terminal devices are partially the same; or the P terminal devices and the Q terminal devices are completely different; wherein P and Q are positive integers.

[0202] For example, P=2, Q=2, the first terminal identifier set includes UE ID#1 and UE ID#2, and the second terminal identifier set includes UE ID#3 and UE ID#4; or the first terminal identifier set includes UE ID#1 and UE ID#2, and the second terminal identifier set includes UE ID#1 and UE ID#4; for another example, P=3, Q=2, then the first PMO set includes PMO#1, PMO#2 and PMO#3, and the second PMO set includes PMO#4 and PMO#5; or the first terminal identifier set includes UE ID#1, UE ID#2 and UE ID#3, and the second terminal identifier set includes UE ID#4 and UE ID#5; or the first terminal identifier set includes UE ID#1, UE ID#2 and UE ID#3, and the second terminal identifier set includes UE ID#3 and UE ID#4; or the first terminal identifier set includes UE ID#1, UE ID#2 and UE ID#3, and the second terminal identifier set includes UE ID#1 and UE ID#2. Compared with the existing paging mechanism, each PMO pages the same UE, and the implementation manner can increase the paging capacity, reduce unnecessary signaling overhead and power consumption of the terminal device, improve the paging efficiency, and ensure the paging performance.

[0203] According to the above scheme, by acquiring the first indication information, the beam and / or the PMO associated with the terminal device can be determined, the network device can page the terminal device in a targeted manner, unnecessary signaling overhead can be avoided, and the paging capacity of the network system can be improved. Correspondingly, the terminal device can monitor the paging message in the PMO associated with itself, which can not only improve the paging efficiency, but also avoid unnecessary power consumption of the terminal device, and ensure user experience.

[0204] The communication method embodiment of the present application is described in detail above in combination with FIG. 1 to FIG. 6. The communication device embodiment of the present application will be described in detail below in combination with FIG. 7 to FIG. 8. It should be understood that the description of the device embodiment corresponds to the description of the method embodiment, and therefore, the parts not described in detail can be referred to the foregoing method embodiment.

[0205] FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 700 according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 7, the communication device 700 includes a processing module 710 and a communication module 720. The communication device 700 can be a sending device (for example, a network device), or a communication device applied to or matched with the sending device and capable of implementing the method performed by the sending device, such as a chip, a chip system or a circuit; or the communication device 700 can be a receiving device (for example, a terminal device), or a communication device applied to or matched with the receiving device and capable of implementing the method performed by the receiving device, such as a chip, a chip system or a circuit.

[0206] The communication module can also be referred to as a transceiver module, a transceiver, a transceiver, a transceiver unit or a transceiver device, etc. The processing module can also be referred to as a processor, a processing board, a processing unit or a processing device, etc. Optionally, the communication module is used to perform the sending operation and the receiving operation of the sending device and the receiving device in the above method, and the device in the communication module for implementing the receiving function can be regarded as a receiving unit, and the device in the communication module for implementing the sending function can be regarded as a sending unit, that is, the communication module includes a receiving unit and a sending unit.

[0207] In an example, when the communication device 700 is applied to the sending device, the processing module 710 can be used to implement the processing function of the sending device in the above embodiments, and the communication module 720 can be used to implement the transceiving function of the sending device in the above embodiments.

[0208] For example, when the communication device 700 is a network device or a communication module in the network device, the function of the processing module 710 can be implemented by one or more processors.

[0209] For another example, when the communication apparatus 700 is a circuit or chip responsible for communication function in a network device, or a CU or DU in a network device, or a functional module capable of invoking and executing a program in a network device.

[0210] In another example, when the communication apparatus 700 is applied to a receiving end device, the processing module 710 can be configured to implement the processing function of the receiving end device in the above embodiments, and the communication module 720 can be configured to implement the transceiving function of the receiving end device in the above embodiments.

[0211] For example, when the communication apparatus 700 is a terminal or a communication module in a terminal, the function of the processing module 710 can be implemented by one or more processors. Specifically, the processor can include a Modem chip, or a System on Chip (SoC) chip or a SIP chip containing a Modem core. The function of the communication module 720 can be implemented by a transceiver circuit.

[0212] For another example, when the communication apparatus 700 is a circuit or chip responsible for communication function in a terminal, such as a Modem chip or a System on Chip (SoC) chip or a SIP chip containing a Modem core, the function of the processing module 710 can be implemented by the circuit system including one or more processors or processor cores in the above chip. The function of the communication module 720 can be implemented by the interface circuit or data transceiving circuit on the above chip.

[0213] In addition, it should be noted that the aforementioned communication module and / or processing module can be implemented by a virtual module, for example, the processing module can be implemented by a software function unit or a virtual device, and the communication module can be implemented by a software function or a virtual device. Alternatively, the processing module or the communication module can also be implemented by a physical device, for example, if the device is implemented by a chip / circuit (such as an integrated circuit or a logic circuit, etc.). The communication module can be an input / output circuit and / or a communication interface, which performs input operation (corresponding to the aforementioned receiving operation) and output operation (corresponding to the aforementioned sending operation); the processing module is an integrated processor or microprocessor or a circuit (such as an integrated circuit or a logic circuit, etc.).

[0214] The division of modules in the present application is illustrative, and is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, there can be another division manner. In addition, each functional module in each example in the present application can be integrated in one processor, or can be a separate physical existence, or two or more modules can be integrated in one module. The integrated module can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of a software function module.

[0215] Figure 8 is a schematic block diagram of a communication apparatus 800 according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication apparatus 800 can be a chip or a chip system. Optionally, the chip system can be composed of a chip or can include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0216] The communication apparatus 800 can be used to implement the functions of any of the apparatuses (e.g., terminal device, network device) in the communication system described in the foregoing examples. The communication apparatus 800 can include at least one processor 810. Optionally, the processor 810 is coupled with a memory. The memory can be located within the apparatus, or the memory can be integrated with the processor, or the memory can be located outside the apparatus. For example, the communication apparatus 800 can further include at least one memory 820. The memory 820 stores computer programs, computer programs or instructions and / or data necessary for implementing any of the foregoing examples; the processor 810 can execute the computer programs stored in the memory 820 to complete the methods in any of the foregoing examples.

[0217] The communication apparatus 800 can further include a communication interface 830. The communication apparatus 800 can exchange information with other devices through the communication interface 830. For example, the communication interface 830 can be a transceiver, a circuit, a bus, a module, a pin or other types of communication interfaces. When the communication apparatus 800 is a chip or a circuit, the communication interface 830 in the apparatus 800 can also be an input / output circuit that can input information (or receive information) and output information (or send information). The processor 810 can be an integrated processor, a microprocessor, an integrated circuit or a logic circuit, etc. The processor can determine the output information according to the input information.

[0218] In one example, when the communication apparatus 800 is applied to a terminal device, the processor 810 can be used to implement the processing functions of the terminal device in the foregoing embodiments, and the communication interface 830 can be used to implement the transceiving functions of the terminal device in the foregoing embodiments.

[0219] In another example, when the communication apparatus 800 is applied to a network device, the processor 810 can be used to implement the processing functions of the network device in the foregoing embodiments, and the communication interface 830 can be used to implement the transceiving functions of the network device in the foregoing embodiments.

[0220] The coupling in the present application is an indirect coupling or communication connection between apparatuses, units or modules, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms, for information exchange between apparatuses, units or modules. The processor 810 can operate in conjunction with the memory 820 and the communication interface 830. The specific connection medium between the processor 810, the memory 820 and the communication interface 830 is not limited in the present application.

[0221] Optionally, as shown in FIG. 8, the processor 810, the memory 820, and the communication interface 830 are connected with each other through a bus 840. Optionally, the bus can include an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, and the like. In addition, for the convenience of representation, one bus 840 is shown in FIG. 8, but it does not mean that there is only one bus or only one type of bus.

[0222] It should be understood that the processor mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can be a device or a part of circuit for processing function in the device: a central processing unit (CPU), and can also be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gates or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or the processor can also be any conventional processor.

[0223] It should also be understood that the memory mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can be a volatile memory and / or a non-volatile memory. Among them, the non-volatile memory can be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically EPROM (EEPROM) or a flash memory. The volatile memory can be a random access memory (RAM). For example, the RAM can be used as an external cache. As an example but not limitation, the RAM includes the following various forms: static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM).

[0224] It should be noted that when the processor is a general processor, a DSP, an ASIC, a FPGA or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, a discrete hardware component, the memory (storage module) can be integrated in the processor.

[0225] It should also be noted that the memory described herein is intended to include, but not limited to, these and any other suitable type of memory.

[0226] The embodiments of the present application also provide a computer readable storage medium, which stores computer instructions for implementing the method executed by the communication device (such as a network device or a terminal device) in each of the above method embodiments.

[0227] The embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program product, which contains instructions executed by a computer to implement the method executed by the communication device (such as a network device or a terminal device) in each of the above method embodiments.

[0228] The embodiments of the present application also provide a communication system, which includes the network device and / or the terminal device in the above embodiments.

[0229] The explanations and beneficial effects of the related contents in any of the above devices can refer to the corresponding method embodiments provided above, and will not be repeated here.

[0230] In order to facilitate the understanding of the above embodiments provided by the present application, the following points are explained:

[0231] 1) In the present application, the terms and / or descriptions of different embodiments are consistent and can be mutually referred to if there is no special description and no logical conflict, and the technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationship.

[0232] 2) In the present application, "at least one" means one or more, and "multiple" means two or more. "And / or" describes the relationship between the associated objects, which means that there can be three kinds of relationships, for example, A and / or B, which can represent the following cases: A exists alone, A and B exist together, B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. In the textual description of the present application, the character " / " generally represents an "or" relationship between the front and rear associated objects. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions means any combination of these items, including any combination of single item or multiple items. For example, at least one of a, b and c, which can represent: a, or b, or c, or a and b, or a and c, or b and c, or a, b and c. Where a, b and c can be single or multiple.

[0233] 3) In this application, “first”, “second”, and various numbers (e.g., #1, #2, etc.) indicate a distinction made for the convenience of description, and are not intended to limit the scope of embodiments of the present application. For example, different messages are distinguished, rather than being used to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that the objects thus described can be interchanged as appropriate to describe schemes other than the embodiments of the present application.

[0234] 4) In this application, “when”, “in the case of”, “if”, and the like are all described as the device will make corresponding processing under certain objective circumstances, not limited in time, and also do not require the device to have a judgment action when implemented, nor does it mean that there are other limitations.

[0235] 5) In this application, “indicate” or “for indicating” can include direct indication and indirect indication. When describing that certain indication information is used to indicate A, it can include that the indication information directly indicates A or indirectly indicates A, and it does not mean that A must be carried in the indication information.

[0236] The indication manner involved in the embodiments of the present application should be understood as covering various methods that can enable the to-be-indicated party to know the to-be-indicated information. The to-be-indicated information can be sent as a whole, or can be sent separately in multiple sub-information, and the sending period and / or sending occasion of the sub-information can be the same or different, and the present application does not limit the sending method.

[0237] The “indication information” in the embodiments of the present application can be explicit indication, that is, directly indicated through signaling, or obtained according to the parameters indicated by the signaling, in combination with other rules or in combination with other parameters or through derivation. It can also be implicit indication, that is, obtained according to rules or relationships, or according to other parameters, or through derivation. The present application does not make specific limitations.

[0238] 6) In this application, “protocol” can refer to a standard protocol in the communication field, which can include 5G protocol, NR protocol, and related protocols applied in future communication systems, and the present application does not limit this. “Predefined” can include predefinition. For example, protocol definition. “Preconfigured” can be implemented by pre-storing corresponding code, table, or other means that can be used to indicate related information in the device, and the present application does not limit the implementation manner.

[0239] 7) In this application, “communication” can also be described as “data transmission”, “information transmission”, “data processing”, etc. “Transmission” includes “sending” and “receiving”. “Transmission” can be described as “output”.

[0240] 8) In this application, "sending information to XX (device)" can be understood as the destination of the information is the device. It can include sending information to the device directly or indirectly. "Receiving information from XX (device), or receiving information from XX (device)" can be understood as the source of the information is the device, and it can include receiving information from the device directly or indirectly. The information between the source and the destination of the information sending can be processed as necessary, such as format change, etc., but the destination can understand the effective information from the source.

[0241] 9) In this application, the words such as "exemplarily", "such as" and the like are used to represent examples, illustrations or descriptions. Any embodiment or design scheme described as "example" in this application should not be interpreted as more preferred or more advantageous than other embodiments or design schemes. Rather, the use of the word "example" is intended to present the concept in a specific way. In the embodiments of the present application, "of", "corresponding" and "corresponding" can be used interchangeably at times, and it should be pointed out that when their differences are not emphasized, the meanings they express are consistent.

[0242] In various embodiments of the present application, the size of the serial number of the above processes does not mean the order of execution, and the execution order of the processes should be determined by their functions and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0243] In this application, each example can be referred to each other without logical contradiction, for example, the methods and / or terms between the method embodiments can be referred to each other, for example, the functions and / or terms between the device embodiments can be referred to each other, for example, the functions and / or terms between the device examples and the method examples can be referred to each other.

[0244] It should be understood that in some of the above embodiments, the existing network architecture is mainly exemplified by devices, and the specific form of the device is not limited by the embodiments of the present application. For example, devices that can realize the same function in the future are also applicable to the embodiments of the present application.

[0245] Those of ordinary skill in the art can realize that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in combination with the embodiments disclosed herein can be realized in electronic hardware or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether the functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical scheme. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of the present application.

[0246] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the system, device and unit described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, which will not be described here.

[0247] In several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed system, device and method 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, another division mode can be used. For example, a plurality of units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. In addition, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection between the units shown or discussed can be indirect coupling or communication connection through some interface, device or unit, and can be electrical, mechanical or in other forms.

[0248] The units described as separate components can or can not be physically separate, and the components shown as units can or can not be physical units, i.e., can be located in one place or distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the embodiment.

[0249] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application can be integrated into a processing unit, or each unit can exist physically, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit.

[0250] If the functions are realized in the form of software function units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solutions of the present application or the part of the present application that essentially contributes to the prior art or the part of the technical solutions can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes a plurality of instructions for causing 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 foregoing storage medium includes a U disk, a mobile hard disk, a ROM, a RAM, a magnetic disk or an optical disk, and various storage media that can store program codes.

[0251] The above is only a specific implementation of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art can easily think of changes or replacements within the technical scope disclosed in the present application, which should be covered within the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method for paging, characterized by, The method comprises: obtaining first indication information, the first indication information indicating a correspondence relationship between a first physical downlink control channel monitoring occasion (PMO) set, a first terminal identifier set and a first beam set; receiving a paging message according to the first indication information, the paging message being used for paging a terminal device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, The method further comprises: obtaining second indication information, the second indication information indicating a correspondence relationship between a second PMO set, a second terminal identifier set and a second beam set, PMOs in the second PMO set being different from PMOs in the first PMO set.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the first indication information comprises a first mapping relationship and a second mapping relationship, the first mapping relationship being used for representing a correspondence relationship between a plurality of PMOs and a plurality of terminal identifiers, the second mapping relationship being used for representing a correspondence relationship between a plurality of beams and a plurality of PMOs, the plurality of PMOs belonging to the first PMO set, the plurality of terminal identifiers belonging to the first terminal identifier set, and the plurality of beams belonging to the first beam set.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The receiving of the paging message according to the first indication information comprises: determining, according to the first indication information and an identifier of the terminal device, a third PMO corresponding to the identifier of the terminal device and a third beam, the third PMO belonging to the first PMO set and the third beam belonging to the first beam set; and receiving the paging message according to the third PMO and the third beam.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein, The obtaining of the first indication information comprises: receiving the first indication information from a network device; or obtaining the first indication information from the terminal device.

6. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 5, characterized in that, The PMOs in the second PMO set being different from the PMOs in the first PMO set comprises: the first PMO set comprises M PMOs, the second PMO set comprises N PMOs, and the M PMOs and the N PMOs satisfy at least one of the following conditions: the M and the N are different; the M PMOs and the N PMOs are partially the same; or the M PMOs and the N PMOs are completely different; wherein M and N are positive integers.

7. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 6, characterized in that, The terminal devices in a second terminal set corresponding to a second terminal identifier set being different from terminal devices in a first terminal set corresponding to a first terminal identifier set comprises: the first terminal set comprises P terminals, the second terminal set comprises Q terminals, and the P terminals and the Q terminals satisfy at least one of the following conditions: the P and the Q are different; the P terminals and the Q terminals are partially the same; or the P terminals and the Q terminals are completely different; wherein P and Q are positive integers.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that, the first beam set comprises a first beam, and indexes of a plurality of PMOs associated with the first beam satisfy: (X-1)*S+k; Wherein, k is an index of the first beam, X represents a number of PMOs associated with the first beam, S represents a number of beams sent by the network device, the plurality of PMOs belong to the first PMO set, k is an integer greater than zero and less than or equal to S, and X is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein, the first PMO set comprises a first PMO and a second PMO, the first beam is associated with the first PMO and the second PMO, the first PMO corresponds to a first terminal device, the second PMO corresponds to a second terminal device, the first terminal device and the second terminal device are different, and the first terminal device and the second terminal device belong to a terminal set corresponding to the first terminal identifier set.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that, the first indication information is carried in a broadcast message or radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

11. A method for paging, characterized by, comprises: obtaining first indication information, the first indication information indicating a correspondence between a first physical downlink control channel monitoring occasion (PMO) set, a first terminal identifier set, and a first beam set; sending a paging message according to the first indication information, the paging message being used to page a terminal device.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein, The method further comprises: obtaining second indication information, the second indication information indicating a correspondence between a second PMO set, a second terminal identifier set, and a second beam set, the PMOs in the second PMO set being different from the PMOs in the first PMO set.

13. The method of claim 11 or 12, wherein, the first indication information comprises a first mapping relationship and a second mapping relationship, the first mapping relationship being used to represent a correspondence between a plurality of PMOs and a plurality of terminal identifiers, and the second mapping relationship being used to represent a correspondence between a plurality of beams and a plurality of PMOs, the plurality of PMOs belonging to the first PMO set, the plurality of terminal identifiers belonging to the first terminal identifier set, and the plurality of beams belonging to the first beam set.

14. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 13, characterized in that, The sending of the paging message according to the first indication information comprises: determining, according to the first indication information and an identifier of the terminal device, a third PMO corresponding to the identifier of the terminal device and a third beam, the third PMO belonging to the first PMO set and the third beam belonging to the first beam set; and sending the paging message according to the third PMO and the third beam.

15. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 14, characterized in that, Before the obtaining of the first indication information, the method further comprises: determining the first beam set according to at least one of the following: historical location information of the terminal device; or speed information and / or direction information of the terminal device.

16. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 15, characterized in that, The PMOs in the second PMO set being different from the PMOs in the first PMO set comprises: the first PMO set comprises M PMOs, and the second PMO set comprises N PMOs, the M PMOs and the N PMOs satisfying at least one of the following: the M and the N are different; the M PMOs and the N PMOs are partially the same; or the M PMOs and the N PMOs are completely different; and / or the M PMOs and the N PMOs are completely different. Wherein, M and N are positive integers.

17. The method of any one of claims 12-16, wherein, The terminal devices in the second terminal set corresponding to the second terminal identifier set are different from the terminal devices in the first terminal set corresponding to the first terminal identifier set, and the method comprises: The first terminal set comprises P terminal devices, and the second terminal set comprises Q terminal devices, and the P terminal devices and the Q terminal devices satisfy at least one of the following conditions: The P and the Q are different; The P terminal devices and the Q terminal devices are partially the same; or The P terminal devices and the Q terminal devices are completely different; Wherein, P and Q are positive integers.

18. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 17, characterized in that, The first beam set comprises a first beam, and indexes of a plurality of PMOs associated with the first beam satisfy: (X-1)*S+k; Wherein, k is the index of the first beam, X represents the number of PMOs associated with the first beam, S represents the number of beams sent by the network device, the plurality of PMOs belong to the first PMO set, k is an integer greater than zero and less than or equal to S, and X is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein, The first PMO set comprises a first PMO and a second PMO, the first beam is associated with the first PMO and the second PMO, the first PMO corresponds to a first terminal device, the second PMO corresponds to a second terminal device, the first terminal device and the second terminal device are different, and the first terminal device and the second terminal device belong to a terminal set corresponding to the first terminal identifier set.

20. The method of any one of claims 11 to 19, wherein, The first indication information is carried in a broadcast message or radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

21. A communications device, characterized by The apparatus includes a module or unit for performing the method of any one of claims 1-10, or a module or unit for performing the method of any one of claims 11-20.

22. A communications device, characterized by The apparatus includes at least one processor coupled with a memory, the memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform the method of any one of claims 1-10, or cause the apparatus to perform the method of any one of claims 11-20.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein The apparatus further includes the memory for storing the computer program or instructions; and / or The apparatus further includes a communication interface coupled with the at least one processor, the communication interface configured to input and / or output information.

24. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer readable storage medium stores computer programs or instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the method of any one of claims 1-20 to be performed.

25. A computer program product, characterised in that, The computer program product, when executed on a computer, causes the method of any one of claims 1-20 to be performed.

Images