Method for determining ta in random access, terminal, and network side device

Abstract

The present application relates to the technical field of communications, and discloses a method for determining a TA in random access, a terminal, and a network side device. The method comprises: a terminal determines TA information, the TA information being determined on the basis of at least one of the following: a first uplink signal, the first uplink signal being used for the measurement of the TA information; an auxiliary downlink signal, the auxiliary downlink signal being used for the inference of the TA information; location-related information, the location-related information being used for the inference of the TA information; a TA candidate set, the TA candidate set comprising TA parameters corresponding to the TA information; a first downlink signal, the first downlink signal being used for indicating the TA information; and a TA pre-compensation value, the TA pre-compensation value being used for the transmission of a second uplink signal; wherein the TA information comprises at least one of a first TA and a second TA, the first TA corresponds to a first TRP, the second TA corresponds to a second TRP, and the first TRP is different from the second TRP.

Description

TA determination method for random access, terminal and network side device

[0001] Cross-reference

[0002] The present application claims priority to the Chinese patent application No. 202410656972X, filed on May 24, 2024, and entitled "TA determination method for random access, terminal and network side device", the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The present application belongs to the field of communication technology, and specifically relates to a timing advance (TA) determination method for random access, a terminal and a network side device. BACKGROUND

[0004] For a cell-free communication system, assuming that it is a hierarchical cell-free system composed of macro transmit / receive points (TRPs) and small TRPs, due to the large difference in coverage range between the macro TRPs and the small TRPs, there is a large difference between the propagation delays of the uplink transmissions of the terminal based on the two, so there is a large difference between the TAs of the uplink transmissions of the terminal based on the macro TRPs and the small TRPs respectively. Therefore, how to determine the TA information under the cell-free system needs to be further solved. SUMMARY

[0005] The embodiments of the present application provide a TA determination method for random access, a terminal and a network side device, which can solve the problem of being unable to determine the TA information under the cell-free system.

[0006] In a first aspect, a TA determination method for random access is provided, comprising: determining, by a terminal, TA information, wherein the TA information is determined by at least one of the following ways: based on a first uplink signal, wherein the first uplink signal is used for measurement of the TA information; based on an auxiliary downlink signal, wherein the auxiliary downlink signal is used for speculation of the TA information; based on position-related information, wherein the position-related information is used for speculation of the TA information; based on a TA candidate set, wherein the TA candidate set includes a TA parameter corresponding to the TA information; based on a first downlink signal, wherein the first downlink signal is used for indicating the TA information; based on a TA pre-compensation value, wherein the TA pre-compensation value is used for transmission of a second uplink signal; wherein the TA information is used for uplink transmission of the terminal; and the TA information includes at least one of a first TA and a second TA, wherein the first TA corresponds to a first TRP, and the second TA corresponds to a second TRP, and the first TRP is different from the second TRP.

[0007] In a second aspect, a TA determination method for random access is provided, comprising: determining or indicating, by a network-side device, TA information in at least one of the following manners: based on a first uplink signal, the first uplink signal being used for measurement of the TA information; based on an auxiliary downlink signal, the auxiliary downlink signal being used for estimation of the TA information; based on position-related information, the position-related information being used for estimation of the TA information; based on a TA candidate set, the TA candidate set including a TA parameter corresponding to the TA information; based on a first downlink signal, the first downlink signal being used for indicating the TA information; based on a TA pre-compensation value, the TA pre-compensation value being used for transmission of a second uplink signal; wherein the TA information is used for uplink transmission of a terminal; and the TA information includes at least one of a first TA and a second TA, the first TA corresponding to a first TRP, and the second TA corresponding to a second TRP, the first TRP being different from the second TRP.

[0008] In a third aspect, a TA determination apparatus for random access is provided, comprising: a processing module configured to determine TA information, the TA information being determined in at least one of the following manners: based on a first uplink signal, the first uplink signal being used for measurement of the TA information; based on an auxiliary downlink signal, the auxiliary downlink signal being used for estimation of the TA information; based on position-related information, the position-related information being used for estimation of the TA information; based on a TA candidate set, the TA candidate set including a TA parameter corresponding to the TA information; based on a first downlink signal, the first downlink signal being used for indicating the TA information; based on a TA pre-compensation value, the TA pre-compensation value being used for transmission of a second uplink signal; wherein the TA information is used for uplink transmission of the apparatus; and the TA information includes at least one of a first TA and a second TA, the first TA corresponding to a first TRP, and the second TA corresponding to a second TRP, the first TRP being different from the second TRP.

[0009] In a fourth aspect, a TA determination apparatus for random access is provided, comprising: a processing module configured to determine or indicate TA information in at least one of the following manners: based on a first uplink signal, the first uplink signal being used for measurement of the TA information; based on an auxiliary downlink signal, the auxiliary downlink signal being used for estimation of the TA information; based on position-related information, the position-related information being used for estimation of the TA information; based on a TA candidate set, the TA candidate set including a TA parameter corresponding to the TA information; based on a first downlink signal, the first downlink signal being used for indicating the TA information; based on a TA pre-compensation value, the TA pre-compensation value being used for transmission of a second uplink signal; wherein the TA information is used for uplink transmission of a terminal; and the TA information includes at least one of a first TA and a second TA, the first TA corresponding to a first TRP, and the second TA corresponding to a second TRP, the first TRP being different from the second TRP.

[0010] In a fifth aspect, a TA determination apparatus for random access is provided, the apparatus being configured to perform the steps of the method according to the first aspect, or implement the steps of the method according to the second aspect.

[0011] In a sixth aspect, a terminal is provided, comprising a processor and a memory, the memory storing programs or instructions executable on the processor, the programs or instructions being executed by the processor to implement the steps of the method according to the first aspect.

[0012] In a seventh aspect, a terminal is provided, comprising a processor and a communication interface, wherein the processor is configured to determine TA information in at least one of the following manners: based on a first uplink signal, the first uplink signal being used for measurement of the TA information; based on an auxiliary downlink signal, the auxiliary downlink signal being used for estimation of the TA information; based on position-related information, the position-related information being used for estimation of the TA information; based on a TA candidate set, the TA candidate set including a TA parameter corresponding to the TA information; based on a first downlink signal, the first downlink signal being used for indicating the TA information; based on a TA pre-compensation value, the TA pre-compensation value being used for transmission of a second uplink signal; wherein the TA information is used for uplink transmission of the apparatus; and the TA information includes at least one of a first TA and a second TA, the first TA corresponding to a first TRP, and the second TA corresponding to a second TRP, the first TRP being different from the second TRP.

[0013] In an eighth aspect, a network-side device is provided, comprising a processor and a memory, the memory storing programs or instructions executable on the processor, the programs or instructions being executed by the processor to implement the steps of the method according to the second aspect.

[0014] In a ninth aspect, a network-side device is provided, including a processor and a communication interface, wherein the processor is configured to determine or indicate TA information in at least one of the following manners: based on a first uplink signal, the first uplink signal being used for measurement of the TA information; based on an auxiliary downlink signal, the auxiliary downlink signal being used for estimation of the TA information; based on position-related information, the position-related information being used for estimation of the TA information; based on a TA candidate set, the TA candidate set including a TA parameter corresponding to the TA information; based on a first downlink signal, the first downlink signal being used for indication of the TA information; based on a TA pre-compensation value, the TA pre-compensation value being used for transmission of a second uplink signal; wherein the TA information is used for uplink transmission of a terminal; and the TA information includes at least one of a first TA and a second TA, the first TA corresponding to a first TRP, and the second TA corresponding to a second TRP, the first TRP being different from the second TRP.

[0015] In a tenth aspect, a readable storage medium is provided, the readable storage medium storing a program or instructions, the program or instructions being executed by a processor to implement steps of the method according to the first aspect, or implement steps of the method according to the second aspect.

[0016] In an eleventh aspect, a wireless communication system is provided, including a terminal and a network-side device, the terminal being configured to implement steps of the method according to the first aspect, and the network-side device being configured to implement steps of the method according to the second aspect.

[0017] In a twelfth aspect, a chip is provided, including a processor and a communication interface, the communication interface being coupled to the processor, and the processor being configured to run a program or instructions to implement the method according to the first aspect, or implement the method according to the second aspect.

[0018] In a thirteenth aspect, a computer program / program product is provided, the computer program / program product being stored in a storage medium, and the computer program / program product being executed by at least one processor to implement the method according to the first aspect, or implement the method according to the second aspect.

[0019] In the embodiments of the present application, the terminal determines the TA information, which can be determined based on at least one of the first uplink signal, the auxiliary downlink signal, the position-related information, the TA candidate set, the first downlink signal, and the TA pre-compensation value, so that the terminal can obtain the TA information in a cell-free system, ensure the reception performance of the uplink transmission, and improve the performance of the communication system. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0020] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0021] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of a TA determination method for random access according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0022] FIG. 3 is a schematic flow chart of a TA determination method for random access according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0023] FIG. 4 is a schematic flow chart of a TA determination method for random access according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0024] FIG. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a TA determination apparatus for random access according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0025] FIG. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a TA determination apparatus for random access according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0026] FIG. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0027] FIG. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0028] FIG. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a network-side device according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some of the embodiments of the present application, but not all of them. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art belong to the scope of protection of the present application.

[0030] The terms "first", "second", and the like in the present application are used to distinguish similar objects, and are not used to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that the terms used in this way can be interchanged under appropriate circumstances, so that the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in an order other than that illustrated or described herein, and the objects distinguished by "first", "second" are usually a category, not limited to the number of objects, for example, the first object can be one or more. In addition, "or" in the present application means at least one of the connected objects. For example, the protection scope of "A or B" at least covers three schemes, namely, scheme one: including A and not including B; scheme two: including B and not including A; scheme three: including A and B. In addition, the terms "A and / or B", "at least one of A and B", "at least one of A or B" also at least cover the above three schemes, respectively. The character " / " generally represents that the objects before and after are in an "or" relationship.

[0031] The term "indication" in this application can be a direct indication (or explicit indication) or an indirect indication (or implicit indication). The direct indication can be understood as that the sender explicitly informs the receiver of specific information, operations to be performed or requested results, etc. in the sent indication. The indirect indication can be understood as that the receiver determines the corresponding information according to the indication sent by the sender, or judges and determines the operations to be performed or the requested results according to the judgment result.

[0032] It is worth noting that the technology described in the embodiments of the present application is not limited to Long Term Evolution (LTE) / LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) systems, but can also be used in other wireless communication systems, such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), Single-carrier Frequency-Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) or other systems. The terms "system" and "network" in the embodiments of the present application are often used interchangeably, and the described technology can be used in the above-mentioned systems and radio technologies, as well as other systems and radio technologies. The following description describes a New Radio (NR) system for example purposes, and NR terminology is used in most of the following description, but these technologies can also be applied to systems other than the NR system, such as 6th Generation (6G) communication systems. th

[0033] ​FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a wireless communication system to which embodiments of the present application can be applied. The wireless communication system includes a terminal 11 and a network-side device 12. The terminal 11 can be a terminal-side device such as a mobile phone, a Tablet Personal Computer, a Laptop Computer, a notebook computer, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a palmtop computer, a netbook, an Ultra-mobile Personal Computer (UMPC), a Mobile Internet Device (MID), an Augmented Reality (AR) device, a Virtual Reality (VR) device, a robot, a wearable device, a flight vehicle, a Vehicle User Equipment (VUE), a shipboard device, a Pedestrian User Equipment (PUE), a smart home (a home device with a wireless communication function such as a refrigerator, a television, a washing machine, or furniture), a game console, a Personal Computer (PC), a kiosk, or a self-service machine. The wearable device includes a smart watch, a smart bracelet, a smart earphone, smart glasses, smart jewelry (a smart bracelet, a smart necklace, a smart ring, a smart necklace, a smart anklet, a smart necklace, etc.), a smart wristband, smart clothes, etc. The vehicle-mounted device can also be referred to as a vehicle-mounted terminal, a vehicle-mounted controller, a vehicle-mounted module, a vehicle-mounted component, a vehicle-mounted chip, or a vehicle-mounted unit, etc. It should be noted that the specific type of the terminal 11 is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. The network-side device 12 can include an access network device or a core network device. The access network device can also be referred to as a Radio Access Network (RAN) device, a radio access network function, or a radio access network unit. The access network device can include a base station, a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) Access Point (AP), or a Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) node, etc.The base station can be referred to as a Node B (NB), an evolved Node B (eNB), a next generation Node B (gNB), a New Radio Node B (NR Node B), an access point, a relay station (RBS), a serving base station (SBS), a base transceiver station (BTS), a radio base station, a radio transceiver, a basic service set (BSS), an extended service set (ESS), a home Node B (HNB), a home evolved Node B, a transmit / receive point (TRP), or some other suitable terminology in the art, and is not limited to a particular technical terminology, provided that the same technical effect is achieved. It should be noted that in the embodiments of the present application, only the base station in the NR system is taken as an example for introduction, and the specific type of the base station is not limited.

[0034] The core network device can also be referred to as a core network node, a core network function, or a core network network element, etc., which includes but is not limited to at least one of the following: a mobility management entity (MME), an access and mobility management function (AMF), a session management function (SMF), a user plane function (UPF), a policy control function (PCF), a policy and charging rules function (PCRF), an edge application server discovery function (EASDF), a unified data management (UDM), a unified data repository (UDR), a home subscriber server (HSS), a centralized network configuration (CNC), a network repository function (NRF), a network exposure function (NEF), a local NEF (L-NEF), a binding support function (BSF), an application function (AF), a location management function (LMF), a gateway mobile location center (GMLC), a network data analytics function (NWDAF), etc. It should be noted that only the core network device in the NR system is taken as an example for introduction in the embodiments of the present application, and the specific type of the core network device is not limited. If the name of the core network device mentioned in the embodiments of the present application changes in the subsequent protocol version (for example, 6G), it is also within the protection scope of the present application.

[0035] Optionally, the core network device can be implemented by one or more function modules in one device, or can be implemented by multiple devices together, and the embodiments of the present application do not make a specific limitation. It can be understood that the above function modules can be network elements in a hardware device, can be software function modules running on a dedicated hardware, or can be virtualized function modules instantiated on a platform (for example, a cloud platform).

[0036] In 5G NR, in the initial access stage, in order to achieve downlink synchronization, a user equipment (UE) needs to obtain the frequency point of the access carrier by searching a synchronization block (SS / PBCH Block, SSB). Since the frequency spectrum range of NR is very wide, in order to reduce the complexity of the search, the UE searches the SSB according to a certain frequency interval specified by the protocol, which is called a synchronization raster. The UE detects the received power of the synchronization signal (SS-RSRP) on the corresponding frequency point according to the synchronization raster, and selects any SSB whose SS-RSRP is higher than a threshold value rsrp-ThresholdSSB. By demodulating the primary synchronization signal (PSS), the secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and the physical broadcast channel (PBCH) signal in the selected SSB, the cell selection and synchronization with the base station are completed, and then the random access is performed.

[0037] The random access can be divided into a contention-based random access or a non-contention-based random access process. According to the flow, the random access process can be divided into a 4-step random access process (also called Type-1 random access process) and a 2-step random access process (also called Type-2 random access process).

[0038] In NR Rel-15, the contention-based 4-step random access procedure (RACH) is as follows. The UE first sends Msg1, i.e., a random access preamble, to the network; after the network detects the preamble, it will send Msg2, i.e., a random access response (RAR) message, containing the preamble number (RAPID (RACH preamble ID)) detected by the network, the uplink (UL) grant information for the UE to send Msg3, the TC-RNTI, the TA command, etc.; after the UE receives Msg2, if it confirms that at least one of the preamble numbers carried in Msg2 is consistent with the preamble number it sent, it will send Msg3 containing contention resolution information according to the uplink resource indicated in the RAR; if the network does not receive Msg3 PUSCH, it can schedule the retransmission of Msg3 PUSCH in the PDCCH scrambled by the TC-RNTI. After the network receives Msg3, it will send Msg4 containing contention resolution information; after the UE receives Msg4, it confirms that the resolution information matches the contention resolution information it sent in Msg3, i.e., the 4-step random access is completed.

[0039] For the contention-based random access procedure, different UEs randomly select preambles for transmission, so different UEs may select the same preamble for transmission on the same random access occasion, which can be understood as a preamble collision of the UEs. At this time, different UEs will receive the same RAR, and different UEs will transmit Msg3 PUSCH according to the scheduling information of the UL grant in the RAR, while the network can only decode the PUSCH (containing contention resolution information) sent by one UE on one Msg3 PUSCH scheduling resource. The network will include the contention resolution information received in Msg3 in Msg4. If the contention resolution information in Msg4 matches the contention resolution information sent by the UE in Msg3 PUSCH, the UE considers the contention resolution to be successful. If they do not match, the contention resolution is considered unsuccessful. If the contention resolution is unsuccessful, the UE reselects the RACH transmission resource and performs PRACH transmission for the next random access attempt.

[0040] In NR Rel-16, the 2-step random access procedure (2-step RACH) is introduced. The first step is for the UE to send MsgA to the network side. After the network side receives MsgA, it sends MsgB to the UE; if the UE does not receive MsgB within a certain time, the UE will increment the counter that counts the number of times MsgA is sent and resend MsgA. If the counter that counts the number of times MsgA is sent reaches a certain threshold, the UE will switch from the 2-step random access procedure to the 4-step random access procedure.

[0041] MsgA includes a MsgA preamble part and a MsgA PUSCH part, the preamble part is transmitted on the RO for 2-step RACH, and the PUSCH part is transmitted on the MsgA PUSCH resource associated with the transmitted MsgA preamble and RO. Wherein, the MsgA PUSCH resource is a set of PUSCH resources configured relative to each PRACH slot, including time-frequency resources and DMRS resources.

[0042] In addition, there is also a random access procedure associated with multiple SSBs. In the cell edge area or coverage-limited area, the uplink signal coverage performance of the terminal is worse than the downlink signal coverage, that is, the coverage performance of Msg1 and Msg3 is worse than that of Msg2 and Msg4. And on the high frequency band FR2, the coverage performance difference between uplink and downlink channels is more obvious. In order to improve the coverage performance of the uplink signal, the mode of repeated transmission of the uplink signal is considered. The repetition transmission mechanism of Msg3 is introduced in Rel-17 to improve the coverage performance of Msg3, but it is still limited to a single Msg3 signal.

[0043] In the future coverage-limited scenario, since the SSB beam is usually a fixed beam, there may be a beam overlap area between SSB beams. In this case, the signal quality SS-RSRP of multiple SSBs detected by the terminal may be similar, and selecting one SSB beam for random access means giving up other possible SSB beams. If multiple SSBs can be selected to transmit Msg1, the probability of successful detection of Msg1 by the base station can be improved. In addition, since the measurement of SS-RSRP in the random access stage is only determined according to the single measurement result of the SSB, the measurement result of SS-RSRP may have measurement deviation, so selecting multiple SSBs to transmit Msg1 can also reduce the influence of SSB measurement deviation on SSB selection. When transmitting Msg1 signals based on multiple SSBs, the network can also instruct the UE to transmit multiple Msg3 signals according to the same beam direction based on the successfully received Msg1 signal, thereby improving the probability of successful completion of random access by the UE.

[0044] The TA determination method for random access provided by the embodiments of the present application will be described in detail in combination with the accompanying drawings and some embodiments and application scenarios.

[0045] The overall structure of the hierarchical cell-free system is shown in FIG. 2, in which there is a macro TRP (see the macro station node in FIG. 2) with a large coverage range, and there are multiple small TRPs (see the small station TRP in FIG. 2) with a small coverage range in the coverage range of the macro TRP. For the initial access process, the macro TRP can be independently responsible, or the small TRP can also participate in part of the process.

[0046] The macro TRP, small TRP, or TRP group in various embodiments of the present application can also be a TRP or TRP group associated with a certain specific signal, or a TRP or TRP group associated with a certain or a certain or a certain group of reference signals. The macro TRP, small TRP, etc. can also be generalized as a repeater, a timing advance group (TAG), a cell (such as an NTN, a small cell), an integrated access and backhaul (IAB), quasi co-location (QCL) information, a transmission configuration indication (TCI) state, a beam, or a signal associated with a certain specific purpose. In addition, the TRP described in the present application can be replaced by the above-mentioned generalization objects, or characterized by the above-mentioned generalization objects, or the above-mentioned generalization objects can also be used as the identification information of the TRP. The synchronization signal block SSB in various embodiments of the present application can also be called any module containing at least one of a synchronization signal, a broadcast signal, a broadcast channel (PBCH), a downlink broadcast channel of other system messages, and a control channel thereof.

[0047] As shown in FIG. 3, the present application provides a TA determination method 300 for random access, which can be executed by a terminal, in other words, the method can be executed by software or hardware installed in the terminal, and the method comprises the following steps.

[0048] S302: The terminal determines the TA information, which is determined by at least one of the following methods: 1) based on a first uplink signal, the first uplink signal is used for measurement of the TA information; 2) based on an auxiliary downlink signal, the auxiliary downlink signal is used for speculation of the TA information; 3) based on position-related information, the position-related information is used for speculation of the TA information; 4) based on a TA candidate set, the TA candidate set includes a TA parameter corresponding to the TA information; 5) based on a first downlink signal, the first downlink signal is used to indicate the TA information; 6) based on a TA pre-compensation value, the TA pre-compensation value is used for transmission of a second uplink signal.

[0049] The TA information is used for uplink transmission of the terminal, and the TA information includes at least one of a first TA corresponding to a first TRP and a second TA corresponding to a second TRP, and the first TRP is different from the second TRP.

[0050] The first TRP mentioned in various embodiments of the present application can be a macro TRP, and the second TRP can be a small TRP. In addition, the first TRP and the second TRP mentioned in various embodiments of the present application not only refer to one first TRP and one second TRP, but also can refer to multiple first TRPs and multiple second TRPs, or one first TRP group and one second TRP group. In addition, the macro TRP mentioned in various embodiments of the present application can be understood as the first TRP, and the small TRP can be understood as the second TRP.

[0051] In the first embodiment, the TA information is determined based on a first uplink signal, and the first uplink signal is used for measurement of the TA information. For example, the terminal sends the first uplink signal, and the network side device (such as the first TRP, the second TRP, etc.) can measure the TA information based on the first uplink signal. After measuring the TA information, the network side device can also indicate the TA information to the terminal, for example, by sending a first downlink signal to the terminal, and the first downlink signal is used to indicate the TA information.

[0052] In the second embodiment, the TA information is determined based on an auxiliary downlink signal, and the auxiliary downlink signal is used for estimation (or calculation, acquisition, etc., the same below) of the TA information. For example, the network side device sends the auxiliary downlink signal, and the terminal estimates the TA information based on the auxiliary downlink signal. For example, the terminal estimates the first TA by receiving the auxiliary downlink signal sent by the first TRP, and estimates the second TA by receiving the auxiliary downlink signal sent by the second TRP. For another example, the terminal estimates the time delay or power or path loss parameter difference between the first TRP and the second TRP based on the auxiliary downlink signals sent by the first TRP and the second TRP in the case that the first TA corresponding to the first TRP is known, and then estimates the second TA corresponding to the second TRP based on the first TA and the parameter difference.

[0053] In a third embodiment, the TA information is determined based on location related information, which is used for the estimation of the TA information. For example, the terminal estimates the first TA based on the location related information, such as the location of the terminal and the location of the first TRP; or the network side device, such as the first TRP, estimates the first TA based on the location related information, such as the location of the network side device and the location of the terminal, and indicates the first TA to the terminal. For another example, the terminal estimates the second TA based on the location related information, such as the location of the terminal and the location of the second TRP; or the network side device, such as the second TRP, estimates the second TA based on the location related information, such as the location of the network side device and the location of the terminal, and indicates the second TA to the terminal; or the terminal estimates the second TA based on the location related information of the first TRP and the second TRP, given that the first TA corresponding to the first TRP is known.

[0054] In a fourth embodiment, the TA information is determined based on a TA candidate set, which includes the TA parameter corresponding to the TA information. For example, the terminal repeatedly transmits the uplink transmission (e.g., Msg1 or Msg3) by traversing the TA parameters in the TA candidate set, and if the terminal successfully receives the response message (e.g., Msg2 or Msg4) corresponding to the uplink transmission, it means that the TA parameter selected by the terminal is correct, and the terminal can determine that the TA corresponding to the TA parameter is used for subsequent uplink transmission.

[0055] In a fifth embodiment, the TA information is determined based on a first downlink signal, which is used to indicate the TA information. For example, the terminal transmits the first uplink signal, and the network side device (e.g., the first TRP, the second TRP, etc.) can measure the TA information based on the first uplink signal; the network side device transmits the first downlink signal to the terminal, which is used to indicate the TA information; for another example, the network side device transmits the first downlink signal, and the terminal estimates the TA information based on the first downlink signal.

[0056] In a sixth embodiment, the TA information is determined based on a TA pre-compensation value, which is used for the transmission of the second uplink signal. For example, the terminal transmits the second uplink signal based on a pre-set TA pre-compensation value, so that the network side device can estimate the TA information. After obtaining the TA information, the network side device can also indicate the TA information to the terminal, for example, by transmitting the first downlink signal to the terminal, which is used to indicate the TA information.

[0057] It can be understood that the above six embodiments can be combined for implementation, for example, the first embodiment and the fifth embodiment are combined, that is, the network side device obtains the TA information based on the first uplink signal measurement, and transmits the first downlink signal to the terminal, and the first downlink signal is used to indicate the TA information; for example, the third embodiment and the fifth embodiment are combined, that is, the network side device obtains the TA information based on the position related information, and transmits the first downlink signal to the terminal, and the first downlink signal is used to indicate the TA information; for example, the fifth embodiment and the sixth embodiment are combined, that is, the network side device obtains the TA information based on the second uplink signal, and transmits the first downlink signal to the terminal, and the first downlink signal is used to indicate the TA information; and the like.

[0058] The above-mentioned multiple embodiments can be used to determine the second TA; can also be used to determine the first TA, for example, based on the auxiliary downlink signal, the position related information, the TA candidate set, the TA pre-compensation value, etc. to determine the first TA; can also be used to determine the second TA.

[0059] Optionally, after S302, at least one of the following steps can be further included: the terminal sends an uplink signal or channel to the first TRP based on the determined first TA; the terminal sends an uplink signal or channel to the second TRP based on the determined second TA.

[0060] The TA determination method for random access provided by the embodiments of the present application is that the terminal determines the TA information, which can be determined based on at least one of the first uplink signal, the auxiliary downlink signal, the position related information, the TA candidate set, the first downlink signal and the TA pre-compensation value, so that the terminal can obtain the TA information in the cell-free system, ensure the reception performance of the uplink transmission, and improve the performance of the communication system.

[0061] The TA determination method for random access proposed by the embodiments of the present application for the cell-free system can be for the random access scenario based on only the macro TRP, and the random access scenario based on the macro TRP+small TRP, and can be for the random access scenario of both small TRPs, can determine the second TA corresponding to the small TRP, and can also determine the first TA corresponding to the macro TRP; in addition, it can also be based on the TA pre-compensation value to determine the TA information for the super large macro TRP.

[0062] The multiple schemes for the terminal to determine the TA proposed by the embodiments of the present application can enable the terminal to know the TA of the subsequent uplink transmission before switching between the macro TRP and the small TRP in the cell-free system, so as to ensure the correctness of the uplink transmission, reduce the power consumption of the network and the terminal, and improve the resource utilization.

[0063] The above embodiments will be described in detail in the following embodiments.

[0064] Firstly, the first embodiment is introduced, i.e., the TA information is determined based on the first uplink signal, and the first uplink signal is used for measurement of the TA information.

[0065] In one example, the transmission of the first uplink signal is indicated or triggered by the second downlink signal; wherein the second downlink signal comprises at least one of the following:

[0066] 1) Random access related downlink message, for example, message 2 (Msg2), which can indicate or trigger the transmission of the first uplink signal through a random access response (RAR) or a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) scheduling the RAR; for another example, the random access related downlink message can also be message 4 (Msg4), message B (MsgB), etc.

[0067] 2) First reference signal, for example, including: SSB, positioning reference signal (PRS), channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS), tracking reference signal (TRS), etc.

[0068] For example, in this embodiment, the terminal transmits the first uplink signal after receiving the second downlink signal, so that the network side device can measure the TA information based on the first uplink signal, for example, the second TRP measures the second TA based on the first uplink signal.

[0069] In one example, the first uplink signal comprises at least one of the following:

[0070] 1) Random access related uplink message, for example, message 3 (Msg3), corresponding to the case that the second downlink signal is Msg2; for another example, message 5 (Msg5), corresponding to the case that the second downlink signal is Msg4.

[0071] 2) Random access preamble.

[0072] 3) Second reference signal, which can be an uplink signal, for example, sounding reference signal (SRS), PRS, etc. Wherein, the preamble or the second reference signal can be transmitted before the RRC connected state of the terminal, or transmitted after the RRC connected state.

[0073] To improve the efficiency of the second TA acquisition, the terminal also needs to know which small TRP or small TRP group to send the first uplink signal to.

[0074] In one example, the first uplink signal is associated with the second TRP, and the association of the first uplink signal with the second TRP includes at least one of the following:

[0075] 1) One of the second TRPs is associated with one of the first uplink signals or a set to which the first uplink signal belongs.

[0076] It can be understood that when there are multiple second TRPs, it is also possible that the first uplink signals corresponding to some second TRPs are different, and the first uplink signals corresponding to some second TRPs are the same; for example, different second TRPs are associated with different first uplink signals or sets to which the first uplink signals belong, that is, different first uplink signals are used to distinguish the measurement of the second TA on different second TRPs.

[0077] 2) The first uplink signal is transmitted on the time-frequency resource associated with the second TRP.

[0078] In one example, the method further includes that the terminal determines the second TRP for receiving the first uplink signal, including at least one of the following ways:

[0079] 1) The terminal determines the second TRP based on the identification information of the second TRP indicated by the network side device.

[0080] The identification information mentioned in various embodiments of the present application includes at least one of the following, for example: eighth reference signal or eighth reference signal set (sub-set or sub-group); TRP index; spatial relationship information; TCI information.

[0081] It should be noted that the reference signals mentioned in various embodiments of the present application, such as the first reference signal, and the third reference signal to the eighth reference signal, can all be the same reference signal, or can be different reference signals, and these can be downlink reference signals (for example, SSB, CSI-RS, TRS, PRS, path loss reference signal PL-RS); and the second reference signal is an uplink reference signal.

[0082] 2) The terminal determines the second TRP based on the first uplink signal, and the first uplink signal is associated with the second TRP. For example, a specific first uplink signal or group of first uplink signals is sent, which corresponds to a specific second TRP or second TRP group.

[0083] 3) the terminal determines the second TRP based on the SSB corresponding to the first TRP.

[0084] For example, one SSB index or SSB group index corresponds to one or a group of second TRPs. At this time, the terminal sends the first uplink signal associated with the SSB index or SSB group index by default.

[0085] The first uplink signal itself sent to the second TRP also needs to determine its TA. In one example, the third TA used to send the first uplink signal is determined by at least one of the following:

[0086] 1) the third TA is predefined, such as 0.

[0087] 2) the third TA is indicated by the network side device.

[0088] 3) the third TA is determined based on the first TA offset value, which is an offset based on the first TA, and the first TA offset value can be determined by the network side device or estimated by the terminal.

[0089] In this example, when the second TRP performs uplink timing measurement based on the first uplink signal, the corresponding second TA is calculated; then the network side can indicate the second TA to the terminal.

[0090] In some examples, the random access procedure of the terminal can be completed based on the first TRP and the second TRP jointly, that is, part of the process is completed on the first TRP, and the other part of the process is completed on the second TRP. Therefore, the terminal needs to determine the second TA in the process of random access, so as to transmit the random access related information on the second TRP.

[0091] In the case where the first uplink signal includes a random access preamble, the method further comprises: the terminal sends the random access preamble to the first TRP and the second TRP, so that the terminal determines the second TA in the process of random access.

[0092] In one example, the random access preamble satisfies at least one of the following:

[0093] 1) the random access preambles corresponding to the first TRP and the second TRP are the same.

[0094] 2) the random access occasions (ROs) or RO groups corresponding to the random access preambles sent to the first TRP and the second TRP are the same.

[0095] 3) The terminal transmits the random access preamble in a single frequency network (SFN) manner.

[0096] 4) The first TRP and the second TRP correspond to different random access preambles, and the different random access preambles have an association relationship.

[0097] 5) The random access preambles transmitted to the first TRP and the second TRP correspond to different ROs or RO groups, and the different ROs or RO groups have an association relationship.

[0098] 6) The fourth reference signals associated with the random access preambles transmitted to the first TRP and the second TRP are the same, and the fourth reference signals can be SSBs, etc.

[0099] 7) The sets to which the fourth reference signals associated with the random access preambles transmitted to the first TRP and the second TRP belong are the same.

[0100] In this embodiment, the network side device can assume that the random access preambles are transmitted by the same terminal, so as to subsequently perform corresponding TA indication (for example, including the first TA and the second TA). In addition, the above-mentioned association relationship can be a default convention, such as a mapping relationship between random access preamble indexes, a mapping relationship between ROs, and the association relationship is also for the network side device to be able to subsequently perform corresponding TA indication. Of course, in some embodiments, the terminal can also only transmit a random access preamble to the first TRP, and then the network side device indicates that the RAR carries the first TA; the terminal can calculate the second TA through the timing difference between the downlink signals of the first TRP and the second TRP, or the loss difference.

[0101] The following introduces a second embodiment, that is, an embodiment of determining TA information based on an auxiliary downlink signal used for speculation of the TA information.

[0102] The auxiliary downlink signal mentioned in each embodiment of the present application can be a reference signal or a reference signal set (sub-set or sub-group) corresponding to the second TRP, for example, including SSB, CSI-RS, PRS, PL-RS, etc.

[0103] In some examples, in the case where the terminal has learned the first TA, the terminal can also assist the acquisition of the second TA through the auxiliary downlink signal transmitted on the second TRP.

[0104] In some examples, the auxiliary downlink signal satisfies at least one of the following:

[0105] 1) the assistance downlink signal or the set to which the assistance downlink signal belongs is associated with the second TRP.

[0106] 2) the assistance downlink signal is triggered by the terminal through a third uplink signal, for example, a random access preamble, MsgA, Msg3, Msg5.

[0107] 3) the assistance downlink signal is received by the terminal before the terminal enters an RRC connected state.

[0108] 4) the assistance downlink signal is received by the terminal after the terminal enters an RRC connected state.

[0109] Optionally, the assistance downlink signal is triggered by the terminal through a third uplink signal, and the third uplink signal satisfies at least one of the following: 1) the third uplink signal is associated with the second TRP; 2) the third uplink signal carries association information of the second TRP.

[0110] Optionally, after the terminal determines the TA information based on the assistance downlink signal, the method further comprises: the terminal reporting the TA information. For example, the terminal can report one or more second TAs, each of which corresponds to a second TRP. Of course, the terminal can report one or more first TAs based on the assistance downlink signal, each of which corresponds to a first TRP.

[0111] In this embodiment, in the case where the terminal knows the first TA, the terminal can infer the second TA corresponding to the second TRP by comparing the difference between the downlink timing and the downlink path loss (PL) of the assistance downlink signals corresponding to the first TRP and the second TRP, without the network side indicating the second TA. In addition, the dynamic triggering mode of the third uplink signal can effectively reduce the frequency of sending the assistance downlink signal on the second TRP, thereby achieving the effect of energy saving.

[0112] The following introduces a third embodiment, i.e., an embodiment of determining TA information based on position-related information used for the inference of the TA information.

[0113] In one example, the position-related information includes at least one of the following:

[0114] 1) position information of a TRP, for example, position information of a first TRP, position information of a second TRP, etc.

[0115] 2) position information of the terminal.

[0116] 3) Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) information.

[0117] Optionally, the terminal can further infer the second TA in combination with the first TA of the terminal and the plurality of first TRPs.

[0118] Optionally, after the terminal determines the TA information, the method further comprises: the terminal reporting the TA information. For example, the terminal can report one or more second TAs, each of which corresponds to a second TRP. Of course, the terminal determines the first TA based on the location-related information, and then reports one or more first TAs, each of which corresponds to a first TRP.

[0119] The following introduces a fourth embodiment, i.e., an embodiment of determining TA information based on a TA candidate set, wherein the TA candidate set includes a TA parameter corresponding to the TA information.

[0120] In one example, when the terminal obtains the first TA through downlink transmission (such as RAR transmission), if the uplink transmission of the terminal is to be switched to the second TRP, the uplink transmission (such as Msg3) can be repeatedly sent through the way of traversing the TA candidate set.

[0121] In one example, the terminal determines the TA information based on the TA candidate set, including at least one of the following cases:

[0122] 1) The terminal uses the TA parameter in the TA candidate set according to the first rule for the transmission of the fourth uplink signal. For example, the terminal performs repeated transmission or retransmission of the fourth uplink signal, and the fourth uplink signal can be Msg1, Msg3, etc.

[0123] 2) The TA parameter in the TA candidate set is associated with at least one of the SSB, the random access preamble, and the RO. For example, different TA parameters in the TA candidate set correspond to different SSBs, random access preambles, and ROs, or correspond to different groups, subgroups, or sets of SSBs, random access preambles, and ROs.

[0124] In one example, the TA parameter in the TA candidate set includes one of the following:

[0125] 1) The second TA.

[0126] 2) A second TA offset value, which is an offset based on the first TA, for example, first TA + second TA offset value = second TA.

[0127] In one example, the TA candidate set satisfies at least one of the following:

[0128] 1) The number of TA parameters in the TA candidate set is associated with the number of transmission times of the fourth uplink signal, for example, both are equal, or there is a multiple relationship.

[0129] 2) The TA candidate set is indicated by the network side device.

[0130] 3) The TA candidate set is predefined.

[0131] 4) The TA candidate set is associated with a third reference signal, which can be an SSB, etc.

[0132] In this embodiment, the terminal can repeatedly transmit the fourth uplink signal to the second TRP multiple times. If the terminal receives a response message of the fourth uplink signal, it means that the selection of the TA parameter is correct. At this time, if the TA candidate set has not been traversed, the repeated transmission of the fourth uplink signal is also stopped. It should be noted that the repeated transmission here is different only in the use of the second TA, and other aspects are not limited, for example, the transmission beams can be the same or different. Of course, in order to improve efficiency, one way is to agree that the TA candidate set is traversed in the same uplink beam first, and if it is still unsuccessful, a beam can be changed to continue to traverse the TA candidate set.

[0133] The fifth embodiment is introduced below, that is, the TA information is determined based on the first downlink signal, and the embodiment of the first downlink signal for indicating the TA information.

[0134] In one example, the first downlink signal satisfies at least one of the following:

[0135] 1) The terminal receives the first downlink signal before entering the RRC connected state.

[0136] 2) The terminal receives the first downlink signal after entering the RRC connected state.

[0137] 3) The first downlink signal is transmitted by at least one of the first TRP and the second TRP.

[0138] 4) The first downlink signal carries identification information of the TRP associated with the TA information. For example, the network side device can indicate the identification information of the TRP (associated with the TA information) to enable the terminal to correctly receive the first downlink signal.

[0139] 5) The QCL information for receiving the first downlink signal includes the identification information of the TRP. For example, the network side device can indicate the QCL reference information (including beam information) of the first downlink signal to enable the terminal to correctly receive the first downlink signal.

[0140] 6) The QCL information for receiving the first downlink signal is the same as the QCL information for receiving the downlink message of random access. For example, it is agreed by default that the QCL information for receiving the first downlink signal is the same as the QCL information for receiving Msg2, Msg4 or MsgB.

[0141] In this embodiment, the terminal can obtain one or more second TAs. The second TA here can indicate multiple second TAs, each corresponding to a different second TRP.

[0142] In one example, when the TA information corresponds to at least two TRPs, at least one of the following is satisfied:

[0143] 1) The TA information corresponds to at least two timing advance commands (TACs) or TAC domains. The TACs or TAC domains in this example correspond to different TRPs respectively, and at least two TACs or TAC domains are associated with the identification of the TRP respectively.

[0144] 2) The TA information is associated with the identification information of the TRP.

[0145] 3) The TAC or TAC domain corresponding to the TA information is associated with the identification information of the TRP. By default, a specific TAC corresponds to a specific TRP (such as the first TAC corresponding to the first TRP and the second TAC corresponding to the second TRP).

[0146] The TA information corresponds to at least two TRPs, including at least two first TRPs, at least two second TRPs, and both the first TRP and the second TRP.

[0147] In one example, at least part of the TA information in the TA information corresponds to TACs or TAC domains of different sizes.

[0148] In one example, the TAC or the TAC domain satisfies at least one of the following:

[0149] 1) The size of the TAC or the TAC domain is configured by the network side device or is predefined. For example, it is configured through RRC signaling; for another example, it is agreed by default that different TRPs correspond to TACs or TAC domains of different sizes; for another example, the size of the TAC or the TAC domain is indicated in the system message.

[0150] 2) The TAC or the TAC field size is associated with a fifth reference signal, which can be SSB or the like.

[0151] 3) The TA information indicated by the TAC or the TAC field is absolute TA or relative TA, which can be determined according to a default agreement. For example, the default agreement is associated with "switching between the first TRP and the second TRP"; wherein the first TAC or TAC field corresponding to the first time of switching between the first TRP and the second TRP corresponds to absolute TA; and the TAC or TAC field corresponding to subsequent switching between multiple second TRPs corresponds to relative TA.

[0152] In this embodiment, when the terminal is instructed to perform related transmission in the RRC connected state on the second TRP, the network side device and the terminal are defaulted to receive the TAC corresponding to the TAC of the second TRP, so as to determine the correct TA. At this time, in order to avoid the problem of TA jump, the TA change from the first TRP to the second TRP can be indicated by absolute TA, and the subsequent TA change on the second TRP is indicated by relative TA.

[0153] Among them, the absolute TA refers to the TA value indicated in the TAC or TAC field as the actual TA value; and the relative TA refers to the TA value indicated in the TAC or TAC field as the relative TA value based on a certain TA anchor point. For example, if the absolute TA has been indicated in the previous, then the TA increment based on this absolute TA can be indicated in the subsequent TA indication, which can effectively reduce the indication overhead of TA. For another example, the first TA is absolute TA, and then the TA increment based on the first TA can be indicated as the second TA.

[0154] In one example, after the first TRP and the second TRP receive the respective random access preamble, the corresponding TA can be indicated in the downlink signal or channel (such as RAR), for example, by the first downlink signal indicating the TA information.

[0155] In one example, the TA information indicated by the first downlink signal is associated with an uplink transmission mode, including at least one of the following cases:

[0156] 1) The TA or TAC or TAC field corresponding to the TA information is associated with the TRP used for subsequent transmission.

[0157] The "subsequent" mentioned in this example refers to immediately after the terminal determines the TA information, or after a pre-defined time threshold after determining the TA information. The "transmission" mentioned in this example can include uplink transmission or downlink transmission.

[0158] 2) The order of the corresponding TA or TAC or TAC domain in the TA information corresponds to the order of the TRP corresponding to the subsequent transmission.

[0159] When the first downlink signal only indicates the TA or other TA-related information of one of them, it is implied that the subsequent uplink transmission is performed on the TRP corresponding to the TA.

[0160] When the first downlink signal indicates multiple TA or other TA-related information, it is implied that the subsequent uplink transmission is transmitted on the TRP corresponding to the multiple TA or other TA-related information, that is, the subsequent uplink transmission is performed in the manner of multiple TRP (MTRP), including SFN, FDM, TDM, SDM, etc.

[0161] When the first downlink signal indicates multiple TA or other TA-related information, the corresponding TRP for subsequent transmission can also be determined based on other enabling indications. The enabling indication enables a specific at least one TRP for subsequent transmission, or the enabling indication corresponds to different single TRP (STRP) or MTRP transmission modes. At this time, the network only informs multiple TA or other TA-related information, and the terminal can know the TA in advance to adjust the TA in time when the transmission mode is switched. The enabling indication can also be a bitmap corresponding to multiple TAs one by one, and bit 1 corresponds to enabling a certain TRP.

[0162] The following introduces the sixth embodiment, that is, an embodiment for determining TA information based on a TA pre-compensation value for transmission of a second uplink signal.

[0163] In one example, the method further comprises: the terminal determines to use the TA pre-compensation value for transmission of the second uplink signal based on at least one of the following:

[0164] 1) TA pre-compensation enabling signaling of the network side device, for example, the network side device can directly enable the terminal to perform TA pre-compensation.

[0165] 2) Predefined TA pre-compensation enabling conditions, for example, the terminal starts TA pre-compensation according to the default agreed conditions, for example, in the case that the reception power or RSRP of SSB meets the preset condition, the terminal starts TA pre-compensation.

[0166] 3) The sixth reference signal or the sixth reference signal set (sub-set or sub-group) associated with the second uplink signal, for example, for uplink transmission within the TRP coverage range associated with a certain reference signal or reference signal set, TA pre-compensation is required.

[0167] The second uplink signal can include all or part of the uplink transmission signal in the random access procedure. For example, at least one of the uplink message (e.g., preamble, Msg1, Msg3, MsgA) in the random access procedure, and the uplink reference signal (e.g., SRS).

[0168] In one example, the method further includes that the terminal determines the TA pre-compensation value based on at least one of the following:

[0169] 1) TA pre-compensation information indicated by the network side device, such as the network side device indicating the TA pre-compensation value in the broadcast message, including one or more of the following signaling: MIB; L1-payload; SIB1; OSI.

[0170] 2) the seventh reference signal; wherein the seventh reference signal is associated with the TA pre-compensation value. The seventh reference signal can be an SSB, for example, the TA pre-compensation value is associated with the index of the SSB or SSB group; the TA pre-compensation value is associated with the time domain or frequency resource of the SSB or SSB group; the TA pre-compensation value is associated with the synchronization raster (sync raster) of the SSB or SSB group. The TA pre-compensation value corresponding to some SSB or SSB group is 0 or corresponds to no TA pre-compensation.

[0171] 3) positioning information; wherein the positioning information is associated with the TA pre-compensation value, and the terminal can determine the TA pre-compensation value through the positioning information.

[0172] In one example, the method further includes that the terminal sends the second uplink signal based on the TA pre-compensation value, wherein the terminal sends the second uplink signal based on different TA pre-compensation values.

[0173] In this way, the network side can combine the TA pre-compensation value when subsequently indicating the TA, and the indicated TA value can include the TA pre-compensation part, so that the terminal can directly determine the TA when sending the subsequent uplink signal, without considering the pre-compensation; of course, the TA pre-compensation part can also not be included, so that the terminal combines the indicated TA and the pre-pre-compensation TA to determine the transmission time of the uplink when sending the subsequent uplink signal. Therefore, for the TA content subsequently indicated by the network, the following embodiments are further provided.

[0174] In one example, the method further includes that the terminal receives a third downlink signal, and the third downlink signal is used to indicate at least one of the following:

[0175] 1) the TA information estimated by the network side device according to the first uplink signal.

[0176] 2) the TA pre-compensation value used for estimating the first uplink signal transmission of the TA information.

[0177] 3) the TA pre-compensation value of the second uplink signal other than the first uplink signal.

[0178] In one example, the terminal can also not acquire the accurate TA pre-compensation value, and the terminal transmits the second uplink signal (such as a random access preamble) based on different TA pre-compensation values, and at least one of the following is met:

[0179] 1) different TA pre-compensation values correspond to different second uplink signals or sets to which the second uplink signals belong.

[0180] 2) different ROs or RO groups correspond to different TA pre-compensation values.

[0181] 3) different SSBs or SSB groups correspond to different TA pre-compensation values.

[0182] For example, the terminal transmits a random access preamble on multiple ROs, and it is agreed by default that each RO corresponds to a preset TA pre-compensation value. When the network side correctly detects the random access preamble on a certain RO, the terminal can calculate the real TA value required by the terminal according to the RO and the TA pre-compensation value. The same principle applies to different preambles, preamble groups, SSBs, and SSB groups. The network side can indicate the determined TA to the terminal.

[0183] To further illustrate the random access TA determination method provided by the embodiments of the present application, the following will be described in conjunction with several specific embodiments.

[0184] Embodiment One

[0185] This embodiment is applicable to random access based only on a macro TRP.

[0186] The first deployment scenario of the first cell-free system is that SSB, SIB, and other broadcast messages and random access related messages are transmitted on the first TRP (macro TRP); the second TRP (small TRP) mainly participates in related transmission after RRC connection, but can also transmit some downlink signals for auxiliary functions (for example, to assist the terminal in acquiring the TA corresponding to the small TRP).

[0187] When the random access is completed only on the macro TRP, if the estimation capability of the uplink timing corresponding to the PRACH is greater than the coverage of the macro TRP, that is, the edge user of the macro TRP can still send the PRACH to enable the macro TRP to correctly estimate the uplink timing and inform the terminal of the corresponding TA (the first TA). Then, when the terminal enters the RRC connected state, if the target TRP of the terminal needs to be switched to the small TRP, at this time, the terminal does not have the TA corresponding to the small TRP and cannot perform correct uplink transmission after RRC connection. Therefore, the TA corresponding to the small TRP (the second TA) needs to be obtained before entering the RRC connected state or in the initial stage of entering the RRC connected state.

[0188] Therefore, the terminal can perform the measurement or estimation of the second TA corresponding to the small TRP in advance through some uplink signals in the process of completing the random access on the macro TRP, or perform the measurement or estimation of the second TA through some uplink signals after completing the random access.

[0189] In some embodiments (also applicable to the scenario corresponding to Embodiment Two below), the network side device indicates or schedules the terminal to transmit the first uplink signal through the second downlink signal for the uplink timing measurement or estimation corresponding to the second TA.

[0190] The second downlink signal includes at least one of the following:

[0191] 1) The random access related downlink message, for example, message 2 (Msg2), which can indicate or trigger the transmission of the first uplink signal through the random access response (RAR) or the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) scheduling the RAR; for another example, the random access related downlink message can also be message 4 (Msg4), message B (MsgB), etc.

[0192] 2) The first reference signal, for example, including: SSB, positioning reference signal (PRS), channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS), tracking reference signal (TRS), etc.

[0193] The first uplink signal includes at least one of the following:

[0194] 1) Uplink message related to random access, for example, message 3 (Msg3), corresponding to the case that the second downlink signal is Msg2; for example, message 5 (Msg5), corresponding to the case that the second downlink signal is Msg4.

[0195] 2) Random access preamble.

[0196] 3) Second reference signal, which can be a downlink signal, for example, Sounding Reference Signal (SRS), PRS, etc. The second reference signal can be transmitted before or after the RRC connection state of the terminal.

[0197] In one example, the first uplink signal is associated with the small TRP, and the association of the first uplink signal with the small TRP includes at least one of the following:

[0198] 1) One of the small TRPs is associated with one of the first uplink signals or a set to which the first uplink signal belongs.

[0199] It can be understood that when there are multiple small TRPs, it is also possible that the first uplink signals corresponding to part of the small TRPs are different, and the first uplink signals corresponding to part of the small TRPs are the same; for example, different small TRPs are associated with different first uplink signals or sets to which the first uplink signals belong, that is, different first uplink signals are used to distinguish the measurement of the second TA on different small TRPs.

[0200] 2) The first uplink signal is transmitted on the time-frequency resource associated with the small TRP.

[0201] At this time, after the network side device measures the uplink timing based on Msg1, the terminal obtains the first TA corresponding to the macro TRP through Msg2. Then, in order to obtain the second TA corresponding to the small TRP, the network side can send the second downlink signal to instruct the terminal to send the first uplink signal before or after the terminal enters the RRC connection state. The advantage of sending the second downlink signal before the RRC connection state is that the network side can timely switch the transmission of the terminal to the small TRP, without the need to wait until after the RRC connection is established to send a specific uplink signal after the RRC connection state to obtain the TA, thereby improving the switching speed.

[0202] Taking the second downlink signal as an example, the terminal determines that the random access is successful after receiving the Msg4. The terminal sends a random access preamble in the Msg4, which can be sent to the macro TRP or the small TRP, or only to the small TRP, so that the small TRP can measure the uplink timing based on the random access preamble. For example, the random access preamble belongs to a certain random access preamble group associated with a certain small TRP, and the terminal sends the random access preamble on the transmission resource associated with the small TRP. At this time, only the small TRP will receive and process this random access preamble to measure the uplink timing.

[0203] In order to improve the efficiency of the second TA acquisition, the terminal needs to know which small TRP or TRP group to send the first uplink signal to.

[0204] As a first sub-embodiment of the above embodiment, the terminal determines the small TRP for receiving the first uplink signal, including at least one of the following ways:

[0205] 1) The terminal determines the small TRP based on the identification information of the small TRP indicated by the receiving network side device.

[0206] The identification information mentioned in various embodiments of the present application includes at least one of the following, for example: eighth reference signal or eighth reference signal set (subset or subgroup); TRP index; spatial relationship information; transmission configuration indicator (TCI) information.

[0207] It should be noted that the reference signals mentioned in various embodiments of the present application, such as the first reference signal, and the third to eighth reference signals, can all be the same reference signal, or different reference signals, and these can all be downlink reference signals; while the second reference signal is usually an uplink reference signal.

[0208] 2) The terminal determines the small TRP based on the first uplink signal, which is associated with the small TRP. For example, sending a specific first uplink signal or a specific group of first uplink signals corresponds to a specific small TRP or small TRP group.

[0209] 3) The terminal determines the small TRP based on the SSB corresponding to the macro TRP.

[0210] For example, one SSB index or SSB group index corresponds to one or a group of small TRPs. At this time, the terminal sends a first uplink signal associated with the SSB index or SSB group index by default.

[0211] In some cases (for example, FR2 scenarios), the network side device needs to know in advance the beam direction for sending the first uplink signal to the small TRP. When the small TRP does not send a downlink signal throughout the process, it may be necessary to infer the position of the small TRP through positioning (location-related information) and other means to determine the uplink beam direction for sending the random access preamble. Or the terminal sends the first uplink signal omnidirectionally, so that the corresponding small TRP can also receive the first uplink signal. Or, as in the second downlink signal indicated by the terminal in the sub-embodiment, the QCL reference information, spatial relationship information or TCI information determines the transmission beam direction of the first uplink signal.

[0212] In addition, the first uplink signal itself needs to determine its TA when it is sent to the small TRP, which can include one or more of the following methods. As a second sub-embodiment of the above-mentioned embodiment, in one example, the third TA for sending the first uplink signal is determined by at least one of the following:

[0213] 1) The third TA is predefined, such as 0.

[0214] 2) The third TA is indicated by the network side device.

[0215] 3) The third TA is determined based on a first TA offset value, which is an offset based on the first TA, and the first TA offset value can be determined by the network side device or the terminal estimation.

[0216] When the small TRP performs uplink timing measurement based on the first uplink signal, a corresponding second TA is calculated. Then, the network side needs to indicate the second TA to the terminal.

[0217] In some embodiments, the network side indicates at least one of the second TA through the first downlink signal, including at least one of the following methods:

[0218] 1) The terminal receives the first downlink signal before entering the RRC connected state.

[0219] 2) The terminal receives the first downlink signal after entering the RRC connected state.

[0220] 3) The first downlink signal is sent by at least one of the macro TRP and the small TRP.

[0221] 4) The first downlink signal carries the identification information of the TRP associated with the TA information. For example, the network side device can indicate the identification information of the TRP (associated with the TA information) to enable the terminal to correctly receive the first downlink signal.

[0222] 5) The QCL information for receiving the first downlink signal includes the identification information of the TRP. For example, the network side device can indicate the QCL reference information (including beam information) of the first downlink signal to enable the terminal to correctly receive the first downlink signal.

[0223] 6) The QCL information for receiving the first downlink signal is the same as the QCL information for receiving the downlink message of the random access. For example, it is agreed by default that the QCL information for receiving the first downlink signal is the same as the QCL information for receiving Msg2, Msg4 or MsgB.

[0224] In this embodiment, the terminal can obtain one or more second TAs. The second TA here can indicate multiple second TAs, each corresponding to a different small TRP.

[0225] In addition, since the macro TRP and the small TRP can correspond to TA values in different ranges, a large TA jump can be caused. Therefore, different TAC sizes can be considered for different types of TRPs, which is beneficial to saving the TAC indication overhead of the small TRP.

[0226] In some embodiments, the network side can also indicate multiple TACs or multiple TAC domains, each corresponding to a different TRP (the multiple TACs or TAC domains are respectively associated with the TRP identification).

[0227] In one example, the TAC or the TAC domain satisfies at least one of the following conditions:

[0228] 1) The size of the TAC or the TAC domain is configured by the network side device or is predefined. For example, it is configured through RRC signaling; for another example, it is agreed by default that different TRPs correspond to different sizes of TAC or TAC domain; for another example, the size of the TAC or the TAC domain is indicated in the system message.

[0229] 2) The size of the TAC or the TAC domain is associated with a fifth reference signal, which can be an SSB, for example.

[0230] 3) The TA information indicated by the TAC or the TAC field is absolute TA or relative TA, which can be determined according to a default agreement. For example, the default agreement is associated with "switching between macro TRP and small TRP"; wherein the first TAC or TAC field corresponding to absolute TA in the switching between macro TRP and small TRP; the TAC or TAC field corresponding to relative TA in the subsequent switching between multiple small TRPs.

[0231] In this embodiment, when the terminal is instructed to perform related transmission in the RRC connected state on the small TRP, the network side device and the terminal are agreed by default to receive the TAC corresponding to the small TRP, so as to determine the correct TA. At this time, in order to avoid the problem of TA jump, the TA change from macro TRP to small TRP can be indicated by absolute TA, and the subsequent TA change on small TRP is indicated by relative TA.

[0232] In addition, in the case where the terminal has learned the first TA, the terminal can also assist the acquisition of the second TA through the downlink signal sent on the small TRP.

[0233] In some examples, the auxiliary downlink signal satisfies at least one of the following:

[0234] 1) The auxiliary downlink signal or the set to which the auxiliary downlink signal belongs is associated with the small TRP.

[0235] 2) The auxiliary downlink signal is triggered by the terminal through a third uplink signal, for example, including a random access preamble, MsgA, Msg3, Msg5.

[0236] 3) The terminal receives the auxiliary downlink signal before entering the RRC connected state.

[0237] 4) The terminal receives the auxiliary downlink signal after entering the RRC connected state.

[0238] Optionally, the auxiliary downlink signal is triggered by the terminal through a third uplink signal, and the third uplink signal satisfies at least one of the following: 1) the third uplink signal is associated with the small TRP; 2) the third uplink signal carries the association information of the small TRP.

[0239] In this way, in the case where the terminal knows the first TA, the terminal can infer the second TA corresponding to the small TRP by comparing the difference between the downlink timing or the downlink path loss (PL) of the auxiliary downlink signals corresponding to the macro TRP and the small TRP, without the network side indicating the second TA. In addition, the third uplink signal is dynamically triggered, which can effectively reduce the frequency of sending auxiliary downlink signals on the small TRP, thereby achieving the effect of energy saving.

[0240] In addition, the terminal can also determine the second TA by using other ways (e.g., location related information).

[0241] In one example, the location related information includes at least one of:

[0242] 1) Location information of a TRP, e.g., location information of a macro TRP, location information of a small TRP, etc.

[0243] 2) Location information of the terminal.

[0244] 3) Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) information.

[0245] Optionally, the terminal can also infer the second TA in combination with the first TA of the terminal and the plurality of first TRPs.

[0246] Optionally, after the terminal determines the TA information, the method further includes: the terminal reporting the TA information. For example, the terminal can report one or more second TAs, each of which corresponds to a small TRP.

[0247] Through the above-mentioned other ways, the terminal can infer the approximate value of the second TA based on the first TA and the location information, so as to autonomously adjust the TA when sending information to the small TRP, without the second TA indication of the base station.

[0248] In some cases, the second TA estimated by the terminal can be reported to the network, which helps the network to determine which TRPs to select for subsequent downlink transmission to the terminal.

[0249] In some embodiments, the second TA corresponding to one or more TRPs determined by the terminal is reported to the network,

[0250] For example, it can be reported through uplink MAC-CE or uplink control information.

[0251] Embodiment Two

[0252] This embodiment is applicable to random access based on macro TRP + small TRP.

[0253] The second deployment scenario of the cell-free system is that the transmission of SSB, SIB, and part of the random access message is completed on the macro TRP; the small TRP can also transmit SSB, part of the random access message, part of the broadcast message, and related transmission after RRC connection state.

[0254] The biggest difference between this deployment and the first cell-free system is that the random access procedure of the terminal can be jointly completed based on the macro TRP and the small TRP, that is, part of the procedure is completed on the macro TRP and the other part of the procedure is completed on the small TRP. Therefore, the terminal needs to determine the second TA in the process of random access, so as to transmit the random access related information on the small TRP.

[0255] In some embodiments, the terminal sends the random access preamble to both the macro TRP and the small TRP.

[0256] In one example, the random access preamble satisfies at least one of the following:

[0257] 1) The random access preambles corresponding to the macro TRP and the small TRP are the same.

[0258] 2) The random access preambles corresponding to the random access occasions (ROs) or RO groups sent to the macro TRP and the small TRP are the same.

[0259] 3) The terminal sends the random access preamble in a single frequency network (SFN) manner.

[0260] 4) The macro TRP and the small TRP correspond to different random access preambles, and the different random access preambles have an association relationship.

[0261] 5) The random access preambles sent to the macro TRP and the small TRP correspond to different ROs or RO groups, and the different ROs or RO groups have an association relationship.

[0262] 6) The fourth reference signals associated with the random access preambles sent to the macro TRP and the small TRP are the same, and the fourth reference signals can be SSBs, etc.

[0263] 7) The sets to which the fourth reference signals associated with the random access preambles sent to the macro TRP and the small TRP belong are the same.

[0264] In this embodiment, the network side device can assume that the random access preambles sent are sent by the same terminal, so as to subsequently perform corresponding TA indication (for example, including the first TA and the second TA). In addition, the above-mentioned association relationship can be a default convention, such as a mapping relationship between random access preamble indexes, a mapping relationship between ROs, and the association relationship is also for the network side device to be able to subsequently perform corresponding TA indication.

[0265] Of course, in some embodiments, the terminal can also only send the random access preamble to the macro TRP, and then the network side device indicates the RAR to carry the first TA; the terminal can calculate the second TA through the timing difference between the downlink signals of the macro TRP and the small TRP, or the loss difference.

[0266] When the macro TRP and the small TRP receive the respective preambles, the corresponding TA can be indicated in the downlink signal or channel (such as RAR).

[0267] In some embodiments, the network side (such as through RAR) can indicate the TA or other TA related information (such as TA offset) of at least one of the corresponding one or more macro TRPs and one or more small TRPs through the first downlink signal.

[0268] In one example, the TA information indicated by the first downlink signal is associated with the uplink transmission mode, including at least one of the following cases:

[0269] 1) The corresponding TA or TAC or TAC domain in the TA information is associated with the TRP used for subsequent transmission.

[0270] The "subsequent" mentioned in this example refers to immediately after the terminal determines the TA information, or after a pre-defined time threshold after determining the TA information. The "transmission" mentioned in this example can include uplink transmission or downlink transmission.

[0271] 2) The order of the corresponding TA or TAC or TAC domain in the TA information corresponds to the order of the TRP corresponding to the subsequent transmission.

[0272] When the first downlink signal only indicates the TA or other TA related information of one of them, it is implied that the subsequent uplink transmission is performed on the TRP corresponding to the TA.

[0273] When the first downlink signal indicates multiple TA or other TA related information, it is implied that the subsequent uplink transmission is transmitted on the TRP corresponding to the multiple TA or other TA related information, that is, the subsequent uplink transmission is performed in the manner of multiple TRP (MTRP), including SFN, FDM, TDM, SDM, etc.

[0274] When the first downlink signal indicates multiple TAs or other TA related information, the corresponding TRP for the subsequent transmission can also be determined based on other enabling indication. The enabling indication is used to enable a specific at least one TRP for the subsequent transmission, or the enabling indication corresponds to different single TRP (STRP) or MTRP transmission modes. At this time, the network only informs multiple TAs or other TA related information, and the terminal can know the TA in advance to adjust the TA in time when the transmission mode is switched.

[0275] In one example, the first downlink signal indicates the relationship between TA and TRP, for example, the TA or other TA related information indicated by the network (such as in RAR) is associated with the TRP identifier; for another example, when multiple TAs or other TA related information are indicated, a specific TAC corresponds to a specific TRP (such as the first TAC corresponds to the macro TRP) by default.

[0276] In one example, the first downlink signal indicates the size (bit number or size) of the TAC or other TA related information. Optionally, the determination of the size of the TAC or TAC domain or other TA related information corresponding to different TRPs includes one or more of the following methods:

[0277] 1) The size of the TAC or the TAC domain is configured by the network side device or is predefined. For example, it is configured through RRC signaling; for another example, the size of the TAC or TAC domain corresponding to different TRPs is agreed by default; for another example, the size of the TAC or TAC domain is indicated in the system message.

[0278] 2) The size of the TAC or the TAC domain is associated with the fifth reference signal, which can be SSB, etc. For example, different SSBs or SSB sets can correspond to different TRPs (such as small TRPs), and the coverage of different TRPs can also be different.

[0279] In this way, for example, the terminal can obtain the second TA according to the RAR. Further, the terminal can perform Msg3 transmission on the small TRP based on the second TA. Or when the random access on the macro TRP fails, the preamble can be initiated on the small TRP based on the second TA to reattempt random access.

[0280] In addition, another implementation method is that when the terminal obtains the first TA through downlink transmission (such as RAR transmission), if the uplink transmission of the terminal is switched to the small TRP, the uplink transmission (such as Msg3) can be repeatedly sent by traversing the TA candidate set.

[0281] In an example, the terminal determines the TA information based on the TA candidate set, including at least one of the following:

[0282] 1) The terminal uses the TA parameters in the TA candidate set for the transmission of the fourth uplink signal according to a first rule. For example, the terminal performs repeated transmission or retransmission of the fourth uplink signal, which can be Msg1, Msg3, etc.

[0283] 2) The TA parameters in the TA candidate set are associated with at least one of the following: SSB, random access preamble, and RO. For example, different TA parameters in the TA candidate set correspond to different SSBs, random access preambles, and ROs, or correspond to different groups, subgroups, or sets of SSBs, random access preambles, and ROs.

[0284] In an example, the TA parameters in the TA candidate set include one of the following:

[0285] 1) The second TA.

[0286] 2) A second TA offset value, which is an offset based on the first TA, for example, first TA + second TA offset value = second TA.

[0287] In an example, the TA candidate set satisfies at least one of the following:

[0288] 1) The number of TA parameters in the TA candidate set is associated with the number of transmissions of the fourth uplink signal, for example, they are equal or have a multiple relationship.

[0289] 2) The TA candidate set is indicated by a network side device.

[0290] 3) The TA candidate set is predefined.

[0291] 4) The TA candidate set is associated with a third reference signal, which can be an SSB, etc.

[0292] In this embodiment, the terminal can repeatedly transmit the fourth uplink signal to the small TRP multiple times. If the terminal receives a response message for the fourth uplink signal, it indicates that the selection of the TA parameter is correct. At this time, if the TA candidate set has not been traversed, the repeated transmission of the fourth uplink signal is also stopped. It should be noted that the repeated transmission here is different only in the use of the second TA, and other aspects are not limited, for example, the transmission beams can be the same or different. Of course, in order to improve efficiency, one way is to agree to traverse the TA candidate set in the same uplink beam first, and if it is still unsuccessful, change to another beam to continue traversing the TA candidate set.

[0293] Embodiment Three

[0294] This embodiment mainly introduces TA pre-compensation.

[0295] In the future communication system, the coverage of the cell-free system can be very large. At this time, if the macro TRP wants to cover more small TRPs, its coverage also needs to be very large. However, this can cause the coverage of the macro TRP to exceed the uplink timing estimation capability supported by the random access preamble, that is, due to the limitation of the design of the random access preamble, it cannot support the macro base station with very large coverage. Therefore, this embodiment considers how to ensure that the macro TRP can still estimate the uplink timing without changing the design of the random access preamble.

[0296] First, pre-compensation does not necessarily need to be in the coverage of all TRPs, and it can be determined by the network or the terminal itself when or under what conditions to perform pre-compensation to avoid unnecessary pre-compensation. Therefore, the following embodiments are provided.

[0297] In some embodiments, when a terminal transmits a random access preamble to a type of TRP (such as a macro TRP), the terminal uses TA pre-compensation. In one example, the method further comprises: the terminal determines to use the TA pre-compensation value for transmission of the second uplink signal based on at least one of the following:

[0298] 1) TA pre-compensation enabling signaling of a network side device, for example, the network side device can directly enable the terminal to perform TA pre-compensation.

[0299] 2) Pre-defined TA pre-compensation enabling conditions, for example, the terminal starts TA pre-compensation according to the default agreed conditions, for example, in the case that the received power or RSRP of the SSB meets the preset condition, the terminal starts TA pre-compensation.

[0300] 3) A sixth reference signal or a sixth reference signal set (sub-set or sub-group) associated with the second uplink signal, for example, for the uplink transmission in the coverage of the TRP associated with a specific reference signal or reference signal set, TA pre-compensation is required.

[0301] The terminal transmits a random access preamble based on a pre-defined TA pre-compensation value, so that the network side can estimate the uplink timing.

[0302] In addition, the terminal needs to know the TA pre-compensation value for uplink transmission. At this time, the signaling overhead and the relationship between the TA pre-compensation value and the reference signal associated with different TRPs or transmissions need to be considered in the design, so as to improve the accuracy, flexibility and effectiveness of the pre-compensation value.

[0303] In some embodiments, the terminal determines the TA pre-compensation value based on at least one of the following:

[0304] 1) TA pre-compensation information indicated by the network side device, such as the network side device indicating a TA pre-compensation value in a broadcast message, including one or more of the following signaling: MIB; L1-payload; SIB1; OSI.

[0305] 2) a seventh reference signal; wherein the seventh reference signal is associated with the TA pre-compensation value. The seventh reference signal can be an SSB, for example, the TA pre-compensation value is associated with the index of an SSB or SSB group; the TA pre-compensation value is associated with the time domain or frequency resource of an SSB or SSB group; the TA pre-compensation value is associated with the synchronization raster (sync raster) of an SSB or SSB group. The TA pre-compensation value corresponding to certain SSBs or SSB groups is 0 or corresponds to no TA pre-compensation.

[0306] 3) positioning information; wherein the positioning information is associated with the TA pre-compensation value, and the terminal can determine the TA pre-compensation value through the positioning information.

[0307] In the above manner, the terminal can learn the exact TA pre-compensation value before sending the random access preamble. For example, different SSBs of a macro station correspond to different small TRP coverage ranges, when the terminal is at the cell edge, for example, within the coverage of small TRP #n or SSB #n, the terminal can learn the corresponding TA pre-compensation value; of course, it can also be agreed that within the coverage of certain SSBs, no TA pre-compensation is needed, or the TA pre-compensation value = 0.

[0308] In addition, the network side can combine the TA pre-compensation value when subsequently indicating the TA, and include the TA value indicated including the TA pre-compensation part, so that the terminal directly determines the transmission time based on the indicated TA when sending the subsequent uplink signal, without considering the pre-compensation again; of course, it can also not include the TA pre-compensation part, so that the terminal determines the uplink transmission time in combination with the indicated TA and the pre-pre-compensation TA when sending the subsequent uplink signal. Therefore, for the TA content subsequently indicated by the network, there are further embodiments as follows.

[0309] In one example, the method further comprises: the terminal receiving a third downlink signal, the third downlink signal being used to indicate at least one of the following:

[0310] 1) the TA information estimated by the network side device according to the first uplink signal.

[0311] 2) the TA pre-compensation value used by the first uplink signal transmission for estimating the TA information.

[0312] 3) TA pre-compensation value of the second uplink signal other than the first uplink signal.

[0313] In some cases, the terminal also does not need to know the TA pre-compensation value in advance. For example, when the terminal is in the boundary area of multiple TRPs, it can try multiple corresponding TA pre-compensation values to determine the subsequent TRP and the corresponding uplink transmission TA, and thus there are the following embodiments.

[0314] In some embodiments, the terminal can also not need to obtain the accurate TA pre-compensation value, in which case the terminal sends the second uplink signal (random access preamble) by traversing different TA pre-compensation values, including one or more of the following ways:

[0315] 1) Different TA pre-compensation values correspond to different second uplink signals or sets to which the second uplink signals belong.

[0316] 2) Different ROs or RO groups correspond to different TA pre-compensation values.

[0317] 3) Different SSBs or SSB groups correspond to different TA pre-compensation values.

[0318] The mapping relationship between the TA pre-compensation value and the above three is determined by default agreement or configuration in the broadcast message.

[0319] For example, the terminal sends random access preambles on multiple ROs, and each RO corresponds to a preset TA pre-compensation value by default agreement. When the network side correctly detects the random access preamble on a certain RO, it can calculate the real TA value required by the terminal according to the RO and the TA pre-compensation value. The same principle applies to different preambles, preamble groups, SSBs, and SSB groups.

[0320] The TA determination method for random access according to the embodiments of the present application is described in detail above in combination with FIG. 2. The TA determination method for random access according to another embodiment of the present application will be described in detail below in combination with FIG. 4. It can be understood that the interaction between the network side device and the terminal described from the network side device is the same as or corresponds to the description of the terminal side in the method shown in FIG. 2, and the relevant description is appropriately omitted to avoid repetition.

[0321] FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a TA determination method for random access according to an embodiment of the present application, which can be applied to a network side device. As shown in FIG. 4, the method 400 includes the following steps.

[0322] S402: The network-side device determines or indicates the TA information in at least one of the following manners: based on a first uplink signal, the first uplink signal being used for measurement of the TA information; based on an auxiliary downlink signal, the auxiliary downlink signal being used for estimation of the TA information; based on position-related information, the position-related information being used for estimation of the TA information; based on a TA candidate set, the TA candidate set including a TA parameter corresponding to the TA information; based on a first downlink signal, the first downlink signal being used for indication of the TA information; and based on a TA pre-compensation value, the TA pre-compensation value being used for transmission of a second uplink signal.

[0323] The TA information is used for uplink transmission of the terminal, and the TA information includes at least one of a first TA and a second TA, the first TA corresponding to a first TRP, and the second TA corresponding to a second TRP, the first TRP being different from the second TRP.

[0324] In this embodiment, the network-side device can indicate the TA information through the first downlink signal, and determine the TA information through the first uplink signal, the position-related information, the TA candidate set, and the TA pre-compensation value. For example, the network-side device can estimate the second TA based on the position-related information, for example, calculate the second TA based on the position-related information on the basis of the known first TA.

[0325] In the embodiments of the present application, the network-side device determines or indicates the TA information in at least one of the following manners: the first uplink signal, the auxiliary downlink signal, the position-related information, the TA candidate set, the first downlink signal, and the TA pre-compensation value. In a cell-free system, the TA information can be indicated to the terminal to ensure the reception performance of the uplink transmission and improve the performance of the communication system.

[0326] In one embodiment, the method further includes: the network-side device sends a second downlink signal, the second downlink signal being used for indication or triggering of the first uplink signal; wherein the second downlink signal includes at least one of the following: 1) a downlink message related to random access; and 2) a first reference signal.

[0327] In one embodiment, the first uplink signal is associated with the second TRP, and the association between the first uplink signal and the second TRP includes at least one of the following: 1) one of the second TRP is associated with one of the first uplink signal or a set to which the first uplink signal belongs; and 2) the first uplink signal is transmitted on a time-frequency resource associated with the second TRP.

[0328] In an embodiment, the assistance downlink signal satisfies at least one of the following: 1) the assistance downlink signal or a set to which the assistance downlink signal belongs is associated with the second TRP; 2) the assistance downlink signal is triggered by the terminal through a third uplink signal; 3) the assistance downlink signal is received by the terminal before the terminal enters the RRC connected state; 4) the assistance downlink signal is received by the terminal after the terminal enters the RRC connected state.

[0329] In an embodiment, the assistance downlink signal is triggered by the terminal through a third uplink signal, and the third uplink signal satisfies at least one of the following: 1) the third uplink signal is associated with the second TRP; 2) the third uplink signal carries association information of the second TRP.

[0330] In an embodiment, the method further comprises: receiving, by the network-side device, the TA information.

[0331] In an embodiment, the TA candidate set is used by the terminal to determine the TA information, including at least one of the following: 1) the terminal uses a TA parameter in the TA candidate set to perform transmission of a fourth uplink signal according to a first rule; 2) a TA parameter in the TA candidate set is associated with at least one of an SSB, a random access preamble, and an RO.

[0332] In an embodiment, the TA parameter in the TA candidate set includes one of the following: 1) the second TA; 2) a second TA offset value, the second TA offset value being an offset based on the first TA.

[0333] In an embodiment, the TA candidate set satisfies at least one of the following: 1) a number of TA parameters in the TA candidate set is associated with a number of times of transmission of the fourth uplink signal; 2) the TA candidate set is indicated by a network-side device; 3) the TA candidate set is associated with a third reference signal.

[0334] In an embodiment, in a case where the first uplink signal includes a random access preamble, the method further comprises: receiving, by the network-side device, the random access preamble through the first TRP and the second TRP.

[0335] In an embodiment, the random access preamble satisfies at least one of the following: 1) the random access preamble corresponding to the first TRP and the second TRP is the same; 2) the random access preamble corresponding to the RO or RO group received by the first TRP and the second TRP is the same; 3) the terminal transmits the random access preamble in an SFN manner; 4) the random access preambles corresponding to the first TRP and the second TRP are different, and the different random access preambles have an association relationship; 5) the random access preambles transmitted to the first TRP and the second TRP correspond to different ROs or RO groups, and the different ROs or RO groups have an association relationship; 6) the fourth reference signals associated with the random access preambles transmitted to the first TRP and the second TRP are the same; 7) the sets to which the fourth reference signals associated with the random access preambles transmitted to the first TRP and the second TRP belong are the same.

[0336] In an embodiment, the first downlink signal satisfies at least one of the following: 1) the terminal receives the first downlink signal before entering the RRC connected state; 2) the terminal receives the first downlink signal after entering the RRC connected state; 3) the first downlink signal is transmitted by at least one of the first TRP and the second TRP; 4) the first downlink signal carries identification information of the TRP associated with the TA information; 5) the QCL information for receiving the first downlink signal includes identification information of the TRP; 6) the QCL information for receiving the first downlink signal is the same as the QCL information for receiving the downlink message of the random access.

[0337] In an embodiment, when the TA information corresponds to at least two TRPs, at least one of the following is satisfied: 1) the TA information corresponds to at least two TACs or TAC domains; 2) the TA information is associated with the identification information of the TRP; 3) the TAC or TAC domain corresponding to the TA information is associated with the identification information of the TRP.

[0338] In an embodiment, the TA information indicated by the first downlink signal is associated with an uplink transmission mode, including at least one of the following: 1) the TA or TAC or TAC domain corresponding in the TA information is associated with the TRP used for subsequent transmission; 2) the order of the TA or TAC or TAC domain corresponding in the TA information corresponds to the order of the TRP corresponding to the subsequent transmission.

[0339] In an embodiment, the method further comprises: the network side device receiving the second uplink signal; wherein the second uplink signal is transmitted by the terminal based on the different TA pre-compensation value.

[0340] In one embodiment, at least one of the following is satisfied: 1) different second uplink signals or sets to which the second uplink signals belong correspond to different TA pre-compensation values; 2) different ROs or RO groups correspond to different TA pre-compensation values; 3) different SSBs or SSB groups correspond to different TA pre-compensation values.

[0341] In one embodiment, the method further includes: the network-side device sending a third downlink signal, the third downlink signal being used to indicate at least one of the following: 1) the TA information estimated by the network-side device according to the first uplink signal; 2) a TA pre-compensation value used by the first uplink signal for estimating the TA information; 3) a TA pre-compensation value of the second uplink signal other than the first uplink signal.

[0342] The TA determination method for random access provided by the embodiments of the present application can be executed by a TA determination device for random access. In the embodiments of the present application, the TA determination method for random access executed by the TA determination device for random access is taken as an example to illustrate the TA determination device for random access provided by the embodiments of the present application.

[0343] The embodiments of the present application provide a TA determination device for random access. As an example, the TA determination device for random access can be a communication device or a component in a communication device, such as a chip. The communication device can be a terminal, a network-side device, a server, or the like. For example, the terminal can include but is not limited to the types of the terminal 11 listed above, the network-side device can include but is not limited to the types of the network-side device 12 listed above, and the embodiments of the present application do not make specific limitations.

[0344] The TA determination apparatus for random access comprises a receiving module, a sending module and a processing module. The receiving module, the sending module and the processing module can be implemented by software or by hardware. When implemented by hardware, the processing module can be implemented by a processor, which can include a general-purpose processor, a special-purpose processor, etc., such as a central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an artificial intelligent (AI) processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a network processor (NP), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, a gate circuit, a transistor, a discrete hardware component, etc. The receiving module and the sending module can be implemented by a communication interface, which can include one or more of a transceiver, a pin, a circuit, a bus, a radio frequency unit, etc.

[0345] Specifically, referring to FIG. 5, when the TA determination apparatus for random access is a terminal or a component in a terminal, the TA determination apparatus 500 for random access comprises:

[0346] The processing module 502 is configured to determine TA information, wherein the TA information is determined by at least one of the following manners: based on a first uplink signal, the first uplink signal being used for measurement of the TA information; based on an auxiliary downlink signal, the auxiliary downlink signal being used for estimation of the TA information; based on position-related information, the position-related information being used for estimation of the TA information; based on a TA candidate set, the TA candidate set comprising a TA parameter corresponding to the TA information; based on a first downlink signal, the first downlink signal being used for indication of the TA information; based on a TA pre-compensation value, the TA pre-compensation value being used for transmission of a second uplink signal; wherein the TA information is used for uplink transmission of the apparatus; and the TA information comprises at least one of a first TA and a second TA, the first TA corresponding to a first TRP, the second TA corresponding to a second TRP, and the first TRP being different from the second TRP.

[0347] In the embodiments of the present application, the terminal determines the TA information, which can be determined based on at least one of the first uplink signal, the auxiliary downlink signal, the position-related information, the TA candidate set, the first downlink signal, and the TA pre-compensation value, so that the terminal can obtain the TA information in the cell-free system, ensure the reception performance of the uplink transmission, and improve the performance of the communication system.

[0348] In one embodiment, the sending of the first uplink signal is indicated or triggered by a second downlink signal; wherein the second downlink signal includes at least one of the following: 1) a downlink message related to random access; 2) a first reference signal.

[0349] In one embodiment, the first uplink signal includes at least one of the following: 1) an uplink message related to random access; 2) a random access preamble; 3) a second reference signal.

[0350] In one embodiment, the first uplink signal is associated with the second TRP, and the association of the first uplink signal with the second TRP includes at least one of the following: 1) one of the second TRP is associated with one of the first uplink signal or a set to which the first uplink signal belongs; 2) the first uplink signal is transmitted on a time-frequency resource associated with the second TRP.

[0351] In one embodiment, the processing module 502 is further configured to determine the second TRP for receiving the first uplink signal, including at least one of the following: 1) determining the second TRP based on the identification information of the second TRP indicated by the network side device; 2) determining the second TRP based on the first uplink signal associated with the second TRP; 3) determining the second TRP based on the synchronization signal block (SSB) corresponding to the first TRP.

[0352] In one embodiment, the third TA for sending the first uplink signal is determined by at least one of the following: 1) a predefined third TA; 2) the third TA indicated by the network side device; 3) the third TA determined based on a first TA offset value, wherein the first TA offset value is an offset based on the first TA.

[0353] In one embodiment, the auxiliary downlink signal satisfies at least one of the following: 1) the auxiliary downlink signal or a set to which the auxiliary downlink signal belongs is associated with the second TRP; 2) the auxiliary downlink signal is triggered by the terminal through a third uplink signal; 3) the terminal receives the auxiliary downlink signal before entering the RRC connected state; 4) the terminal receives the auxiliary downlink signal after entering the RRC connected state.

[0354] In an embodiment, the assistance downlink signal is triggered by the terminal through a third uplink signal, and the third uplink signal satisfies at least one of the following: 1) the third uplink signal is associated with the second TRP; 2) the third uplink signal carries association information of the second TRP.

[0355] In an embodiment, the position-related information includes at least one of the following: 1) position information of a TRP; 2) position information of the terminal; 3) global navigation satellite system (GNSS) information.

[0356] In an embodiment, the apparatus 500 further includes a transmission module configured to report the TA information.

[0357] In an embodiment, the processing module 502 is configured to determine the TA information based on the TA candidate set, including at least one of the following: 1) using a TA parameter in the TA candidate set to perform transmission of a fourth uplink signal according to a first rule; 2) a TA parameter in the TA candidate set is associated with at least one of a synchronization signal block (SSB), a random access preamble, and a random access occasion (RO).

[0358] In an embodiment, the TA parameter in the TA candidate set includes one of the following: 1) the second TA; 2) a second TA offset value, the second TA offset value being an offset based on the first TA.

[0359] In an embodiment, the TA candidate set satisfies at least one of the following: 1) a number of TA parameters in the TA candidate set is associated with a number of times of transmission of the fourth uplink signal; 2) the TA candidate set is indicated by a network-side device; 3) the TA candidate set is predefined; 4) the TA candidate set is associated with a third reference signal.

[0360] In an embodiment, the apparatus 500 further includes a transmission module configured to, in a case where the first uplink signal includes a random access preamble, transmit the random access preamble to the first TRP and the second TRP.

[0361] In an embodiment, the random access preamble satisfies at least one of the following: 1) the random access preambles corresponding to the first TRP and the second TRP are the same; 2) the random access preambles corresponding to the ROs or RO groups to which the random access preambles are sent to the first TRP and the second TRP are the same; 3) the terminal sends the random access preambles in a SFN manner; 4) the random access preambles corresponding to the first TRP and the second TRP are different, and the different random access preambles have an association relationship; 5) the random access preambles corresponding to the ROs or RO groups to which the random access preambles are sent to the first TRP and the second TRP are different, and the different ROs or RO groups have an association relationship; 6) the fourth reference signals associated with the random access preambles sent to the first TRP and the second TRP are the same; 7) the sets to which the fourth reference signals associated with the random access preambles sent to the first TRP and the second TRP belong are the same.

[0362] In an embodiment, the first downlink signal satisfies at least one of the following: 1) the first downlink signal is received before entering an RRC connected state; 2) the first downlink signal is received after entering an RRC connected state; 3) the first downlink signal is sent by at least one of the first TRP and the second TRP; 4) the first downlink signal carries identification information of a TRP associated with the TA information; 5) the quasi co-location (QCL) information used to receive the first downlink signal includes identification information of a TRP; 6) the QCL information used to receive the first downlink signal is the same as the QCL information used to receive a downlink message of random access.

[0363] In an embodiment, when the TA information corresponds to at least two TRPs, at least one of the following is satisfied: 1) the TA information corresponds to at least two timing advance commands (TACs) or TAC domains; 2) the TA information is associated with identification information of a TRP; 3) the TACs or TAC domains corresponding to the TA information are associated with identification information of a TRP.

[0364] In an embodiment, at least part of the TA information in the TA information corresponds to TACs or TAC domains of different sizes.

[0365] In an embodiment, the TACs or TAC domains satisfy at least one of the following: 1) the sizes of the TACs or TAC domains are configured by a network side device or are predefined; 2) the sizes of the TACs or TAC domains are associated with a fifth reference signal; 3) the TA information indicated by the TACs or TAC domains is absolute TA or relative TA.

[0366] In an embodiment, the TA information indicated by the first downlink signal is associated with an uplink transmission mode, including at least one of the following: 1) a corresponding TA or TAC or TAC domain in the TA information is associated with a TRP used for subsequent transmission; 2) an order of the corresponding TA or TAC or TAC domain in the TA information corresponds to an order of the TRP corresponding to the subsequent transmission.

[0367] In an embodiment, the processing module 502 is further configured to determine whether to use the TA pre-compensation value for transmission of the second uplink signal based on at least one of the following: 1) TA pre-compensation enabling signaling of a network side device; 2) a predefined TA pre-compensation enabling condition; 3) a sixth reference signal or a sixth reference signal set (sub-set or sub-group) associated with the second uplink signal.

[0368] In an embodiment, the processing module 502 is further configured to determine the TA pre-compensation value based on at least one of the following: 1) TA pre-compensation information indicated by a network side device; 2) a seventh reference signal; wherein the seventh reference signal is associated with the TA pre-compensation value; 3) positioning information; wherein the positioning information is associated with the TA pre-compensation value.

[0369] In an embodiment, the apparatus 500 further includes a transmission module configured to transmit the second uplink signal based on the TA pre-compensation value, wherein the terminal transmits the second uplink signal based on different TA pre-compensation values.

[0370] In an embodiment, the transmission module transmits the second uplink signal based on different TA pre-compensation values, satisfying at least one of the following: 1) different second uplink signals or a set to which the second uplink signal belongs correspond to different TA pre-compensation values; 2) different ROs or RO groups correspond to different TA pre-compensation values; 3) different SSBs or SSB groups correspond to different TA pre-compensation values.

[0371] In an embodiment, the apparatus 500 further includes a transmission module configured to receive a third downlink signal, the third downlink signal being used to indicate at least one of the following: 1) the TA information estimated by a network side device according to the first uplink signal; 2) a TA pre-compensation value used for transmission of the first uplink signal for estimating the TA information; 3) a TA pre-compensation value of the second uplink signal other than the first uplink signal.

[0372] In an embodiment, the identification information includes at least one of the following: 1) an eighth reference signal or an eighth reference signal set (sub-set or sub-group); 2) a TRP index; 3) spatial relationship information; 4) transmission configuration indication (TCI) information.

[0373] Referring to FIG. 6, when the TA determination apparatus for random access is a network-side device or a component in the network-side device, the TA determination apparatus for random access 600 includes:

[0374] The processing module 602 is configured to determine or indicate the TA information in at least one of the following manners: based on a first uplink signal used for measurement of the TA information; based on an auxiliary downlink signal used for estimation of the TA information; based on position-related information used for estimation of the TA information; based on a TA candidate set including a TA parameter corresponding to the TA information; based on a first downlink signal used for indication of the TA information; and based on a TA pre-compensation value used for transmission of a second uplink signal; wherein the TA information is used for uplink transmission of the terminal; and the TA information includes at least one of a first TA corresponding to a first TRP and a second TA corresponding to a second TRP, wherein the first TRP is different from the second TRP.

[0375] In the embodiments of the present application, the network-side device determines or indicates the TA information in at least one of the following manners: the first uplink signal, the auxiliary downlink signal, the position-related information, the TA candidate set, the first downlink signal, and the TA pre-compensation value. In a cell-free system, the TA information can be indicated to the terminal to ensure the reception performance of the uplink transmission and improve the performance of the communication system.

[0376] In one embodiment, the apparatus 600 further includes a transmission module configured to transmit a second downlink signal used for indication or triggering of the first uplink signal; wherein the second downlink signal includes at least one of the following: 1) a downlink message related to random access; and 2) a first reference signal.

[0377] In one embodiment, the first uplink signal is associated with the second TRP, and the association between the first uplink signal and the second TRP includes at least one of the following: 1) one of the second TRP is associated with one of the first uplink signal or a set to which the first uplink signal belongs; and 2) the first uplink signal is transmitted on a time-frequency resource associated with the second TRP.

[0378] In one embodiment, the auxiliary downlink signal satisfies at least one of the following: 1) the auxiliary downlink signal or a set to which the auxiliary downlink signal belongs is associated with the second TRP; 2) the auxiliary downlink signal is triggered by the terminal through a third uplink signal; 3) the auxiliary downlink signal is received by the terminal before entering an RRC connected state; and 4) the auxiliary downlink signal is received by the terminal after entering the RRC connected state.

[0379] In one embodiment, the assistance downlink signal is triggered by the terminal through a third uplink signal, and the third uplink signal satisfies at least one of the following: 1) the third uplink signal is associated with the second TRP; 2) the third uplink signal carries the association information of the second TRP.

[0380] In one embodiment, the apparatus 600 further includes a transmission module for receiving the TA information.

[0381] In one embodiment, the TA candidate set is used by the terminal to determine the TA information, including at least one of the following: 1) the terminal uses the TA parameters in the TA candidate set to perform the fourth uplink signal transmission according to a first rule; 2) the TA parameters in the TA candidate set are associated with at least one of the following: SSB, random access preamble and RO.

[0382] In one embodiment, the TA parameters in the TA candidate set include one of the following: 1) the second TA; 2) a second TA offset value, the second TA offset value being an offset based on the first TA.

[0383] In one embodiment, the TA candidate set satisfies at least one of the following: 1) the number of TA parameters in the TA candidate set is associated with the number of fourth uplink signal transmissions; 2) the TA candidate set is indicated by a network side device; 3) the TA candidate set is associated with a third reference signal.

[0384] In one embodiment, in one embodiment, the apparatus 600 further includes a transmission module for receiving, in the case that the first uplink signal includes a random access preamble, the random access preamble through the first TRP and the second TRP.

[0385] In an embodiment, the random access preamble satisfies at least one of the following: 1) the random access preamble corresponding to the first TRP and the second TRP is the same; 2) the random access preamble corresponding to the RO or RO group received by the first TRP and the second TRP is the same; 3) the terminal transmits the random access preamble in an SFN manner; 4) the random access preambles corresponding to the first TRP and the second TRP are different, and the different random access preambles have an association relationship; 5) the random access preambles transmitted to the first TRP and the second TRP correspond to different ROs or RO groups, and the different ROs or RO groups have an association relationship; 6) the fourth reference signals associated with the random access preambles transmitted to the first TRP and the second TRP are the same; 7) the sets to which the fourth reference signals associated with the random access preambles transmitted to the first TRP and the second TRP belong are the same.

[0386] In an embodiment, the first downlink signal satisfies at least one of the following: 1) the terminal receives the first downlink signal before entering the RRC connected state; 2) the terminal receives the first downlink signal after entering the RRC connected state; 3) the first downlink signal is transmitted by at least one of the first TRP and the second TRP; 4) the first downlink signal carries identification information of the TRP associated with the TA information; 5) the QCL information for receiving the first downlink signal includes identification information of the TRP; 6) the QCL information for receiving the first downlink signal is the same as the QCL information for receiving the downlink message of the random access.

[0387] In an embodiment, when the TA information corresponds to at least two TRPs, at least one of the following is satisfied: 1) the TA information corresponds to at least two TACs or TAC domains; 2) the TA information is associated with the identification information of the TRP; 3) the TAC or TAC domain corresponding to the TA information is associated with the identification information of the TRP.

[0388] In an embodiment, the TA information indicated by the first downlink signal is associated with an uplink transmission mode, including at least one of the following: 1) the TA or TAC or TAC domain corresponding in the TA information is associated with the TRP used for subsequent transmission; 2) the order of the TA or TAC or TAC domain corresponding in the TA information corresponds to the order of the TRP corresponding to the subsequent transmission.

[0389] In an embodiment, the apparatus 600 further includes a transmission module for receiving the second uplink signal; wherein the second uplink signal is transmitted by the terminal based on the different TA pre-compensation values.

[0390] In one embodiment, at least one of the following is satisfied: 1) different second uplink signals or sets to which the second uplink signals belong correspond to different TA pre-compensation values; 2) different ROs or RO groups correspond to different TA pre-compensation values; 3) different SSBs or SSB groups correspond to different TA pre-compensation values.

[0391] In one embodiment, the apparatus 600 further includes a transmission module for sending a third downlink signal, the third downlink signal being used to indicate at least one of the following: 1) the TA information estimated by the network-side device according to the first uplink signal; 2) a TA pre-compensation value used by the first uplink signal transmission for estimating the TA information; 3) a TA pre-compensation value of the second uplink signal other than the first uplink signal.

[0392] The TA determination apparatus for random access provided by the embodiments of the present application can implement each process implemented by the method embodiments of FIGS. 2 to 4 and achieve the same technical effects. To avoid repetition, details are not described herein.

[0393] As shown in FIG. 7, the embodiments of the present application further provide a communication device 700, which includes a processor 701 and a memory 702, the memory 702 has programs or instructions stored thereon, which can be run on the processor 701. For example, when the communication device 700 is a terminal, the programs or instructions are executed by the processor 701 to implement each step of the above-mentioned TA determination method for random access, and the same technical effects can be achieved. When the communication device 700 is a network-side device, the programs or instructions are executed by the processor 701 to implement each step of the above-mentioned TA determination method for random access, and the same technical effects can be achieved. To avoid repetition, details are not described herein.

[0394] The embodiments of the present application further provide a terminal, which includes a processor and a communication interface, the communication interface is coupled to the processor, and the processor is configured to run programs or instructions to implement the steps in the method embodiments as shown in FIG. 3. The terminal embodiments correspond to the above-mentioned terminal-side method embodiments, and each implementation process and implementation manner of the above-mentioned method embodiments can be applied to the terminal embodiments, and the same technical effects can be achieved. The terminal can be the TA determination apparatus for random access shown in FIG. 5. Specifically, FIG. 8 is a hardware structure schematic diagram of a terminal according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0395] The terminal 800 includes, but is not limited to, at least part of the following components: a radio frequency unit 801, a network module 802, an audio output unit 803, an input unit 804, a sensor 805, a display unit 806, a user input unit 807, an interface unit 808, a memory 809, and a processor 810, etc.

[0396] Those skilled in the art can understand that the terminal 800 can further include a power supply (such as a battery) for supplying power to each component, and the power supply can be logically connected to the processor 810 through a power management system, so that the power management system can realize the functions of managing charging, discharging and power consumption management. The terminal structure shown in FIG. 8 does not constitute a limitation on the terminal, and the terminal can include more or fewer components than those shown, or combine certain components, or different component arrangements, which are not described here.

[0397] It should be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, the input unit 804 can include a graphics processor 8041 and a microphone 8042, and the graphics processor 8041 processes image data of a still picture or a video obtained by an image capture device (such as a camera) in a video capture mode or an image capture mode. The display unit 806 can include a display panel 8061, which can be configured in the form of a liquid crystal display, an organic light-emitting diode, etc. The user input unit 807 includes at least one of a touch panel 8071 and other input devices 8072. The touch panel 8071 is also called a touch screen. The touch panel 8071 can include two parts of a touch detection device and a touch controller. The other input devices 8072 can include, but are not limited to, a physical keyboard, function keys (such as volume control keys, on-off keys, etc.), trackballs, mice, joysticks, which are not described here.

[0398] In the embodiments of the present application, after the radio frequency unit 801 receives the downlink data from the network side device, it can be transmitted to the processor 810 for processing. In addition, the radio frequency unit 801 can send uplink data to the network side device. Generally, the radio frequency unit 801 includes, but is not limited to, an antenna, an amplifier, a transceiver, a coupler, a low noise amplifier, a duplexer, etc.

[0399] The memory 809 can be used to store software programs or instructions and various data. The memory 809 can mainly include a first storage area storing programs or instructions and a second storage area storing data, wherein the first storage area can store an operating system, application programs or instructions required by at least one function (such as a sound playing function, an image playing function, etc.), and the like. In addition, the memory 809 can include a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory. The non-volatile memory can be a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Programmable ROM (PROM), an Erasable PROM (EPROM), an Electrically EPROM (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory can be a Random Access Memory (RAM), a Static RAM (SRAM), a Dynamic RAM (DRAM), a Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), a Double Data Rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), an Enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), a Synch link DRAM (SLDRAM), and a Direct Rambus RAM (DRRAM). The memory 809 in the embodiments of the present application includes but is not limited to these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0400] The processor 810 can include one or more processing units; optionally, the processor 810 integrates an application processor and a modem processor, wherein the application processor mainly processes operations related to an operating system, a user interface, and an application program, and the modem processor mainly processes wireless communication signals, such as a baseband processor. It can be understood that the above-mentioned modem processor can also not be integrated into the processor 810.

[0401] The processor 810 is configured to determine TA information, wherein the TA information is determined based on at least one of the following: a first uplink signal used for measurement of the TA information; an auxiliary downlink signal used for estimation of the TA information; position-related information used for estimation of the TA information; a TA candidate set including a TA parameter corresponding to the TA information; a first downlink signal used for indicating the TA information; and a TA pre-compensation value used for transmission of a second uplink signal, wherein the TA information is used for uplink transmission of the device, and the TA information includes at least one of a first TA corresponding to a first TRP and a second TA corresponding to a second TRP, and the first TRP is different from the second TRP.

[0402] In the embodiments of the present application, the terminal determines the TA information, which can be determined based on at least one of the first uplink signal, the auxiliary downlink signal, the position-related information, the TA candidate set, the first downlink signal, and the TA pre-compensation value. In a cell-free system, the terminal can obtain the TA information, ensure the reception performance of the uplink transmission, and improve the performance of the communication system.

[0403] It can be understood that the implementation processes of the implementation manners mentioned in the embodiments can refer to the related descriptions of the TA determination method for random access, and achieve the same or corresponding technical effects. To avoid repetition, they will not be described here again.

[0404] The embodiments of the present application also provide a network side device, which includes a processor and a communication interface, the communication interface and the processor are coupled, and the processor is configured to run programs or instructions to implement the steps of the method embodiments shown in FIG. 4. The network side device embodiments correspond to the network side device method embodiments described above. The implementation processes and implementation manners of the above method embodiments can be applied to the network side device embodiments, and the same technical effects can be achieved.

[0405] Specifically, the embodiments of the present application also provide a network side device, which can be the TA determination device for random access shown in FIG. 6. As shown in FIG. 9, the network side device 900 includes an antenna 91, a radio frequency device 92, a baseband device 93, a processor 94, and a memory 95. The antenna 91 is connected with the radio frequency device 92. In the uplink direction, the radio frequency device 92 receives information through the antenna 91, and sends the received information to the baseband device 93 for processing. In the downlink direction, the baseband device 93 processes the information to be sent and sends it to the radio frequency device 92. The radio frequency device 92 processes the received information and sends it out through the antenna 91.

[0406] The method performed by the network side device in the above embodiments can be implemented in the baseband device 93, which includes a baseband processor.

[0407] The baseband device 93 may, for example, include at least one baseband board on which a plurality of chips are disposed, as shown in FIG. 9, one of which is a baseband processor, for example, which is connected with the memory 95 through a bus interface to invoke programs in the memory 95 to perform the network device operations shown in the above method embodiments.

[0408] The network side device may, for example, further include a network interface 96, which is a Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI), for example.

[0409] Specifically, the network side device 900 of the embodiments of the present application further includes instructions or programs stored in the memory 95 and executable on the processor 94, and the processor 94 invokes the instructions or programs in the memory 95 to perform the method performed by the modules shown in FIG. 6 and achieve the same technical effects, and thus the details are not repeated here.

[0410] The embodiments of the present application also provide a readable storage medium having programs or instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor, implement each process of the above TA determination method for random access embodiments and achieve the same technical effects, and thus the details are not repeated here.

[0411] The processor is the processor in the terminal in the above embodiments. The readable storage medium includes a computer readable storage medium, such as a computer readable only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk, etc. In some examples, the readable storage medium can be a non-transitory readable storage medium.

[0412] The embodiments of the present application further provide a chip including a processor and a communication interface, the communication interface being coupled with the processor, and the processor being configured to execute programs or instructions to implement each process of the above TA determination method for random access embodiments and achieve the same technical effects, and thus the details are not repeated here.

[0413] It should be understood that the chip mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can also be referred to as a system-level chip, a system chip, a chip system or a system-on-chip chip, etc.

[0414] The embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program / program product stored in a storage medium, which is executed by at least one processor to implement the processes of the TA determination method for random access, and achieve the same technical effects. To avoid repetition, details are not described herein.

[0415] The embodiment of the present application further provides a TA determination system for random access, which comprises a terminal and a network side device. The terminal is configured to perform the steps of the TA determination method for random access, and the network side device is configured to perform the steps of the TA determination method for random access.

[0416] It should be noted that, in this document, the terms "comprising", "including", or any other variant thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions, so that processes, methods, articles, or devices that include a series of elements not only include those elements, but also include other elements not explicitly listed, or further include elements inherent to such processes, methods, articles, or devices. Without more limitations, the element defined by the phrase "including a" does not exclude the presence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article, or device including the element. In addition, it should be pointed out that the scope of the methods and devices in the embodiments of the present application is not limited to the order of performing functions as shown or discussed, but can also include performing functions in a substantially simultaneous manner or in reverse order, for example, the described method can be performed in an order different from that described, and various steps can be added, omitted, or combined. In addition, features described with reference to certain examples can be combined in other examples.

[0417] From the above description of the embodiments, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that the above-mentioned embodiment method can be realized by means of computer software product and general hardware platform, of course, it can also be realized by hardware. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium (such as ROM, RAM, magnetic disc, optical disc, etc.), and includes a plurality of instructions for making the terminal or network side device execute the method described in each embodiment of the present application.

[0418] The embodiments of the present application are described above in combination with the drawings, but the present application is not limited to the above-mentioned specific embodiments, which are only illustrative and not restrictive. Those skilled in the art can make many forms of embodiments under the inspiration of the present application without departing from the scope of the present application and the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

A method for determining a timing advance (TA) for random access, comprising: determining, by a terminal, TA information, the TA information being determined in at least one of the following ways: based on a first uplink signal, the first uplink signal being used for measurement of the TA information; based on an auxiliary downlink signal, the auxiliary downlink signal being used for estimation of the TA information; based on position-related information, the position-related information being used for estimation of the TA information; based on a TA candidate set, the TA candidate set including a TA parameter corresponding to the TA information; based on a first downlink signal, the first downlink signal being used for indicating the TA information; based on a TA pre-compensation value, the TA pre-compensation value being used for transmission of a second uplink signal; wherein the TA information is used for uplink transmission of the terminal, and the TA information includes at least one of a first TA and a second TA, the first TA corresponding to a first transmission reception point (TRP), and the second TA corresponding to a second TRP, the first TRP being different from the second TRP. The method of claim 1, wherein, transmission of the first uplink signal is indicated or triggered by a second downlink signal; wherein the second downlink signal includes at least one of the following: a downlink message related to random access; a first reference signal. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first uplink signal includes at least one of the following: an uplink message related to random access; a random access preamble; a second reference signal. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the first uplink signal is associated with the second TRP, and the association between the first uplink signal and the second TRP includes at least one of the following: one of the second TRP is associated with one of the first uplink signal or a set to which the first uplink signal belongs; the first uplink signal is transmitted on a time-frequency resource associated with the second TRP. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein The method further includes determining, by the terminal, the second TRP for receiving the first uplink signal, including at least one of the following ways: the terminal determines the second TRP based on receiving identity information of the second TRP indicated by a network-side device; the terminal determines the second TRP based on the first uplink signal, the first uplink signal being associated with the second TRP; the terminal determines the second TRP based on a synchronization signal block (SSB) corresponding to the first TRP. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a third TA for transmitting the first uplink signal is determined in at least one of the following ways: a predefined third TA; a third TA indicated by a network-side device; a third TA determined based on a first TA offset value, the first TA offset value being an offset based on the first TA. The method of claim 1, wherein, the auxiliary downlink signal satisfies at least one of the following: the auxiliary downlink signal or a set to which the auxiliary downlink signal belongs is associated with the second TRP; the auxiliary downlink signal is triggered by the terminal through a third uplink signal; the auxiliary downlink signal is received by the terminal before the terminal enters an RRC connected state; the auxiliary downlink signal is received by the terminal after the terminal enters an RRC connected state. The method of claim 7, wherein, the third uplink signal satisfies at least one of the following: The third uplink signal is associated with the second TRP. The third uplink signal carries associated information of the second TRP. The method of claim 1, wherein, The position-related information includes at least one of: Position information of a TRP; Position information of the terminal; Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) information. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein After the terminal determines the TA information, the method further includes: The terminal reports the TA information. The method of claim 1, wherein, The terminal determines the TA information based on the TA candidate set, including at least one of: The terminal uses TA parameters in the TA candidate set to transmit a fourth uplink signal according to a first rule; The TA parameters in the TA candidate set are associated with at least one of an SSB, a random access preamble, and a random access occasion (RO). The method of claim 11, wherein, The TA parameters in the TA candidate set include one of: The second TA; A second TA offset value, which is an offset based on the first TA. The method of claim 11, wherein, The TA candidate set satisfies at least one of: The number of TA parameters in the TA candidate set is associated with the number of times of transmitting the fourth uplink signal; The TA candidate set is indicated by a network side device; The TA candidate set is predefined; The TA candidate set is associated with a third reference signal. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein In the case where the first uplink signal includes a random access preamble, the method further includes: The terminal transmits the random access preamble to the first TRP and the second TRP. The method of claim 14, wherein, The random access preamble satisfies at least one of: The random access preambles corresponding to the first TRP and the second TRP are the same; The random access preambles transmitted to the first TRP and the second TRP correspond to the same RO or RO group; The terminal transmits the random access preamble in a SFN manner; The first TRP and the second TRP correspond to different random access preambles, and the different random access preambles have an associated relationship; The random access preambles transmitted to the first TRP and the second TRP correspond to different ROs or RO groups, and the different ROs or RO groups have an associated relationship; The fourth reference signals associated with the random access preambles transmitted to the first TRP and the second TRP are the same; The sets to which the fourth reference signals associated with the random access preambles transmitted to the first TRP and the second TRP belong are the same. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 15, wherein The first downlink signal satisfies at least one of: The terminal receives the first downlink signal before entering an RRC connected state; The terminal receives the first downlink signal after entering an RRC connected state; The first downlink signal is transmitted by at least one of the first TRP and the second TRP; The first downlink signal carries identification information of a TRP associated with the TA information; Quasi co-location (QCL) information for receiving the first downlink signal includes identification information of a TRP; The QCL information for receiving the first downlink signal is the same as the QCL information for receiving a downlink message of random access. The method of claim 16, wherein, When the TA information corresponds to at least two TRPs, at least one of the following is satisfied: The TA information corresponds to at least two timing advance commands (TACs) or TAC domains. The TA information is associated with identification information of a TRP. The TAC or TAC domain corresponding to at least part of the TA information is different in size. The method of claim 17, wherein, The TAC or TAC domain satisfies at least one of the following: The method of claim 17, wherein, The size of the TAC or TAC domain is configured by a network side device or predefined. The size of the TAC or TAC domain is associated with a fifth reference signal. The TA information indicated by the TAC or TAC domain is absolute TA or relative TA. The TA information indicated by the first downlink signal is associated with an uplink transmission mode, including at least one of the following: The method of claim 16, wherein, The corresponding TA or TAC or TAC domain in the TA information is associated with a TRP used for subsequent transmission. The order of the corresponding TA or TAC or TAC domain in the TA information corresponds to the order of the TRP corresponding to subsequent transmission. The method further includes that the terminal determines to use the TA pre-compensation value for transmission of the second uplink signal based on at least one of the following: The method of claim 1, wherein, TA pre-compensation enabling signaling of a network side device; Predefined TA pre-compensation enabling conditions; A sixth reference signal or a set of sixth reference signals associated with the second uplink signal. The method further includes that the terminal determines the TA pre-compensation value based on at least one of the following: The method of claim 1 or 21, wherein, TA pre-compensation information indicated by a network side device; A seventh reference signal, wherein the seventh reference signal is associated with the TA pre-compensation value; Positioning information, wherein the positioning information is associated with the TA pre-compensation value. The method further includes that the terminal transmits the second uplink signal based on the TA pre-compensation value, wherein the terminal transmits the second uplink signal based on different TA pre-compensation values. The method according to claim 1, 21 or 22, wherein, The terminal transmits the second uplink signal based on different TA pre-compensation values, satisfying at least one of the following: The method of claim 23, wherein, Different second uplink signals or sets to which the second uplink signals belong correspond to different TA pre-compensation values. Different ROs or RO groups correspond to different TA pre-compensation values. Different SSBs or SSB groups correspond to different TA pre-compensation values. The method further includes that the terminal receives a third downlink signal, wherein the third downlink signal is used to indicate at least one of the following: The method of claim 1, wherein, The TA information estimated by a network side device according to the first uplink signal; A TA pre-compensation value used for transmission of the first uplink signal for estimating the TA information; A TA pre-compensation value of the second uplink signal other than the first uplink signal. The identification information includes at least one of the following: The method according to claim 5, 16 or 17, wherein An eighth reference signal or a set of eighth reference signals; A TRP index; Spatial relationship information; Transmission configuration indication (TCI) information. ​ A TA determination method for random access, comprising: A network-side device determines or indicates TA information in at least one of the following manners: based on a first uplink signal used for measurement of the TA information; based on an auxiliary downlink signal used for estimation of the TA information; based on position-related information used for estimation of the TA information; based on a TA candidate set including a TA parameter corresponding to the TA information; based on a first downlink signal used for indication of the TA information; based on a TA pre-compensation value used for transmission of a second uplink signal; The TA information is used for uplink transmission of a terminal; and the TA information includes at least one of a first TA corresponding to a first TRP and a second TA corresponding to a second TRP, wherein the first TRP is different from the second TRP. The method of claim 27, wherein, The method further comprises: the network-side device sending a second downlink signal used for indication or triggering of the first uplink signal. The second downlink signal includes at least one of the following: a downlink message related to random access; a first reference signal. The method of claim 27 or 28, wherein, The first uplink signal is associated with the second TRP, and the association between the first uplink signal and the second TRP includes at least one of the following: one of the second TRP is associated with one of the first uplink signal or a set to which the first uplink signal belongs; the first uplink signal is transmitted on a time-frequency resource associated with the second TRP. The method of claim 27, wherein, The auxiliary downlink signal satisfies at least one of the following: the auxiliary downlink signal or a set to which the auxiliary downlink signal belongs is associated with the second TRP; the auxiliary downlink signal is triggered by the terminal through a third uplink signal; the terminal receives the auxiliary downlink signal before entering an RRC connected state; the terminal receives the auxiliary downlink signal after entering an RRC connected state. The method of claim 30, wherein, The auxiliary downlink signal is triggered by the terminal through a third uplink signal, and the third uplink signal satisfies at least one of the following: the third uplink signal is associated with the second TRP; the third uplink signal carries association information of the second TRP. The method of any one of claims 27 to 31, wherein The method further comprises: The network-side device receives the TA information. The method of claim 27, wherein, The TA candidate set is used by the terminal to determine the TA information, including at least one of the following: the terminal uses a TA parameter in the TA candidate set to transmit a fourth uplink signal according to a first rule; a TA parameter in the TA candidate set is associated with at least one of an SSB, a random access preamble, and an RO. The method of claim 33, wherein, The TA parameter in the TA candidate set includes one of the following: the second TA; a second TA offset value, which is an offset based on the first TA. The method of claim 33, wherein, The TA candidate set satisfies at least one of the following: a number of TA parameters in the TA candidate set is associated with a number of times of transmission of the fourth uplink signal; the TA candidate set is indicated by a network-side device; The TA candidate set is associated with a third reference signal. The method according to any one of claims 27 to 30, wherein In a case where the first uplink signal comprises a random access preamble, the method further comprises: The network-side device receives the random access preamble through the first TRP and the second TRP. The method of claim 36, wherein, The random access preamble satisfies at least one of the following conditions: The random access preambles corresponding to the first TRP and the second TRP are the same; The random access preambles received by the first TRP and the second TRP correspond to the same RO or RO group; The terminal transmits the random access preamble in a SFN manner; The first TRP and the second TRP correspond to different random access preambles, and the different random access preambles have an association relationship; The random access preambles transmitted to the first TRP and the second TRP correspond to different ROs or RO groups, and the different ROs or RO groups have an association relationship; The fourth reference signals associated with the random access preambles transmitted to the first TRP and the second TRP are the same; The fourth reference signals associated with the random access preambles transmitted to the first TRP and the second TRP belong to the same set. The method of any one of claims 27 to 37, wherein The first downlink signal satisfies at least one of the following conditions: The terminal receives the first downlink signal before entering an RRC connected state; The terminal receives the first downlink signal after entering an RRC connected state; The first downlink signal is transmitted by at least one of the first TRP and the second TRP; The first downlink signal carries identification information of a TRP associated with the TA information; QCL information for receiving the first downlink signal comprises identification information of a TRP; The QCL information for receiving the first downlink signal is the same as the QCL information for receiving a downlink message of random access. The method of claim 38, wherein, When the TA information corresponds to at least two TRPs, at least one of the following conditions is satisfied: The TA information corresponds to at least two TACs or TAC domains; The TA information is associated with identification information of a TRP; The TAC or TAC domain corresponding to the TA information is associated with identification information of a TRP. The method of claim 38, wherein, The TA information indicated by the first downlink signal is associated with an uplink transmission mode, including at least one of the following conditions: The TA or TAC or TAC domain corresponding in the TA information is associated with a TRP used for subsequent transmission; The order of the TA or TAC or TAC domain corresponding in the TA information corresponds to the order of the TRP corresponding to subsequent transmission. The method of claim 27, wherein, The method further comprises that the network-side device receives the second uplink signal. The second uplink signal is transmitted by the terminal based on different TA pre-compensation values. The method of claim 41, wherein, At least one of the following conditions is satisfied: The different second uplink signals or the set to which the second uplink signals belong correspond to different TA pre-compensation values; Different ROs or RO groups correspond to different TA pre-compensation values; Different SSBs or SSB groups correspond to different TA pre-compensation values. The method of claim 27, wherein, The method further includes: the network-side device sending a third downlink signal, the third downlink signal being used to indicate at least one of: TA information estimated by the network-side device according to the first uplink signal; a TA pre-compensation value used for transmission of the first uplink signal for estimating the TA information; a TA pre-compensation value of the second uplink signal other than the first uplink signal. A TA determination apparatus for random access, comprising: a processing module configured to determine TA information in at least one of the following ways: based on a first uplink signal used for measurement of the TA information; based on an auxiliary downlink signal used for estimation of the TA information; based on position-related information used for estimation of the TA information; based on a TA candidate set including a TA parameter corresponding to the TA information; based on a first downlink signal used for indicating the TA information; based on a TA pre-compensation value used for transmission of a second uplink signal; wherein the TA information is used for uplink transmission of the apparatus, and the TA information includes at least one of a first TA corresponding to a first TRP and a second TA corresponding to a second TRP, the first TRP being different from the second TRP. A TA determination apparatus for random access, comprising: a processing module configured to determine or indicate TA information in at least one of the following ways: based on a first uplink signal used for measurement of the TA information; based on an auxiliary downlink signal used for estimation of the TA information; based on position-related information used for estimation of the TA information; based on a TA candidate set including a TA parameter corresponding to the TA information; based on a first downlink signal used for indicating the TA information; based on a TA pre-compensation value used for transmission of a second uplink signal; wherein the TA information is used for uplink transmission of a terminal, and the TA information includes at least one of a first TA corresponding to a first TRP and a second TA corresponding to a second TRP, the first TRP being different from the second TRP. A terminal comprising a processor and a memory, the memory storing programs or instructions executable on the processor, the programs or instructions being executed by the processor to implement steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 26. A network-side device comprising a processor and a memory, the memory storing programs or instructions executable on the processor, the programs or instructions being executed by the processor to implement steps of the method according to any one of claims 27 to 43. A readable storage medium, on which a program or instructions are stored, which are executed by a processor to implement the method of any one of claims 1-26, or to implement the steps of the method of any one of claims 27 to 43.

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