Communication method and related apparatus

Abstract

A communication method and a related apparatus. In the method, a first terminal device can determine, on the basis of first visibility information, the remaining service duration of a network device, which corresponds to an RS for beam failure detection, for providing services to the first terminal device, wherein the remaining service duration is used for beam recovery before beam failure. In other words, visibility information at a regional granularity or visibility information at a terminal device granularity can be used for determining the remaining service duration of the network device, and the remaining service duration can be used for beam failure recovery. By means of the method, a terminal device can perform beam failure recovery on the basis of visibility information at a regional granularity or visibility information at a terminal device granularity, so that situations of beam failure recovery being frequently triggered due to signal blockage of a network device can be avoided or reduced, and thus the efficiency of beam management can be improved.

Description

Communication method and related apparatus

[0001] The present application claims priority from the Chinese patent application No. 202410645193.X filed on May 22, 2024, and entitled "A communication method and related apparatus", 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 in particular, to a communication method and related apparatus. BACKGROUND

[0003] Wireless communication can be transmission communication between two or more communication nodes without propagation through conductors or cables. The communication nodes generally include network devices and terminal devices. Traditional network devices can be devices fixed on the ground, such as ground base stations belonging to terrestrial network (TN) cells. In the beam management process of the TN cell (for example, the process of determining whether a current beam has a beam failure event, and the process of selecting a target beam from multiple candidate beams), the basis is the signal reception strength of the terminal device receiving signals from the network device.

[0004] With the development of communication technology, network devices can not be fixed on the ground. For example, the network device can be a high-speed mobile device belonging to a non-terrestrial network (NTN) cell, including but not limited to satellite devices such as low-orbit satellites, medium-orbit satellites, and high-orbit satellites.

[0005] However, unlike the ground base stations belonging to the TN cell, because the satellite devices belonging to the NTN cell can move at high speed, at a certain moment, a strong reference signal reception strength of an NTN cell does not mean that the reference signal reception strength of the NTN cell can remain strong at one or more subsequent moments, which leads to the inapplicability of the above beam management process of the TN cell. SUMMARY

[0006] The present application provides a communication method and related apparatus to improve the efficiency of beam management.

[0007] The first aspect of the present application provides a communication method, which is applicable to a terminal device, for example, is executed by the terminal device, or is executed by part of components (for example, a processor, a circuit, a chip or a chip system, etc.) in the terminal device, or is executed by a logic module or software that realizes all or part of the functions of the terminal device. For ease of illustration, the first terminal device is taken as an example in the method, in which the first terminal device obtains first visibility information, the first visibility information is used to indicate the communication quality between a network device located in one or more spatial angle intervals and a terminal device located in a first geographic area, the terminal device located in the first geographic area includes the first terminal device; or the first visibility information is used to indicate the communication quality between a network device located in one or more spatial angle intervals and the first terminal device; the first terminal device determines the remaining service time length provided by a network device corresponding to a first reference signal (RS) to the first terminal device based on the first visibility information; wherein the first RS is a RS for beam failure detection (BFD), and the remaining service time length is used for beam recovery before beam failure.

[0008] Based on the above scheme, the first visibility information obtained by the first terminal device is used to indicate the communication quality between a network device located in one or more spatial angle intervals and a specific terminal device, which can include any terminal device located in the first geographic area or the first terminal device itself. Thereafter, the first terminal device can determine the remaining service time length provided by a network device corresponding to a RS for beam failure detection to the first terminal device based on the first visibility information, and the remaining service time length is used for beam recovery before beam failure. In other words, the visibility information of the area granularity or the visibility information of the terminal device granularity can be used to determine the remaining service time length of the network device, and the service remaining time length can be used for beam failure recovery. In this way, the terminal device can perform beam failure recovery based on the visibility information of the area granularity or the visibility information of the terminal device granularity, can avoid or reduce the frequent triggering of beam failure recovery due to the blocking of the signal of the network device, and can improve the efficiency of beam management.

[0009] It should be understood that the network device corresponding to a RS can be understood as a network device that provides or transmits the RS. Optionally, the resource of the RS can be configured by the network device or by other network devices, which is not limited here.

[0010] It should be understood that the region granularity visibility information refers to the visibility information configured for each of one or more regions, and the terminal device granularity visibility information refers to the visibility information configured for each of one or more terminal devices.

[0011] It should be noted that the visibility information can indicate the blocking condition of the transmission path of the signal transmitted between the network device and the terminal device, which can reflect the communication quality. Since the incident diffusion angle of NTN communication is relatively small, the signal blocking condition between the network device corresponding to the NTN cell and the terminal device located on the ground has a greater impact on the signal transmission quality. Therefore, the communication apparatus can determine (or select) one or more network devices with higher communication quality for the terminal device to communicate based on the visibility information, so as to improve the communication efficiency, for example, one or more of the following examples can be implemented.

[0012] For example, the terminal device can select a network device that is not blocked (or less blocked) based on the signal blocking condition, which can reduce unnecessary handover and reselection, thereby improving the communication efficiency.

[0013] For another example, the terminal device or the network device can predict the occurrence time of the signal interruption based on the signal blocking condition, and prepare / perform handover to a network device with higher communication quality in advance, thereby improving the communication efficiency.

[0014] For another example, the terminal device can communicate with a network device with higher communication quality at a reasonable position and / or attitude based on the signal blocking condition, which can improve the success rate of signal transmission, thereby improving the communication efficiency.

[0015] For another example, the terminal device can select a network device that is not blocked (or less blocked) based on the signal blocking condition to perform positioning, which can improve the positioning accuracy and implement related communication services through higher positioning accuracy, thereby improving the communication efficiency.

[0016] In this application, the visibility information can be replaced by other terms, such as NTN communication visibility information, blocking information, NTN communication blocking information, NTN transmission environment information, long-term link quality information, or NTN transmission path information.

[0017] For example, the visibility information includes any of the following:

[0018] Information 1 indicates that the transmission path of the communication signal is a visible path;

[0019] Information 2 indicates that the transmission path of the communication signal is an invisible path;

[0020] Information 3 indicates that the transmission path of the communication signal is a line of sight (LOS) path; or

[0021] Information 4 indicates that the transmission path of the communication signal is a non-line of sight (NLOS) path.

[0022] Optionally, in general, the less the obstruction on the communication path between two communication devices, the higher the communication quality between the two communication devices can be considered; on the contrary, the more the obstruction on the communication path between two communication devices, the lower the communication quality between the two communication devices can be considered. For this purpose, the order of the four communication qualities indicated by the above four pieces of indication information from high to low can be: the communication quality indicated by information 1 (or the communication quality indicated by information 2), the communication quality indicated by information 3, and the communication quality indicated by information 4.

[0023] Optionally, the communication quality indicated by the visibility information can be an expected, desired, or predicted communication quality. That is, the visibility information is used to indicate the expected, desired, or predicted communication quality between the network device located in the spatial angle interval and the terminal device located in the geographic area.

[0024] Optionally, the first terminal device can obtain the first visibility information in various ways. For example, the first terminal device can obtain the first visibility information based on the indication of other devices (such as terminal devices, network devices, etc.), which can reduce the implementation complexity. For another example, the first terminal device determines the first visibility information based on the information obtained by its own information collection module (such as a camera, a microphone, an antenna, a radar, a sensor, etc.).

[0025] Optionally, the visibility information can carry the identifier of the area or the identifier of the terminal device. For example, the first visibility information is used to indicate the communication quality between the network device located in one or more spatial angle intervals and the terminal device located in the first geographic area, and in the case that the terminal device located in the first geographic area includes the first terminal device, the first visibility information can include the identifier of the first geographic area; in this case, the visibility information can be understood as area-granularity visibility information. For another example, in the case that the first visibility information is used to indicate the communication quality between the network device located in one or more spatial angle intervals and the first terminal device, the first visibility information can include the identifier of the first terminal device; in this case, the visibility information can be understood as terminal-device-granularity visibility information.

[0026] It should be noted that the remaining service duration of the network device providing services to a certain terminal device can be understood as a time interval between the current time and a termination time of the network device providing services to the terminal device, or a time interval between a start time of the network device providing services to the terminal device and the termination time of the network device providing services to the terminal device, or a time interval between the termination time of the network device providing services to the terminal device and the time of the latest start of measurement.

[0027] Optionally, the termination time of the network device providing services to the terminal device can also be understood as the deadline of the network device providing services to the terminal device, that is, the network device will stop (or suspend) the services provided for the terminal device at the deadline.

[0028] Optionally, the remaining service duration can be replaced by other terms, such as remaining serviceable duration, remaining available duration, remaining communication duration, or remaining communicable duration, etc.

[0029] In the above scheme, the first terminal device can determine the remaining service duration of the network device corresponding to the first RS providing services to the first terminal device based on the first visibility information, which can be understood as that the visibility information can be used to determine the remaining service duration.

[0030] For example, the first visibility information can be used to select / determine the first time period, wherein the first time period can include one or more time periods that are visible, or one or more time periods whose communication quality is better than a threshold value indicated by the visibility information (i.e. excluding the second time period, which can include time periods that are invisible, or time periods whose communication quality is poor). In addition, in the first time period, the total duration of the time period that meets one or more of the following conditions from the current time can be the remaining service duration:

[0031] Condition 1. The duration of the expected elevation angle greater than the elevation angle threshold value;

[0032] Condition 2. The duration of the expected signal reception strength greater than the threshold value;

[0033] Condition 3. The duration of the expected channel transmission loss (which can be determined according to the relative position, distance, frequency point, etc. between the terminal device and the network device) less than the threshold value.

[0034] It can be understood that the parameters involved in the above conditions 1 to 3 (such as the expected elevation angle, the expected signal reception strength, the expected channel transmission loss, etc.) can be determined according to the ephemeris information of the network device. In the time period satisfying one or more of the above conditions, the network device can provide services (or provide better services) for the terminal device, and accordingly, the remaining service duration of the network device providing services for the terminal device can be determined based on the one or more conditions.

[0035] It should be noted that the remaining service duration is used for beam recovery before beam failure, which can be understood as: the remaining service duration is used for pre-emptive recovery before beam failure, or it can be understood that the remaining service duration can be used to determine whether the current beam (i.e., the beam corresponding to the first RS) is about to fail, or the remaining service duration can be a time period before the network device provides services to the terminal device. In other words, the remaining service duration is used for beam failure recovery, which can be replaced by the remaining service duration being used for beam failure judgment, being used for determining whether the beam is about to fail, being used for triggering beam failure recovery, or being used for determining whether a beam failure event occurs, etc.

[0036] In a possible implementation form of the first aspect, the method further includes: receiving, by the first terminal device, second configuration information, the second configuration information being used for configuring the first RS.

[0037] Based on the above scheme, the first terminal device can receive the first RS for beam failure detection based on the configuration of the network device, so that the terminal device can implement the process of beam failure detection based on the configuration of the network device.

[0038] In a possible implementation form of the first aspect, the method further includes: receiving, by the first terminal device, indication information indicating a first threshold; wherein the remaining service duration and the first threshold are used for beam failure recovery.

[0039] Based on the above scheme, the first terminal device can receive indication information indicating a first threshold, so that the first terminal device can perform beam failure recovery based on the remaining service duration and the first threshold.

[0040] Optionally, the first threshold can be pre-configured by a standard / protocol.

[0041] In a possible implementation form of the first aspect, the method further includes: in a case where the remaining service duration is less than or equal to the first threshold, sending, by the first terminal device, beam recovery request information.

[0042] Based on the above scheme, in a case that the remaining service duration is less than or equal to the first threshold, the first terminal device can determine that the beam corresponding to the first RS is about to or has occurred beam failure (or the service provided by the network device corresponding to the first RS to the first terminal device is about to or has occurred interruption), and therefore, the first terminal device can send beam recovery request information to realize recovery of the communication beam through the beam recovery request information.

[0043] Optionally, the beam recovery request information can include information sent by the terminal device in a beam failure recovery (BFR) process, such as a link recovery request (LRR), a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) indicating BFR, or a random access request.

[0044] In a possible implementation form of the first aspect, the method further includes: receiving, by the first terminal device, first configuration information, the first configuration information being used for configuring L RSs, N being a positive integer; wherein the L RSs are used for candidate beam detection (CBD); wherein the beam recovery request information is associated with a second RS, the second RS being an RS used for beam failure recovery; and the second RS is determined from the L RSs based on the first visibility information.

[0045] Based on the above scheme, the first terminal device can further receive first configuration information used for configuring L RSs for candidate beam detection, and the first terminal device can determine the second RS from the L RSs based on the first visibility information. In other words, the visibility information of the area granularity or the visibility information of the terminal device granularity can be used to determine the RS used for beam failure recovery. In this way, the terminal device can select / determine the target beam based on the visibility information of the area granularity or the visibility information of the terminal device granularity (i.e., select / determine the RS used for beam failure recovery from one or more RSs for candidate beam detection), which can avoid or reduce the case of frequent triggering of beam failure recovery due to the signal of the network device being blocked, and can improve the beam management efficiency.

[0046] It should be understood that the beam recovery request information is associated with the second RS, which can be understood as that the second RS is used to determine the beam recovery request information. For example, the terminal device can send the beam recovery request information based on the second RS.

[0047] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the method further includes: receiving, by the first terminal device, first indication information, the first indication information indicating that the RS for beam failure recovery satisfies a first condition, the first condition including one of the following:

[0048] In the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection, a serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to a serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to another RS;

[0049] In the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection, a serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to a threshold value;

[0050] In the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection, an over-the-top cumulative serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to an over-the-top cumulative serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to another RS; or

[0051] In the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection, an over-the-top cumulative serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to a threshold value.

[0052] Based on the above scheme, the first terminal device can select / determine the RS for beam failure recovery from the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection based on the indication of the network device.

[0053] Optionally, the first condition can be preconfigured by a standard / protocol.

[0054] Optionally, the first indication information and the first configuration information can be carried in the same message / signaling, or the first indication information and the second configuration information described below can be carried in the same message / signaling.

[0055] It should be noted that the serviceable duration can be determined based on the first visibility information. For example, for the first terminal device, the serviceable duration of the network device providing service to the first terminal device can be understood as the time interval between the start time and the end time in the process that the first visibility information indicates that the network device is visible to the first terminal device (or the first visibility information indicates that the communication quality of the network device providing service to the first terminal device is better than a threshold value).

[0056] Correspondingly, the first terminal device can determine, based on the first visibility information, a serviceable time length during which the network device corresponding to the RS provides service to the first terminal device. For example, the first visibility information can be used to select / determine a third time period, where the third time period can include one or more time periods that are visible, or one or more time periods indicated by the visibility information to have a communication quality better than a threshold (i.e., excluding a fourth time period, which can include one or more time periods that are not visible, or one or more time periods indicated by the visibility information to have a poor communication quality). In addition, in the third time period, a total time length of time periods that satisfy one or more conditions can be the serviceable time length, where the one or more conditions can include one or more of the conditions 1 to 3 described above.

[0057] Optionally, the serviceable time length can be replaced by other terms, such as an effective service time, an effective service time length, an effective communicable time length, or an effective communication time length, etc.

[0058] Similarly, the over-the-top cumulative service time length can be determined based on the first visibility information. For example, for the first terminal device, the over-the-top cumulative service time length during which the network device provides service to the first terminal device can be understood as a total time length of one or more time periods (optionally, different time periods can be discontinuous) included in a process during which the network device is over the top relative to the first terminal device, as indicated by the first visibility information.

[0059] Correspondingly, the first terminal device can determine, based on the first visibility information, an over-the-top cumulative service time length during which the network device corresponding to the RS provides service to the first terminal device. For example, the first visibility information can be used to select / determine a fifth time period, where the fifth time period can include a fifth time period during which the network device is over the top relative to the first terminal device, and a total time length of one or more time periods (optionally, different time periods can be discontinuous) included in the fifth time period. In addition, in the fifth time period, a total time length of time periods that satisfy one or more conditions can be the over-the-top cumulative service time length, where the one or more conditions can include one or more of the conditions 1 to 3 described above.

[0060] Optionally, the over-the-top cumulative service time length can be replaced by other terms, such as an over-the-top cumulative service time, an over-the-top cumulative effective service time length, an over-the-top cumulative communication time length, or an over-the-top cumulative communicable time length, etc.

[0061] In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the method further includes: receiving, by the first terminal device, second indication information indicating that the RS used for beam failure recovery satisfies a second condition, where the second condition includes one of the following:

[0062] In the one or more RSs used for candidate beam detection, the expected signal strength of the RS used for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to a threshold value when the network device corresponding to the RS is located in the over-the-top spatial angular region of the first terminal device.

[0063] In the one or more RSs used for candidate beam detection, the signal strength of the RS used for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to a threshold value.

[0064] Based on the above scheme, the first terminal device can select / determine the RS with stronger expected signal strength as the RS used for beam failure recovery among the one or more RSs used for candidate beam detection based on the indication of the network device, which can improve the communication quality of communication based on the RS used for beam failure recovery.

[0065] It should be noted that the expected signal strength can be determined based on the first visibility information. For example, for the first terminal device, the expected signal strength of the signal transmitted by the network device to the first terminal device can be understood as the expected signal strength of the signal transmitted by the network device to the terminal device at a certain time in the future (or a certain time period), or the strength of the signal received by the terminal device at a certain time in the future.

[0066] For example, the first terminal device can determine that a certain network device and the first terminal device are visible at a certain time in the future (or a certain time period) based on the first visibility information (or the communication quality indicated by the first visibility information is better than a threshold value). In addition, the first terminal device can receive the first signal strength of the signal of the network device at the current time (or the historical time), and accordingly, the first terminal device can predict the second signal strength of the network device at the above-mentioned certain time in the future (or a certain time period) based on the first signal strength, that is, the second signal strength is the expected signal strength.

[0067] Optionally, in the process of predicting the second signal strength based on the first signal strength, the basis for prediction can include the above-mentioned first visibility information, the change information of the path loss between the network device and the first terminal device (for example, determined by the relative position between the network device and the first terminal device), the equivalent isotropically radiated power (EIRP) information of the satellite where the network device is located, etc.

[0068] Optionally, the above-mentioned signal strength can be the reference signal receiving power (RSRP).

[0069] Optionally, the signal strength can be replaced by other parameters for characterizing the signal receiving quality, such as reference signal receiving quality (RSRQ).

[0070] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the L RSs for candidate beam detection correspond to K groups of RSs, K being a positive integer; and the method further includes: receiving, by the first terminal device, third indication information, the third indication information indicating at least one of the following:

[0071] In the K groups of RSs, the RS for beam failure recovery and the RS for beam failure detection are different RSs in the same group, and the serviceable duration or the over-the-top accumulated serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to a threshold value;

[0072] In the K groups of RSs, when the serviceable duration or the over-the-top accumulated serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to the other RSs in the same group as the RS for beam failure detection are all less than a threshold value, the RS for beam failure recovery and the RS for beam failure detection are RSs in different groups, and the serviceable duration or the over-the-top accumulated serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to a threshold value; or

[0073] In the K groups of RSs, when the serviceable duration or the over-the-top accumulated serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to any RS is less than a threshold value, the RS for beam failure recovery is the RS corresponding to the network device with the longest serviceable duration or over-the-top accumulated serviceable duration.

[0074] Based on the above scheme, the first terminal device can select / determine the RS for beam failure recovery from the RSs for candidate beam detection in the same group as the RS for beam failure detection based on the indication of the network device, and since different RSs in the same group correspond to different network devices that can have an association relationship, in this way, the terminal device can perform recovery operation between satellite beams that are easy to establish inter-satellite links, thereby reducing inter-satellite interaction overhead.

[0075] Optionally, the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection correspond to K groups of RSs, K being a positive integer; and different RSs in the same group in the K groups of RSs can have an association relationship, for example, the K groups of RSs satisfy any of the following:

[0076] In the K groups of RSs, different RSs in the same group correspond to network devices on the same orbit, and RSs in different groups correspond to network devices on different orbits;

[0077] In the K groups of RSs, trajectories of network devices corresponding to different RSs in a same group are same, and trajectories of network devices corresponding to different groups of RSs are different.

[0078] In the K groups of RSs, distances between network devices corresponding to different RSs in a same group are less than a threshold, and distances between network devices corresponding to different groups of RSs are greater than the threshold.

[0079] The second aspect of the present application provides a communication method, which is applicable to a network device, for example, is executed by the network device, or is executed by part of components (for example, a processor, a circuit, a chip, or a chip system, etc.) in the network device, or is executed by a logic module or software realizing all or part of the function of the network device. For the convenience of description, the present application takes the network device as an example. In the method, the network device determines a first RS, and the first RS is used for beam failure detection; wherein the first visibility information is used to determine a remaining service time length of the network device corresponding to the first RS providing service to the first terminal device, the first RS is an RS used for beam failure detection, and the remaining service time length is used for beam recovery before beam failure; wherein the first visibility information is used to indicate a communication quality between the network device located in one or more spatial angle intervals and the terminal device located in a first geographic area, and the terminal device located in the first geographic area includes the first terminal device; or the first visibility information is used to indicate a communication quality between the network device located in one or more spatial angle intervals and the first terminal device; and the network device sends the first RS.

[0080] Based on the above scheme, the first visibility information is used to indicate a communication quality between the network device located in one or more spatial angle intervals and a specific terminal device, which can include any terminal device located in the first geographic area, or the first terminal device itself. In addition, after the network device sends the first RS used for beam failure detection, the first terminal device can determine a remaining service time length of the network device corresponding to the first RS providing service to the first terminal device based on the first visibility information, and the remaining service time length is used for beam recovery before beam failure. In other words, the visibility information of the area granularity or the visibility information of the terminal device granularity can be used to determine the remaining service time length of the network device, and the service remaining time length can be used for beam failure recovery. In this way, the terminal device can perform beam failure recovery based on the visibility information of the area granularity or the visibility information of the terminal device granularity, can avoid or reduce the situation of frequent triggering of beam failure recovery due to the signal of the network device being blocked, and can improve the efficiency of beam management.

[0081] In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the method further includes: the network device sending second configuration information, the second configuration information being used for configuring the first RS.

[0082] Based on the above scheme, the first terminal device can receive the first RS for beam failure detection based on the configuration of the network device, so that the terminal device can implement the process of beam failure detection based on the configuration of the network device.

[0083] In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the method further includes: the network device sending indication information used for indicating the first threshold; and wherein the remaining service duration and the first threshold are used for beam failure recovery.

[0084] Based on the above scheme, the network device can send the indication information used for indicating the first threshold to the first terminal device, so that the first terminal device can perform beam failure recovery based on the remaining service duration and the first threshold.

[0085] In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the method further includes: the network device sending first configuration information, the first configuration information being used for configuring L RSs, N being a positive integer; wherein the L RSs are used for candidate beam detection; wherein the beam failure recovery corresponds to beam recovery request information associated with a second RS, the second RS being an RS used for beam failure recovery; and the second RS is an RS determined from the L RSs based on the first visibility information.

[0086] Based on the above scheme, the network device can further send the first configuration information used for configuring the L RSs for candidate beam detection to the first terminal device, and the first terminal device can determine the second RS from the L RSs based on the first visibility information. In other words, the visibility information of the area granularity or the visibility information of the terminal device granularity can be used to determine the RS used for beam failure recovery. In this way, the terminal device can select / determine the target beam based on the visibility information of the area granularity or the visibility information of the terminal device granularity (that is, select / determine the RS used for beam failure recovery from one or more RSs used for candidate beam detection), so as to avoid or reduce the situation that the beam failure recovery is frequently triggered due to the signal of the network device being blocked, and the beam management efficiency can be improved.

[0087] In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the method further includes: the network device sending first indication information, the first indication information indicating that the RS used for beam failure recovery satisfies a first condition, the first condition including one of the following:

[0088] In the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection, a serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to a serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to other RSs.

[0089] In the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection, a serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to a threshold.

[0090] In the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection, an over-the-top cumulative serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to an over-the-top cumulative serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to other RSs; or

[0091] In the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection, an over-the-top cumulative serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to a threshold.

[0092] Based on the above scheme, the first terminal device can select / determine the RS for beam failure recovery in the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection based on the indication of the network device.

[0093] In a possible implementation of the second aspect, the method further includes: the network device sending second indication information, the second indication information indicating that the RS for beam failure recovery satisfies a second condition, the second condition including one of the following:

[0094] In the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection, an expected signal strength of the network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure recovery when the network device is located in an over-the-top spatial angle region of the first terminal device is greater than or equal to a threshold; or

[0095] In the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection, a signal strength of the RS for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to a threshold.

[0096] Based on the above scheme, the first terminal device can select / determine the RS with stronger expected signal strength as the RS for beam failure recovery in the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection based on the indication of the network device, which can improve the communication quality of communication based on the RS for beam failure recovery.

[0097] In a possible implementation of the second aspect, the L RSs for candidate beam detection correspond to K groups of RSs, K being a positive integer; the method further includes: the network device sending third indication information, the third indication information indicating at least one of the following:

[0098] In the K groups of RSs, the RS for beam failure recovery and the RS for beam failure detection are different RSs in the same group, and the serviceable time length or the over-the-top accumulated serviceable time length of the network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to a threshold value;

[0099] In the K groups of RSs, when the serviceable time length or the over-the-top accumulated serviceable time length of the network device corresponding to the other RS in the same group as the RS for beam failure detection is less than a threshold value, the RS for beam failure recovery and the RS for beam failure detection are RSs in different groups, respectively, and the serviceable time length or the over-the-top accumulated serviceable time length of the network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to a threshold value; or

[0100] In the K groups of RSs, when the serviceable time length or the over-the-top accumulated serviceable time length of the network device corresponding to any RS is less than a threshold value, the RS for beam failure recovery is the RS corresponding to the network device with the longest serviceable time length or over-the-top accumulated serviceable time length.

[0101] Based on the above scheme, the first terminal device can select / determine the RS for beam failure recovery in the RSs for candidate beam detection in the same group as the RS for beam failure detection based on the indication of the network device, since different network devices corresponding to different RSs in the same group can have an association relationship, in this way, the terminal device can perform recovery operation between satellite beams that are easy to establish inter-satellite links, reducing inter-satellite interaction overhead.

[0102] Optionally, the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection correspond to K groups of RSs, K being a positive integer; the K groups of RSs satisfy any of the following:

[0103] In the K groups of RSs, the orbits of the network devices corresponding to different RSs in the same group are the same, and the orbits of the network devices corresponding to RSs in different groups are different;

[0104] In the K groups of RSs, the trajectories of the network devices corresponding to different RSs in the same group are the same, and the trajectories of the network devices corresponding to RSs in different groups are different; or

[0105] In the K groups of RSs, the distance between the network devices corresponding to different RSs in the same group is less than a threshold value, and the distance between the network devices corresponding to RSs in different groups is greater than a threshold value.

[0106] The third aspect of the present application provides a communication method, which is applicable to a terminal device, for example, is executed by the terminal device, or is executed by part of components (for example, a processor, a circuit, a chip or a chip system, etc.) in the terminal device, or is executed by a logic module or software that realizes all or part of the functions of the terminal device. For the convenience of description, the first terminal device is taken as an example in the method. In the method, the first terminal device obtains first visibility information, the first visibility information is used to indicate the communication quality between the network device located in one or more spatial angle intervals and the terminal device located in a first geographical area, the terminal device located in the first geographical area includes the first terminal device; or the first visibility information is used to indicate the communication quality between the network device located in one or more spatial angle intervals and the first terminal device; the first terminal device receives first configuration information, the first configuration information is used to configure L RSs, N is a positive integer; wherein the L RSs are used for candidate beam detection; the first terminal device determines a second RS in the L RSs based on the first visibility information, the second RS is an RS used for beam failure recovery.

[0107] Based on the above scheme, the first visibility information obtained by the first terminal device is used to indicate the communication quality between the network device located in one or more spatial angle intervals and a specific terminal device, which can include any terminal device located in the first geographical area or the first terminal device itself. Thereafter, the first terminal device can determine the second RS in the L RSs based on the first visibility information. In other words, the visibility information of the area granularity or the visibility information of the terminal device granularity can be used to determine the RS used for beam failure recovery. In this way, the terminal device can select / determine the target beam (that is, select / determine the RS used for beam failure recovery in one or more RSs used for candidate beam detection) based on the visibility information of the area granularity or the visibility information of the terminal device granularity, which can avoid or reduce the situation that the beam failure recovery is frequently triggered due to the signal of the network device being blocked, and can improve the beam management efficiency.

[0108] In a possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the method further includes that the first terminal device receives first indication information, the first indication information indicates that the RS used for beam failure recovery satisfies a first condition, the first condition includes one of the following:

[0109] In one or more RSs used for candidate beam detection, the serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to the RS used for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to the serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to other RSs;

[0110] In the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection, the network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure recovery has a serviceable duration greater than or equal to a threshold value;

[0111] In the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection, the network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure recovery has an over-the-top cumulative serviceable duration greater than or equal to an over-the-top cumulative serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to the other RS;

[0112] In the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection, the network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure recovery has an over-the-top cumulative serviceable duration greater than or equal to a threshold value.

[0113] Based on the above scheme, the first terminal device can select / determine the RS for beam failure recovery in the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection based on the indication of the network device.

[0114] In a possible implementation of the third aspect, the method further includes: receiving, by the first terminal device, second indication information, the second indication information indicating that the RS for beam failure recovery satisfies a second condition, the second condition including one of the following:

[0115] In the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection, the network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure recovery has an expected signal strength greater than or equal to a threshold value when the network device is located in an over-the-top spatial angle region of the first terminal device; or

[0116] In the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection, the signal strength of the RS for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to a threshold value.

[0117] Based on the above scheme, the first terminal device can select / determine the RS with stronger expected signal strength as the RS for beam failure recovery in the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection based on the indication of the network device, which can improve the communication quality of communication based on the RS for beam failure recovery.

[0118] In a possible implementation of the third aspect, the L RSs for candidate beam detection correspond to K groups of RSs, K being a positive integer; the method further includes: receiving, by the first terminal device, third indication information, the third indication information indicating at least one of the following:

[0119] In the K groups of RSs, the RS for beam failure recovery and the RS for beam failure detection are different RSs in the same group, and the network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure recovery has a serviceable duration or an over-the-top cumulative serviceable duration greater than or equal to a threshold value;

[0120] In the K groups of RSs, when the serviceable time or the over-the-top accumulated serviceable time of the network device corresponding to the other RSs in the same group as the RS for beam failure detection is less than the threshold value, the RS for beam failure recovery and the RS for beam failure detection are RSs of different groups, and the serviceable time or the over-the-top accumulated serviceable time of the network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to the threshold value; or

[0121] In the K groups of RSs, when the serviceable time or the over-the-top accumulated serviceable time of the network device corresponding to any RS is less than the threshold value, the RS for beam failure recovery is the RS corresponding to the network device with the longest serviceable time or over-the-top accumulated serviceable time.

[0122] Based on the above scheme, the first terminal device can select / determine the RS for beam failure recovery in the RSs for candidate beam detection in the same group as the RS for beam failure detection based on the indication of the network device. Since different network devices corresponding to different RSs in the same group can have an association relationship, this way enables the terminal device to perform recovery operations between satellite beams that are easy to establish inter-satellite links, reducing inter-satellite interaction overhead.

[0123] Optionally, the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection correspond to K groups of RSs, K being a positive integer; and the K groups of RSs satisfy any of the following:

[0124] In the K groups of RSs, the orbits of the network devices corresponding to different RSs in the same group are the same, and the orbits of the network devices corresponding to RSs in different groups are different.

[0125] In the K groups of RSs, the trajectories of the network devices corresponding to different RSs in the same group are the same, and the trajectories of the network devices corresponding to RSs in different groups are different; or

[0126] In the K groups of RSs, the distance between the network devices corresponding to different RSs in the same group is less than a threshold value, and the distance between the network devices corresponding to RSs in different groups is greater than the threshold value.

[0127] The fourth aspect of the present application provides a communication method, which is applicable to a network device, for example, is executed by the network device, or is executed by part of components (for example, a processor, a circuit, a chip or a chip system, etc.) in the network device, or is executed by a logic module or software realizing all or part of the function of the network device. For the convenience of description, the present application takes the network device as an example. In the method, the network device determines first configuration information, the first configuration information is used for configuring L RSs, N is a positive integer; wherein the L RSs are used for candidate beam detection; the network device sends the first configuration information; wherein the first visibility information is used for determining a second RS in the L RSs, the second RS is an RS used for beam failure recovery; the first visibility information is used for indicating the communication quality between the network device located in one or more spatial angle intervals and the terminal device located in a first geographic area, the terminal device located in the first geographic area includes the first terminal device; or the first visibility information is used for indicating the communication quality between the network device located in one or more spatial angle intervals and the first terminal device.

[0128] Based on the above scheme, the first visibility information is used for indicating the communication quality between the network device located in one or more spatial angle intervals and a specific terminal device, which can include any terminal device located in the first geographic area, or the first terminal device itself. In addition, after the network device sends the L RSs used for candidate beam detection, the first terminal device can determine the second RS in the L RSs based on the first visibility information. In other words, the visibility information of the area granularity or the visibility information of the terminal device granularity can be used to determine the RS used for beam failure recovery. In this way, the terminal device can select / determine the target beam (that is, select / determine the RS used for beam failure recovery in one or more RSs used for candidate beam detection) based on the visibility information of the area granularity or the visibility information of the terminal device granularity, which can avoid or reduce the situation of frequent triggering of beam failure recovery due to the signal of the network device being blocked, and can improve the efficiency of beam management.

[0129] In a possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the method further includes: the network device sends first indication information, the first indication information indicates that the RS used for beam failure recovery satisfies a first condition, the first condition includes one of the following:

[0130] In one or more RSs used for candidate beam detection, the serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to the RS used for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to the serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to other RSs;

[0131] The serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to a threshold in the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection;

[0132] The over-the-top accumulated serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to the over-the-top accumulated serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to the other RS in the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection; or

[0133] The over-the-top accumulated serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to a threshold in the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection.

[0134] Based on the above scheme, the first terminal device can select / determine the RS for beam failure recovery in the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection based on the indication of the network device.

[0135] In a possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the method further includes: the network device sending second indication information, the second indication information indicating that the RS for beam failure recovery satisfies a second condition, the second condition including one of the following:

[0136] The expected signal strength of the network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure recovery when the network device is located in the over-the-top spatial angle region of the first terminal device is greater than or equal to a threshold in the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection; or

[0137] The signal strength of the RS for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to a threshold in the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection.

[0138] Based on the above scheme, the first terminal device can select / determine the RS with stronger expected signal strength as the RS for beam failure recovery in the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection based on the indication of the network device, which can improve the communication quality of communication based on the RS for beam failure recovery.

[0139] In a possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the L RSs for candidate beam detection correspond to K groups of RSs, K being a positive integer; the method further includes: the network device sending third indication information, the third indication information indicating at least one of the following:

[0140] The RS for beam failure recovery and the RS for beam failure detection are different RSs in the same group, and the serviceable duration or the over-the-top accumulated serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to a threshold in the K groups of RSs;

[0141] In the K groups of RSs, when the serviceable time or the over-the-top accumulated serviceable time of the network device corresponding to the other RSs in the same group as the RS for beam failure detection is less than the threshold value, the RS for beam failure recovery and the RS for beam failure detection are RSs of different groups, and the serviceable time or the over-the-top accumulated serviceable time of the network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to the threshold value; or

[0142] In the K groups of RSs, when the serviceable time or the over-the-top accumulated serviceable time of the network device corresponding to any RS is less than the threshold value, the RS for beam failure recovery is the RS corresponding to the network device with the longest serviceable time or over-the-top accumulated serviceable time.

[0143] Based on the above scheme, the first terminal device can select / determine the RS for beam failure recovery in the RSs for candidate beam detection in the same group as the RS for beam failure detection based on the indication of the network device. Since different network devices corresponding to different RSs in the same group can have an association relationship, in this way, the terminal device can perform recovery operations between satellite beams that are easy to establish inter-satellite links, thereby reducing inter-satellite interaction overhead.

[0144] Optionally, the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection correspond to K groups of RSs, K being a positive integer; and the K groups of RSs satisfy any of the following conditions:

[0145] In the K groups of RSs, the orbits of the network devices corresponding to different RSs in the same group are the same, and the orbits of the network devices corresponding to RSs in different groups are different.

[0146] In the K groups of RSs, the trajectories of the network devices corresponding to different RSs in the same group are the same, and the trajectories of the network devices corresponding to RSs in different groups are different.

[0147] In the K groups of RSs, the distance between the network devices corresponding to different RSs in the same group is less than a threshold value, and the distance between the network devices corresponding to RSs in different groups is greater than the threshold value.

[0148] The fifth aspect of the present application provides a communication device. The device is a terminal device, or the device is part of a terminal device (for example, a processor, a circuit, a chip, or a chip system), or the device can also be a logic module or software that can realize all or part of the functions of the terminal device. In the fifth aspect and its possible implementation manners, the communication device is taken as a terminal device for example.

[0149] The apparatus comprises a processing unit; the processing unit is configured to obtain first visibility information, the first visibility information being used to indicate a communication quality between a network device located in one or more spatial angle intervals and a terminal device located in a first geographic area, the terminal device located in the first geographic area comprising the first terminal device; or, the first visibility information being used to indicate a communication quality between a network device located in one or more spatial angle intervals and the first terminal device; and the processing unit is further configured to determine, based on the first visibility information, a remaining service duration in which a network device corresponding to a first reference signal (RS) provides a service to the first terminal device; the first RS is a RS used for beam failure detection (BFD), and the remaining service duration is used for beam recovery before beam failure.

[0150] In the fifth aspect of the present application, the component modules of the communication apparatus can also be configured to perform the steps performed in the various possible implementation manners of the first aspect and achieve the corresponding technical effects, which can be referred to the first aspect for details and will not be described herein again.

[0151] The sixth aspect of the present application provides a communication apparatus, which is a network device, or a part of components (such as a processor, a circuit, a chip or a chip system, etc.) in the network device, or a logic module or software capable of realizing all or part of the functions of the network device. In the sixth aspect and its possible implementation manners, the communication apparatus is taken as the network device for example.

[0152] The apparatus comprises a processing unit and a transceiver unit; the processing unit is configured to determine a first RS, the first RS being used for beam failure detection; wherein the first visibility information is used to determine a remaining service duration in which a network device corresponding to the first RS provides a service to the first terminal device, the first RS being a RS used for beam failure detection, and the remaining service duration being used for beam recovery before beam failure; wherein the first visibility information is used to indicate a communication quality between a network device located in one or more spatial angle intervals and a terminal device located in a first geographic area, the terminal device located in the first geographic area comprising the first terminal device; or, the first visibility information being used to indicate a communication quality between a network device located in one or more spatial angle intervals and the first terminal device; and the transceiver unit is configured to send the first RS.

[0153] In the sixth aspect of the present application, the component modules of the communication apparatus can also be configured to perform the steps performed in the various possible implementation manners of the second aspect and achieve the corresponding technical effects, which can be referred to the second aspect for details and will not be described herein again.

[0154] The seventh aspect of the present application provides a communication apparatus, which is a terminal device, or a part of the terminal device (for example, a processor, a circuit, a chip or a chip system, etc.), or a logic module or software capable of realizing all or part of the functions of the terminal device. In the seventh aspect and its possible implementation manners, the communication apparatus is taken as a terminal device for example.

[0155] The apparatus comprises a processing unit and a transceiver unit; the processing unit is configured to obtain first visibility information, the first visibility information being used to indicate a communication quality between a network device located in one or more spatial angle intervals and a terminal device located in a first geographic area, the terminal device located in the first geographic area comprising the first terminal device; or, the first visibility information being used to indicate a communication quality between a network device located in one or more spatial angle intervals and the first terminal device; and the transceiver unit is configured to receive first configuration information, the first configuration information being used to configure L RSs, L being a positive integer; wherein the L RSs are used for candidate beam detection; and the processing unit is further configured to determine a second RS from the L RSs based on the first visibility information, the second RS being an RS used for beam failure recovery.

[0156] In the seventh aspect of the present application, the component modules of the communication apparatus can also be used to perform the steps performed in the possible implementation manners of the third aspect and achieve the corresponding technical effects. For details, refer to the third aspect, which will not be described here.

[0157] The eighth aspect of the present application provides a communication apparatus, which is a network device, or a part of the network device (for example, a processor, a circuit, a chip or a chip system, etc.), or a logic module or software capable of realizing all or part of the functions of the network device. In the eighth aspect and its possible implementation manners, the communication apparatus is taken as a network device for example.

[0158] The apparatus comprises a processing unit and a transceiver unit; the processing unit is configured to determine first configuration information, the first configuration information being used to configure L RSs, L being a positive integer; wherein the L RSs are used for candidate beam detection; and the transceiver unit is configured to send the first configuration information; wherein first visibility information is used to determine a second RS from the L RSs, the second RS being an RS used for beam failure recovery; and the first visibility information is used to indicate a communication quality between a network device located in one or more spatial angle intervals and a terminal device located in a first geographic area, the terminal device located in the first geographic area comprising the first terminal device; or, the first visibility information being used to indicate a communication quality between a network device located in one or more spatial angle intervals and the first terminal device.

[0159] In the eighth aspect of the present application, the constituent modules of the communication device can also be used to perform the steps performed in the various possible implementation manners of the fourth aspect and achieve the corresponding technical effects, which can be referred to the fourth aspect for details and will not be described here.

[0160] The ninth aspect of the present application provides a communication device, comprising at least one processor, the at least one processor being coupled with at least one memory; the at least one memory is used to store programs or instructions; the at least one processor is used to execute the programs or instructions, so that the device implements the method in any one of the possible implementation manners of any one of the first aspect to the fourth aspect.

[0161] The tenth aspect of the present application provides a communication device, comprising at least one logic circuit and an input / output interface; the logic circuit is used to execute the method as described in any one of the possible implementation manners of any one of the first aspect to the fourth aspect.

[0162] The eleventh aspect of the present application provides a communication system, comprising the terminal device and the network device.

[0163] The twelfth aspect of the present application provides a computer readable storage medium, which is used to store one or more computer execution instructions, when the computer execution instructions are executed by a processor, the processor executes the method as described in any one of the possible implementation manners of any one of the first aspect to the fourth aspect.

[0164] The thirteenth aspect of the present application provides a computer program product (or computer program), when the computer program in the computer program product is executed by the processor, the processor executes the method as described in any one of the possible implementation manners of any one of the first aspect to the fourth aspect.

[0165] The fourteenth aspect of the present application provides a chip or chip system, comprising at least one processor, which is used to support the communication device to implement the method as described in any one of the possible implementation manners of any one of the first aspect to the fourth aspect.

[0166] In a possible design, the chip or chip system can further comprise at least one memory, the at least one memory is used to save necessary programs and data of the communication device. The chip or chip system can be composed of a chip, or can include a chip and other discrete devices. Optionally, the chip or chip system further comprises an interface circuit, the interface circuit provides program instructions and / or data for the at least one processor.

[0167] The technical effects brought by any one of the designs of the fifth aspect to the fourteenth aspect can be referred to the technical effects brought by the different designs of the first aspect to the fourth aspect, which will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0168] Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system provided by the present application;

[0169] Figs. 2a to 2d are some schematic diagrams of satellite communication processes provided by the present application;

[0170] Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a satellite communication process in a 5G system provided by the present application;

[0171] Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a communication method provided by the present application;

[0172] Figs. 5 and 6 are some schematic diagrams of the application of the communication method provided by the present application;

[0173] Fig. 7 is another schematic diagram of a communication method provided by the present application;

[0174] Figs. 8 to 11 are some schematic diagrams of a communication device provided by the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0175] First, some terms in the embodiments of the present application are explained to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art.

[0176] (1) Terminal device: can be a wireless terminal device capable of receiving network device scheduling and indication information, and the wireless terminal device can be a device that provides voice and / or data connectivity to a user, or a handheld device with wireless connection function, or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem.

[0177] The terminal device can be various communication kits (a kit can include, for example, an antenna, a power supply template, a cable, and a Wi-Fi module, etc.) with wireless communication functions, and can also be a communication module with satellite communication functions, a satellite phone or its components, a very small aperture terminal (VSAT). The terminal device can be a mobile terminal device, such as a mobile phone (or called "cellular" phone, mobile phone), a computer and a data card, for example, it can be a portable, pocket-sized, handheld, built-in computer or vehicle-mounted mobile device that exchanges voice and / or data with a wireless access network. For example, personal communication service (PCS) phones, cordless phones, session initiation protocol (SIP) phones, wireless local loop (WLL) stations, personal digital assistants (PDAs), tablets (Pads), computers with wireless transceiver functions, etc. The wireless terminal device can also be referred to as a system, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a mobile station, a mobile station (MS), a remote station, an access point (AP), a remote terminal, an access terminal, a user terminal, a user agent, a subscriber station (SS), customer premises equipment (CPE), a terminal, user equipment (UE), a mobile terminal (MT), a drone, etc. The terminal device can also be a wearable device and a next-generation communication system, for example, a terminal device in a 6G communication system or a terminal device in a future evolved public land mobile network (PLMN), etc. Of course, the terminal device in this application can also refer to a chip, a modem, a system on a chip (SoC) mainly responsible for the relevant communication functions in the device, or a communication platform that can include a radio frequency (RF) part, etc.

[0178] (2) Network device: can be a device in a wireless network, for example, the network device can be a RAN node (or device) for accessing a terminal device to a wireless network, which can also be referred to as a base station. At present, some examples of RAN devices are: base station (base station), evolved NodeB (eNodeB), base station gNB (gNodeB) in 5G communication system, transmission reception point (transmission reception point, TRP), evolved Node B (eNB), radio network controller (radio network controller, RNC), Node B (Node B, NB), home base station (for example, home evolved Node B, or home Node B, HNB), baseband unit (baseband unit, BBU), or wireless fidelity (wireless fidelity, Wi-Fi) access point AP, etc. In addition, in a network structure, the network device can include a centralized unit (centralized unit, CU) node, or a distributed unit (distributed unit, DU) node, or a RAN device including a CU node and a DU node.

[0179] Optionally, the RAN node can also be a macro base station, a micro base station or an indoor station, a relay node or a donor node, or a wireless controller in a cloud radio access network (cloud radio access network, CRAN) scenario. 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 (vehicle to everything, V2X) technology can be a road side unit (road side unit, RSU).

[0180] In another possible scenario, a terminal is assisted by multiple RAN nodes 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 central unit (CU), a distributed unit (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 arranged, 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).

[0181] In different systems, the CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU or RU can also have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in an open RAN (O-RAN or 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, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU and RU are taken as examples for description in this application. Any one of the CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU and RU in this application can be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0182] The communication between the access network device and the terminal device follows a certain protocol layer structure. The protocol layer can include a control plane protocol layer and a user plane protocol layer. The control plane protocol layer can include at least one of a radio resource control (RRC) layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, a media access control (MAC) layer, or a physical (PHY) layer, etc. The user plane protocol layer can include at least one of a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer, a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, a MAC layer, or a physical layer, etc.

[0183] For the correspondence between the network elements in the ORAN system and the protocol layer functions that can be implemented by the network elements, refer to Table 1 below.

[0184] Table 1

[0185] The network device can be another device that provides a wireless communication function for the terminal device. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the network device. For the convenience of description, the embodiments of the present application do not limit.

[0186] The network device can also include a core network device, which can include, for example, a mobility management entity (MME) in a fourth generation (4G) network, a home subscriber server (HSS), a serving gateway (S-GW), a policy and charging rules function (PCRF), a public data network gateway (P-GW), an access and mobility management function (AMF) in a 5G network, a user plane function (UPF), a session management function (SMF), and other network elements. In addition, the core network device can also include other core network devices in a 5G network and a next-generation network of the 5G network.

[0187] In the embodiments of the present application, the network device can also be a network node with artificial intelligence (AI) capability, which can provide AI services for terminals or other network devices, for example, AI nodes, computing power nodes, AI-capable RAN nodes, AI-capable core network elements, etc. on the network side (access network or core network).

[0188] In the embodiments of the present application, the device for implementing the function of the network device can be a network device or a device capable of supporting the network device to implement the function, such as a chip system, which can be installed in the network device. In the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application, the device for implementing the function of the network device is taken as an example to describe the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application.

[0189] (3) Configuration and pre-configuration: In the present application, configuration and pre-configuration will be used simultaneously. Configuration refers to that the network device sends some parameter configuration information or parameter values to the terminal device through messages or signaling, so that the terminal device determines the communication parameters or transmission resources according to the values or information. Pre-configuration is similar to configuration, which can be parameter information or parameter values agreed by the network device and the terminal device in advance, or parameter information or parameter values adopted by the network device or the terminal device according to the standard protocol, or parameter information or parameter values pre-stored in the network device or the terminal device. The present application does not make any limitation.

[0190] Further, these values and parameters can be changed or updated.

[0191] (4) The terms "system" and "network" in the embodiments of the present application can be used interchangeably. "At least one" means one or more, and "multiple" means two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, which means that there can be three relationships, for example, A and / or B, which means that A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally represents an "or" relationship between the 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" includes A, B, C, AB, AC, BC or ABC. In addition, unless otherwise specified, the ordinal numbers "first", "second", etc. mentioned in the embodiments of the present application are used to distinguish multiple objects, and are not used to limit the order, time sequence, priority or importance of the multiple objects.

[0192] (5) In the embodiments of the present application, "sending" and "receiving" represent the direction of signal transmission. For example, "sending information to XX" can be understood as that the destination of the information is XX, which can include direct sending through the air interface, or indirect sending through the air interface by other units or modules. "Receiving information from YY" can be understood as that the source of the information is YY, which can include direct receiving from YY through the air interface, or indirect receiving from YY through the air interface by other units or modules. "Sending" can also be understood as "output" of a chip interface, and "receiving" can also be understood as "input" of a chip interface.

[0193] In other words, sending and receiving can be between devices, such as between network devices and terminal devices, or within a device, such as between components, modules, chips, software modules or hardware modules within a device through a bus, wire or interface.

[0194] It can be understood that the information can be processed as necessary between the source and the destination, such as encoding and modulation, but the destination can understand the valid information from the source. Similar expressions in the present application can be similarly understood, and will not be repeated here.

[0195] (6) Geographical area. In the embodiments of the present application, the geographical area can be replaced by the area. The area is fixed relative to the earth, or the area refers to a geographical area fixed relative to the earth.

[0196] For example, the area can have at least one of the following properties: shape, contour, size, radius, area, geographical position, etc. In addition, the "area" can also have a height attribute, that is, the area can be understood as a geographical area at a given height or within a height range. For example, the area can refer to a geographical area with an altitude of 0 km or within an altitude range of 0 km ± 2 km, or a geographical area with an average altitude, or a geographical area with a specific height, such as an altitude of 10 km or within an altitude range of 10 km ± 3 km.

[0197] Alternatively, the above-mentioned area fixed relative to the earth can also be referred to as "wave position", "geographical area" and the like. Of course, there can be other names, and the present application does not specifically limit the name of the area fixed relative to the earth.

[0198] In one possible implementation, the shapes, contours, sizes, radii and areas of different areas can or can not be the same. Different areas have different geographical positions. There can be overlap between different areas or there can be no overlap.

[0199] In a possible implementation, the region is fixed relative to the earth, which can be understood as that the outline, size or geographical position of the region does not change, for example, the outline, size or geographical position of the region does not change over time. Alternatively, the region is fixed relative to the earth, which can be understood as that the outline of the region and the points in the region can be described by the earth-fixed coordinate system, or the coordinates of each point on the outline of the region in the earth-fixed coordinate system are fixed and unchanged.

[0200] In a possible implementation, the shape of the region can be a regular hexagon, or other shapes such as a regular pentagon, a circle, an ellipse, etc. Alternatively, the shape of the region can also be irregular, which is not limited.

[0201] For example, the shape of the region can be defined by a protocol or defined by a network device. The shapes of the regions defined by different network devices can be the same or different. The same network device can also define multiple shapes of the region. Similarly, the size, radius or area of the region can be defined by a protocol or defined by a network device. The size, radius or area of the region defined by different network devices can be the same or different. The same network device can also define multiple sizes, multiple radii or multiple areas of the region.

[0202] In a possible implementation, the earth surface can be divided into multiple regions, and the multiple regions can be indexed (for example, numbered). The terminal device and the network device can agree on the numbering method of the regions (for example, whether to start from 1 or from 0) and the correspondence between the regions and the indexes. Alternatively, the protocol can define the numbering method of the regions and the correspondence between the regions and the indexes. Based on the index of the region, the geographical position and other information of the region can be determined.

[0203] Optionally, the multiple divided regions can completely cover the earth surface, for example, any position on the earth surface belongs to a region; alternatively, the multiple divided regions can cover part of the geographical position on the earth, for example, the multiple regions can not cover the south pole and / or the north pole of the earth, that is, the south pole and / or the north pole can not exist in the region.

[0204] Optionally, the division method of the multiple regions can be defined by a protocol or defined by a network device. The division methods defined by different network devices can be the same or different. The same network device can also define multiple division methods.

[0205] As a first possible partitioning manner, the earth surface can be partitioned using a grid of latitude and longitude with a granularity, for example, the earth surface can be partitioned using a grid of latitude and longitude with a granularity of 1 degree. If only this discretization is used, the whole world can be partitioned into 360x360=129600 regions, and the terminal device and the network device can agree on the indices of the 129600 regions as 0, 1, …, 129599, or can also agree on the indices as 1, 2, …, 129600.

[0206] Optionally, when the height attribute of the geographical region is introduced, multiple grids partitioning the earth surface can be defined, for example, the grid with an altitude of 0 km or within a range of 0 km plus or minus 2 km can be partitioned using a grid of latitude and longitude with a granularity of 1 degree, resulting in 129600 regions. The grid with an altitude of 10 km or within a range of 10 km plus or minus 3 km can also be partitioned using a grid of latitude and longitude with a granularity of 1 degree, resulting in 129600 regions. When indexing these grids, the index range of the single-layer grid needs to be extended, for example, the total index is 0, 1, …, 129599, 129600, 129601, …, 259199, where the first 129600 serial numbers represent the grid index of the 0 km altitude, and the last 129600 serial numbers represent the grid index of the 10 km altitude.

[0207] For example, the granularity of the grid of latitude and longitude can be determined according to the type of the network device. For example, in the case of a LEO satellite as the network device, a relatively small granularity can be used for discretization; in the case of a GEO satellite as the network device, a relatively large granularity can be used for discretization.

[0208] As a second possible partitioning manner, the earth surface can be partitioned using multiple grids of latitude and longitude with different granularities, for example, a grid of latitude and longitude with a granularity of 1 degree is used to partition a part of the earth surface or a part of the administrative region, and a grid of latitude and longitude with a granularity of 2 degrees is used to partition another part of the earth surface or administrative region.

[0209] Alternatively, after introducing the height attribute of the geographical region, the earth surface can be partitioned using a grid of latitude and longitude with a granularity of 1 degree at an altitude of 0 km, and a grid of latitude and longitude with a granularity of 2 degrees at an altitude of 10 km.

[0210] As a third possible partitioning manner, the earth surface can be partitioned according to administrative regions. For example, a township-level administrative region can be taken as a region.

[0211] As a fourth possible partitioning manner, for a GEO satellite, the projection of a beam of the GEO satellite on the ground can be taken as a region. Since the GEO satellite is stationary relative to the earth, the projection of the beam of the GEO satellite on the ground can be considered fixed relative to the earth.

[0212] In actual application, the earth surface can be divided in combination with multiple division manners, for example, the earth surface or part of administrative regions is divided into a longitude and latitude grid with a granularity of 1, and another part of the earth surface or administrative regions is divided according to administrative regions.

[0213] In a possible implementation, in the case of dividing the earth surface into multiple regions, the same earth surface range can be divided into regions at different levels. For example, for a certain earth surface range, the first level of region division is performed on the earth surface range by using a longitude and latitude grid with a granularity of 10 degrees, the second level of region division is performed on the earth surface range by using a longitude and latitude grid with a granularity of 6, and the third level of region division is performed on the earth surface range by using a longitude and latitude grid with a granularity of 1. At this time, in the earth surface range, the number of regions at the first level is greater than the number of regions at the second level, and the number of regions at the second level is greater than the number of regions at the third level. In addition, in this scenario, the regions at each level can be numbered separately.

[0214] (7) In the embodiments of the present application, "indication" can include direct indication and indirect indication, and can also include explicit indication and implicit indication. The information indicated by certain information (indication information described below) is referred to as to-be-indicated information. In the implementation process, there are many ways to indicate the to-be-indicated information, for example, but not limited to, the to-be-indicated information can be directly indicated, such as the to-be-indicated information itself or an index of the to-be-indicated information. The to-be-indicated information can also be indirectly indicated by indicating other information, where the other information and the to-be-indicated information have an association relationship. The to-be-indicated information can also be indicated only by a part, and the other part of the to-be-indicated information is known or agreed in advance. For example, the arrangement order of each information agreed in advance (for example, predefined by a protocol) can be used to indicate a specific information, thereby reducing the indication overhead to a certain extent. The specific manner of indication is not limited in the present application. It can be understood that the indication information can be used to indicate the to-be-indicated information for the sender of the indication information, and the indication information can be used to determine the to-be-indicated information for the receiver of the indication information.

[0215] In the present application, the same or similar parts among various embodiments can be mutually referred to, unless otherwise specified. In the various embodiments in the present application, and the various methods / designs / implementation manners in the various embodiments, the terms and / or descriptions of different embodiments, and the various methods / designs / implementation manners in the various embodiments are consistent and can be mutually referred to, unless otherwise specified and logically conflicted. The technical features of different embodiments, and the various methods / designs / implementation manners in the various embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments, methods, or implementation manners according to their inherent logical relationship. The embodiments described below do not constitute a limitation on the protection scope of the present application.

[0216] The present application can be applied to a long term evolution (LTE) system, a new radio (NR) system, or a new radio vehicle to everything (NR V2X) system; can also be applied to a system in which LTE and 5G are hybrid networked; or a device-to-device (D2D) communication system, a machine to machine (M2M) communication system, an Internet of Things (IoT), or a drone communication system; or a communication system supporting multiple wireless technologies, such as a communication system supporting LTE technology and NR technology; or a non-ground communication system, such as a satellite communication system, a high-altitude communication platform, etc. In addition, the communication system can also be applicable to a narrow band-internet of things (NB-IoT) or other communication systems, wherein the communication system includes a network device and a terminal device, the network device as a configuration information sending entity, and the terminal device as a configuration information receiving entity. Specifically, there are entities in the communication system that send configuration information to another entity, and send data to another entity or receive data sent by another entity; another entity receives configuration information and sends data to the configuration information sending entity or receives data sent by the configuration information sending entity according to the configuration information. Wherein, the present application can be applied to a terminal device in a connected state or an active state, and can also be applied to a terminal device in an inactive state or an idle state.

[0217] Referring to FIG. 1, an architecture diagram of a communication system 1000 to which embodiments of the present application are applied is shown. As shown in FIG. 1, the communication system includes a radio access network (RAN) 100 and a core network 200. Optionally, the communication system 1000 can further include an Internet 300. 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 a wireless relay device and / or a wireless backhaul device (not shown in FIG. 1). The terminal 120 is connected to the RAN node 110 in a wireless manner, and the RAN node 110 is connected to the core network 200 in a wireless or wired manner. The core network device in the core network 200 and the RAN node 110 in the RAN 100 can be independent and different physical devices, or can be the same physical device integrated with the logical functions of the core network device and the logical functions of the RAN node. Terminals and terminals, and RAN nodes and RAN nodes can be connected to each other in a wired or wireless manner.

[0218] It should be noted that the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application are applicable to a ground communication system. Alternatively, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application are applicable to a communication system integrating ground communication and satellite communication, which can also be referred to as a non-terrestrial network (NTN) communication system. For example, the RAN 100 in FIG. 1 can include a ground base station, wherein the ground base station can include a TN cell (i.e., the signals of the TN cell can be transmitted and received by the ground base station); and the RAN 100 in FIG. 1 can further include a non-ground base station, for example, a satellite, which can include an NTN cell (i.e., the signals of the NTN cell can be transmitted and received by the satellite). The ground communication system can be, for example, a long term evolution (LTE) system, a universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS), a 5G communication system, a new radio (NR) system, or a next-generation communication system of the 5G communication system, etc., which is not limited herein.

[0219] Satellite communication has wider coverage than traditional mobile communication systems, and the communication cost is independent of the transmission distance, which can overcome natural geographical barriers such as oceans, deserts, and mountains. In order to overcome the shortcomings of traditional communication networks, satellite communication can be an effective supplement to traditional networks. It is generally believed that, compared with ground network communication, non-ground network communication has different channel characteristics, such as large transmission delay and large Doppler frequency offset. For example, the round-trip delay of GEO satellite communication is 238-270 milliseconds (ms). The round-trip delay of LEO satellite communication is 8-20 ms. According to the orbital height, satellite communication systems can be divided into three types: high-orbit (geostationary earth orbit, GEO) satellite communication systems, also known as synchronous orbit satellite systems; medium-orbit (medium earth orbit, MEO) satellite communication systems; and low-orbit (low earth orbit, LEO) satellite communication systems.

[0220] GEO satellites are also known as geostationary orbit satellites, and the orbital height can be 35,786 kilometers (km). The main advantage is that it is relatively stationary relative to the ground and provides a large coverage area. However, the disadvantages of GEO satellite orbit satellites are also relatively prominent: for example, the distance from the earth is too large, requiring a large-diameter antenna; the transmission delay is large, about 0.5 seconds, which cannot meet the needs of real-time services; at the same time, the orbital resources are relatively scarce, the launch cost is high, and coverage cannot be provided for polar regions. MEO satellites have an orbital height of 2,000-35,786 km, and a relatively small number of satellites can achieve global coverage, but the transmission delay is higher than that of LEO satellites, and they are mainly used for positioning and navigation. In addition, the orbital height of 300-2,000 km is called low-orbit satellite (LEO). LEO satellites have a lower orbital height than MEO and GEO, smaller data propagation delay, lower power loss, and relatively lower launch cost. Therefore, LEO satellite communication networks have made great progress in recent years and have attracted attention.

[0221] In one possible implementation, satellite devices can be divided into transparent mode and regenerative mode according to the working mode.

[0222] The two modes will be described below by way of example with reference to the implementation modes shown in FIGS. 2a, 2b, 2c, and 2d.

[0223] In the implementation mode of the transparent mode shown in FIG. 2a, the satellite and the gateway (i.e., NTN Gateway in FIG. 2a) act as a relay, that is, the remote radio unit shown in FIG. 2a, and the communication between the terminal device and the gNB needs to be realized through the relay process. In other words, in the transparent mode, the satellite has the function of relay forwarding.

[0224] For example, in the implementation mode of the transparent mode shown in FIG. 2b, when the satellite (including GEO satellite, MEO satellite, LEO satellite, etc.) works in the transparent mode, the satellite has the function of relay forwarding. The gateway (or gateway station) has the function of the base station or part of the base station function, at this time, the gateway can be regarded as the base station. Alternatively, the base station can be deployed separately from the gateway, and then the delay of the feeder link includes the delay of the satellite to the gateway and the delay of the gateway to the gNB.

[0225] Optionally, the transparent mode can be taken as an example that the gateway and the gNB are together or close to each other, and for the case that the gateway is far away from the gNB, the delay of the feeder link can be obtained by adding the delay of the satellite to the gateway and the delay of the gateway to the gNB.

[0226] In the implementation mode of the regenerative mode shown in FIG. 2c, the satellite and the gateway (i.e., NTN Gateway in FIG. 2c) act as the gNB, and can communicate with the terminal device. In other words, in the regenerative mode, the satellite has the function of the base station or part of the base station function, at this time, the satellite can be regarded as the base station.

[0227] For example, in the implementation mode of the regenerative mode shown in FIG. 2d, when the satellite (including GEO satellite, MEO satellite, LEO satellite, etc.) works in the regenerative mode, compared with the implementation mode shown in FIG. 2b, the satellite has the function of the base station or part of the base station function, at this time, the satellite can be regarded as the base station (i.e., the air base station).

[0228] Optionally, in FIG. 2b and / or FIG. 2d, the satellite can be realized by other means, such as the unmanned aerial vehicle or the high-altitude platform in the figure.

[0229] It should be noted that the base stations of the NTN and the ground network can be interconnected through a common core network. Higher timeliness assistance and interconnection can also be realized through the interface defined between the base stations. In NR, the interface between the base stations is called Xn interface, and the interface between the base station and the core network is called NG interface. In the fusion network, the NTN node and the ground node can realize interworking and cooperation through the foregoing interfaces.

[0230] In addition, the satellite as a network device can send ephemeris information, so that the receiver of the ephemeris information (such as a terminal device or a base station thereof or another satellite, etc.) can determine the relevant information of the running track of the satellite based on the ephemeris information. As an implementation example, the ephemeris information can include one or more pieces of information in Table 2 below. Alternatively, the terminal device can know one or more pieces of information in Table 2 in a preconfigured manner.

[0231] Table 2

[0232] It should be noted that in actual application, the last parameter in Table 2, the near-Earth time t p may be replaced by the true anomaly or the mean anomaly, which has the same effect, as shown in Table 3.

[0233] Table 3

[0234] It should be noted that the present application can be applied to a long term evolution (LTE) system, a new radio (NR) system, or a future communication network / system.

[0235] Taking 5G as an example, a 5G satellite communication system architecture is shown in FIG. 3. The ground terminal device accesses the 5G new air interface network, the 5G base station is deployed on the satellite, and is connected to the ground core network through a wireless link. At the same time, there is a wireless link between the satellites to complete the signaling interaction and user data transmission between base stations. The explanation of the devices and interfaces in FIG. 3 is as follows:

[0236] 5G core network: user access control, mobility management, session management, user security authentication, charging and other services. It is composed of multiple functional units, which can be divided into control plane and data plane functional entities. The access and mobility management unit (AMF) is responsible for user access management, security authentication, and mobility management. The user plane unit (UPF) is responsible for managing user plane data transmission, traffic statistics and other functions. The session management function (SMF) is mainly used for session management in mobile networks, such as session establishment, modification, and release.

[0237] Ground station: responsible for forwarding signaling and service data between satellite base stations and 5G core network.

[0238] 5G new air interface: wireless link between terminal and base station.

[0239] Xn interface: interface between 5G base stations, mainly for signaling interaction such as handover.

[0240] NG interface: interface between 5G base station and 5G core network, mainly interacting with non-access layer (NAS) signaling of core network and user service data.

[0241] In addition, the network device in the ground network communication system and the satellite in the NTN communication system can be regarded as a network device. The device for implementing the function of the network device can be the network device; or can be a device capable of supporting the network device to implement the function, such as a chip system, which can be installed in the network device. When describing the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application, the device for implementing the function of the network device is taken as an example of the satellite to describe the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application. It can be understood that when the method provided in the embodiments of the present application is applied to the ground network communication system, the actions performed by the satellite can be applied to the base station or the network device to perform.

[0242] In the embodiments of the present application, the device for implementing the function of the terminal device can be the terminal device; or can be a device capable of supporting the terminal device to implement the function, such as a chip system, which can be installed in the terminal device. In the embodiments of the present application, the chip system can be composed of a chip, or can include the chip and other discrete devices. In the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application, the device for implementing the function of the terminal device is taken as an example of the terminal or UE to describe the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application.

[0243] In addition, the satellite described above can be a stationary satellite, a non-stationary satellite, an artificial satellite, a low-orbit satellite, a medium-orbit satellite, and a high-orbit satellite, etc., which is not specifically limited herein.

[0244] The above describes various scenarios of wireless communication involved in the present application. It should be understood that the above is only an exemplary description of the scenarios to which the present application can be applied, and the present application can also be applied to other application scenarios, which are not limited herein. The wireless communication process involved in the present application will be described below.

[0245] In the communication system shown in FIG. 1 / FIG. 2a / FIG. 2b / FIG. 2c / FIG. 2d / FIG. 3, the conventional network device can be a device fixed on the ground, such as a ground base station belonging to a terrestrial network (TN) cell. The basis for the beam management process of the TN cell (such as the process of determining whether a beam failure event occurs in the current beam, and the process of selecting a target beam from multiple candidate beams) is the reference signal received strength received by the terminal device, and the reference signal comes from the network device.

[0246] With the development of communication technology, network devices can not be fixed on the ground, for example, the network device can be a high-speed mobile device belonging to a non-terrestrial network (NTN) cell, including but not limited to satellite devices such as low-orbit satellites, medium-orbit satellites, and high-orbit satellites.

[0247] However, unlike the ground base station to which the TN cell belongs, because the satellite device to which the NTN cell belongs can exist in high-speed movement, at a certain moment, the reference signal receiving strength of an NTN cell is strong, which does not mean that the reference signal receiving strength of the NTN cell can remain at a strong level at one or more subsequent moments, which leads to the fact that the beam management process of the above TN cell is no longer applicable.

[0248] To solve the above problems, the present application provides a communication method and related devices, which will be described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0249] Please refer to FIG. 4, which is an implementation schematic diagram of a communication method provided by the present application, and the method includes the following steps.

[0250] It should be understood that in the method shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 7 below, different communication devices (such as a first terminal device, a network device, etc.) are taken as examples of the execution subject of the interaction step to illustrate the method, but the present application does not limit the execution subject of the interaction step. For example, in the implementation process of FIG. 4 or FIG. 7, the interaction step can be executed by a communication device, or a chip, a chip system, a processor, a circuit, a logic module, or software supporting the implementation of the interaction step by the communication device.

[0251] Optionally, in the following FIG. 4 and FIG. 7, the network device can be an access network device, which can be an ORAN network element.

[0252] For example, the network device can include an O-CU, an O-DU, and an O-RU; in the following step S400 or S700, the O-CU and / or the O-DU can be used to control the O-RU to send the first visibility information.

[0253] For another example, the network device can include an O-CU, an O-DU, and an O-RU; in the following step S702, the O-CU and / or the O-DU can be used to control the O-RU to send the first configuration information.

[0254] S400. The network device sends the first visibility information, and correspondingly, the first terminal device receives the first visibility information. The first visibility information is used to indicate the communication quality between the network device located in one or more spatial angle intervals and the terminal device located in the first geographic area, and the terminal device located in the first geographic area includes the first terminal device; or the first visibility information is used to indicate the communication quality between the network device located in one or more spatial angle intervals and the first terminal device.

[0255] Optionally, step S400 is an optional step. In other words, the first terminal device can obtain the first visibility information in multiple ways.

[0256] For example, the first terminal device can obtain the first visibility information based on the indication of other devices (such as terminal devices, network devices, etc.), which can reduce the implementation complexity of the first terminal device.

[0257] For another example, in step S401, the first terminal device determines the first visibility information based on the information obtained by its own information collection module (such as a camera, a microphone, an antenna, a radar, a sensor, etc.).

[0258] Optionally, step S400 and step S401 can be implemented alternatively, that is, the first terminal device can obtain the first visibility information based on one of the two steps.

[0259] Optionally, both step S400 and step S401 can be executed. If the first visibility information received by the first terminal device in step S400 is inconsistent with the first visibility information obtained by the first terminal device in step S401, the first terminal device can arbitrarily discard / ignore one of them, or the first terminal device can discard / ignore one of them based on the indication of the network device, which is not limited here.

[0260] Optionally, the visibility information can carry the identifier of the area or the identifier of the terminal device.

[0261] For example, if the first visibility information is used to indicate the communication quality between the network device located in one or more spatial angle intervals and the terminal device located in the first geographic area, and the terminal device located in the first geographic area includes the first terminal device, the first visibility information can include the identifier of the first geographic area. In this case, the visibility information can be understood as area-granularity visibility information.

[0262] For another example, in a case that the first visibility information is used to indicate the communication quality between the network device and the first terminal device located within one or more spatial angular intervals, the first visibility information can comprise an identity of the first terminal device. In this case, the visibility information can be understood as terminal device granularity visibility information.

[0263] It should be noted that the visibility information can indicate the blocking condition of the transmission path of the signal transmitted between the network device and the terminal device, which can reflect the communication quality. Since the incident diffusion angle of NTN communication is relatively small, the signal blocking condition between the network device corresponding to the NTN cell and the terminal device located on the ground has a greater impact on the signal transmission quality. Therefore, the communication apparatus can determine (or select) one or more network devices with higher communication quality for the terminal device to communicate based on the visibility information, so as to improve the communication efficiency, for example, which can be implemented through one or more of the following examples.

[0264] For example, the terminal device can select a network device that is not blocked (or has smaller blocking) based on the signal blocking condition, so as to reduce unnecessary handover and reselection, thereby improving the communication efficiency.

[0265] For another example, the terminal device or the network device can predict the occurrence time of signal interruption based on the signal blocking condition, and prepare / perform handover to a network device with higher communication quality in advance, so as to improve the communication efficiency.

[0266] For another example, the terminal device can communicate with a network device with higher communication quality at a reasonable position and / or attitude based on the signal blocking condition, so as to improve the success rate of signal transmission, thereby improving the communication efficiency.

[0267] For another example, the terminal device can select a network device that is not blocked (or has smaller blocking) for positioning based on the signal blocking condition, so as to improve the positioning accuracy and implement related communication services through higher positioning accuracy, thereby improving the communication efficiency.

[0268] In this application, the visibility information can be replaced by other terms, such as NTN communication visibility information, blocking information, NTN communication blocking information, NTN transmission environment information, long-term link quality information, or NTN transmission path information, etc.

[0269] For example, the visibility information comprises any of the following:

[0270] Information 1, indicating that the transmission path of the communication signal is a visible path;

[0271] Information 2, indicating that the transmission path of the communication signal is an invisible path;

[0272] Information 3 indicates that the transmission path of the communication signal is a line of sight (LOS) path;

[0273] Information 4 indicates that the transmission path of the communication signal is a non-line of sight (NLOS) path.

[0274] Optionally, in general, the less the obstruction on the communication path between two communication devices, the higher the communication quality between the two communication devices can be considered; on the contrary, the more the obstruction on the communication path between two communication devices, the lower the communication quality between the two communication devices can be considered. Therefore, the order of the four communication qualities indicated by the above four pieces of indication information from high to low can be: the communication quality indicated by information 1 (or the communication quality indicated by information 2), the communication quality indicated by information 3, and the communication quality indicated by information 4.

[0275] Optionally, the communication quality indicated by the visibility information can be an expected, desired, or predicted communication quality. That is, the visibility information is used to indicate the expected, desired, or predicted communication quality between the network device located in the spatial angular interval and the terminal device located in the geographic area.

[0276] It should be noted that the LOS path and the NLOS path can be identified in one or more of the following ways.

[0277] Method one, signal strength.

[0278] Wherein, the communication signal sent by the signal sender based on a certain transmission power, after being transmitted through the LOS path, is received by the signal receiver corresponding to the signal receiving strength, which is greater than the communication signal transmitted through the NLOS path and received by the signal receiver corresponding to the signal receiving strength. In other words, the first communication device can determine the transmission path of the reference signal as the LOS path or the NLOS path based on the signal receiving strength of the received reference signal.

[0279] For example, in the case where the signal receiving strength of a certain reference signal is greater than a certain threshold, the first communication device can determine that the reference signal is transmitted through the LOS path.

[0280] For another example, in the case where the signal receiving strength of a certain reference signal is less than a certain threshold, the first communication device can determine that the reference signal is transmitted through the NLOS path.

[0281] Optionally, the above threshold can be configured by the network device, can be preconfigured, or can be a desired value determined based on the signal receiving strength of the reference point.

[0282] Method two, signal transmission distance.

[0283] wherein the communication signal transmitted by the signal transmitter based on the certain transmission power has a transmission distance through the LOS path that is generally less than or equal to a transmission distance through the NLOS path.

[0284] Optionally, the terminal device can determine the signal attenuation information through one or more of the following parameters: a signal transmission parameter configured by the network device, ephemeris information of the satellite base station, atmospheric transmission compensation information, reference point information.

[0285] Optionally, the terminal device can determine the signal drift information through one or more of the following parameters: a signal transmission parameter configured by the network device, ephemeris information of the satellite base station, atmospheric transmission compensation information, reference point information.

[0286] wherein the communication signal transmitted by the signal transmitter based on the certain transmission power has a signal drift through the LOS path that is generally less than or equal to a signal drift through the NLOS path.

[0287] Optionally, the terminal device can determine the signal drift information through one or more of the following parameters: a signal transmission parameter configured by the network device, ephemeris information of the satellite base station, atmospheric transmission compensation information, reference point information.

[0288] For ease of understanding, the following will take the visibility information for indicating the communication quality between the network device located in one or more spatial angle intervals and the terminal device located in one or more geographic areas as an example, and be described in combination with some implementation examples. In the following examples, the one or more spatial angle intervals are taken as N sub-intervals, and the one or more geographic areas are taken as M sub-areas as an example; wherein the visibility information includes P information, and correspondingly, the P first sub-information is used to indicate P communication qualities; in the P first sub-information, any sub-information is used to indicate the communication quality between the network device in one of the N sub-intervals included in the spatial angle interval and the terminal device located in one of the M sub-areas included in the geographic area, and N, M and P are all positive integers.

[0289] It should be understood that the P first sub-information is used to indicate the P communication qualities, which can be understood as that the P first sub-information and the P communication qualities are one-to-one corresponding, or the pth first sub-information in the P first sub-information is used to indicate the pth communication quality in the P communication qualities, and p is 1 to P.

[0290] Optionally, the visibility information further comprises at least one of the following information A to information E.

[0291] Information A. N second sub-information, the N second sub-information respectively indicates the N sub-interval.

[0292] Information B. M third sub-information, the M third sub-information respectively indicates the M sub-area.

[0293] Information C. X fourth sub-information, the X fourth sub-information respectively indicates the confidence of X first sub-information in the P first sub-information, X is less than or equal to P.

[0294] Information D. Y fifth sub-information, the Y fifth sub-information respectively indicates the time information of Y first sub-information in the P first sub-information as valid information, Y is less than or equal to P.

[0295] Information E. Z sixth sub-information, the Z sixth sub-information respectively indicates the difference information of Z first sub-information in the P first sub-information indicating the communication quality and the communication quality of the reference point, Z is less than or equal to P.

[0296] Specifically, the first communication device can further obtain more information through the above at least one, which can assist the first communication device to quickly determine one or more network devices for communication with the first terminal device.

[0297] Optionally, the at least one of the above information A to information E can be carried in other messages / signaling / information different from the visibility information.

[0298] Or, the at least one of the above information A to information E can be preconfigured.

[0299] For example, in the case that the visibility information does not carry information A, the spatial area corresponding to the P first sub-information contained in the visibility information can be preconfigured, for example, the spatial area is the spatial area where the satellite base station sending the visibility information is located.

[0300] For another example, in the case that the visibility information does not carry information B, the geographical area corresponding to the P first sub-information contained in the visibility information can be preconfigured, for example, the spatial area is the spatial area where the terminal device receiving the visibility information is located.

[0301] For another example, in the case that the visibility information does not carry information C, the P first sub-information contained in the visibility information can implicitly indicate the confidence of each first sub-information in the order of the first sub-information.

[0302] For another example, in a case that the visibility information does not carry the information D, the P first sub-information included in the visibility information can be the start moment of the valid information, and the duration of the P first sub-information being valid information can be preconfigured.

[0303] For another example, in a case that the visibility information does not carry the information E, the difference between the communication quality indicated by the P first sub-information included in the visibility information and the communication quality of the preconfigured reference point is lower than a threshold.

[0304] It should be noted that the visibility information can indicate the association relationship between the spatial angle interval, the visibility information, and the geographical area in various manners such as a table, a formula, different field meanings, and the like. In the following, the association relationship between the spatial angle interval, the visibility information, and the geographical area indicated by the visibility information in the form of a table is taken as an example for description.

[0305] As an example, the visibility information indicates the association relationship between the spatial angle interval, the visibility information, and the geographical area through the example shown in Table 4. In Table 4, the first column of information is the information A, the second column of information is the P first sub-information, and the third column of information is the information C.

[0306] Table 4

[0307] In Table 4, the first column corresponds to the spatial angle interval, the second column corresponds to the visibility information, and the third column corresponds to the geographical area. The information in different columns in the same row indicates that there is an association relationship between the information in different columns, and the visibility information in the second column is taken as an example for description (for example, a value of 1 indicates visibility, and a value of 0 indicates invisibility). For example, the first row of information indicates that the visibility information between the network device located in the spatial area #1 and the terminal device located in the geographical area #1 is “visible (with a value of 1)”, and the communication quality indicated by the visibility information is higher. For another example, the second row of information indicates that the visibility information between the network device located in the spatial area #2 and the terminal device located in the geographical area #1 is “invisible (with a value of 0)”, and the communication quality indicated by the visibility information is lower.

[0308] Optionally, the spatial angle interval in Table 4 can be discretely divided into different intervals, as shown in Table 5.

[0309] Table 5

[0310] In Table 5, the azimuth angle and the zenith angle can be determined by the east-north-up (ENU) coordinate system, and the ENU coordinate system can also be referred to as a station-centered coordinate system.

[0311] In an example, in the ENU coordinate system, taking the earth as an ellipsoid, a right-angle coordinate system can be constructed with the terminal device as the station center (i.e., the origin O of the coordinate system), the z-axis coinciding with the normal line of the ellipsoid (i.e., the positive direction of the zenith), the y-axis coinciding with the short semi-axis of the ellipsoid (i.e., the north direction), and the x-axis coinciding with the long semi-axis of the earth ellipsoid (i.e., the east direction). Correspondingly, for the connection line between the terminal device on the ground and the satellite base station in the air, the zenith angle can be the included angle between the connection line and the z-axis, and the azimuth angle can be the included angle between the projection of the connection line on the ground and the x-axis (or the y-axis).

[0312] Optionally, in addition to the azimuth angle and the zenith angle shown in Table 5, other information can also be used to configure the spatial angle interval. For example, the coordinate parameters of the spatial region in the geocentric geodetic coordinate system can be configured with the earth center as the center. For another example, the index, identifier, etc. corresponding to the above-mentioned azimuth angle, zenith angle, and coordinate parameters can be configured. For another example, after a certain geographical region (for example, the geographical region can be configured by the wave position, region index, region number, etc. in the foregoing term introduction) is configured, a spatial range at a certain height above the geographical region is configured as the spatial region represented by the spatial angle interval.

[0313] Optionally, the description of the geographical region in Table 4 can be discretized into different intervals, as shown in Table 6.

[0314] Table 6

[0315] Optionally, in addition to the longitude interval, latitude interval, and altitude interval shown in Table 6, other information can also be used to configure the geographical region. For example, in the case of a circular geographical region, the coordinates of the reference point can be configured as the center of the circle, and the length value can be configured as the diameter or radius of the circle. For another example, in the case of a rectangular geographical region, the coordinates of the four vertices of the rectangle can be configured. For another example, the geographical region can also be a regular polygon such as a hexagon, a pentagon, an ellipse, or an irregular polygon, and the coordinates of the contour line of the regular or irregular polygon can be configured. For another example, the geographical region can be configured by the wave position, region index, region number, etc. in the foregoing term introduction.

[0316] For example, taking a device located in a certain geographical region as a UE, generally, the higher the altitude of the UE, the fewer the obstructions between the UE and the satellite base station. Therefore, at the same latitude and longitude, the UE at a higher altitude can see a larger range of the sky, and therefore the description of the "altitude interval" shown in Table 6 can also use the form "> x (x is a real number) m".

[0317] As another example, the visibility information in Table 4 is implemented in other forms, for example, in Table 7 below, the visibility information is illustrated by taking "LOS / NLOS" as an example (e.g., the value "1" represents LOS, and the value "0" represents NLOS).

[0318] Table 7

[0319] For example, the first row of information in Table 7 indicates that the visibility information between the network device located in "Spatial Region #1" and the terminal device located in "Geographical Region #1" is "LOS (value 1)", which indicates a higher communication quality. For another example, the second row of information indicates that the visibility information between the network device located in "Spatial Region #2" and the terminal device located in "Geographical Region #1" is "NLOS (value 0)", which indicates a lower communication quality.

[0320] As another example, Table 4 can also include the information C described above, as shown in the last column of Table 8 below.

[0321] Table 8

[0322] For example, the first row of information in Table 8 indicates that the visibility information between the network device located in "Spatial Region #1" and the terminal device located in "Geographical Region #1" is "visible (value 1)", and the confidence value of the visibility information is 1, indicating a higher confidence of the visibility information. For another example, the third row of information in Table 8 indicates that the visibility information between the network device located in "Spatial Region #3" and the terminal device located in "Geographical Region #1" is "visible (value 1)", and the confidence value of the visibility information is 0, indicating a lower confidence of the visibility information.

[0323] As another example, Table 4 can also include the information D described above, as shown in the last column of Table 9 below.

[0324] Table 9

[0325] For example, the first row of information in Table 9 indicates that the validity duration of the visibility information between the network device located in "Spatial Region #1" and the terminal device located in "Geographical Region #1" is "1 day", indicating that the visibility information will be invalid after 1 day. For another example, the fourth row of information in Table 9 indicates that the validity duration of the visibility information between the network device located in "Spatial Region #1" and the terminal device located in "Geographical Region #2" is "1 year", indicating that the visibility information will be invalid after 1 year.

[0326] As another example, Table 4 can also include the information D described above, as shown in the last two columns of Table 10 below.

[0327] Table 10

[0328] For example, the third row of information in Table 10 indicates that the visibility information between the network device located in the "space region #3" and the terminal device located in the "geographical region #1" is "NLOS (value 2)", and the additional loss of the terminal device compared with the terminal device located at the reference point is 10 dB during the communication of the frequency domain resource corresponding to [1 GHz-3 GHz].

[0329] For another example, the fourth row of information in Table 10 indicates that the visibility information between the network device located in the "space region #4" and the terminal device located in the "geographical region #2" is "NLOS (value 2)", and the additional loss of the terminal device compared with the terminal device located at the reference point is 20 dB during the communication of the frequency domain resource corresponding to 6 GHz and above.

[0330] It should be understood that, in the case of M=1, the above visibility information is an example of the first visibility information indicating the communication quality between the network device located in one or more space angle intervals and the terminal device located in the first geographical region (i.e., the region granularity).

[0331] It should be understood that, in the above examples of Table 4, Table 7, Table 8, Table 9, etc., the column of geographical regions is replaced by terminal devices, which is an example of the first visibility information indicating the communication quality between the network device located in one or more space angle intervals and the first terminal device (i.e., the terminal device granularity).

[0332] S402. The first terminal device determines, based on the first visibility information, a remaining service duration provided by a network device corresponding to a first reference signal (RS) to the first terminal device; wherein the first RS is a RS for beam failure detection (BFD), and the remaining service duration is used for beam recovery before beam failure.

[0333] It should be understood that the network device corresponding to one RS can be understood as the network device providing or sending the RS. Optionally, the resource of the RS can be configured by the network device or by other network devices, which is not limited here.

[0334] It should be noted that the remaining service duration of the network device providing services to a certain terminal device can be understood as a time interval between the current time and a termination time of the network device providing services to the terminal device, or a time interval between a start time of the network device providing services to the terminal device and the termination time of the network device providing services to the terminal device, or a time interval between the termination time of the network device providing services to the terminal device and the time of the latest start of measurement.

[0335] Optionally, the termination time of the network device providing services to the terminal device can also be understood as the deadline of the network device providing services to the terminal device, that is, the network device will stop (or suspend) the services provided for the terminal device at the deadline.

[0336] Optionally, the remaining service duration can be replaced by other terms, such as remaining serviceable duration, remaining available duration, remaining communication duration, or remaining communicable duration, etc.

[0337] In the above scheme, the first terminal device can determine the remaining service duration of the network device corresponding to the first RS providing services to the first terminal device based on the first visibility information, which can be understood as that the visibility information can be used to determine the remaining service duration.

[0338] For example, the first visibility information can be used to select / determine the first time period, wherein the first time period can include one or more time periods that are visible, or one or more time periods whose communication quality is better than a threshold value indicated by the visibility information (i.e. excluding the second time period, which can include time periods that are invisible, or time periods whose communication quality is poor). In addition, in the first time period, the total duration of the time period that meets one or more of the following conditions from the current time can be the remaining service duration:

[0339] Condition 1. The duration of the expected elevation angle greater than the elevation angle threshold value;

[0340] Condition 2. The duration of the expected signal reception strength greater than the threshold value;

[0341] Condition 3. The duration of the expected channel transmission loss (which can be determined according to the relative position, distance, frequency point, etc. between the terminal device and the network device) less than the threshold value.

[0342] It can be understood that the parameters involved in the above conditions 1 to 3 (such as the expected elevation angle, the expected signal reception strength, the expected channel transmission loss, etc.) can be determined according to the ephemeris information of the network device. In the time period in which one or more of the above conditions are met, the network device can provide services (or provide better services) for the terminal device, and accordingly, the remaining service duration of the network device providing services for the terminal device can be determined based on the one or more conditions.

[0343] It should be noted that the remaining service duration is used for beam recovery before beam failure. It can be understood that the remaining service duration is used for pre-emptive recovery before beam failure, or it can be understood that the remaining service duration can be used to determine whether the current beam (i.e., the beam corresponding to the first RS) is about to fail, or the remaining service duration can be a time period before the network device provides services to the terminal device. In other words, the remaining service duration is used for beam failure recovery, which can be replaced by the remaining service duration being used for beam failure determination, being used for determining whether the beam is about to fail, being used for triggering beam failure recovery, or being used for determining whether a beam failure event occurs, etc.

[0344] In a possible implementation of the method shown in FIG. 4, the method further includes that the first terminal device receives second configuration information, the second configuration information being used for configuring the first RS. In other words, the first terminal device can receive the first RS for beam failure detection based on the configuration of the network device, so that the terminal device can implement the process of beam failure detection based on the configuration of the network device.

[0345] Optionally, in the method shown in FIG. 4, the method further includes that the first terminal device receives indication information used for indicating a first threshold value; and the remaining service duration and the first threshold value are used for beam failure recovery. In other words, the first terminal device can receive the indication information used for indicating the first threshold value, so that the first terminal device can perform beam failure recovery based on the remaining service duration and the first threshold value.

[0346] For example, the first threshold value is 100 milliseconds, 500 milliseconds, 1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds, 5 seconds, or 10 seconds, or the first threshold value can be other time values.

[0347] Optionally, the first threshold value can be pre-configured by a standard / protocol.

[0348] Optionally, in a case that the remaining service duration is less than or equal to the first threshold, the first terminal device can determine that the beam corresponding to the first RS is about to or has already occurred beam failure (or the service provided by the network device corresponding to the first RS to the first terminal device is about to or has already occurred interruption), and for this purpose, the first terminal device can send beam recovery request information to realize recovery of the communication beam through the beam recovery request information.

[0349] Optionally, the beam recovery request information can include information sent by the terminal device in a beam failure recovery (BFR) process, such as a link recovery request (LRR), a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) indicating BFR, or a random access request.

[0350] Based on the method scheme shown in FIG. 4, the first visibility information obtained by the first terminal device is used to indicate the communication quality between the network device located in one or more spatial angle intervals and the specific terminal device, which can include any terminal device located in the first geographic area, or the first terminal device itself. Thereafter, the first terminal device can determine, in step S402, the remaining service duration of the service provided by the network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure detection to the first terminal device based on the first visibility information, and the remaining service duration is used for beam recovery before beam failure. In other words, the area-granularity visibility information or the terminal device-granularity visibility information can be used to determine the remaining service duration of the network device, and the service remaining duration can be used for beam failure recovery. In this way, the terminal device can perform beam failure recovery based on the area-granularity visibility information or the terminal device-granularity visibility information, can avoid or reduce the case of frequent triggering of beam failure recovery due to the signal of the network device being blocked, and can improve the beam management efficiency.

[0351] As an example, taking the scenarios shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 as an example. In FIG. 5, a certain ground area contains four terminal devices with different positions, respectively UE#1, UE#2, UE#3, and UE#4, and in this example, the interval between different UEs is taken as 5 meters (m). In a case that the network device is a satellite, it can be known from the foregoing description of the visibility information that the signal transmission between the satellite and the UE is easily affected by signal blocking. For the same satellite, the visibility information at different positions on the ground is different.

[0352] As shown in FIG. 6, the signal blocking situation between the same satellite and the four terminal devices shown in FIG. 5 is shown in FIG. 6. In FIG. 6, taking the ground area as a circular area as an example, the gray filled area is the invisible area corresponding to the network device, and the non-gray filled area is the visible area corresponding to the network device. As can be seen from the implementation example, in the ground area, the visibility information corresponding to the terminal devices 5 m apart often has a large difference. In other words, at a certain moment, the reference signal receiving strength of an NTN cell is strong, which does not mean that the reference signal receiving strength of the NTN cell can remain at a high level at one or more subsequent moments, which leads to the implementation process of beam management (such as the process of determining whether the current beam has a beam failure event, and the process of selecting a target beam from multiple candidate beams) based on signal receiving strength. Since the beam selected based on signal receiving strength can be blocked again in a short time, it leads to frequent beam recovery process and unnecessary overhead, thereby affecting communication efficiency.

[0353] In the method shown in FIG. 4, the terminal device can perform beam failure recovery based on the area granularity visibility information or the terminal device granularity visibility information, which can avoid or reduce the frequent triggering of beam failure recovery due to the blocking of the signal of the network device, and can improve the beam management efficiency.

[0354] In a possible implementation mode of the method shown in FIG. 4, the method further includes that the first terminal device receives first configuration information, the first configuration information being used for configuring L RSs, N being a positive integer; wherein the L RSs are used for candidate beam detection (CBD); wherein the beam recovery request information is associated with a second RS, the second RS being an RS used for beam failure recovery; the second RS being determined from the L RSs based on the first visibility information.

[0355] Specifically, the first terminal device can further receive first configuration information used for configuring L RSs for candidate beam detection, and the first terminal device can determine a second RS from the L RSs based on the first visibility information. In other words, the area granularity visibility information or the terminal device granularity visibility information can be used to determine the RS used for beam failure recovery. In this way, the terminal device can select / determine the target beam (i.e., select / determine the RS used for beam failure recovery from one or more RSs for candidate beam detection) based on the area granularity visibility information or the terminal device granularity visibility information, which can avoid or reduce the frequent triggering of beam failure recovery due to the blocking of the signal of the network device, and can improve the beam management efficiency.

[0356] It should be understood that the beam recovery request information is associated with the second RS, which can be understood as that the second RS is used to determine the beam recovery request information. For example, the terminal device can send the beam recovery request information based on the second RS.

[0357] In a possible implementation, before determining the RS for beam failure recovery, the above method can further include: receiving, by the first terminal device, first indication information, the first indication information indicating that the RS for beam failure recovery satisfies a first condition, the first condition including one of the following:

[0358] In the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection, the serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to the serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to the other RSs;

[0359] In the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection, the serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to a threshold (for example, the threshold is 10 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute, or 2 minutes, or the threshold can be other time values).

[0360] In the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection, the over-the-top cumulative serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to the over-the-top cumulative serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to the other RSs; or

[0361] In the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection, the over-the-top cumulative serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to a threshold (for example, the threshold is 10 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute, or 2 minutes, or the threshold can be other time values).

[0362] Therefore, the first terminal device can select / determine the RS (i.e., the second RS) for beam failure recovery among the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection based on the indication of the network device.

[0363] Optionally, the first condition can be pre-configured by a standard / protocol.

[0364] Optionally, the first indication information and the first configuration information can be carried in the same message / signaling, or the first indication information and the second configuration information described below can be carried in the same message / signaling.

[0365] It should be noted that the serviceable duration can be determined based on the first visibility information. For example, for the first terminal device, the serviceable duration of the network device providing service to the first terminal device can be understood as the time interval of the start time and the end time in the process that the first visibility information indicates that the network device is visible to the first terminal device (or the first visibility information indicates that the communication quality of the network device providing service to the first terminal device is better than the threshold).

[0366] Correspondingly, the first terminal device can determine the serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to one RS providing service to the first terminal device based on the first visibility information. For example, the first visibility information can be used to select / determine a third time period, where the third time period can include one or more time periods in which the network device is visible, or one or more time periods in which the communication quality indicated by the visibility information is better than the threshold (i.e. excluding a fourth time period, which can include time periods in which the network device is not visible, or time periods in which the communication quality indicated by the visibility information is poor). In addition, in the third time period, the total duration of the time period that meets one or more conditions can be the serviceable duration, and the one or more conditions can include one or more of the conditions 1 to 3 described above.

[0367] Optionally, the serviceable duration can be replaced by other terms, such as effective service time, effective service duration, effective communicable duration, or effective communication duration, etc.

[0368] Similarly, the over-the-top cumulative service duration can be determined based on the first visibility information. For example, for the first terminal device, the over-the-top cumulative service duration of the network device providing service to the first terminal device can be understood as the total duration of one or more time periods (optionally, different time periods can be discontinuous) included in the process that the first visibility information indicates that the network device is over-the-top relative to the first terminal device.

[0369] Correspondingly, the first terminal device can determine the over-the-top cumulative service duration of the network device corresponding to one RS providing service to the first terminal device based on the first visibility information. For example, the first visibility information can be used to select / determine a fifth time period, where the fifth time period can include the fifth time period in the process that the network device is over-the-top relative to the first terminal device, and the total duration of one or more time periods (optionally, different time periods can be discontinuous) included in the fifth time period. In addition, in the fifth time period, the total duration of the time period that meets one or more conditions can be the over-the-top cumulative service duration, and the one or more conditions can include one or more of the conditions 1 to 3 described above.

[0370] Optionally, the over-threshold accumulated service duration can be replaced by other terms, such as over-threshold accumulated service time, over-threshold accumulated valid service duration, over-threshold accumulated communication duration, or over-threshold accumulated communicable duration, etc.

[0371] In a possible implementation, before determining the RS for beam failure recovery, the method can further include: receiving, by the first terminal device, second indication information, the second indication information indicating that the RS for beam failure recovery satisfies a second condition, the second condition including one of the following:

[0372] In the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection, the expected signal strength of the RS for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to a threshold value when the network device corresponding to the RS is located in the over-threshold spatial angle region of the first terminal device; or

[0373] In the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection, the signal strength of the RS for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to a threshold value.

[0374] Therefore, the first terminal device can select / determine the RS with stronger expected signal strength as the RS for beam failure recovery (i.e., the second RS) in the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection based on the indication of the network device, which can improve the communication quality of communication based on the RS for beam failure recovery.

[0375] It should be noted that the expected signal strength can be determined based on the first visibility information. For example, for the first terminal device, the expected signal strength of the signal transmitted by the network device to the first terminal device can be understood as the expected signal strength of the signal transmitted by the network device to the terminal device at a future time (or a future time period), or the strength of the signal received by the terminal device at a future time.

[0376] For example, the first terminal device can determine that a network device and the first terminal device are visible at a future time (or a future time period) based on the first visibility information (or the communication quality indicated by the first visibility information is better than a threshold value). In addition, the first terminal device can receive a first signal strength of the signal of the network device at the current time (or the historical time), and accordingly, the first terminal device can predict a second signal strength of the network device at the future time (or the future time period) based on the first signal strength, i.e., the second signal strength is the expected signal strength.

[0377] Optionally, in the process of predicting the second signal strength based on the first signal strength, the prediction can be based on the first visibility information, information of a change in path loss between the network device and the first terminal device (e.g., determined by relative positions between the network device and the first terminal device), equivalent isotropically radiated power (EIRP) information of a satellite where the network device is located, and the like.

[0378] Optionally, the signal strength can be a reference signal receiving power (RSRP).

[0379] Optionally, the signal strength can be replaced by another parameter for representing signal receiving quality, such as a reference signal receiving quality (RSRQ).

[0380] In a possible implementation, the L RSs for candidate beam detection correspond to K groups of RSs, K being a positive integer; before determining the RS for beam failure recovery, the method can further include: receiving, by the first terminal device, third indication information, the third indication information indicating at least one of the following:

[0381] In the K groups of RSs, the RS for beam failure recovery and the RS for beam failure detection are different RSs in the same group, and the serviceable duration or the over-the-top cumulative serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to a threshold value;

[0382] In the K groups of RSs, when the serviceable duration or the over-the-top cumulative serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to the other RSs in the same group as the RS for beam failure detection are all less than a threshold value, the RS for beam failure recovery and the RS for beam failure detection are RSs in different groups, respectively, and the serviceable duration or the over-the-top cumulative serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to a threshold value; or

[0383] In the K groups of RSs, when the serviceable duration or the over-the-top cumulative serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to any RS is all less than a threshold value, the RS for beam failure recovery is the RS corresponding to the network device with the longest serviceable duration or over-the-top cumulative serviceable duration.

[0384] Thus, the first terminal device can select / determine the RS for beam failure recovery in the RS for candidate beam detection in the same group as the RS for beam failure detection based on the indication of the network device, since different network devices corresponding to different RSs in the same group can have an association relationship, in this way, enabling the terminal device to perform recovery operations between satellite beams that are easy to establish inter-satellite links, reducing inter-satellite interaction overhead.

[0385] Optionally, the first indication information, the second indication information, and the third indication information can be carried in the same message / signaling / information, or can be carried in different messages / signaling / information, which is not limited here.

[0386] Optionally, the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection correspond to K groups of RSs, K being a positive integer; different RSs in the same group in the K groups of RSs can have an association relationship, for example, the K groups of RSs satisfy any of the following:

[0387] In the K groups of RSs, the orbits of the network devices corresponding to different RSs in the same group are the same, and the orbits of the network devices corresponding to RSs in different groups are different;

[0388] In the K groups of RSs, the trajectories of the network devices corresponding to different RSs in the same group are the same, and the trajectories of the network devices corresponding to RSs in different groups are different; or

[0389] In the K groups of RSs, the distances between the network devices corresponding to different RSs in the same group are less than a threshold, and the distances between the network devices corresponding to RSs in different groups are greater than the threshold.

[0390] Thus, the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection can be grouped by any of the above to improve the flexibility of the scheme implementation.

[0391] Please refer to FIG. 7, another implementation schematic diagram of the communication method provided by the present application, which includes the following steps.

[0392] S700. The network device sends first visibility information, and correspondingly, the first terminal device receives the first visibility information. The first visibility information is used to indicate the communication quality between the network devices located in one or more spatial angle intervals and the terminal devices located in a first geographic area, and the terminal devices located in the first geographic area include the first terminal device; or the first visibility information is used to indicate the communication quality between the network devices located in one or more spatial angle intervals and the first terminal device.

[0393] It should be understood that step S700 is an optional step. The implementation process of step S700 can refer to the foregoing step S400 and related description.

[0394] Similarly, for the first terminal device, the first terminal device can obtain the first visibility information in other manners. For example, in step S701, the first terminal device determines the first visibility information based on information obtained by an information collection module (e.g., a camera, a microphone, an antenna, a radar, a sensor, etc.) of the first terminal device.

[0395] Optionally, step S700 and step S701 can be implemented alternatively, i.e., the first terminal device can obtain the first visibility information based on one of the two steps.

[0396] Optionally, both step S700 and step S701 can be implemented. In this case, if the first visibility information received by the first terminal device in step S700 is inconsistent with the first visibility information obtained by the first terminal device in step S701, the first terminal device can discard / ignore one of the two pieces of information at will, or the first terminal device can discard / ignore one of the two pieces of information based on an indication of the network device, which is not limited here.

[0397] S702. The network device sends first configuration information, and correspondingly, the first terminal device receives the first configuration information. The first configuration information is used to configure L RSs, and N is a positive integer; the L RSs are used for candidate beam detection.

[0398] S703. The first terminal device determines a second RS from the L RSs based on the first visibility information, and the second RS is an RS used for beam failure recovery.

[0399] Based on the scheme shown in FIG. 7, the first visibility information obtained by the first terminal device is used to indicate the communication quality between the network device located in one or more spatial angle intervals and a specific terminal device, which can include any terminal device located in the first geographical area, or the first terminal device itself. Thereafter, the first terminal device can determine the second RS from the L RSs based on the first visibility information in step S703. In other words, the visibility information of the area granularity or the visibility information of the terminal device granularity can be used to determine the RS used for beam failure recovery. In this way, the terminal device can select / determine the target beam (i.e., select / determine the RS used for beam failure recovery from one or more RSs used for candidate beam detection) based on the visibility information of the area granularity or the visibility information of the terminal device granularity, which can avoid or reduce the frequent triggering of beam failure recovery due to the blocking of the signal of the network device, and can improve the efficiency of beam management.

[0400] Similarly, in the method shown in FIG. 7, the terminal device can select / determine the target beam (i.e., select / determine the RS for beam failure recovery in one or more RSs for candidate beam detection) based on the area-granularity visibility information or the terminal-device-granularity visibility information, avoid or reduce the case of frequent triggering of beam failure recovery due to the signal of the network device being blocked, and improve the beam management efficiency, similar to the examples shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6.

[0401] In a possible implementation, the method shown in FIG. 7 further includes that the first terminal device receives first indication information, the first indication information indicating that the RS for beam failure recovery satisfies a first condition, and the first condition includes one of the following:

[0402] In the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection, the serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to the serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to other RSs;

[0403] In the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection, the serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to a threshold value;

[0404] In the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection, the over-the-top cumulative serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to the over-the-top cumulative serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to other RSs; or

[0405] In the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection, the over-the-top cumulative serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to a threshold value.

[0406] Therefore, the first terminal device can select / determine the RS (i.e., the second RS) for beam failure recovery in the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection based on the indication of the network device.

[0407] In a possible implementation, the method shown in FIG. 7 further includes that the first terminal device receives second indication information, the second indication information indicating that the RS for beam failure recovery satisfies a second condition, and the second condition includes one of the following:

[0408] In the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection, the expected signal strength of the network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure recovery when the network device is located in the over-the-top spatial angle region of the first terminal device is greater than or equal to a threshold value; or

[0409] In the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection, the signal strength of the RS for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to a threshold value.

[0410] Thus, the first terminal device can select / determine, based on the indication of the network device, an RS with stronger expected signal strength from the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection as an RS for beam failure recovery (i.e., a second RS), which can improve the communication quality based on the RS for beam failure recovery for communication.

[0411] In a possible implementation, the L RSs for candidate beam detection correspond to K groups of RSs, K being a positive integer; and the method further includes: receiving, by the first terminal device, third indication information indicating at least one of the following:

[0412] In the K groups of RSs, the RS for beam failure recovery and the RS for beam failure detection are different RSs in the same group, and the serviceable time length or the over-the-top cumulative serviceable time length of the network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to a threshold value;

[0413] In the K groups of RSs, when the serviceable time length or the over-the-top cumulative serviceable time length of the network device corresponding to the other RSs in the same group as the RS for beam failure detection are all less than a threshold value, the RS for beam failure recovery and the RS for beam failure detection are RSs in different groups, respectively, and the serviceable time length or the over-the-top cumulative serviceable time length of the network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to a threshold value; or

[0414] In the K groups of RSs, when the serviceable time length or the over-the-top cumulative serviceable time length of the network device corresponding to any RS is less than a threshold value, the RS for beam failure recovery is the RS corresponding to the network device with the longest serviceable time length or over-the-top cumulative serviceable time length.

[0415] Thus, the first terminal device can select / determine, based on the indication of the network device, the RS for beam failure recovery from the RSs for candidate beam detection in the same group as the RS for beam failure detection, which can enable the terminal device to perform recovery operations between satellite beams that are easy to establish inter-satellite links, thereby reducing inter-satellite interaction overhead.

[0416] Optionally, the one or more RSs for candidate beam detection correspond to K groups of RSs, K being a positive integer; and the K groups of RSs satisfy any of the following:

[0417] In the K groups of RSs, the orbits of the network devices corresponding to different RSs in the same group are the same, and the orbits of the network devices corresponding to RSs in different groups are different;

[0418] In the K groups of RSs, the trajectories of the network devices corresponding to different RSs in the same group are the same, and the trajectories of the network devices corresponding to RSs in different groups are different; or

[0419] In the K groups of RSs, the distances between the network devices corresponding to different RSs in the same group are less than the threshold, and the distances between the network devices corresponding to RSs in different groups are greater than the threshold.

[0420] It should be noted that the terms involved in the method shown in FIG. 7 and the various implementations can refer to the method shown in FIG. 4 and the possible implementation process thereof.

[0421] Referring to FIG. 8, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus 800, which includes a transceiver unit 802 and a processing unit 801.

[0422] It should be understood that the communication apparatus 800 can implement the functions of any of the communication apparatuses (such as a terminal device or a network device) in the above method embodiments, and thus can also implement the beneficial effects possessed by the above method embodiments. In the embodiments of the present application, the communication apparatus 800 can be any of the communication apparatuses in the above method embodiments, or can be an integrated circuit or an element etc. inside any of the communication apparatuses in the above method embodiments, such as a chip.

[0423] In a possible implementation, when the apparatus 800 is used to execute the method performed by the first terminal device in the above embodiments, the processing unit 801 is configured to obtain first visibility information, the first visibility information being used to indicate the communication quality between the network devices located in one or more spatial angle intervals and the terminal devices located in a first geographic area, the terminal devices located in the first geographic area including the first terminal device, or the first visibility information being used to indicate the communication quality between the network devices located in one or more spatial angle intervals and the first terminal device; and the processing unit 801 is further configured to determine, based on the first visibility information, a remaining service duration in which a network device corresponding to a first reference signal (RS) provides services to the first terminal device, wherein the first RS is a RS used for beam failure detection (BFD), and the remaining service duration is used for beam recovery before beam failure.

[0424] In another possible implementation, when the apparatus 800 is configured to perform the method performed by the network device in the foregoing embodiments, the processing unit 801 is configured to determine first configuration information; and the processing unit 801 is configured to determine a first RS, the first RS being used for beam failure detection; wherein the first visibility information is used to determine a remaining service duration of the network device corresponding to the first RS providing service to the first terminal device, the first RS being a RS used for beam failure detection, and the remaining service duration being used for beam recovery before beam failure; wherein the first visibility information is used to indicate a communication quality between the network device located in one or more spatial angle intervals and the terminal device located in a first geographic region, the terminal device located in the first geographic region including the first terminal device; or the first visibility information is used to indicate a communication quality between the network device located in one or more spatial angle intervals and the first terminal device; and the transceiver unit 802 is configured to transmit the first RS.

[0425] In another possible implementation, when the apparatus 800 is configured to perform the method performed by the first terminal device in the foregoing embodiments, the processing unit 801 is configured to obtain first visibility information, the first visibility information being used to indicate a communication quality between the network device located in one or more spatial angle intervals and the terminal device located in a first geographic region, the terminal device located in the first geographic region including the first terminal device; or the first visibility information being used to indicate a communication quality between the network device located in one or more spatial angle intervals and the first terminal device; and the transceiver unit 802 is configured to receive first configuration information, the first configuration information being used to configure L RSs, L being a positive integer; wherein the L RSs are used for candidate beam detection; and the processing unit 801 is further configured to determine a second RS from the L RSs based on the first visibility information, the second RS being a RS used for beam failure recovery.

[0426] In another possible implementation, when the apparatus 800 is configured to perform the method performed by the network device in the foregoing embodiments, the processing unit 801 is configured to determine first configuration information, the first configuration information being used to configure L RSs, L being a positive integer; wherein the L RSs are used for candidate beam detection; and the transceiver unit 802 is configured to transmit the first configuration information; wherein first visibility information is used to determine a second RS from the L RSs, the second RS being a RS used for beam failure recovery; and the first visibility information is used to indicate a communication quality between the network device located in one or more spatial angle intervals and the terminal device located in a first geographic region, the terminal device located in the first geographic region including the first terminal device; or the first visibility information is used to indicate a communication quality between the network device located in one or more spatial angle intervals and the first terminal device.

[0427] It should be noted that the information execution process and corresponding technical effects of the units of the communication apparatus 800 described above can be specifically referred to the descriptions in the method embodiments of the present application, and will not be described here.

[0428] Referring to FIG. 9, another schematic structural diagram of a communication apparatus 900 provided by the present application is shown, which at least includes an input / output interface 901. The communication apparatus 900 can be a chip or an integrated circuit.

[0429] Optionally, the communication apparatus further includes a logic circuit 902.

[0430] The transceiver unit 802 shown in FIG. 8 can be a communication interface, which can be the input / output interface 901 in FIG. 9, and the input / output interface 901 can include an input interface and an output interface. Alternatively, the communication interface can also be a transceiver circuit, which can include an input interface circuit and an output interface circuit.

[0431] Optionally, the logic circuit 902 is configured to obtain first visibility information, the first visibility information being used to indicate a communication quality between a network device located in one or more spatial angle intervals and a terminal device located in a first geographic area, the terminal device located in the first geographic area including the first terminal device, or the first visibility information being used to indicate a communication quality between a network device located in one or more spatial angle intervals and the first terminal device; and the logic circuit 902 is further configured to determine, based on the first visibility information, a remaining service duration in which a network device corresponding to a first reference signal (RS) provides a service to the first terminal device, the first RS being a RS used for beam failure detection (BFD), and the remaining service duration being used for beam recovery before beam failure.

[0432] Optionally, the logic circuit 902 is configured to determine first configuration information, and determine a first RS used for beam failure detection, wherein the first visibility information is used to determine a remaining service duration in which a network device corresponding to the first RS provides a service to the first terminal device, the first RS being a RS used for beam failure detection, and the remaining service duration being used for beam recovery before beam failure; and the first visibility information is used to indicate a communication quality between a network device located in one or more spatial angle intervals and a terminal device located in a first geographic area, the terminal device located in the first geographic area including the first terminal device, or the first visibility information is used to indicate a communication quality between a network device located in one or more spatial angle intervals and the first terminal device; and the input / output interface 901 is configured to send the first RS.

[0433] Optionally, the logic circuit 902 is configured to obtain first visibility information, the first visibility information being used to indicate a communication quality between a network device located in one or more spatial angle intervals and a terminal device located in a first geographical area, the terminal device located in the first geographical area including the first terminal device, or the first visibility information being used to indicate a communication quality between the network device located in the one or more spatial angle intervals and the first terminal device; the input and output interface 901 is configured to receive first configuration information, the first configuration information being used to configure L RSs, L being a positive integer; wherein the L RSs are used for candidate beam detection; and the logic circuit 902 is further configured to determine a second RS from the L RSs based on the first visibility information, the second RS being an RS used for beam failure recovery.

[0434] Optionally, the logic circuit 902 is configured to determine first configuration information, the first configuration information being used to configure L RSs, L being a positive integer; wherein the L RSs are used for candidate beam detection; and the input and output interface 901 is configured to send the first configuration information; wherein the first visibility information is used to determine a second RS from the L RSs, the second RS being an RS used for beam failure recovery; and the first visibility information is used to indicate a communication quality between a network device located in one or more spatial angle intervals and a terminal device located in a first geographical area, the terminal device located in the first geographical area including the first terminal device, or the first visibility information is used to indicate a communication quality between the network device located in the one or more spatial angle intervals and the first terminal device.

[0435] The logic circuit 902 and the input and output interface 901 can perform the method executed by any communication device (for example, a terminal device or a network device) in the foregoing method embodiments and achieve the corresponding beneficial effects, which will not be described herein again.

[0436] In a possible implementation, the processing unit 801 shown in FIG. 8 can be the logic circuit 902 in FIG. 9.

[0437] Optionally, the logic circuit 902 can be a processing device, and the functions of the processing device can be partially or entirely implemented through software.

[0438] Optionally, the processing device can include a memory and a processor, wherein the memory is configured to store a computer program, and the processor is configured to read and execute the computer program stored in the memory to perform the corresponding processing and / or steps in any one method embodiment.

[0439] Optionally, the processing device can only include a processor. The memory for storing the computer program is located outside the processing device, and the processor is connected with the memory through the circuit / wire to read and execute the computer program stored in the memory. Among them, the memory and the processor can be integrated together, or they can also be physically independent of each other.

[0440] Optionally, the processing device can be one or more chips, or one or more integrated circuits. For example, the processing device can be one or more field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), system on chips (SoC), central processor units (CPU), network processors (NP), digital signal processors (DSP), micro controller units (MCU), programmable logic devices (PLD) or other integrated chips, or any combination of the above chips or processors, etc.

[0441] Please refer to FIG. 10, the communication device 1000 involved in the above embodiments provided by the embodiments of the present application, which can be specifically the communication device in the above embodiments as a terminal device.

[0442] Among them, a possible logical structure diagram of the communication device 1000 can include but not limited to at least one processor 1001 and a communication interface 1002.

[0443] Further optionally, the device can also include at least one of a memory 1003, a bus 1004, and in the embodiments of the present application, the at least one processor 1001 is used to control the processing of the actions of the communication device 1000.

[0444] In addition, the processor 1001 can be a central processing unit, a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, transistor logic, hardware components, or any combination thereof. It can implement or execute the various exemplary logical blocks, modules and circuits described in connection with the disclosure. The processor can also be a combination of implementing computing functions, such as a combination of one or more microprocessors, a combination of a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, and the like. Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the above-described system, device and unit can refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, which will not be described here.

[0445] It should be noted that the communication apparatus 1000 shown in FIG. 10 can be specifically used to implement the steps implemented by the terminal device in the foregoing method embodiments, and achieve the corresponding technical effects of the terminal device. The specific implementation of the communication apparatus shown in FIG. 10 can refer to the description in the foregoing method embodiments, which will not be described here.

[0446] Please refer to FIG. 11, which is a structural schematic diagram of a communication apparatus provided by an embodiment of the present application and involved in the foregoing embodiments. The communication apparatus can be specifically a network device in the foregoing embodiments, and the structure of the communication apparatus can refer to the structure shown in FIG. 11.

[0447] The communication apparatus includes at least one processor 1111 and at least one network interface 1114.

[0448] Optionally, the communication apparatus further includes at least one memory 1112, at least one transceiver 1113 and one or more antennas 1115. The processor 1111, the memory 1112, the transceiver 1113 and the network interface 1114 are connected, for example, through a bus, which can include various interfaces, transmission lines or buses in the embodiments of the present application, which are not limited in the embodiments. The antenna 1115 is connected to the transceiver 1113. The network interface 1114 is used for enabling the communication apparatus to communicate with other communication devices through a communication link. For example, the network interface 1114 can include a network interface between the communication apparatus and a core network device, such as an S1 interface. The network interface can include a network interface between the communication apparatus and other communication apparatuses (such as other network devices or core network devices), such as an X2 or Xn interface.

[0449] The processor 1111 is mainly used for processing communication protocols and communication data, controlling the whole communication device, executing software programs, processing data of the software programs, such as for supporting the communication device to perform the actions described in the embodiments. The communication device can include a baseband processor mainly used for processing communication protocols and communication data, and a central processor mainly used for controlling the whole terminal device, executing software programs, and processing data of the software programs. The processor 1111 in FIG. 11 can integrate the functions of the baseband processor and the central processor, and those skilled in the art can understand that the baseband processor and the central processor can also be independent processors interconnected by a bus or the like. Those skilled in the art can understand that the terminal device can include multiple baseband processors to adapt to different network modes, and the terminal device can include multiple central processors to enhance its processing capability, and various components of the terminal device can be connected by various buses. The baseband processor can also be referred to as a baseband processing circuit or a baseband processing chip. The central processor can also be referred to as a central processing circuit or a central processing chip. The function of processing communication protocols and communication data can be built into the processor, or stored in the memory in the form of a software program, and the processor executes the software program to realize the baseband processing function.

[0450] The memory is mainly used for storing software programs and data. The memory 1112 can exist independently and be connected to the processor 1111. Alternatively, the memory 1112 can be integrated with the processor 1111, for example, integrated in a chip. The memory 1112 can store program codes for executing the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and the processor 1111 controls the execution. Various computer programs executed can also be regarded as a driver of the processor 1111.

[0451] FIG. 11 only shows one memory and one processor. In actual terminal devices, there can be multiple processors and multiple memories. The memory can also be referred to as a storage medium or a storage device, etc. The memory can be a storage element on the same chip as the processor, that is, an on-chip storage element, or an independent storage element, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

[0452] The transceiver 1113 can be configured to support the receiving or transmitting of radio frequency signals between the communication device and a terminal. The transceiver 1113 can be connected to the antenna 1115. The transceiver 1113 includes a transmitter Tx and a receiver Rx. Specifically, the one or more antennas 1115 can receive radio frequency signals, the receiver Rx of the transceiver 1113 is configured to receive the radio frequency signals from the antenna and convert the radio frequency signals into digital baseband signals or digital intermediate frequency signals, and provide the digital baseband signals or the digital intermediate frequency signals to the processor 1111 for further processing, such as demodulation processing and decoding processing, of the digital baseband signals or the digital intermediate frequency signals by the processor 1111. In addition, the transmitter Tx in the transceiver 1113 is also configured to receive modulated digital baseband signals or digital intermediate frequency signals from the processor 1111, and convert the modulated digital baseband signals or the digital intermediate frequency signals into radio frequency signals, and transmit the radio frequency signals through the one or more antennas 1115. Specifically, the receiver Rx can selectively perform one or more levels of down-mixing and analog-to-digital conversion to obtain the digital baseband signals or the digital intermediate frequency signals, and the order of the down-mixing and the analog-to-digital conversion can be adjustable. The transmitter Tx can selectively perform one or more levels of up-mixing and digital-to-analog conversion to obtain the radio frequency signals, and the order of the up-mixing and the digital-to-analog conversion can be adjustable. The digital baseband signals and the digital intermediate frequency signals can be collectively referred to as digital signals.

[0453] The transceiver 1113 can also be referred to as an interface unit, a transceiving unit, a transceiver, a transceiving device, an interface module, etc. Optionally, the devices in the interface unit for implementing the receiving function can be regarded as a receiving unit, and the devices in the interface unit for implementing the transmitting function can be regarded as a transmitting unit, that is, the interface unit includes a receiving unit and a transmitting unit. The receiving unit can also be referred to as a receiver, an input port, a receiving circuit, etc., and the transmitting unit can be referred to as a transmitter, a transmitter, or a transmitting circuit, etc.

[0454] It should be noted that the communication device shown in FIG. 11 can be specifically configured to implement the steps implemented by the network device in the foregoing method embodiments, and achieve the corresponding technical effects of the network device. The specific implementation mode of the communication device shown in FIG. 11 can be referred to the description in the foregoing method embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0455] The embodiments of the present application also provide a computer readable storage medium for storing one or more computer execution instructions, when the computer execution instructions are executed by a computer, the processor executes the method described in any of the possible implementation modes of the communication device (such as a terminal device or a network device) in the foregoing method embodiments.

[0456] The embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product (or computer program), including instructions, when the instructions in the computer program product are executed by a processor, the processor executes the method of any possible implementation manner of the communication device (such as a terminal device or a network device) in the above method embodiment.

[0457] The embodiment of the present application further provides a chip system, including at least one processor, used for implementing the functions involved in any possible implementation manner of the communication device (such as a terminal device or a network device) in the above method embodiment.

[0458] Optionally, the chip system further includes an interface circuit, which provides program instructions and / or data for the at least one processor. In a possible design, the chip system can further include a memory, used for storing necessary program instructions and data of the terminal device. The chip system can be composed of a chip, or can include the chip and other discrete devices.

[0459] In a possible design, the chip system can further include a memory, used for storing necessary program instructions and data of any communication device in the above method embodiment. The chip system can be composed of a chip, or can include the chip and other discrete devices.

[0460] The embodiment of the present application further provides a communication system, and the network system architecture includes the terminal device and the network device in any of the above embodiments.

[0461] In several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed system, device and method can be implemented by other means. For example, the above-described device embodiments are illustrative, for example, the division of the units is a logical function division, and actual implementation can have another division manner, 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 displayed or discussed units can be indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0462] The units described as separate components can or can not be physically separate, and the components displayed as units can or can not be physical units, that is, they can be located in one place, or can be distributed on a plurality of network units. According to actual needs, part or all of the units can be selected to achieve the purpose of the embodiment scheme.

[0463] In addition, each function unit in each embodiment of the present application can be integrated in one processing module, or each unit can be physically present separately, or two or more units can be integrated in one unit. The integrated unit can be realized in the form of hardware or in the form of a software function unit. When the integrated unit is realized in the form of a software function unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solutions of the present application essentially contribute to or the whole or 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 number 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 methods described in each embodiment of the present application. The foregoing storage medium includes: a U disk, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM, Read-Only Memory), a random access memory (RAM, Random Access Memory), a magnetic disk or an optical disk, and various media that can store program codes.

[0464] The above is only a specific implementation of the embodiments of the present application, but the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application is not limited to this. Any person skilled in the art can easily think of changes or replacements within the technical range disclosed by the embodiments of the present application, which should be covered within the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application should be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method characterized by comprising: The method comprises: obtaining first visibility information, the first visibility information being used to indicate a communication quality between a network device located in one or more spatial angle intervals and a terminal device located in a first geographic area, the terminal device located in the first geographic area including the first terminal device; or, the first visibility information being used to indicate a communication quality between a network device located in one or more spatial angle intervals and the first terminal device; based on the first visibility information, determining a remaining service duration of a network device corresponding to a first reference signal (RS) providing service to the first terminal device; wherein the first RS is an RS used for beam failure detection, and the remaining service duration is used for beam recovery before beam failure.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, The method further comprises: receiving indication information used to indicate a first threshold value; wherein the remaining service duration and the first threshold value are used for beam failure recovery.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein, The method further comprises: in a case where the remaining service duration is lower than or equal to the first threshold value, sending beam recovery request information.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein, The method further comprises: receiving first configuration information, the first configuration information being used to configure L RSs, L being a positive integer; wherein the L RSs are used for candidate beam detection; wherein the beam recovery request information is associated with a second RS, the second RS being an RS used for beam failure recovery; the second RS being determined from the L RSs based on the first visibility information.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein, The method further comprises: receiving first indication information, the first indication information indicating that an RS used for beam failure recovery satisfies a first condition, the first condition including one of the following: in one or more RSs used for candidate beam detection, a network device corresponding to the RS used for beam failure recovery has a serviceable duration greater than or equal to a serviceable duration of a network device corresponding to another RS; in one or more RSs used for candidate beam detection, a network device corresponding to the RS used for beam failure recovery has a serviceable duration greater than or equal to a threshold value; in one or more RSs used for candidate beam detection, a network device corresponding to the RS used for beam failure recovery has an over-the-top cumulative serviceable duration greater than or equal to an over-the-top cumulative serviceable duration of a network device corresponding to another RS; or in one or more RSs used for candidate beam detection, a network device corresponding to the RS used for beam failure recovery has an over-the-top cumulative serviceable duration greater than or equal to a threshold value.

6. The method according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that, The method further comprises: receiving second indication information, the second indication information indicating that an RS used for beam failure recovery satisfies a second condition, the second condition including one of the following: in one or more RSs used for candidate beam detection, an expected signal strength of a network device corresponding to the RS used for beam failure recovery when the network device is located in an over-the-top spatial angle area of the first terminal device is greater than or equal to a threshold value; or in one or more RSs used for candidate beam detection, a signal strength of the RS used for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to a threshold value.

7. The method according to any one of claims 4 to 6, characterized in that, The L RSs used for candidate beam detection correspond to K groups of RSs, K being a positive integer; the method further comprises: receive third indication information, the third indication information indicating at least one of the following: In the K groups of RSs, the RS for beam failure recovery and the RS for beam failure detection are different RSs in the same group, and the serviceable duration or the over-the-top accumulated serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to a threshold value; In the K groups of RSs, when the serviceable duration or the over-the-top accumulated serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to the other RSs in the same group as the RS for beam failure detection is less than a threshold value, the RS for beam failure recovery and the RS for beam failure detection are RSs in different groups, and the serviceable duration or the over-the-top accumulated serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to a threshold value; or In the K groups of RSs, when the serviceable duration or the over-the-top accumulated serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to any RS is less than a threshold value, the RS for beam failure recovery is the RS corresponding to the network device with the longest serviceable duration or over-the-top accumulated serviceable duration.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that, The method further comprises: receiving second configuration information, the second configuration information being used for configuring the first RS.

9. A communication method characterized by comprising: comprises: determining a first RS, the first RS being used for beam failure detection; wherein first visibility information is used to determine a remaining service duration of a network device corresponding to the first RS providing service to the first terminal device, the first RS being an RS for beam failure detection, and the remaining service duration being used for beam recovery before beam failure; wherein the first visibility information is used to indicate the communication quality between the network device located in one or more spatial angle intervals and the terminal device located in a first geographic area, the terminal device located in the first geographic area including the first terminal device; or, the first visibility information is used to indicate the communication quality between the network device located in one or more spatial angle intervals and the first terminal device; sending the first RS.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein, The method further comprises: sending indication information indicating a first threshold value; wherein the remaining service duration and the first threshold value are used for beam failure recovery.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein, The method further comprises: sending first configuration information, the first configuration information being used for configuring L RSs, N being a positive integer; wherein the L RSs are used for candidate beam detection; wherein the beam recovery request information corresponding to the beam failure recovery is associated with a second RS, the second RS being an RS for beam failure recovery; the second RS being determined from the L RSs based on the first visibility information.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein, The method further comprises: sending first indication information, the first indication information indicating that the RS for beam failure recovery satisfies a first condition, the first condition including one of the following: In one or more RSs for candidate beam detection, the serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to the serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to the other RSs; In one or more RSs for candidate beam detection, the serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to a threshold value; In the one or more RSs used for candidate beam detection, the over-the-top accumulated serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to the RS used for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to the over-the-top accumulated serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to the other RSs. In the one or more RSs used for candidate beam detection, the over-the-top accumulated serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to the RS used for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to a threshold value.

13. The method according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that, The method further comprises: sending second indication information, the second indication information indicating that the RS used for beam failure recovery satisfies a second condition, the second condition comprising one of the following: In the one or more RSs used for candidate beam detection, the expected signal strength of the network device corresponding to the RS used for beam failure recovery when the network device is located in the over-the-top spatial angle region of the first terminal device is greater than or equal to a threshold value; or In the one or more RSs used for candidate beam detection, the signal strength of the RS used for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to a threshold value.

14. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 13, characterized in that, The L RSs used for candidate beam detection correspond to K groups of RSs, K being a positive integer; the method further comprises: sending third indication information, the third indication information indicating at least one of the following: In the K groups of RSs, the RS used for beam failure recovery and the RS used for beam failure detection are different RSs within the same group, and the serviceable duration or the over-the-top accumulated serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to the RS used for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to a threshold value; In the K groups of RSs, when the serviceable duration or the over-the-top accumulated serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to the other RSs located in the same group as the RS used for beam failure detection is less than a threshold value, the RS used for beam failure recovery and the RS used for beam failure detection are RSs in different groups respectively, and the serviceable duration or the over-the-top accumulated serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to the RS used for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to a threshold value; or In the K groups of RSs, when the serviceable duration or the over-the-top accumulated serviceable duration of the network device corresponding to any RS is less than a threshold value, the RS used for beam failure recovery is the RS corresponding to the network device with the longest serviceable duration or over-the-top accumulated serviceable duration.

15. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 14, characterized in that, The method further comprises: sending second configuration information, the second configuration information being used to configure the first RS.

16. A method of communication, comprising: comprises: obtaining first visibility information, the first visibility information being used to indicate the communication quality between the network devices located in one or more spatial angle intervals and the terminal devices located in a first geographic area, the terminal devices located in the first geographic area including the first terminal device; or, the first visibility information being used to indicate the communication quality between the network devices located in one or more spatial angle intervals and the first terminal device; receiving first configuration information, the first configuration information being used to configure L RSs, N being a positive integer; wherein the L RSs are used for candidate beam detection; determining a second RS from the L RSs based on the first visibility information, the second RS being the RS used for beam failure recovery.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein, The method further comprises: receiving first indication information, the first indication information indicating that a RS for beam failure recovery satisfies a first condition, the first condition including one of: in one or more RSs for candidate beam detection, a serviceable duration of a network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to a serviceable duration of a network device corresponding to another RS; in one or more RSs for candidate beam detection, a serviceable duration of a network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to a threshold value; in one or more RSs for candidate beam detection, an over-the-top cumulative serviceable duration of a network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to an over-the-top cumulative serviceable duration of a network device corresponding to another RS; or in one or more RSs for candidate beam detection, an over-the-top cumulative serviceable duration of a network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to a threshold value.

18. The method according to claim 16 or 17, characterized in that The method further comprises: receiving second indication information, the second indication information indicating that a RS for beam failure recovery satisfies a second condition, the second condition including one of: in one or more RSs for candidate beam detection, an expected signal strength of a network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure recovery when the network device is located in an over-the-top spatial angle region of the first terminal device is greater than or equal to a threshold value; or in one or more RSs for candidate beam detection, a signal strength of the RS for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to a threshold value.

19. The method according to any one of claims 16 to 18, characterized in that, The L RSs for candidate beam detection correspond to K groups of RSs, K being a positive integer; the method further comprises: receiving third indication information, the third indication information indicating at least one of: in the K groups of RSs, the RS for beam failure recovery and the RS for beam failure detection are different RSs in the same group, and a serviceable duration or an over-the-top cumulative serviceable duration of a network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to a threshold value; in the K groups of RSs, when the serviceable duration or the over-the-top cumulative serviceable duration of a network device corresponding to another RS in the same group as the RS for beam failure detection is less than a threshold value, the RS for beam failure recovery and the RS for beam failure detection are RSs in different groups respectively, and the serviceable duration or the over-the-top cumulative serviceable duration of a network device corresponding to the RS for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to a threshold value; or in the K groups of RSs, when the serviceable duration or the over-the-top cumulative serviceable duration of a network device corresponding to any RS is less than a threshold value, the RS for beam failure recovery is a RS corresponding to a network device with the longest serviceable duration or over-the-top cumulative serviceable duration.

20. A method of communication, comprising: comprises: determining first configuration information, the first configuration information being used to configure L RSs, N being a positive integer; wherein the L RSs are used for candidate beam detection; transmitting the first configuration information; wherein the first visibility information is used to determine a second RS from the L RSs, the second RS being a RS used for beam failure recovery; the first visibility information is used to indicate a communication quality between a network device located in one or more spatial angle intervals and a terminal device located in a first geographical area, the terminal device located in the first geographical area including the first terminal device; or, the first visibility information is used to indicate a communication quality between a network device located in one or more spatial angle intervals and the first terminal device.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein, The method further includes: transmitting first indication information, the first indication information indicating that a RS used for beam failure recovery satisfies a first condition, the first condition including one of: in one or more RSs used for candidate beam detection, a serviceable duration of a network device corresponding to the RS used for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to a serviceable duration of a network device corresponding to another RS; in one or more RSs used for candidate beam detection, a serviceable duration of a network device corresponding to the RS used for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to a threshold value; in one or more RSs used for candidate beam detection, an over-the-top cumulative serviceable duration of a network device corresponding to the RS used for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to an over-the-top cumulative serviceable duration of a network device corresponding to another RS; or in one or more RSs used for candidate beam detection, an over-the-top cumulative serviceable duration of a network device corresponding to the RS used for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to a threshold value.

22. The method of claim 20 or 21, wherein, The method further includes: transmitting second indication information, the second indication information indicating that a RS used for beam failure recovery satisfies a second condition, the second condition including one of: in one or more RSs used for candidate beam detection, an expected signal strength of a network device corresponding to the RS used for beam failure recovery when the network device is located in an over-the-top spatial angle area of the first terminal device is greater than or equal to a threshold value; or in one or more RSs used for candidate beam detection, a signal strength of the RS used for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to a threshold value.

23. The method of any one of claims 20 to 22, wherein, The L RSs used for candidate beam detection correspond to K groups of RSs, K being a positive integer; the method further includes: transmitting third indication information, the third indication information indicating at least one of: in the K groups of RSs, the RS used for beam failure recovery and the RS used for beam failure detection are different RSs in a same group, and a serviceable duration or an over-the-top cumulative serviceable duration of a network device corresponding to the RS used for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to a threshold value; in the K groups of RSs, when a serviceable duration or an over-the-top cumulative serviceable duration of a network device corresponding to another RS located in a same group as the RS used for beam failure detection is less than a threshold value, the RS used for beam failure recovery and the RS used for beam failure detection are respectively RSs in different groups, and a serviceable duration or an over-the-top cumulative serviceable duration of a network device corresponding to the RS used for beam failure recovery is greater than or equal to a threshold value; or In the K groups of RSs, when the serviceable time length or the over-the-top accumulated serviceable time length of the network device corresponding to any RS is less than a threshold value, the RS for beam failure recovery is the RS corresponding to the network device with the longest serviceable time length or over-the-top accumulated serviceable time length.

24. A communications device, characterized by comprising means for performing the method of any one of claims 1 to 23.

25. A communications device, characterized by comprising at least one processor configured to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 23.

26. The communication apparatus according to claim 25, wherein The communication device is a chip or a chip system.

27. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer readable storage medium stores a computer program or instructions, which, when executed by a communication device, implement the method of any one of claims 1 to 23.

28. A computer program product, characterised in that, comprising a computer program or instructions, which, when executed by a computer, implement the method of any one of claims 1 to 23.

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