Communication method and communication apparatus

Abstract

A communication method and a communication apparatus. The method comprises: receiving information of a first beam from a terminal device, and receiving information of a second beam from a network device, the first beam and the second beam forming a beam pair used for current communication between the terminal device and the network device; sending first information to the terminal device, the first information being used for indicating that the first beam is about to fail; and sending second information to the network device, the second information being used for indicating that the second beam is about to fail. In the method, a first network element can indicate to the terminal device and the network device in a timely manner that the first beam and the second beam are about to fail, so that the terminal device and the network device can determine a candidate beam in advance, avoiding beam failure, thereby reducing impact on user experience.

Description

Method and communication device

[0001] The present application claims priority to the Chinese patent application No. 202410742603.2, filed on June 7, 2024, and entitled “Method and communication device”, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] Embodiments of the present application relate to the field of communication, and more particularly, to a method and communication device for beam switching. BACKGROUND

[0003] On high frequency bands, especially on millimeter wave frequency bands, the channel fading is particularly large. The terminal device and the network device can communicate based on beams to improve channel gain and ensure the coverage performance and transmission data rate of millimeter wave communication.

[0004] However, due to the uncertainty of the communication environment, beam failure and beam failure recovery may occur between the terminal device and the network device, resulting in service interruption and affecting user experience. SUMMARY

[0005] The present application provides a method and communication device for communication, which can avoid beam failure and reduce the impact on user experience.

[0006] In a first aspect, a method for communication is provided. The method can be applied to a first network element side, for example, to a first network element or a component of the first network element (such as a chip or a circuit or a chip system, etc.).

[0007] The method includes: receiving information of a first beam from a terminal device, the first beam being a beam currently used by the terminal device for communication with a network device; receiving information of a second beam from the network device, the second beam being a beam currently used by the network device for communication with the terminal device; sending first information to the terminal device, the first information being used to indicate that the first beam is about to fail; and sending second information to the network device, the second information being used to indicate that the second beam is about to fail.

[0008] Based on the above scheme, the first network element can timely indicate to the terminal device and the network device that the first beam and the second beam are about to fail, which helps the terminal device and the network device to make timely communication decisions, such as determining candidate beams in advance, avoiding beam failure, and reducing the impact on user experience.

[0009] Exemplarily, the first beam and the second beam are associated, and the first beam and the second beam constitute a beam pair currently used by the terminal device and the network device for communication.

[0010] In some implementations of the first aspect, the information of the first beam includes at least one of a direction of the first beam, a width of the first beam, and a first identifier; the first identifier is used to identify the first beam and / or the second beam; the information of the second beam includes at least one of a direction of the second beam, a width of the second beam, and the first identifier.

[0011] For example, the first identifier is an identifier of a reference signal resource associated with the first beam and / or the second beam.

[0012] For example, the first identifier is a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resource identifier or a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource identifier.

[0013] For example, the first identifier is a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state identifier associated with the first beam and / or the second beam.

[0014] In some implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes determining that the first beam and the second beam are about to fail based on the information of the first beam and the information of the second beam.

[0015] Based on the above scheme, the first network element can determine that the first beam and the second beam are about to fail based on the information of the first beam from the terminal device and the information of the second beam from the network device, which can assist the terminal device and the network device to discover beam failure and improve the efficiency of determining beam failure.

[0016] In addition, this can avoid the terminal device and the network device to perform beam failure detection only after the first beam and the second beam fail, thereby reducing the impact on user experience.

[0017] In some implementations of the first aspect, the first information includes information of a third beam, and the second information includes information of a fourth beam; the third beam is a candidate beam used by the terminal device for communication with the network device; and the fourth beam is a candidate beam used by the network device for communication with the terminal device.

[0018] Based on the above scheme, the first network element can indicate the information of the third beam to the terminal device and indicate the information of the fourth beam to the network device, which helps the terminal device and the network device to determine the candidate beam pair before the first beam and the second beam fail, thereby reducing the impact of the failure of the first beam and the second beam on user experience.

[0019] Exemplarily, the third beam and the fourth beam are associated, and the third beam and the fourth beam constitute a candidate beam pair for communication between the terminal device and the network device.

[0020] With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations, the information of the third beam comprises a direction of the third beam, or comprises the direction of the third beam and a second identifier, wherein the second identifier is used to identify the third beam and / or the fourth beam; and the information of the fourth beam comprises a direction of the fourth beam, or comprises the direction of the fourth beam and the second identifier.

[0021] Exemplarily, the second identifier is an identifier of a reference signal resource associated with the third beam and / or the fourth beam.

[0022] With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations, the information of the third beam indicates that the first beam is about to fail, and / or the information of the fourth beam indicates that the second beam is about to fail.

[0023] Based on the above scheme, the first network element can implicitly indicate that the first beam and the second beam are about to fail through the information of the third beam and / or the information of the fourth beam, so as to save resources.

[0024] With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations, the first information comprises first indication information, the first indication information being used to indicate that the first beam is about to fail, and the second information comprises second indication information, the second indication information being used to indicate that the second beam is about to fail.

[0025] Based on the above scheme, the first network element can explicitly indicate that the first beam and the second beam are about to fail through the first indication information and the second indication information, so as to more flexibly indicate the beam failure situation.

[0026] The second aspect provides a communication method, which can be applied to the network device side, for example, can be applied to the network device or a component (such as a circuit, a chip or a chip system, etc.) in the network device.

[0027] The method comprises: sending, to a first network element, information of a second beam, the second beam being a beam currently used by the network device for communication with a terminal device; and receiving second information from the first network element, the second information being used to indicate that the second beam is about to fail.

[0028] With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations, the information of the second beam comprises at least one of the following: a direction of the second beam, a width of the second beam, and a first identifier, wherein the first identifier is used to identify the second beam.

[0029] Exemplarily, the first identifier is an identifier of a reference signal resource associated with the second beam.

[0030] For example, the first identifier is a CSI-RS resource identifier or an SRS resource identifier.

[0031] Exemplarily, the first identifier is a TCI state identifier associated with the second beam.

[0032] With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations, the second information comprises information of a fourth beam, the fourth beam being a candidate beam used by the network device for communication with the terminal device.

[0033] Specifically, the information of the fourth beam comprises a direction of the fourth beam, or comprises the direction of the fourth beam and a second identifier, the second identifier being used for identifying the fourth beam.

[0034] With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations, the method further comprises: sending, to the terminal device, configuration information of the first reference signal resource, the configuration information indicating that the first reference signal resource is associated with the second identifier; and sending or receiving, using a second candidate beam, a first reference signal on the first reference signal resource, the second candidate beam being determined according to the information of the fourth beam.

[0035] Based on the above scheme, the network device can determine the used second candidate beam for transmitting the first reference signal according to the information of the fourth beam from the first network element, so that the first network element can assist the terminal device and the network device in beam training, and the efficiency of the beam training is improved.

[0036] Exemplarily, the second identifier is an identifier of a reference signal resource associated with the fourth beam, and the configuration information comprises an identifier of the first reference signal resource, the identifier of the first reference signal resource being the second identifier, i.e., the first reference signal resource is the reference signal resource associated with the fourth beam.

[0037] Optionally, the configuration information comprises type information of the first reference signal resource, the type information indicating that the identifier of the first reference signal resource is determined by the first network element.

[0038] Based on the above scheme, the identifier of the reference signal resource can be determined by the first network element, so that the configuration overhead of the first reference signal resource can be saved. Alternatively, the identifier of the first reference signal resource can be determined by the network device, so that the first reference signal resource can be configured more flexibly.

[0039] With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations, the method further comprises: determining a to-be-used beam according to a measurement result of a plurality of first reference signals, sending, to the terminal device, third indication information, the third indication information being used for activating the to-be-used beam; and in a case where the second beam is invalid or is about to be invalid, communicating with the terminal device using the to-be-used beam.

[0040] Based on the above scheme, the network device can determine the to-be-used beam pair from the candidate beam pairs, and in the case that the first beam and the second beam are about to fail, the terminal device and the network device can directly use the to-be-used beam pair for communication, avoiding the time delay caused by the detection process of beam failure and the process of beam failure recovery, and reducing the impact on user experience.

[0041] In some implementations, in combination with the second aspect, the information of the fourth beam is used to indicate that the second beam is about to fail.

[0042] In some implementations, in combination with the second aspect, the second information includes second indication information, and the second indication information is used to indicate that the second beam is about to fail.

[0043] A third aspect provides a method of communication, which can be applied to the terminal side, such as a terminal or a communication module in the terminal, or a circuit or chip responsible for communication functions in the terminal (such as a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a system on chip (SoC) chip or a system in package (SIP) chip containing a modem core).

[0044] The method includes: sending information of a first beam to a first network element, the first beam being a beam currently used by the terminal device for communication with the network device; and receiving first information from the first network element, the first information being used to indicate that the first beam is about to fail.

[0045] In some implementations, in combination with the third aspect, the information of the first beam includes at least one of the following: a direction of the first beam, a width of the first beam, and a first identifier, wherein the first identifier is used to identify the first beam.

[0046] For example, the first identifier is an identifier of a reference signal resource associated with the first beam.

[0047] For example, the first identifier is a CSI-RS resource identifier or an SRS resource identifier.

[0048] For example, the first identifier is a TCI state identifier associated with the first beam.

[0049] In some implementations, in combination with the third aspect, the first information includes information of a third beam, and the third beam is a candidate beam used by the terminal device for communication with the network device.

[0050] Specifically, the information of the third beam includes a direction of the third beam, or includes the direction of the third beam and a second identifier, wherein the second identifier is used to identify the third beam.

[0051] In some implementations, the method further includes receiving configuration information of the first reference signal resource from the network device, the configuration information indicating that the first reference signal resource is associated with the second identity; and receiving or transmitting the first reference signal on the first reference signal resource using the first candidate beam, the first candidate beam being determined according to the information of the third beam.

[0052] According to the above scheme, the terminal device can determine the used first candidate beam for transmitting the first reference signal according to the information of the third beam from the first network element, so that the first network element can assist the terminal device and the network device in beam training, and improve the efficiency of beam training.

[0053] For example, the second identity is an identity of a reference signal resource associated with the third beam, and the configuration information includes the identity of the first reference signal resource, and the identity of the first reference signal resource is the second identity, i.e., the first reference signal resource is the reference signal resource associated with the third beam.

[0054] Optionally, the configuration information includes type information of the first reference signal resource, and the type information indicates that the identity of the first reference signal resource is determined by the first network element.

[0055] In some implementations, the method further includes receiving third indication information from the network device, the third indication information being used to activate a to-be-used beam; and in a case where the first beam fails or is about to fail, communicating with the network device using the to-be-used beam.

[0056] In some implementations, the information of the third beam is used to indicate that the first beam is about to fail.

[0057] In some implementations, the first information includes first indication information, and the first indication information is used to indicate that the first beam is about to fail.

[0058] In a fourth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which has the functions of the first aspect, for example, the communication apparatus includes modules or units or means corresponding to the operations of the first aspect, which can be implemented by software, or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware.

[0059] For example, the communication apparatus can be a first network element side device, or a functional module in the first network element side device capable of invoking and executing programs, such as a processor, a circuit, a chip, or a chip system.

[0060] In an implementation form, the communication apparatus comprises: a transceiver configured to: receive information of a first beam from the terminal device, the first beam being a beam currently used by the terminal device to communicate with the network device; receive information of a second beam from the network device, the second beam being a beam currently used by the network device to communicate with the terminal device; and transmit, to the terminal device, first information indicating that the first beam is about to fail; and transmit, to the network device, second information indicating that the second beam is about to fail.

[0061] In an example, the first beam and the second beam are associated, and the first beam and the second beam form a beam pair currently used by the terminal device and the network device to communicate.

[0062] In combination with the fourth aspect, in some implementation forms, the information of the first beam comprises at least one of: a direction of the first beam, a width of the first beam, a first identifier; wherein the first identifier is used to identify the first beam and / or the second beam; and the information of the second beam comprises at least one of: a direction of the second beam, a width of the second beam, the first identifier.

[0063] In an example, the first identifier is an identifier of a reference signal resource associated with the first beam and / or the second beam.

[0064] For example, the first identifier is a CSI-RS resource identifier or an SRS resource identifier.

[0065] In an example, the first identifier is a TCI state identifier associated with the first beam and / or the second beam.

[0066] In combination with the fourth aspect, in some implementation forms, the first information comprises information of a third beam, and the second information comprises information of a fourth beam, the third beam being a candidate beam used by the terminal device to communicate with the network device, and the fourth beam being a candidate beam used by the network device to communicate with the terminal device.

[0067] In an example, the third beam and the fourth beam are associated, and the third beam and the fourth beam form a candidate beam pair used by the terminal device and the network device to communicate.

[0068] In combination with the fourth aspect, in some implementation forms, the information of the third beam comprises a direction of the third beam, or comprises the direction of the third beam and a second identifier, wherein the second identifier is used to identify the third beam and / or the fourth beam; and the information of the fourth beam comprises a direction of the fourth beam, or comprises the direction of the fourth beam and the second identifier.

[0069] In an example, the second identifier is an identifier of a reference signal resource associated with the third beam and / or the fourth beam.

[0070] In some implementations, in combination with the fourth aspect, the information of the third beam indicates that the first beam is about to fail, and the information of the fourth beam indicates that the second beam is about to fail.

[0071] In some implementations, in combination with the fourth aspect, the first information includes first indication information, and the second information includes second indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the first beam is about to fail, and the second indication information is used to indicate that the second beam is about to fail.

[0072] In a fifth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which has the function of implementing the second aspect, for example, the communication apparatus includes a module or unit or means corresponding to the operations of the second aspect, which can be implemented by software, or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware.

[0073] For example, the communication apparatus can be a network side apparatus, or a functional module of the network side apparatus capable of invoking and executing programs, such as a processor, a circuit, a chip or a chip system.

[0074] In one implementation, the communication apparatus includes a transceiver configured to send information of a second beam to a first network element, the second beam being a beam currently used by a network device to communicate with a terminal device, and configured to receive second information from the first network element, the second information being used to indicate that the second beam is about to fail.

[0075] In some implementations, in combination with the fifth aspect, the information of the second beam includes at least one of the following: a direction of the second beam, a width of the second beam, and a first identifier, where the first identifier is used to identify the second beam.

[0076] For example, the first identifier is an identifier of a reference signal resource associated with the second beam.

[0077] For example, the first identifier is a CSI-RS resource identifier or an SRS resource identifier.

[0078] For example, the first identifier is a TCI state identifier associated with the second beam.

[0079] In some implementations, in combination with the fifth aspect, the second information includes information of a fourth beam, the fourth beam being a candidate beam used by the network device to communicate with the terminal device.

[0080] Specifically, the information of the fourth beam includes a direction of the fourth beam, or includes the direction of the fourth beam and a second identifier, the second identifier being used to identify the fourth beam.

[0081] In some implementations of the fifth aspect, the transceiver is further configured to: send, to the terminal device, configuration information of the first reference signal resource, the configuration information indicating that the first reference signal resource is associated with the second identity; and send or receive the first reference signal on the first reference signal resource using the second candidate beam, the second candidate beam being determined according to the information of the fourth beam.

[0082] In some implementations of the fifth aspect, the second identity is an identity of a reference signal resource associated with the fourth beam, and the configuration information includes an identity of the first reference signal resource, the identity of the first reference signal resource being the second identity, i.e., the first reference signal resource is the reference signal resource associated with the fourth beam.

[0083] Optionally, the configuration information includes type information of the first reference signal resource, the type information indicating that the identity of the first reference signal resource is determined by the first network element.

[0084] In some implementations of the fifth aspect, the apparatus further includes a processing unit configured to determine a to-be-used beam according to measurement results of the plurality of first reference signals, and the transceiver is further configured to: send, to the terminal device, third indication information for activating the to-be-used beam; and the processing unit is further configured to: in a case where the second beam is failed or about to fail, use the to-be-used beam to communicate with the terminal device.

[0085] In some implementations of the fifth aspect, the information of the fourth beam is used to indicate that the second beam is about to fail.

[0086] In some implementations of the fifth aspect, the second information includes second indication information, the second indication information being used to indicate that the second beam is about to fail.

[0087] In a sixth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which has the functions of the third aspect, for example, the communication apparatus includes modules or units or means corresponding to the operations of the third aspect, which can be implemented by software, or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware.

[0088] In some implementations of the sixth aspect, the communication apparatus can be a terminal-side apparatus, or a functional module of the terminal-side apparatus capable of invoking and executing programs, for example, a processor, a circuit, a chip, or a chip system.

[0089] In one implementation, the communication apparatus includes a transceiver configured to: send, to a first network element, information of a first beam, the first beam being a beam currently used by a terminal device to communicate with a network device; and receive, from the first network element, first information indicating that the first beam is about to fail.

[0090] In some implementations of the sixth aspect, the information of the first beam includes at least one of: a direction of the first beam, a width of the first beam, and a first identifier, wherein the first identifier is used to identify the first beam.

[0091] For example, the first identifier is an identifier of a reference signal resource associated with the first beam.

[0092] For example, the first identifier is a CSI-RS resource identifier or an SRS resource identifier.

[0093] For example, the first identifier is an identifier of a TCI state associated with the first beam.

[0094] In some implementations of the sixth aspect, the first information includes information of a third beam, the third beam being a candidate beam used by the terminal device to communicate with the network device.

[0095] Specifically, the information of the third beam includes a direction of the third beam, or includes the direction of the third beam and a second identifier, wherein the second identifier is used to identify the third beam.

[0096] In some implementations of the sixth aspect, the transceiver is further configured to: receive configuration information of a first reference signal resource from the network device, the configuration information indicating that the first reference signal resource is associated with the second identifier; and receive or transmit a first reference signal on the first reference signal resource using a first candidate beam, the first candidate beam being determined according to the information of the third beam.

[0097] For example, the second identifier is an identifier of a reference signal resource associated with the third beam, and the configuration information includes an identifier of the first reference signal resource, the identifier of the first reference signal resource being the second identifier, i.e., the first reference signal resource is the reference signal resource associated with the third beam.

[0098] Optionally, the configuration information includes type information of the first reference signal resource, the type information indicating that the identifier of the first reference signal resource is determined by the first network element.

[0099] In some implementations of the sixth aspect, the transceiver is further configured to: receive third indication information from the network device, the third indication information being used to activate a to-be-used beam; and the apparatus further includes a processing unit configured to use the to-be-used beam to communicate with the network device in a case where the first beam is invalid or is about to be invalid.

[0100] In some implementations of the sixth aspect, the information of the third beam is used to indicate that the first beam is about to be invalid.

[0101] In some implementations of the sixth aspect, the first information includes first indication information, the first indication information being used to indicate that the first beam is about to be invalid.

[0102] In a seventh aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which can include an interface circuit and one or more processors. The one or more processors are coupled to a memory. The memory is configured to store part or all of the computer program or instructions necessary to implement the functions involved in any possible implementation of the first aspect to the third aspect. The one or more processors can execute the computer program or instructions, which when executed, cause the communication apparatus to implement the method in any possible implementation of the first aspect to the third aspect. The interface circuit is configured to implement communication functions within the communication apparatus and / or communication functions between the communication apparatus and other apparatuses or components.

[0103] In a possible design, the processor is configured to communicate with other apparatuses or components via the interface circuit.

[0104] In a possible design, the communication apparatus can further include the memory.

[0105] The communication apparatus described above can be a sensing function network element, or a module (e.g., a circuit, a chip, or a chip system, etc.) in the sensing function network element, or a logical node, a logical module, or software capable of implementing all or part of the sensing function network element functions. The communication apparatus described above can also be a network device, or a module (e.g., a circuit, a chip, or a chip system, etc.) in the network device, or a logical node, a logical module, or software capable of implementing all or part of the network device functions.

[0106] In an eighth aspect, a communication system is provided, which can include the communication apparatuses in at least two of the fourth aspect to the sixth aspect.

[0107] In a ninth aspect, a computer readable storage medium is provided, which stores computer readable instructions, which when read and executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the method in any possible design of the first aspect to the third aspect.

[0108] In a tenth aspect, a computer program product is provided, which when read and executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the method in any possible implementation of the first aspect to the third aspect.

[0109] In an eleventh aspect, a chip or chip system is provided, which includes a processor configured to execute computer programs or instructions in a memory to implement the method in any possible implementation of the first aspect to the third aspect.

[0110] It should be understood that the beneficial effects not described in detail in the second aspect to the eleventh aspect above can be referred to the first aspect and any possible implementation thereof. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0111] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture suitable for embodiments of the present application.

[0112] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a BPL between a transmitting device and a receiving device

[0113] FIG. 3 illustrates a scenario of beam failure.

[0114] FIG. 4 is a scenario of beam failure recovery.

[0115] FIG. 5 is a schematic flowchart of a method 500 of communication provided by the present application.

[0116] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of embodiments of the present application.

[0117] FIG. 7 is a schematic flowchart of a method 700 of communication provided by the present application.

[0118] FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 are schematic block diagrams of communication apparatus provided by embodiments of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0119] The technical solutions in the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0120] The technical solutions of embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, for example, long term evolution (LTE), 5th generation (5G), new radio (NR), internet of things (IoT), wireless-fidelity (WiFi), 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) related wireless communication, or other wireless communication that may appear in the future, etc., which are not limited by the present application.

[0121] The technical solutions provided in the application can also be applied to machine type communication (MTC), device-to-device (D2D) networks, machine to machine (M2M) networks, internet of things (IoT) networks, or other networks. The IoT network may, for example, include a vehicle network. In the vehicle network, the communication mode is collectively referred to as vehicle to X (V2X, X can represent any object), for example, the V2X can include vehicle to vehicle (V2V) communication, vehicle to infrastructure (V2I) communication, vehicle to pedestrian (V2P) communication, or vehicle to network (V2N) communication, and the like.

[0122] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture suitable for embodiments of the application. As shown in FIG. 1, the network architecture takes the 5th generation system (5GS) as an example.

[0123] The network architecture can include, but is not limited to, a sensing function (SF). Optionally, the network architecture can also include one or more of a location management function (LMF), a policy control function (PCF), an application function (AF), an access and mobility management function (AMF), a session management function (SMF), a user equipment (UE), a (radio) access network (R)AN, a user plane function (UPF), a data network (DN), and the like. The DN can be the Internet. The SF, LMF, PCF, AF, AMF, SMF, and UPF are network elements in the core network, and since FIG. 1 takes the 5G system as an example, the core network can be referred to as a 5G core network (5GC or 5GCN).

[0124] The following briefly introduces each network element shown in FIG. 1.

[0125] 1. User equipment (UE): can be referred to as a terminal device, an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a mobile station, a mobile, a remote station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a user terminal, a terminal, a wireless communication device, a user agent, or a user device.

[0126] The terminal device can be a device that provides voice / data to a user, for example, a handheld device with wireless connection function, a vehicle-mounted device, and the like. Currently, some examples of the terminal are: a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a notebook computer, a palm computer, a mobile internet device (MID), a virtual reality (VR) device, an augmented reality (AR) device, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless terminal in self driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical surgery, a wireless terminal in smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in smart city, a wireless terminal in smart home, a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handheld device with wireless communication function, a computing device, or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem, a terminal device in a 5G network, or a terminal device in a future evolved public land mobile network (PLMN), and the like, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto.

[0127] As an example but not limitation, in embodiments of the present application, the terminal device can also be a wearable device. The wearable device can also be referred to as a wearable smart device, which is a general term for devices that are designed and developed by applying wearable technology to daily wear, such as glasses, gloves, watches, clothing, and shoes. The wearable device is a portable device that can be directly worn on the body or integrated into the user's clothes or accessories. The wearable device is not only a hardware device, but also a powerful function achieved through software support and data interaction, cloud interaction. The general wearable smart device includes a full function, large size, and can realize complete or partial functions without relying on a smart phone, such as a smart watch or smart glasses, and focuses on a certain application function and needs to cooperate with other devices such as a smart phone, such as various smart wristbands, smart jewelry, and the like.

[0128] In addition, in embodiments of the present application, the terminal device can also be a terminal device in an IoT system. IoT is an important part of future information technology development, and its main technical feature is to connect objects through communication technology and network, so as to realize the intelligent network of man-machine interconnection and object interconnection.

[0129] It should be noted that the terminal device and the access network device can communicate with each other using a certain air interface technology (such as new radio (NR) or LTE technology, etc.). The terminal device and the terminal device can also communicate with each other using a certain air interface technology (such as NR or LTE technology, etc.).

[0130] In embodiments of the present application, the device for implementing the function of the terminal device can be a terminal device, or a device capable of supporting the terminal device to implement the function, such as a chip system or a chip, which can be installed in the terminal device. In embodiments of the present application, the chip system can be composed of a chip, or can include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0131] 2, (radio) access network ((R)AN): can provide access to a communication network for authorized users in a specific area, and can specifically include a wireless network device in a 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) network, and can also include an access point in a non-3GPP (non-3GPP) network.

[0132] The RAN can manage radio resources and provide access services for user equipment, and then complete the forwarding of control signals and user equipment data between user equipment and a core network. The RAN can also be understood as a base station in the traditional network.

[0133] Exemplarily, the access network device in the embodiments of the present application can be any kind of communication device with wireless transceiving function for communicating with the user equipment. The access network device includes but is not limited to: evolved Node B (eNB), baseband unit (BBU), access point (AP) in a wireless fidelity (WIFI) system, wireless relay node, wireless backhaul node, transmission point (TP) or transmission and reception point (TRP), etc., and can also be gNB or TP in a 5G, such as a NR, system, one or a group of (including multiple antenna panels) antenna panels of a base station in a 5G system, or a network node constituting a gNB or a transmission point, such as a baseband unit (BBU) or a distributed unit (DU), etc.

[0134] In some deployments, a gNB can include a centralized unit (CU) and a DU. The gNB can also include an active antenna unit (AAU). The CU implements part of the functions of the gNB, and the DU implements part of the functions of the gNB. For example, the CU is responsible for processing non-real-time protocols and services, implementing the radio resource control (RRC) and the functions of the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer. The DU is responsible for processing the physical layer protocol and real-time services, implementing the functions of the radio link control (RLC) layer, the medium access control (MAC) layer and the physical (PHY) layer. The AAU implements part of the physical layer processing function, the radio frequency processing and the related functions of the active antenna. Since the information of the RRC layer will eventually become the information of the PHY layer, or be converted from the information of the PHY layer, under this architecture, high-layer signaling, such as RRC layer signaling, can also be understood as being sent by the DU, or by the DU+AAU. It can be understood that the access network device can be a device including one or more of the CU node, the DU node and the AAU node. In addition, the CU can be divided into an access network device in a radio access network (RAN), or can be divided into an access network device in a core network (CN), which is not limited in the present application.

[0135] In different systems, the CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU or RU can also have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in an open-radio access network (O-RAN) system, the CU can also be referred to as an open-central unit (O-CU) (open CU); the DU can also be referred to as an open-distributed unit (O-DU) (open DU); the CU-CP can also be referred to as an O-CU-CP, the CU-UP can also be referred to as an O-CU-UP, and the RU can also be referred to as an O-RU. For the convenience of description, the CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU and RU are taken as examples for description in this application. Any one of the CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU and RU in this application can be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0136] 3. A sensing function (SF) network element, which refers to a unit responsible for sensing in the network, is used to support sensing service functions. For example, an access network device, a terminal device, etc. can be configured to perform a sensing process and report sensing information, and can also provide sensing information to other nodes.

[0137] 4. A user plane function (UPF) network element: used for packet routing and forwarding, quality of service (QoS) processing of user plane data, etc. User data can access a data network (DN) through the network element. In the embodiments of this application, the function of the user plane network element can be implemented.

[0138] 5. An access and mobility management function (AMF) network element: mainly used for mobility management and access management, etc. It can be used to implement functions other than session management in the mobility management entity (MME) function, such as access authorization / authentication functions, etc.

[0139] 6. A session management function (SMF) network element: mainly used for session management, IP address allocation and management of terminal devices, selection and management of user plane functions, termination of policy control and charging function interfaces, and downlink data notification, etc.

[0140] 7、application function (AF) network element: used for application impact data routing, access network exposure function network element, interacts with the policy framework for policy control, etc.

[0141] 8、policy control function (PCF) network element: a unified policy framework for guiding network behavior, providing policy rule information for network elements (such as AMF, SMF network elements, etc.) or terminal devices, etc.

[0142] 9、data network (DN): a network for providing data transmission. For example, an operator service network, an Internet network, a third-party service network, etc.

[0143] 10、location management function (LMF): used to support positioning service functions. In 5GC, LMF can be used to provide AMF with location information of UEs managed by AMF.

[0144] 11、first network element:

[0145] Optionally, in the present application, the first network element can be a function network element responsible for sensing in the core network, which can be an independent core network element, for example, an SF network element, at which time the first network element and the SF network element are the same. Alternatively, the first network element can also be coupled with any of the above core network elements, and the function of the first network element is implemented by the core network element. Specifically, the first network element is used to support sensing service functions, for example, it can configure network devices, terminal devices, etc. to perform sensing processes and report sensing information, and it can also provide sensing information to other nodes.

[0146] Optionally, in the present application, the first network element can be a network element for assisting communication, for example, a network element with sensing assistance communication function. The first network element itself can integrate sensing function to obtain sensing information through the network for subsequent beam failure warning and candidate beam indication, or it can obtain sensing information through other network elements (such as a function network element responsible for sensing).

[0147] Optionally, in the present application, the first network element can be a network element with channel knowledge map, or a network element that can utilize the channel knowledge map, wherein the channel knowledge map can be a knowledge map including beam information at different positions. When the first network element is a network element that can utilize the channel knowledge map, the first network element itself can have the ability to collect channel map knowledge, or it can obtain channel map knowledge through other network elements.

[0148] Optionally, in this application, the first network element can also be other network elements with beam failure warning function and / or candidate beam indication function.

[0149] It can be understood that the first network element in this application can correspond to a specific physical device or network element, or can be a logical function network element, that is, does not correspond to a specific physical device or network element.

[0150] It should be understood that the network architecture shown in Figure 1 is only an example, and the network architecture applicable to the embodiments of the present application is not limited thereto, and any network architecture capable of realizing the functions of the above-mentioned network elements is applicable to the embodiments of the present application.

[0151] In the above network architecture, the N1 interface is the interface between the UE and the AMF; the N2 interface is the interface between the RAN and the AMF network element, used for sending wireless parameters, non-access layer (NAS) signaling, etc.; the N3 interface is the interface between the RAN and the UPF network element, used for transmitting user plane data, etc.; the N4 interface is the interface between the SMF network element and the UPF network element, used for transmitting information such as service policy, N3 connection tunnel identifier information, data buffering indication information, and downlink data notification message, etc. The N6 interface is the interface between the DN network element and the UPF network element, used for transmitting user plane data, etc.

[0152] It should be understood that the various network elements involved in Figure 1 and the communication interfaces between the network elements are simply illustrated by taking the names specified in the current protocol or the expected names as an example, but the embodiments of the present application are not limited to only being applicable to the currently known communication systems. Therefore, the standard names appearing when described by taking the current protocol as an example are functional descriptions, and the specific names of the network elements, interfaces or signaling are not limited by the present application, and only indicate the functions of the network elements, interfaces or signaling, which can be extended to other systems, such as 2G, 3G, 4G or future communication systems.

[0153] For example, in the current standardization process, the perception function network element has not been officially named, and in future networks, the perception function network element can also have other names.

[0154] It should also be understood that AMF, SMF, UPF, PCF, AF, SF, LMF, etc., shown in Figure 1 can be understood as network elements in the core network used to implement different functions, for example, they can be combined into network slices as needed. These core network elements can be independent devices or integrated into the same device to implement different functions. This application does not limit the specific form of the above network elements. It should be understood that the network architecture applied to the embodiments of this application is only an example of a network architecture described from the perspective of traditional point-to-point architecture and service-oriented architecture. The network architecture applicable to the embodiments of this application is not limited to this. Any network architecture that can implement the functions of the above-mentioned network elements is applicable to the embodiments of this application.

[0155] It should be noted that the aforementioned network element may also be referred to as an entity, device, apparatus, or module, etc., and this application does not specifically limit it. Furthermore, in this application, for ease of understanding and explanation, the description of "network element" is omitted in some descriptions. For example, the LMF network element is abbreviated as LMF. In this case, "LMF" should be understood as LMF network element. The following descriptions of the same or similar cases are omitted.

[0156] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of this application, some basic concepts involved in this application will be briefly explained.

[0157] 1. Sensing

[0158] Sensing, also known as detection, refers to detecting parameters of targets in the physical environment, such as the target's position and velocity. Specifically, a detection system can detect targets by sending sensing signals and analyzing the echo signals reflected from the object.

[0159] Among them, sensing signals are used to sense (or detect) signals from the sensed target (or target object, such as a scatterer). Sensing signals can be detection signals, linear frequency modulated signals, radar signals, radar sensing signals, radar detection signals, environmental sensing signals, pulse signals, signals in wireless communication systems, etc.

[0160] The echo signal refers to the signal generated when the sensed signal is reflected by the target object. For example, the time delay of the echo signal relative to the sensed signal can reflect the distance of the target object relative to the transmitter. Alternatively, the Doppler shift of the echo signal relative to the sensed signal can reflect the velocity of the target object.

[0161] 2. Perception Mode

[0162] Exemplarily, according to the difference between the sender and the receiver of the sensing signal, the sensing mode can be divided into two types: single-station sensing (also referred to as single-base sensing) and double-station sensing (also referred to as double-base sensing). Among them, single-station sensing refers to that the device sending the sensing signal (i.e., the sensing sender) and the device receiving the echo signal of the sensing signal reflected by the target (i.e., the sensing receiver) are the same device; double-station sensing refers to that the device sending the sensing signal and the device receiving the echo signal of the sensing signal reflected by the target are different devices. The nodes participating in sensing can include the sensing sender and the sensing receiver.

[0163] As an example, the sensing mode can be base station self-sending and self-receiving, base station sending and UE receiving, UE sending and base station receiving, base station sending and another base station receiving, UE self-sending and self-receiving, UE sending and another UE receiving, etc.

[0164] Optionally, the nodes participating in sensing can also include a sensing initiator. The sensing initiator can also be referred to as a control node, which can send basic parameters of sensing to the sensing sender, and can also send a trigger signal to the sensing receiver, which can be used to start the sensing function of the sensing receiver.

[0165] 3. Beam pair link (BPL)

[0166] On a high frequency band, especially a millimeter wave frequency band (for example, a frequency band greater than 30 GHz), the channel fading is particularly large, therefore, the sending device needs to use a specific spatial filtering parameter by using beamforming or other technologies to make the energy of the signal concentrated in a specific direction (hereinafter also referred to as beam direction), and the receiving device also needs to select a corresponding receiving beam direction to improve the equivalent channel gain between the sending device and the receiving device, and ensure the coverage performance and transmission data rate of the millimeter wave communication. Therefore, the sending device and the receiving device will first determine the beams or beam pairs used for the transmission and reception of both parties through beam training. For example, the sending end will use different beams to send reference signals in turn, and the receiving end can use different beams to receive and measure these reference signals, so as to determine the best sending beam of the sending end and the corresponding receiving beam, and then report the identifier and the reference signal received power (RSRP) of the reference signal to the sending party, for example, report the identifier and the RSRP of the reference signal with larger RSRP, and the sending party can determine the sending beam to be used when sending information to the receiving party.

[0167] Through the above process, the sending device can determine one or more sending beams, and the receiving device can determine one or more receiving beams, wherein the sending beam and the receiving beam are one-to-one corresponding, and each sending beam and its corresponding receiving beam constitute a beam pair link (BPL).

[0168] FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of a BPL between a sending device and a receiving device. As shown in FIG. 2, there are two paths between the sending device and the receiving device, one of which is a direct path and the other of which is a path after reflection by a reflector. In a beam training phase, the sending device can send different reference signals in different beam directions, and the receiving device can also use different receiving beams to receive and measure the reference signals. When the sending device uses sending beam 1 to send reference signal 1 and the receiving device uses receiving beam 1 to receive reference signal 1, that is, the sending device and the receiving device use BPL1 formed by sending beam 1 and receiving beam 1 to transmit reference signal 1, the communication quality between the sending device and the receiving device is good when the sending beam and the receiving beam are aligned. When the sending device uses sending beam 2 to send reference signal 2 and the receiving device uses receiving beam 2 to receive reference signal 2, that is, the sending device and the receiving device use BPL2 formed by sending beam 2 and receiving beam 2 to transmit reference signal 2, the communication quality between the sending device and the receiving device is also good when the sending beam and the receiving beam are aligned. For other reference signals (not shown in the figure) sent by the sending device using other sending beams, the signal energy of the reference signals received by the receiving device is weak and cannot form a BPL for communication. Among them, the resource for transmitting reference signal 1 is reference signal resource 1, and the resource for transmitting reference signal 2 is reference signal resource 2. Therefore, reference signal resource 1 is associated with sending beam 1 and receiving beam 1, and reference signal resource 2 is associated with sending beam 2 and receiving beam 2. The receiving device can send the identifiers of reference signal resource 1 and reference signal resource 2 (or the identifier of the reference signal) to the sending device, so that the sending device can determine that better communication quality can be obtained when sending signals to the receiving device using sending beam 1 or sending beam 2. In the subsequent communication process, if the sending device wants to use sending beam 1 to send signals to the receiving device, it can indicate the identifier of reference signal resource 1 in advance, and the receiving device can determine to use the beam (receiving beam 1) used to receive reference signal 1 previously to receive the subsequent signals; if the sending device wants to use sending beam 2 to send signals to the receiving device, it can indicate the identifier of reference signal resource 2 in advance, and the receiving device can determine to use the beam (receiving beam 2) used to receive reference signal 2 previously to receive the subsequent signals. After using two BPLs, the robustness of the transmission between the sending device and the receiving device is higher. For example, when one of the BPLs is blocked and communication cannot be performed, the sending device and the receiving device can still use the other BPL to communicate. In this application, the reference signal resource is a resource for sending a reference signal, that is, the reference signal and the reference signal resource are usually one-to-one correspondence, so they can usually be replaced, for example, being associated with reference signal 1 can also be understood as being associated with reference signal resource 1, and the identifier of reference signal 1 can also be understood as the identifier of reference signal resource 1.

[0169] 4. Beam failure detection and beam failure recovery

[0170] After the transceiving devices determine one or more BPLs, when all the BPLs are failed, e.g., are blocked, the transceiving devices need to timely discover the beam failure and perform beam failure recovery.

[0171] Specifically, taking a UE and a base station as examples, when the UE and the base station use beam-based communication in a high-frequency frequency band, after beam training is completed between the UE and the base station, the base station configures a reference signal set q0 for beam failure detection (BFD) and a reference signal set q1 for beam failure recovery for the UE.

[0172] The q0 includes time-frequency positions, sequences, and corresponding beams of reference signals in the q0, where each reference signal can correspond to a transmission beam and a reception beam used between the UE and the base station. These beams usually correspond to the BPLs being used between the base station and the UE, e.g., the BPLs determined through previous beam training. These reference signals for BFD are usually periodic, and in each period, the UE performs reception and measurement at the time-frequency positions corresponding to the reference signals. Meanwhile, the UE itself maintains a counter, and the initial value of the counter is 0. When the UE finds that the RSRP qualities of all the reference signals are lower than a certain threshold after measuring the BFD reference signals in a period, it is determined that the qualities of the beams are poor in this period, and thus the counter is incremented by 1. When the counter reaches a certain value, the UE determines that multiple beam pairs between the UE and the base station are failed.

[0173] The q1 can also include time-frequency positions, sequences, and corresponding beams of reference signals in the q1, and the beams corresponding to the reference signals in the q1 can be other beam directions than the beams of the reference signals in the q0. The reference signals in the q1 are generally also periodic reference signals. Before and after the beam failure occurs, the base station cannot timely obtain the beam failure information, and thus the base station continues to use different beams to transmit the reference signals in the q1, which are used for beam failure recovery after the UE discovers the beam failure. In addition, each reference signal can be associated with a random access occasion. After the beam failure occurs, the UE starts to measure the reference signals in the reference signal set q1, and if the RSRP of a certain reference signal is greater than a certain threshold, it is determined that the beam can be used as a new candidate beam, and then a random access is initiated at the random access occasion associated with the reference signal. After the base station receives the random access signal of the UE at the random access occasion (RO), it can know that the UE has beam failure and has found a new candidate beam.

[0174] Figure 3 shows one scenario of beam failure. As shown in Figure 3, the reference signals q 0-1 and q 0-2 , when there is no obstruction, the base station and the UE can communicate using two BPLs, when the two BPLs are obstructed by an obstacle (as shown by the black polygon in the figure), the UE identifies that beam failure occurs through the RSRP measurement results of the two reference signals.

[0175] Figure 4 is one scenario of beam failure recovery. As shown in Figure 4, the two BPLs corresponding to q 0-1 and q 0-2 are obstructed by an obstacle, the base station still continuously transmits q 1-1 , q 1-2 , q 1-3 , q 1-4 to the UE using different beams, and correspondingly, the UE can measure these reference signals using different beams, for example, if the RSRP of q 1-1 is greater than a certain threshold, the beam can be used as a new candidate beam, and a random access is initiated.

[0176] In the above process, due to the uncertainty of the communication environment, when beam failure occurs, the base station and the UE need to spend a long time to re-train a large number of beams and complete beam failure recovery through the random access process, which will cause the service interruption of the UE and affect the user experience.

[0177] Therefore, the present application provides a communication method and a communication device, which can obtain candidate beams before beam failure occurs, avoid beam failure, and thus reduce the impact on user experience.

[0178] Figure 5 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method provided by the present application. As shown in Figure 5, the method 500 includes the following steps.

[0179] S510, the terminal device sends information of a first beam to a first network element, and correspondingly, the first network element receives the information of the first beam.

[0180] S520, the network device sends information of a second beam to the first network element, and correspondingly, the first network element receives the information of the second beam.

[0181] The information of the first beam includes the direction of the first beam. The information of the second beam includes the direction of the second beam.

[0182] Optionally, the information of the first beam can further include one or more of a first identifier, a network device identifier, and a width of the first beam, the first identifier being used to identify the first beam.

[0183] Optionally, the information of the second beam further comprises one or more of a first identifier for identifying the second beam, a terminal device identifier, a width of the second beam.

[0184] In the present application, the first beam can be a beam currently used by the terminal device for communication with the network device, the second beam can be a beam currently used by the network device for communication with the terminal device, the first beam and the second beam are associated, and the first beam and the second beam form a beam pair currently used by the terminal device and the network device for communication, which can be referred to as a first beam pair or a first BPL. Reporting the directions of the first beam and the second beam to the first network element can enable the first network element to effectively identify potential beam failure.

[0185] It should be understood that, in the present application, "current" refers to a period of time, not a time point. For example, the current 2 BPLs mean that at a specific moment in a period of time, the terminal device and the network device use one of the BPLs for communication, and the terminal device and the network device can use 2 BPLs in a period of time. Therefore, the first beam and the second beam are both 2.

[0186] In the present application, the direction of a beam refers to the directionality of the radiation capability of the beam. For example, the direction of the first beam can include an angle of the first beam, which can be an angle in a global coordinate system (GCS) or an angle in a local coordinate system (LCS) of the terminal device. The angle can include an azimuth angle in the horizontal direction and a pitch angle in the vertical direction, etc. Optionally, when reporting the angle in the local coordinate system, the terminal device can further report a conversion relationship between the local coordinate system and the global coordinate system. It should be understood that the global coordinate system in the present application can also be referred to as a world coordinate system or a global coordinate system, and the local coordinate system can also be referred to as a local coordinate system or a regional coordinate system.

[0187] For example, the direction of the second beam can include an angle of the second beam, which can be an angle in a GCS or an angle in a LCS of the network device. The angle can include an azimuth angle in the horizontal direction and a pitch angle in the vertical direction, etc. Optionally, when reporting the angle in the local coordinate system, the network device can further report a conversion relationship between the local coordinate system and the global coordinate system.

[0188] It should be understood that the first beam in the present application can be a transmission beam or a reception beam, or can be both a transmission beam and a reception beam, depending on whether the terminal device has a beam consistency capability. Some terminal devices have a beam consistency capability, and some terminal devices do not have a beam consistency capability. Similarly, the second beam can be a transmission beam or a reception beam, or can be both a transmission beam and a reception beam, depending on whether the network device has a beam consistency capability. Some network devices have a beam consistency capability, and some network devices do not have a beam consistency capability.

[0189] Specifically, in the case where the terminal device has a beam consistency capability, the terminal device can maintain that the transmission beam and the reception beam have the same or similar beam directions and beam widths. In this case, the first beam can be either a reception beam or a transmission beam of the terminal device, and the first beam can not be distinguished as a reception beam or a transmission beam. Similarly, in the case where the network device also has a beam consistency capability, the second beam can be either a reception beam or a transmission beam of the network device, and the second beam can not be distinguished as a reception beam or a transmission beam. In this case, the beam pair (i.e., BPL) composed of the first beam and the second beam does not need to be distinguished as an uplink or a downlink.

[0190] In the case where the terminal device does not have a beam consistency capability, the terminal device cannot maintain that the transmission beam and the reception beam have the same or similar beam directions or beam widths. In this case, the terminal device can report information of the first uplink beam (or the first transmission beam) and information of the first downlink beam (or the first reception beam) respectively. Similarly, in the case where the network device does not have a beam consistency capability, the network device can also report information of the second uplink beam (or the second reception beam) and information of the second downlink beam (or the second transmission beam) respectively. In the case where any one of the terminal device and the network device does not have a beam consistency capability, the beam pair between the terminal device and the network device needs to be further divided into an uplink beam pair and a downlink beam pair. The beam (i.e., the first beam) of the terminal device in the uplink beam pair is a transmission beam, and the beam (i.e., the second beam) of the network device in the uplink beam pair is a reception beam. Similarly, the beam (i.e., the first beam) of the terminal device in the downlink beam pair is a reception beam, and the beam (i.e., the second beam) of the network device in the downlink beam pair is a transmission beam.

[0191] Optionally, the terminal device and the network device can send to the first network element whether they have a beam consistency capability.

[0192] Optionally, when the terminal device or the network device does not have the beam consistency capability, the information of the first beam can further include whether the first beam is an uplink beam (or a transmission beam) or a downlink beam (or a reception beam), and the information of the second beam can further include whether the second beam is an uplink beam (or a reception beam) or a downlink beam (or a transmission beam).

[0193] In an implementation manner, the terminal device can report the information of the first beam set (or list) to the first network element before S510, wherein the information of each beam in the first beam set includes the information of the beam direction or the information of {beam index + beam direction}, and when the information of the beam index is not included, the index of the beam can be determined according to the order of the beam in the set or list. In this case, the first beam reported by the terminal device in S510 can be a beam in the first beam set, and the information of the first beam reported by the terminal device can not directly include the direction of the first beam, but include the beam index of the first beam in the first beam set. Optionally, if the information of each beam in the first beam set further includes information such as whether the beam is an uplink beam or a downlink beam and the width of the beam, the information of the first beam reported by the terminal device can also not include the information that can be determined by the beam index. It should be understood that this implementation manner can also be understood as that the information of the first beam indirectly includes the direction information of the first beam, and indirectly includes information such as whether the first beam is an uplink beam or a downlink beam and the width of the first beam. It should be understood that the beam index can be different from the first identifier and the second identifier.

[0194] Similarly, the network device can report the information of the second beam set (or list) to the first network element before S520, wherein the information of each beam in the second beam set includes the information of the beam direction or the information of {beam index + beam direction}, and when the information of the beam index is not included, the index of the beam can be determined according to the order of the beam in the set or list. In this case, the second beam reported by the network device in S520 can be a beam in the second beam set, and the information of the second beam reported by the network device can not directly include the direction of the second beam, but include the beam index of the second beam in the second beam set. Optionally, if the information of each beam in the second beam set further includes information such as whether the beam is an uplink beam or a downlink beam and the width of the beam, the information of the second beam reported by the network device can also not include the information that can be determined by the beam index. It should be understood that this implementation manner can also be understood as that the information of the second beam indirectly includes the direction information of the second beam, and indirectly includes information such as whether the second beam is an uplink beam or a downlink beam and the width of the second beam. It should be understood that the beam index can be different from the first identifier and the second identifier.

[0195] Exemplarily, the first identity is used to identify the first beam. For example, for the terminal device, the first identity is used to identify the first beam. Since the beams between the two devices are usually corresponding and can constitute a beam pair, but for each device, it can only know its own beam, therefore, for the terminal device, the first identity can also be used to identify the first beam without identifying the second beam.

[0196] Exemplarily, the first identity is used to identify the second beam. For example, for the network device, the first identity can also be used to identify the second beam. Since the beams between the two devices are usually corresponding and can constitute a beam pair, but for each device, it can only know its own beam, therefore, for the network device, the first identity can also be used to identify the second beam without identifying the first beam.

[0197] Exemplarily, the first identity is used to identify the first beam and the second beam. For example, the first beam and the second beam are associated, and the first beam and the second beam constitute a beam pair used by the terminal device and the network device for current communication, therefore, for the first network element, it can also be understood that the first identity is used to identify the first beam and the second beam, or used to identify the first beam pair constituted by the first beam and the second beam, or used by the first network element to determine that the first beam and the second beam are associated, i.e., to determine that the first beam and the second beam constitute a beam pair used by the terminal device and the network device for current communication.

[0198] Optionally, when there are multiple BPLs between the terminal device and the network device, the terminal device can report multiple first beams to the first network element, and the network device can also report multiple second beams to the first network element, the multiple first beams and the multiple second beams have an association relationship, for example, one-to-one association, so the information of each first beam can include its corresponding first identifier, and the information of each second beam can include its corresponding first identifier, wherein for the associated first beam and second beam, the same first identifier is included in the information of these beams. The first network element can associate the multiple first beams reported by the terminal device and the multiple first beams reported by the network device based on the first identifier to form a BPL, which is used for subsequent determination of whether the BPL will fail. For example, there are two beam pairs between the terminal device and the network device, which are beam pair 1 and beam pair 2, wherein beam pair 1 includes the first beam-1 of the terminal device and the second beam-1 of the network device, and beam pair 2 includes the first beam-2 of the terminal device and the second beam-2 of the network device. The terminal device and the network device can agree on beam pair 1 associated with first identifier-1 and beam pair 2 associated with first identifier-2 through configuration information or other means. Therefore, the terminal device reports two first beams, the information of the first beam-1 includes the direction of the first beam-1 and the first identifier-1, and the information of the first beam-2 includes the direction of the first beam-2 and the first identifier-2. The network device reports two second beams, the information of the second beam-1 includes the direction of the second beam-1 and the first identifier-1, and the information of the second beam-2 includes the direction of the second beam-2 and the first identifier-2. After receiving the information, the first network element can form beam pair 1 by combining the first beam-1 and the second beam-1, and form beam pair 2 by combining the first beam-2 and the second beam-2. Subsequently, only the performance of the two beam pairs needs to be determined, and the performance of the beam pair formed by the first beam-1 and the second beam-2 and the performance of the beam pair formed by the first beam-2 and the second beam-1 do not need to be determined. When there is only one BPL between the terminal device and the network device or only one BPL is established, the information of the first beam can not include the first identifier, and the information of the second beam can not include the first identifier.

[0199] In this application, the first identifier can be referred to as a beam identifier, a beam pair identifier, etc. Specifically, the first identifier can be the identifier of the reference signal associated with the first beam and / or the second beam, such as the identifier (ID) of the CSI-RS, the ID of the SRS, etc., can be the identifier of the reference signal resource associated with the first beam and / or the second beam, such as the identifier of the CSI-RS resource, the identifier of the SRS resource, etc., or can be the identifier of the TCI state associated with the first beam and / or the second beam. It will be described in detail hereinafter.

[0200] The network device identifier is used to identify the network device with which the terminal device communicates using the first beam. For example, when the terminal device can communicate with multiple network devices or communicate through beams (e.g., establish a BPL), the network device identifier can be used to indicate which network device the first beam is used to communicate with. When the terminal device only communicates with one network device based on beams, the information of the first beam can also not include the network device identifier, and the first network element can determine the network device with which the terminal device communicates using the first beam through other manners, for example, determine which network device the terminal device currently communicates with based on beams from other network elements (e.g., AMF) in the core network.

[0201] The terminal device identifier is used to identify the terminal device with which the network device communicates using the second beam. For example, when the network device can communicate with multiple terminal devices through beams, the terminal device identifier can be used to indicate which terminal device the second beam is used to communicate with.

[0202] The width of the first beam refers to the included angle between two half-power points of the first beam, or the included angle between two directions in which the radiation power decreases by 3 dB on both sides of the maximum radiation direction of the first beam. The width of the first beam can include the width in the horizontal direction and the width in the vertical direction. The width of the second beam refers to the included angle between two half-power points of the second beam, or the included angle between two directions in which the radiation power decreases by 3 dB on both sides of the maximum radiation direction of the second beam. The width of the second beam can include the width in the horizontal direction and the width in the vertical direction. Reporting the width information of the first beam and the width information of the second beam to the first network element is beneficial to the first network element to more accurately determine whether beam failure occurs.

[0203] It should be understood that the terminal device performing S510 can also be multiple, without limitation.

[0204] It should be understood that the network device performing S520 can also be multiple, without limitation.

[0205] As an example, the first identifier is an identifier of a reference signal resource associated with the first beam and / or the second beam or an identifier of a reference signal.

[0206] In the case where the reference signal resource is a downlink reference signal resource, since each reference signal resource can correspond to a transmitting beam of the network device and a receiving beam of the terminal device, the first downlink beam (receiving beam in the downlink scenario) of the terminal device and the second downlink beam (transmitting beam in the downlink scenario) of the network device, i.e., the first downlink beam pair, can be indexed through the identification of the reference signal resource. In the case where the reference signal resource is an uplink reference signal resource, since each reference signal resource can correspond to a receiving beam of the network device and a transmitting beam of the terminal device, the first uplink beam (transmitting beam in the uplink scenario) of the terminal device and the second uplink beam (receiving beam in the uplink scenario) of the network device, i.e., the first uplink beam pair, can be indexed through the identification of the reference signal resource. When the network device and the terminal device both have the beam consistency capability, the uplink beam and the downlink beam do not need to be distinguished any more, and thus the identification of the reference signal resource (whether it is an uplink reference signal resource or a downlink reference signal resource) can be used to index the first beam of the terminal device and the second beam of the network device, i.e., the first beam pair.

[0207] Exemplarily, the identification of the reference signal resource can be a CSI-RS resource identification, which refers to a reference signal resource used for determining channel state information. Generally, the CSI-RS resource is a downlink reference signal resource, i.e., a reference signal transmitted by the network device to the terminal device. Thus, it can be used to identify the downlink beam pair or the beam pair in the beam consistency scenario.

[0208] Optionally, in this example, the information of the first beam can further include the type of the CSI-RS resource associated with the first beam pair, for example, the type of the CSI-RS resource is a synchronization sign block (SSB) resource or a non-zero power (NZP) CSI-RS resource.

[0209] For example, the terminal device 1 maintains the correspondence between the CSI-RS resource identification and the first beam as shown in the second and third columns of Table 1-1, and each first beam pair can correspond to one CSI-RS resource identification.

[0210] Table 1-1

[0211] Similarly, the network device 1 maintains the correspondence between the CSI-RS resource identification and the second beam as shown in the second and third columns of Table 1-2, and each second beam can correspond to one CSI-RS resource identification.

[0212] Table 1-2

[0213] The first network element can maintain the correspondence between the CSI-RS resource identifier and the first beam pair according to the information of the first beam reported by the terminal device and the information of the second beam reported by the network device, as shown in the third and fourth columns of Table 1-3.

[0214] Table 1-3

[0215] Exemplarily, the identifier of the reference signal resource can be an SRS resource identifier. Generally, the SRS resource is an uplink reference signal resource, i.e., a reference signal sent by the terminal device to the network device. Therefore, it can be used to identify the uplink beam pair, or the beam pair in the beam consistency scenario.

[0216] For example, the terminal device 1 maintains the correspondence between the SRS resource identifier and the first beam as shown in the second and third columns of Table 2-1, and each first beam pair can correspond to an SRS resource identifier.

[0217] Table 2-1

[0218] Similarly, the network device 1 maintains the correspondence between the SRS resource identifier and the second beam as shown in the second and third columns of Table 2-2, and each second beam can correspond to an SRS resource identifier.

[0219] Table 2-2

[0220] The first network element can maintain the correspondence between the SRS resource identifier and the first beam pair according to the information of the first beam reported by the terminal device and the information of the second beam reported by the network device, as shown in the third and fourth columns of Table 2-3.

[0221] Table 2-3

[0222] As another example, the first identifier is the identifier of the TCI state associated with the first beam and / or the second beam.

[0223] The TCI state is used to indicate quasi co location (QCL) information of a signal or a channel, and the TCI state can include a type D QCL source reference signal. It should be understood that the QCL information can also be referred to as a QCL relationship or a QCL assumption, which is used to indicate the association between two reference signals or a reference signal and a channel. Four types of QCLs are defined in the standard, including type A, type B, type C, and type D. If type D reflects spatial reception parameters, i.e., beam information. If the QCL information of two reference signals is type D, they have similar spatial reception parameters. For example, through beam training between the network device and the terminal device, it can be determined that the BPL signal quality associated with RS resource 1 is good, so the network device can set the type D QCL source reference signal resource in TCI state 1 to RS resource 1 and configure it to the terminal device. Subsequently, the network device can indicate the TCI state identifier of the control channel or the data channel to be TCI state 1, and the terminal device uses the same receive beam as when receiving RS1 to receive the corresponding control channel or data channel.

[0224] For example, the terminal device 1 maintains the correspondence between the TCI state and the first beam as shown in the second and third columns of Table 3-1. Each first beam can correspond to a TCI state or a TCI state identifier.

[0225] Table 3-1

[0226] Similarly, the network device 1 maintains the correspondence between the TCI state and the second beam as shown in the second and third columns of Table 3-2. Each second beam can correspond to a TCI state identifier.

[0227] Table 3-2

[0228] The first network element can maintain the correspondence between the TCI state and the first beam pair according to the information of the first beam reported by the terminal device and the information of the second beam reported by the network device, as shown in the third and fourth columns of Table 3-3.

[0229] Table 3-3

[0230] It should be understood that, in the case that the terminal device and the network device have beam consistency, the terminal device, the network device and the first network element can use any of the above-mentioned identifications to identify the first beam and / or the second beam, and in the case that the terminal device and the network device do not have beam consistency, the terminal device, the network device and the first network element can use the SRS resource identification to identify the uplink beam or the uplink beam pair, and use the CSI-RS resource identification and the TCI state identification to identify the downlink beam or the downlink beam pair.

[0231] It should also be understood that, taking the identification of the first identification as an example of the reference signal resource, the terminal device can use the first beam to send the reference signal on the reference signal resource, and correspondingly, the network device can use the second beam to receive the reference signal on the reference signal resource; or the network device can use the second beam to send the reference signal on the reference signal resource, and correspondingly, the terminal device can use the first beam to receive the reference signal on the reference signal resource. In this process, for the terminal device, it can identify the first beam through the identification of the reference signal resource, and since the terminal device does not have the information of the second beam, the identification of the reference signal resource is not used to identify the second beam, as shown in Table 1-1 and Table 2-1. Similarly, for the network device, it can identify the second beam through the identification of the reference signal resource, and since the network device does not have the information of the first beam, the identification of the reference signal resource is not used to identify the first beam, as shown in Table 1-2 and Table 2-2. For the first network element, it can identify the first beam and the second beam through the identification of the reference signal resource, as shown in Table 1-3 and Table 2-3.

[0232] Optionally, the terminal device 1 can also maintain the correspondence between the first beam and the network device identification, as shown in the first column and the second column of Table 1-1, the first column and the second column of Table 2-1, and the first column and the second column of Table 3-1. The network device 1 can also maintain the correspondence between the second beam and the terminal device identification, as shown in the first column and the second column of Table 1-2, the first column and the second column of Table 2-2, and the first column and the second column of Table 3-2. The first network element can also maintain the correspondence between the network device identification, the terminal device identification, the first beam and the second beam, as shown in the first column to the third column of Table 1-3, the first column to the third column of Table 2-3, and the first column to the third column of Table 3-3.

[0233] It should be understood that the second column in Table 1-1, the second column in Table 2-1, and the second column in Table 3-1 can be specific physical parameters of the first beam, such as direction, width, and the like of the first beam. The second column in Table 1-1, the second column in Table 2-1, and the second column in Table 3-1 can also be a beam index of the first beam maintained by the terminal device 1 in the first beam set. Similarly, the second column in Table 1-2, the second column in Table 2-2, and the second column in Table 3-2 can be specific physical parameters of the second beam, such as direction, width, and the like of the second beam. The second column in Table 1-2, the second column in Table 2-2, and the second column in Table 3-2 can also be a beam index of the second beam maintained by the network device 1 in the second beam set. Similarly, the third column in Table 1-3, the third column in Table 2-3, and the third column in Table 3-3 can be specific physical parameters of the first beam and the second beam, such as direction and width of the first beam, direction and width of the second beam, and the like. The third column in Table 1-3, the third column in Table 2-3, and the third column in Table 3-3 can also be a beam index of the first beam maintained by the first network element in the first beam set and a beam index of the second beam in the second beam set.

[0234] Optionally, in a scenario where the terminal device currently uses a first beam to communicate with the network device, the information of the first beam can not include the first identifier and / or the terminal device identifier, i.e., the first beam is unique. In a scenario where the network device currently uses a second beam to communicate with the network device, the information of the second beam can not include the first identifier, i.e., the second beam is unique.

[0235] Optionally, the information of the first beam and the information of the second beam can be determined by the network device and the terminal device measuring a reference signal set q0 for beam failure detection, e.g., a source reference signal of a type D QCL corresponding to a TCI state ID reported by the network device and the terminal device to the first network element is a reference signal in q0, or a reference signal corresponding to a CSI-RS resource identifier reported is a reference signal in q0.

[0236] Optionally, S520 can be executed before S510. In this case, before S510, the method 500 can further include: the perception function network element sending fourth indication information to the terminal device, the fourth indication information being used to instruct the terminal device to report the information of the first beam, and the fourth indication information can include the first identifier.

[0237] Specifically, the first network element can indicate to the terminal device to report information of the beam corresponding to the first identifier in the information of the second beam. For example, the first network element can first receive some TCI state IDs or CSI-RS resource IDs and corresponding beam information from the base station, and then indicate the CSI-RS resource ID or TCI state ID of the beam to be reported to the UE, and the UE reports the specific beam information according to the indication of the first network element. Taking FIG. 4 as an example, the base station can first send the information of the beams used for transmitting q 0-1 and q 0-2 to the first network element, that is, the information of the beams corresponding to q 0-1 and q 0-2 , and the identifiers of the beams can be q 0-1 and q 0-2 , that is, the beams are identified by reference signal identifiers. Further, the first network element can send information A (an example of the fourth indication information) to the UE, and the information A includes q 0-1 and q 0-2 , so that the UE can report the beam information used for transmitting q 0-1 and the beam information used for transmitting q 0-2 . In this case, the information of the first beam sent by the terminal device can also not include the first identifier, and when the terminal device needs to report the beam information, the terminal device reports the information of the first beam in the order of the first identifier in the fourth indication information, for example, the information A includes q 0-1 and q 0-2 , and the UE reports the directions of the two beams without reporting the corresponding identifiers, then the first network element can determine that the first beam is associated with q 0-1 , and the second beam is associated with q 0-2 .

[0238] Optionally, S510 can be performed before S520. In this case, before S520, the method 500 can further include: the sensing function network element sending fifth indication information to the network device, the fifth indication information being used to instruct the network device to report the second beam information, and the fifth indication information can include the first identifier.

[0239] Specifically, the first network element can indicate to the network device to report information of the beam corresponding to the first identifier in the information of the first beam. For example, the first network element can first receive some TCI state IDs or CSI-RS resource IDs and corresponding beam information from the UE, and then indicate the CSI-RS resource ID or TCI state ID of the beam to be reported to the base station, and the base station reports the specific beam information according to the indication of the first network element. Taking FIG. 4 as an example, the UE can first send the information of the beams used for transmitting q 0-1 and q 0-2 to the first network element, that is, the information of the beams corresponding to q 0-1 and q0-2 Corresponding beam information, the identity of the beam can be q 0-1 and q 0-2 , that is, the beam is identified by the reference signal identifier. Further, the first network element can send information B (an example of the fifth indication information) to the base station, the information B including q 0-1 and q 0-2 , so that the base station can report the beam information used for transmitting q 0-1 and the beam information used for transmitting q 0-2 . In this case, the information of the second beam sent by the network device can also not include the first identity, and when the network device needs to report the beam information, the information of the second beam is reported in the order of the first identity in the fifth indication information.

[0240] Optionally, S510 and S520 can be executed simultaneously, for example, the terminal device and the network device report their beam information respectively, that is, the information of the first beam and the information of the second beam.

[0241] S530, the first network element sends the first information to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first information.

[0242] Among them, the first information is used to indicate that the first beam is about to fail.

[0243] It should be understood that when the first beam pair is about to fail, the first network element can send the first information to the terminal device to indicate that the first beam or the first beam pair is about to fail, that is, for the terminal device, it can determine that its first beam is about to fail according to the first information.

[0244] In this application, beam failure (beam failure) can also be called beam failure or beam failure. The first beam pair is about to fail, including the first beam is about to fail and the second beam is about to fail, and the first beam pair is about to fail, which means that at a certain time or time period in the future, the first beam pair will be blocked by a scatterer, so that the terminal device and the network device will not be able to communicate normally through the first beam pair. Specifically, for the terminal device, the first beam is about to fail, which means that at the above time or time period, the terminal device will not be able to communicate normally with the network device through the first beam. For the network device, the second beam is about to fail, which means that at the above time or time period, the network device will not be able to communicate normally with the terminal device through the second beam.

[0245] S540, the first network element sends the second information to the network device, and correspondingly, the network device receives the second information.

[0246] Similarly, the second information is used to indicate that the second beam is about to fail.

[0247] It should be understood that when the first beam pair is about to fail, the first network element can send the first information to the network device to indicate that the second beam or the first beam pair is about to fail, that is, for the network device, it can determine that its second beam is about to fail according to the first information.

[0248] Optionally, the first information and the second information can be located in the same information set, that is, the information set includes the first information and the second information, and the information set is used not only to indicate that the first beam is about to fail, but also to indicate that the second beam is about to fail, in other words, the information set can be used to indicate that the first beam pair is about to fail.

[0249] Optionally, the first network element can send the information set to the network device and the terminal device respectively, that is, send the first information and the second information to the network device and the terminal device, or the first network element can send the information set to the network device and the terminal device at the same time, or the first network element can send the information set to the network device, and then the network device forwards the information set or the first information in the information set to the terminal device.

[0250] Based on the above scheme, the first network element can timely indicate to the terminal device and the network device that the first beam and the second beam are about to fail, which helps the terminal device and the network device to make timely communication decisions, for example, to determine candidate beams in advance, to avoid beam failure, and to reduce the impact on user experience.

[0251] Optionally, the method 500 further includes: S550, the first network element determines that the first beam and the second beam are about to fail.

[0252] Specifically, in an implementation manner, the first network element can determine that the first beam and the second beam are about to fail according to the position of the terminal device, the position of the network device, the direction of the first beam, the direction of the second beam, and the position of the first scatterer.

[0253] The position of the terminal device can be a local coordinate system position or a global coordinate system position, which can be expressed by a Cartesian coordinate system or by an angle and a distance in a polar coordinate system. Similarly, the position of the network device and the position of the first scatterer are also the same.

[0254] Optionally, before S530, the first network element can obtain the position of the terminal device, the position of the network device, and the position of the first scatterer.

[0255] The network device can report its position to the first network element, or the first network element can obtain the position of the network device from the operation and management (OAM) of the network device.

[0256] The first network element integrates the function of a location management function (LMF), which can determine the location of a terminal device, or the LMF or the terminal device sends the real-time location, moving speed, etc. of the terminal device to the first network element. Optionally, the terminal device or the LMF can also predict its own motion trajectory based on sensors or historical data and report it to the first network element, so that the first network element can predict the potential location of the terminal device.

[0257] The first network element can obtain the position of the first scatterer through sensing. In this application, the first scatterer can also be referred to as a first occluder, a first sensing target, a first target, a first point (in sensing, the information sensed can usually be represented by the position, coefficient, speed, Doppler frequency, etc. of the point in the point cloud), a first point set, etc., which refers to a sensing target that affects the first beam pair. In sensing, the sensing sender can send a sensing signal, which can directly reach the first scatterer, or can reach the first scatterer after one or more spatial actions, which can be refraction, scattering, reflection or diffraction, etc. Further, the sensing receiver can receive a return signal after the reflection of the sensing signal on the first scatterer. The sensing receiver can obtain the position of the first scatterer by sensing the received return signal.

[0258] For example, in FIG. 6, the RAN (an example of a network device) and the UE (an example of a terminal device) can report the information of their beams to the SF (an example of a first network element), including q 0-1 and q 0-2 corresponding beams, so that the SF can determine that the BPLs used between the RAN and the UE include q 0-1 and q 0-2 corresponding BPLs. At t1, the position of the UE is p1, and the RAN and the UE can communicate using q 0-1 corresponding BPLs, and at t2, the position of the UE will move to p2, and the RAN and the UE can communicate using q 0-2 corresponding BPLs. The SF can predict that at t2, the q 0-2 corresponding BPL will be blocked by an object (an example of a first scatterer), so as to determine that the q 0-2 corresponding BPL will be invalid.

[0259] Specifically, in yet another implementation, the first network element determines that the first beam and the second beam are about to fail according to the location of the terminal device, the location of the network device, the direction of the first beam, the direction of the second beam, and a channel knowledge map of the beams. For example, the channel knowledge map stores the signal quality of the terminal device and the network device using different beams at different locations, and then the first network element can determine that the first beam and the second beam are about to fail. The first network element can store the channel knowledge map itself, or can request the channel knowledge map from other network elements.

[0260] Based on the above scheme, the first network element can determine that the first beam and the second beam are about to fail according to the information of the first beam from the terminal device and the information of the second beam from the network device, which can assist the terminal device and the network device to discover beam failure and improve the efficiency of determining beam failure.

[0261] In addition, this can avoid the terminal device and the network device to detect beam failure only after the first beam and the second beam fail, thereby reducing the impact on user experience.

[0262] As an implementation scenario of the method 500, the first information includes information of a third beam, the second information includes information of a fourth beam, the third beam and the fourth beam are associated, and the third beam and the fourth beam are used for communication between the terminal device and the network device.

[0263] For example, the first network element can determine the location of a scatterer that can be potentially used for reflection signals in the network through sensing information, and determine a candidate beam pair between the terminal device and the network device according to the location of the network device and the location of the terminal device. For example, the first network element can determine the location of a scatterer (such as a wall shown by a long shaded bar on the right in FIG. 4, another example of a first scatterer), the location of a UE, and the location of a base station, and then determine a candidate beam pair q 1-1 The identified beam pair can be a candidate beam pair, and thus it can indicate the information of the identified beam pair to the UE and / or the base station. 1-1 For example, the first network element can also determine a candidate beam pair between the terminal device and the network device according to channel knowledge map information, the location of the network device, and the location of the terminal device. Specifically, the third beam can be understood as a candidate beam used by the terminal device for communication with the network device, and the fourth beam can be understood as a candidate beam used by the network device for communication with the terminal device. As described above, the beams between the two devices are usually corresponding and can form a beam pair, and thus the third beam and the fourth beam are associated, and the third beam and the fourth beam form a beam pair used for communication between the terminal device and the network device, which can be referred to as a candidate beam pair.

[0264] It should be understood that the candidate beam pair can be one or more, when the candidate beam pair is multiple, the third beam is also multiple, the fourth beam is also multiple, and the multiple third beams and the multiple fourth beams have an association relationship, for example, one-to-one association or one-to-one correspondence.

[0265] The information of the third beam includes a direction of the third beam.

[0266] Exemplarily, the direction of the third beam can include an angle of the third beam, which can be an angle in a global coordinate system or an angle in a local coordinate system of the terminal device, and the angle can include a horizontal azimuth angle and a vertical elevation angle, etc.

[0267] Similarly, the information of the fourth beam includes a direction of the fourth beam.

[0268] Exemplarily, the direction of the fourth beam can include an angle of the fourth beam, which can be an angle in a global coordinate system or an angle in a local coordinate system of the network device, and the angle can include a horizontal azimuth angle and a vertical elevation angle, etc.

[0269] In another implementation, if the terminal device reports the information of the first beam set before S510, the third beam can be a beam in the first beam set, and the information of the third beam can not directly include the direction of the third beam, but include a beam index of the third beam in the first beam set. It should be understood that this implementation can also be understood as that the information of the third beam indirectly includes the direction of the third beam. Similarly, if the network device reports the information of the second beam set before S520, the fourth beam can be a beam in the second beam set, and the information of the fourth beam can not directly include the direction of the fourth beam, but include a beam index of the fourth beam in the second beam set. It should be understood that this implementation can also be understood as that the information of the fourth beam indirectly includes the direction of the fourth beam.

[0270] Based on the above scheme, the first network element sends the direction of the third beam and the direction of the fourth beam to the terminal device and the network device, which is beneficial to the terminal device and the network device to quickly determine the candidate beam.

[0271] Optionally, the information of the third beam can further include a second identifier.

[0272] Optionally, the information of the fourth beam can further include a second identifier.

[0273] In this application, the second identifier is used to identify the candidate beam pair, or in other words, to identify the third beam and the fourth beam. For example, for the first network element, the second identifier is used to identify the candidate beam pair composed of the third beam and the fourth beam.

[0274] In this application, the second identifier can also be used to identify the third beam. For example, for the terminal device, the second identifier is used to identify the third beam, but not the fourth beam.

[0275] In this application, the second identifier can also be used to identify the fourth beam. For example, for the network device, the second identifier is used to identify the fourth beam, but not the third beam.

[0276] Specifically, the second identifier received by the terminal device is associated with the third beam of the terminal device, and the second identifier received by the network device is associated with the fourth beam of the network device, or in other words, the second identifier is used to identify a candidate beam pair composed of the third beam and the fourth beam, for example, at the side of the first network element, the second identifier is associated with a candidate beam pair composed of the third beam and the fourth beam. Therefore, when the first network element allocates the second identifier, it needs to allocate the same second identifier to the beams associated on the terminal device side and the network device side (i.e., the BPL that can constitute effective communication). Optionally, when the first network element indicates only one third beam and one fourth beam, the information of the third beam can also not include the second identifier, and the information of the fourth beam can also not include the second identifier.

[0277] As an example, the second identifier can be a candidate beam pair identifier allocated by the first network element. Or in other words, the second identifier is a candidate beam pair identifier of the third beam and the fourth beam. It should be understood that in this example, the candidate beam pair identifier is only a name of the second identifier, and the second identifier can also be other names, and its main function is to be used for BPL pairing in the subsequent configuration of reference signal resources.

[0278] In this example, considering that the network device and the terminal device still need to confirm the quality of the candidate beam pair through the transmission and reception of reference signals in the direction of the candidate beam pair in the subsequent process, when the first network element indicates multiple candidate beam pairs, in order to ensure that the network device and the terminal device can use matched beams to measure on one reference signal resource, the first network element determines the candidate beam pair identifier associated with the beam of the single-side device in advance for the network device and the terminal device, so that the network device can indicate the candidate beam pair identifier associated with each reference signal resource when configuring each reference signal resource, and the device that transmits the reference signal can determine the transmission beam according to the candidate beam pair identifier associated with the reference signal resource, and the device that receives the reference signal can determine the corresponding receiving beam, and the transmission beam and the receiving beam are associated (i.e., can constitute the candidate beam pair determined by the first network element). For specific steps of the configuration of the reference signal resource and the measurement of the reference signal, please refer to S560 and S570 hereinafter.

[0279] For example, the first network element determines that there are 2 candidate beam pairs between the network device 1 and the terminal device 1, 1 candidate beam pair between the network device 2 and the terminal device 1, and 1 candidate beam pair between the network device 1 and the terminal device 2, wherein the candidate beam pair 1 includes the third beam-1 of the terminal device 1 and the fourth beam-1 of the network device 1, the candidate beam pair 2 includes the third beam-2 of the terminal device 1 and the fourth beam-2 of the network device 1, the candidate beam pair 3 includes the third beam-3 of the terminal device 1 and the fourth beam-3 of the network device 2, and the candidate beam pair 4 includes the third beam-4 of the terminal device 2 and the fourth beam-4 of the network device 1. The first network element can assign the candidate beam pair identification 1 to the candidate beam pair 1, assign the candidate beam pair identification 2 to the candidate beam pair 2, assign the candidate beam pair identification 3 to the candidate beam pair 3, and assign the candidate beam pair identification 4 to the candidate beam pair 4. The correspondence between the candidate beam pair identification and the candidate beam pair maintained by the first network element can be shown in the third column and the fourth column of Table 4-1.

[0280] Table 4-1

[0281] Further, the first network element can indicate the information of the 3 third beams and the corresponding candidate beam pair identification to the terminal device 1 through the first information. Specifically, it can be shown in the second column and the third column of Table 4-2.

[0282] Table 4-2

[0283] Further, the first network element can indicate the information of the 3 fourth beams and the corresponding candidate beam pair identification to the network device 1 through the second information. Specifically, it can be shown in the second column and the third column of Table 4-3.

[0284] Table 4-3

[0285] Optionally, the candidate beam pair identification between the same network device and the same terminal device should be different. For example, the candidate beam pair identification 1 and the candidate beam pair identification 2 in Table 4-1 to Table 4-3 should be different.

[0286] Optionally, the candidate beam pair identification between the same network device and different terminal devices can be different or the same, the candidate beam pair identification between different network devices and the same terminal device can be different or the same, and the candidate beam pair identification between different network devices and different terminal devices can be different or the same. For example, the candidate beam pair identification 1 and the candidate beam pair identification 3 in Table 4-1 to Table 4-2 can be the same or different.

[0287] As another example, the second identity can be an identity of a reference signal resource, or referred to as a reference signal resource identity, or in other words, the second identity is a reference signal resource identity associated with the third beam and the fourth beam. Optionally, the reference signal resource identity is assigned by the first network element. In this example, considering that the subsequent network device and the terminal device still need to confirm the quality of the candidate beam pair by the transmission and reception of the reference signal in the direction of the candidate beam pair first, when the first network element indicates multiple candidate beam pairs, in order to ensure that the network device and the terminal device can use the matching beams to measure on one reference signal resource, the first network element determines the reference signal resource identity associated with each candidate beam or candidate beam pair in advance, so that for each reference signal resource, the device transmitting the reference signal can determine the transmission beam according to the beam associated with the reference signal resource identity of the reference signal resource, and the device receiving the reference signal can determine the corresponding reception beam, and the transmission beam and the reception beam are associated (i.e., can constitute the candidate beam pair determined by the first network element). The specific steps of the configuration of the reference signal resource and the measurement of the reference signal can be referred to S560 and S570 hereinafter.

[0288] It should be understood that in this application, the reference signal resource identity is a special identity of the reference signal resource, which can also be referred to as the identity of the reference signal resource. The reference signal resource identity is used to identify the reference signal resource used by the terminal device and the network device to use the candidate beam pair transmission reference signal.

[0289] For example, the first network element determines that there are 2 candidate beam pairs between the network device 1 and the terminal device 1, 1 candidate beam pair between the network device 2 and the terminal device 1, and 1 candidate beam pair between the network device 1 and the terminal device 2, wherein the candidate beam pair 1 includes the third beam-1 of the terminal device 1 and the fourth beam-1 of the network device 1, the candidate beam pair 2 includes the third beam-2 of the terminal device 1 and the fourth beam-2 of the network device 1, the candidate beam pair 3 includes the third beam-3 of the terminal device 1 and the fourth beam-3 of the network device 2, and the candidate beam pair 4 includes the third beam-4 of the terminal device 2 and the fourth beam-4 of the network device 1. The first network element can assign the reference signal resource identity 1 to the candidate beam pair 1, the reference signal resource identity 2 to the candidate beam pair 2, the reference signal resource identity 3 to the candidate beam pair 3, and the reference signal resource identity 4 to the candidate beam pair 4. Exemplarily, the correspondence between the reference signal resource identity maintained by the first network element and the candidate beam pair can be as shown in the third column and the fourth column of Table 5-1.

[0290] Table 5-1

[0291] Further, the first network element can indicate the information of the three third beams and the corresponding reference signal resource identifiers to the terminal device 1 through the first information, which can be shown in the second and third columns of Table 5-2.

[0292] Table 5-2

[0293] Further, the first network element can indicate the information of the three fourth beams and the corresponding reference signal resource identifiers to the network device 1 through the second information, which can be shown in the second and third columns of Table 5-3.

[0294] Table 5-3

[0295] Optionally, in this example, the second identifier can also indicate the type of the reference signal resource, for example, the reference signal resource identifier is the identifier of the resource used to transmit a specific reference signal, where the reference signal can be SSB, or NZP-CSI-RS, or SRS.

[0296] It should also be understood that, taking the reference signal resource identifier as an example, the terminal device can use the third beam to transmit the reference signal on the reference signal resource, and correspondingly, the network device can use the fourth beam to receive the reference signal on the reference signal resource; or the network device can use the fourth beam to transmit the reference signal on the reference signal resource, and correspondingly, the terminal device can use the third beam to receive the reference signal on the reference signal resource. In this process, for the terminal device, it can identify the third beam through the identifier of the reference signal resource, and since the terminal device does not have the information of the fourth beam, the identifier of the reference signal resource is not used to identify the fourth beam, as shown in Table 5-2. Similarly, for the network device, it can identify the fourth beam through the identifier of the reference signal resource, and since the network device does not have the information of the third beam, the identifier of the reference signal resource is not used to identify the third beam, as shown in Table 5-3. For the first network element, it can identify the third beam and the fourth beam through the identifier of the reference signal resource, as shown in Table 5-1.

[0297] Optionally, when there are multiple network devices and multiple terminal devices in the communication system, the first network element can also maintain the corresponding network device identifier and terminal device identifier of the candidate beam pair, as shown in the first and second columns of Table 4-1, and the first and second columns of Table 5-1.

[0298] Optionally, the information of the third beam further comprises a network device identifier, e.g., the first column in Table 4-2, the first column in Table 5-2, which is used to indicate that the third beam is a candidate beam used by the terminal device to communicate with which network device. It should be understood that the network device identifier included in the information of the third beam can also implicitly indicate that beam failure will occur between which terminal device and which network device.

[0299] Optionally, the information of the fourth beam further comprises a terminal device identifier, e.g., the first column in Table 4-3, the first column in Table 5-3, which is used to indicate that the fourth beam is a candidate beam used by the network device to communicate with which terminal device. It should be understood that the terminal device identifier included in the information of the fourth beam can also implicitly indicate that beam failure will occur between which network device and which terminal device.

[0300] Optionally, the information of the third beam further comprises an activation time of the third beam and / or a deactivation time of the third beam. Similarly, the information of the fourth beam can also comprise an activation time of the fourth beam and / or a deactivation time of the fourth beam. Wherein, the activation time of the third beam and the fourth beam is the same, the activation time of the third beam and the fourth beam can also be understood as the activation time of the candidate beam pair, for example: the activation time is 10:10:01. Similarly, the deactivation time of the third beam and the fourth beam is the same, the deactivation time of the third beam and the fourth beam can also be understood as the deactivation time of the candidate beam pair, for example: the deactivation time is 10:10:10.

[0301] Exemplarily, the correspondence between the reference signal resource identifier and the candidate beam pair maintained by the first network element, and the activation time and the deactivation time of the candidate beam pair can be as shown in Table 6-1.

[0302] Table 6-1

[0303] It should be understood that, similar to Table 6-1, Table 4-1, Table 4-2, Table 4-3, Table 5-1, Table 5-2, and Table 5-3 can also include the activation time and / or the deactivation time, which will not be listed one by one here.

[0304] It should also be understood that the third column of Table 4-1, the third column of Table 5-1 can be specific physical parameters of the third beam and the fourth beam, for example, information such as the direction and width of the third beam, the direction and width of the fourth beam, etc. The third column of Table 4-1, the third column of Table 5-1 can also be the beam index of the third beam in the third beam set maintained by the first network element and the beam index of the fourth beam in the fourth beam set. The second column of Table 4-2, the second column of Table 5-2 can be specific physical parameters of the third beam, for example, information such as the direction, width, etc. of the third beam. The second column of Table 4-2, the second column of Table 5-2 can also be the beam index of the third beam in the third beam set maintained by the terminal device 1. Similarly, the second column of Table 4-3, the second column of Table 5-3 can be specific physical parameters of the fourth beam, for example, information such as the direction, width, etc. of the fourth beam. The second column of Table 4-3, the second column of Table 5-3 can also be the beam index of the fourth beam in the fourth beam set maintained by the network device 1.

[0305] Optionally, the first information can also include information of the fourth beam, in other words, the first network element can send the information of the third beam and the information of the fourth beam to the terminal device together.

[0306] Similarly, the second information can also include information of the third beam, in other words, the first network element can send the information of the third beam and the information of the fourth beam to the network device together.

[0307] It should be understood that in this implementation scenario, the information of the third beam can be used to indicate that the first beam is about to fail and the information of the candidate beam of the terminal device, or can be used to indicate only the information of the candidate beam of the terminal device without indicating that the first beam is about to fail. Similarly, the information of the fourth beam can be used to indicate that the second beam is about to fail and the information of the candidate beam of the network device, or can be used to indicate only the information of the candidate beam of the network device without indicating that the second beam is about to fail.

[0308] Based on the above scheme, the first network element can indicate the information of the third beam to the terminal device and indicate the information of the fourth beam to the network device, so as to help the terminal device and the network device determine the candidate beam pair before the first beam and the second beam fail, and reduce the impact of the failure of the first beam and the second beam on the user experience.

[0309] Optionally, in an implementation manner of this implementation scenario, the information of the third beam is used to indicate that the first beam is about to fail, and the information of the fourth beam is used to indicate that the second beam is about to fail.

[0310] In this way, although only the information of the candidate beam is included in the first information and the second information, generally, the first network element indicates the candidate beam only when the first beam and the second beam are about to fail, and thus the information of the third beam in the first information can implicitly indicate that the first beam is about to fail, and the information of the fourth beam in the second information can implicitly indicate that the second beam is about to fail.

[0311] Specifically, when the first network element sends the information of the third beam to the terminal device, the terminal device can determine that the first beam is about to fail (or all the first beams are about to fail), in other words, in this implementation, the first information can not include the explicit indication information that the first beam is about to fail. Similarly, when the first network element sends the information of the fourth beam to the network device, the network device can determine that the second beam is about to fail (or all the second beams are about to fail). In other words, in this implementation, the second information can not include the explicit indication information that the second beam is about to fail. Further, if the information of the third beam includes the identifier of the network device, the terminal device can determine that all the first beams between the terminal device and the network device are about to fail. If the information of the fourth beam includes the identifier of the terminal device, the network device can determine that all the second beams between the terminal device and the network device are about to fail.

[0312] Optionally, in this implementation, it can also be understood that the first information only indicates the information of the third beam, and does not indicate that the first beam is about to fail, and the second information only indicates the information of the fourth beam, and does not indicate that the fourth beam is about to fail.

[0313] Optionally, in this implementation, the first network element can send the first information to the terminal device and the second information to the network device in the case that all the beam pairs between the terminal device and the network device are about to fail.

[0314] Based on the above scheme, the first network element can implicitly indicate that the first beam and the second beam are about to fail through the information of the third beam and / or the information of the fourth beam, so as to save resources.

[0315] Optionally, in another implementation of the implementation scenario, the first information includes first indication information, and the first indication information is used to indicate that the first beam is about to fail, and similarly, the second information includes second indication information, and the second indication information is used to indicate that the second beam is about to fail.

[0316] Specifically, the first information can not only include the information of the third beam, but also include the explicit indication information that the first beam is about to fail, i.e., the first indication information. Similarly, the second information can not only include the information of the fourth beam, but also include the explicit indication information that the second beam is about to fail, i.e., the second indication information.

[0317] Exemplarily, the first indication information can be 1-bit indication information, and a value of the 1-bit indication information is used to indicate whether the first beam is about to fail. Alternatively, the first indication information is a field, and the field can include one or more of the following information: a first identifier associated with the first beam, or a beam index of the first beam in a first beam set (used to indicate which first beam fails), a failure time of the first beam, a failure type of the first beam, a network device identifier associated with the first beam, and the like. Similarly, the second indication information can be 1-bit indication information, and a value of the 1-bit indication information is used to indicate whether the second beam is about to fail. Alternatively, the second indication information is a field, and the field can include one or more of the following information: a first identifier associated with the second beam, or a beam index of the second beam in a second beam set (used to indicate which second beam fails), a failure time of the second beam, a failure type of the second beam, a terminal device identifier associated with the second beam, and the like.

[0318] The failure time of the first beam and the second beam can be a time point, for example, 13:30.

[0319] The failure type of the first beam and the second beam can also be understood as including temporary failure or long-term failure, and the type of failure of the first beam and the second beam can also be understood as the type of occurrence of the obstruction. For example, for a small-size obstruction such as a vehicle, the vehicle can move to another place in a period of time, or the terminal device itself moves and the beam is no longer obstructed, so that the first beam and the second beam can be automatically recovered, and the type of failure is temporary failure. For a large-size obstruction such as a building, the building cannot disappear in a period of time, and even if the terminal device moves a distance, the beam is still obstructed, so that the first beam and the second beam cannot be automatically recovered, and the type of failure is long-term failure.

[0320] Optionally, in the case where the type of failure is temporary failure, the network devices can continue to maintain the measurement of the first beam and the second beam, and the first beam and the second beam can continue to be used after the obstruction disappears. In the case where the type of failure is long-term failure, the network devices and the terminal device can no longer perform measurement on the beam after the first beam and the second beam fail.

[0321] Optionally, the first network element can send the first indication information and / or the second indication information in a case that all beam pairs between the network device and the terminal device are invalid, or in a case that any one of the beam pairs between the network device and the terminal device is invalid, or in a case that a certain proportion of the beam pairs between the network device and the terminal device are invalid. In the latter two cases, the first network element can indicate a specific beam (i.e., a specific beam pair) that is invalid, for example, indicating, in the first indication information, a first identifier corresponding to the beam or the beam pair that is invalid, or the first identifier + a network device identifier, or a beam index of the first beam in a first beam set, or the beam index of the first beam in the first beam set + the network device identifier, and indicating, in the second indication information, a second identifier corresponding to the beam or the beam pair that is invalid, or the second identifier + a terminal device identifier, or a beam index of the second beam in a second beam set, or the beam index of the second beam in the second beam set + the terminal device identifier. It should be understood that the first indication information can include information of multiple first beams that are about to be invalid, and the second indication information can include information of multiple second beams that are about to be invalid.

[0322] Based on the above scheme, the first network element can explicitly indicate that the first beam and the second beam are about to be invalid through the first indication information and the second indication information, so that the beam invalidation condition can be indicated more flexibly.

[0323] Optionally, in this implementation scenario, the method 500 further includes: S560, the network device sends configuration information of the first reference signal resource to the terminal device, and correspondingly, the terminal device receives the configuration information.

[0324] The first reference signal resource refers to a resource used for transmitting the first reference signal. In this application, the reference signal and the reference signal resource are one-to-one correspondence, and each reference signal corresponds to a reference signal resource. The configuration information of the first reference signal resource includes the time-frequency position of the first reference signal, the sequence of the first reference signal, the identifier of the first reference signal resource, the type of the first reference signal resource, etc. The configuration information can indicate that the first reference signal resource is associated with the second identifier.

[0325] Specifically, the first reference signal resource is associated with the second identifier, which means that the candidate beam identified by the second identifier should be used when transmitting the first reference signal on the first reference signal resource. Specifically, the terminal device can receive or send the first reference signal on the first reference signal resource using the third beam (or the beam adjacent to the third beam) identified by the second identifier, and the network device can determine to send or receive the first reference signal on the first reference signal resource using the fourth beam (or the beam adjacent to the fourth beam) identified by the second identifier.

[0326] Optionally, the second identity associated with the first reference signal resource can be part or all of the second identity in the first information and the second information. For example, the first network element indicates a plurality of third beams, a plurality of fourth beams and a plurality of second identities, and the network device can only configure reference signal resources for part of the third beams and the fourth beams, so that the second identity associated with the reference signal resource only includes part of the second identity in the first information and the second information. That is, although the first network element indicates a plurality of candidate beam pairs, the network device can select one or more suitable candidate beam pairs for measurement to determine the signal quality of the candidate beam pair, for example, the network device can remove the beam in the candidate beam pair which cannot send signals by itself.

[0327] As an example, the second identity is the candidate beam pair identity allocated by the first network element, and the identity of the first reference signal resource is determined by the network device. Wherein, the first reference signal resource is associated with the second identity, which means that the first reference signal resource and the second identity have a corresponding relationship.

[0328] In other words, in this example, the network device allocates the identity for the first reference signal resource by itself, and indicates the corresponding relationship between the first reference signal resource and the second identity through the configuration information of the first reference signal resource, that is, the configuration information of the first reference signal resource includes the corresponding relationship.

[0329] Exemplarily, the configuration information of the first reference resource can be:

[0330] {Identity of the first reference signal resource: xxx (arbitrary);

[0331] Pattern of the first reference signal resource: xxx;

[0332] Identity associated with the first reference signal resource: second identity}

[0333] For example, the first network element indicates the angle of the fourth beam-1 and its associated candidate beam pair identification 1, and the angle of the fourth beam-2 and its associated candidate beam pair identification 2 to the network device 1 in S540, and indicates the angle of the third beam-1 and its associated candidate beam pair identification 1, and the angle of the third beam-2 and its associated candidate beam pair identification 2 to the terminal device 1 in S530. Then the network device 1 can configure the first reference signal resource-1 and the first reference signal resource-2 to the terminal device 1 according to the information, both of which are downlink reference signal resources, the identification of the first reference signal resource-1 is reference signal resource identification 1, and the identification of the first reference signal resource-2 is reference signal resource identification 2, wherein the configuration information of the first reference signal resource-1 indicates that the first reference signal resource-1 is associated with the candidate beam pair identification 1, and the configuration information of the first reference signal resource-2 indicates that the first reference signal resource-2 is associated with the candidate beam pair identification 2. The network device 1 should use the fourth beam-1 or the beam near the fourth beam-1 associated with the candidate beam pair identification 1 to transmit the reference signal on the first reference signal resource-1, and use the fourth beam-2 or the beam near the fourth beam-2 associated with the candidate beam pair identification 2 to transmit the reference signal on the first reference signal resource-2, and the terminal device 1 can determine that the third beam-1 or the beam near the third beam-1 associated with the candidate beam pair identification 1 should be used for reception and measurement on the first reference signal resource-1, and the third beam-2 or the beam near the third beam-2 associated with the candidate beam pair identification 2 should be used for reception and measurement on the first reference signal resource-2 according to the configuration information of the first reference signal resource. Since the third beam-1 and the fourth beam-1 constitute an effective candidate beam pair 1, and the third beam-2 and the fourth beam-2 constitute an effective candidate beam pair 2, this can make the network device perform beam scanning only near the direction corresponding to the effective beam pair, reduce the space of beam scanning, and on the other hand, the terminal device can use the beam matched with the network device beam to perform transmission and reception on the corresponding reference signal resource, thereby improving the efficiency of beam alignment.

[0334] Based on the above scheme, the identification of the first reference signal resource can be determined by the network device, so that the first reference signal resource can be more flexibly configured.

[0335] As another example, the second identification is the identification of the first reference signal resource allocated by the first network element. Wherein, the first reference signal resource is associated with the second identification, which means that the identification of the first reference signal resource is the second identification.

[0336] In other words, in this example, the first network element allocates an identity (i.e., a second identity) for the first reference signal resource, and the network device uses the identity allocated by the first network element to identify the first reference signal resource, or in other words, the network device configures the first reference signal resource by setting the identity of the first reference signal resource to the same value as the second identity. At this time, the second identity is used not only to identify the third beam and the fourth beam, but also to directly identify the first reference signal resource.

[0337] Exemplarily, the configuration information of the first reference signal resource can be:

[0338] {Identity of the first reference signal resource: second identity;

[0339] Pattern of the first reference signal resource: xxx;

[0340] Type of the first reference signal resource (optional): the identity is determined by the first network element

[0341] For example, the first network element indicates the angle of the fourth beam-1 and its associated reference signal resource identifier 1, and the angle of the fourth beam-2 and its associated reference signal resource identifier 2 to the network device 1 in S540, and indicates the angle of the third beam-1 and its associated reference signal resource identifier 1, and the angle of the third beam-2 and its associated reference signal resource identifier 2 to the terminal device 1 in S530. Then the network device 1 can configure the first reference signal resource-1 and the first reference signal resource-2 to the terminal device 1 according to the information, both of which are downlink reference signal resources, wherein the configuration information of the first reference signal resource-1 indicates that the identifier of the first reference signal resource-1 is the reference signal resource identifier 1, and the configuration information of the first reference signal resource-2 indicates that the identifier of the first reference signal resource-2 is the reference signal resource identifier 2. The network device 1 should use the fourth beam-1 or the beam near the fourth beam-1 associated with the reference signal resource identifier 1 to transmit the reference signal in the first reference signal resource-1, and use the fourth beam-2 or the beam near the fourth beam-2 associated with the reference signal resource identifier 2 to transmit the reference signal in the first reference signal resource-2, and the terminal device 1 can determine that the third beam-1 or the beam near the third beam-1 associated with the reference signal resource identifier 1 should be used for reception and measurement in the first reference signal resource-1 according to the configuration information of the first reference signal resource, and the third beam-2 or the beam near the third beam-2 associated with the reference signal resource identifier 2 should be used for reception and measurement in the first reference signal resource-2. Since the third beam-1 and the fourth beam-1 constitute the effective candidate beam pair 1, and the third beam-2 and the fourth beam-2 constitute the effective candidate beam pair 2, this can make the network device perform beam scanning only near the direction corresponding to the effective beam pair, reduce the space of beam scanning, and on the other hand, the terminal device can use the beam matched with the network device beam to perform transmission and reception in the corresponding reference signal resource, which improves the efficiency of beam alignment.

[0342] Based on the above scheme, the reference signal resource identifier can be determined by the first network element, so that the configuration overhead of the first reference signal resource can be saved.

[0343] Optionally, in this example, the types of the reference signal resources can include two categories, the first category is that the reference signal resource whose identity is determined by the network device, specifically, the type of the reference signal resource irrelevant to the first network element belongs to the first category, for example, the reference signal resource normally used between the network device and the terminal device for measuring channel state information, etc., the second category is that the identity is determined by the first network element, in the above example, the first reference signal resource belongs to the second category. Therefore, the configuration information of the first reference signal resource can further include type information of the first reference signal resource, that is, the type information indicates that the identity of the reference signal resource is determined by the first network element. It should be understood that the definition of the second category of reference signal resources can also have other corresponding textual descriptions, for example, its type can be a perception-assisted communication reference signal resource, or a channel knowledge map-assisted communication reference signal resource, or other definitions with similar functions.

[0344] Optionally, in any of the above examples, different first reference signal resources can be associated with the same second identity, that is, the network device can configure multiple reference signal resources for one candidate beam pair, so that the network device and the terminal device can perform more detailed beam training around the same candidate beam pair, so as to obtain more accurate beam training results.

[0345] As another example, the information of the third beam does not include the second identity, and the information of the fourth beam does not include the second identity.

[0346] Specifically, when the first information only includes the information of one third beam, and the second information only includes the information of one fourth beam, the configuration information of the first reference signal resource can also not include the second identity, but include type information that the type of the first reference signal resource is the second category. It should be understood that since the first network element only indicates one candidate beam pair to the network device and the terminal device, there will be no matching problem of multiple beams on both sides between the network device and the terminal device, so the second identity can not be included in the configuration information of the first reference signal resource.

[0347] Exemplarily, the configuration information of the first reference resource can be:

[0348] {Identity of the first reference signal resource: xxx (arbitrary);

[0349] Pattern of the first reference signal resource: xxx;

[0350] Type of the first reference signal resource (optional): the identity is determined by the first network element

[0351] It should be understood that, in this application, when there are multiple first reference signal resources, the network device and the terminal device can transmit the first reference signal on multiple first reference signal resources, on the one hand, the network device and the terminal device can measure multiple candidate beam pairs, and on the other hand, for one candidate beam pair, the network device and the terminal device can perform further beam sweeping around the direction of the beam indicated by the first network element, thereby improving the performance of beam alignment.

[0352] Optionally, in this implementation scenario, after S560, the method 500 further includes: S570, the terminal device receives or transmits the first reference signal on the first reference signal resource using the first candidate beam, and the network device transmits or receives the first reference signal on the first reference signal resource using the second candidate beam.

[0353] Specifically, the first candidate beam can be one candidate beam of the terminal device, for example, one of the third beams, or a beam near one third beam, and the second candidate beam can be one candidate beam of the network device, for example, one of the fourth beams, or a beam near one fourth beam. As described above, the beams between the two devices are usually corresponding and can form a beam pair, so the first candidate beam and the second candidate beam are associated, and the first candidate beam and the second candidate beam constitute one candidate beam pair for communication between the terminal device and the network device.

[0354] For example, the first candidate beam is determined according to the information of the third beam, for example, the direction of the first candidate beam is the same as the direction of the third beam, or the included angle between the direction of the first candidate beam and the direction of the third beam is less than a first threshold. For example, the first candidate beam can be determined as a beam around the third beam, so that fine sweeping can be performed around the basic beam direction provided by the first network element, thereby improving the accuracy of beam alignment.

[0355] For example, the second candidate beam is determined according to the information of the fourth beam, for example, the direction of the second candidate beam is the same as the direction of the fourth beam, or the included angle between the direction of the second candidate beam and the direction of the fourth beam is less than a second threshold. For example, the second candidate beam can be determined as a beam around the fourth beam, so that fine sweeping can be performed around the basic beam direction provided by the first network element, thereby improving the accuracy of beam alignment.

[0356] Wherein, S570 can include two cases:

[0357] Case 1, the terminal device transmits the first reference signal on the first reference signal resource using the first candidate beam, and correspondingly, the network device receives the first reference signal on the first reference signal resource using the second candidate beam. In this case, the first candidate beam is a transmitting beam, and the second candidate beam is a receiving beam.

[0358] Case 2, the network device uses the second candidate beam to send the first reference signal on the first reference signal resource, and correspondingly, the terminal device uses the first candidate beam to receive the first reference signal on the first reference signal resource. In this case, the first candidate beam is the receiving beam, and the second candidate beam is the sending beam.

[0359] Optionally, the receiver of the first reference signal can measure the first reference signal and obtain the measurement result of the first reference signal.

[0360] Optionally, both case 1 and case 2 can occur, that is, both the uplink beam pair and the downlink beam pair are measured.

[0361] It should be understood that if there are multiple first candidate beams and multiple second candidate beams, S570 can be performed multiple times, and thus there are multiple measurement results. For example, the terminal device can measure measurement result 1 on the first reference signal resource-1 and measurement result 2 on the first reference signal resource-2.

[0362] Based on the above scheme, the terminal device and the network device can determine the used first candidate beam and the second candidate beam for transmitting the first reference signal according to the information of the third beam and the information of the fourth beam from the first network element, so that the first network element can assist the terminal device and the network device to perform beam training, and improve the efficiency of beam training.

[0363] Optionally, in this implementation scenario, the method 500 further includes: the network device determines a to-be-used beam pair according to the measurement results of the multiple first reference signals, and then the network device sends third indication information to the terminal device, the third indication information being used to activate the to-be-used beam pair; in the case that the first beam and the second beam fail or are about to fail, the network device uses the to-be-used beam pair to communicate with the terminal device.

[0364] Specifically, if the terminal device is the receiver of the first reference signal, the terminal device can measure the first reference signal and report the measurement result of the first reference signal to the network device. For example, in the above, after measuring the measurement result 1 and the measurement result 2, the terminal device can send the measurement result 1 and the measurement result 2 to the network device. In the case of RSRP, the measurement result 1 corresponds to RSRP1, and the measurement result 2 corresponds to RSRP2. If RSRP1 and RSRP2 are both large, the network device can determine that the beam pair composed of the third beam-1 and the fourth beam-1 and the beam pair composed of the third beam-2 and the fourth beam-2 can be used as candidate beam pairs for subsequent communication. If RSRP1 is large and RSRP2 is small, the network device can determine that the beam pair composed of the third beam-1 and the fourth beam-1 can be used as a candidate beam pair for subsequent communication. If RSRP1 is small and RSRP2 is large, the network device can determine that the beam pair composed of the third beam-2 and the fourth beam-2 can be used as a candidate beam pair for subsequent communication. If RSRP1 and RSRP2 are both small, the network device can determine that the first information and the second information provided by the first network element are invalid. In this case, the terminal device and the network device can perform beam training. If the network device is the receiver of the first reference signal, the network device can determine the above information by itself.

[0365] Subsequently, the network device can activate the beam pair to be used through the third indication information. For example, the third indication information is a TCI state identifier corresponding to the beam pair to be used. For example, through the third indication information, the first TCI state can be indicated, wherein the type D source in the first TCI state is the first reference signal resource identifier 1 (i.e., associated with the third beam-1 and the fourth beam-1). Through the third indication information, the TCI state of the control channel or the TCI state of the data channel can be configured as the first TCI state. Subsequently, the network device and the terminal device can use the activated candidate beam pair to communicate.

[0366] Optionally, the network device can determine the execution time of S550-S570 based on the invalidation time of the second beam. For example, the network device can start to configure the first reference signal resource before the second beam is about to be invalidated, or start to report the measurement of the first reference signal resource before the second beam is about to be invalidated, or activate the candidate beam determined according to the measurement result before the second beam is about to be invalidated.

[0367] Optionally, the network device can also determine the switching time of the candidate beam according to the measurement result of the first beam pair. For example, after receiving the first information and the second information, the network device and the terminal device can start to measure the candidate beam, and still measure the first beam pair. When the RSRP of the first beam pair is less than a certain threshold (for example, the threshold can be greater than the threshold of beam invalidation), the candidate beam is activated.

[0368] For example, continue to take FIG. 6 as an example, in FIG. 6, the SF can indicate q 1-1 corresponding BPL (an example of a candidate beam pair) and q 1-2 corresponding BPL (another example of a candidate beam pair) information, and q 1-1 corresponding BPL configures candidate beam pair identifier 1, and q 1-2 corresponding BPL configures candidate beam pair identifier 2, further, the RAN can configure q 1-1 reference signal resource 1 and q 1-2 reference signal resource 2, the RAN and the UE can use q 1-1 corresponding BPL information and reference signal resource 1 transmits and measures the reference signal, uses q 1-2 corresponding BPL information and reference signal resource 2 transmits and measures the reference signal, according to q 1-1 and q 1-2 measurement results, the beam pair to be used can be determined, for example, q 1-1 when the RAN and the UE determine q 0-2 corresponding BPL is about to fail, for example, the RAN and the UE measure that q 0-2 RSRP is lower than the third threshold value, the RAN and the UE can directly switch to q 1-1 corresponding BPL to communicate, ensuring the continuity of communication.

[0369] Optionally, in FIG. 6, for q 1-1 or q 1-2 , the RAN can configure multiple reference signal resources for the UE, for example, q 1-1 configure 2 reference signal resources, including reference signal resource 1 and reference signal resource 3, so that the RAN and the UE can use q 1-1 corresponding BPL and nearby beams to transmit and measure the reference signal on reference signal resource 1 and reference signal resource 3, according to the measurement results on reference signal resource 1 and reference signal resource 3, beam training can be realized, so as to obtain more accurate beam training results.

[0370] Based on the above scheme, the terminal device and the network device can determine the beam pair to be used from the candidate beam pair, and before the first beam and the second beam fail, the terminal device and the network device can directly use the beam pair to be used for communication, avoiding the time delay caused by the detection process of beam failure and the process of beam failure recovery, and reducing the influence on user experience.

[0371] Optionally, as another implementation scenario of the method 500, the S530 is not performed, and the S540 is replaced with S540a, the first network element sends third information to the network device, and correspondingly, the network device receives the third information.

[0372] The third information is similar to the second information, except that the third information includes information of the fourth beam and a beam index of the third beam in the first beam set, which can be used by the network device to indicate the beam used by the terminal device on the reference signal resource when configuring the reference signal resource for the terminal device. In this implementation scenario, the information of the fourth beam can include information of the fourth beam in the S540, except for the second identifier.

[0373] Correspondingly, the configuration information of the first reference signal resource in the S560 can include information of the beam index of the third beam in the first beam set, without being associated with the second identifier.

[0374] Exemplarily, the configuration information of the first reference resource can be:

[0375] {Identifier of the first reference signal resource: xxx (arbitrary);

[0376] Pattern of the first reference signal resource: xxx;

[0377] Beam index associated with the first reference signal resource: beam index of the third beam in the first beam set}.

[0378] Correspondingly, in the S570, the terminal device determines the third beam according to the beam index of the third beam in the configuration information of the first reference signal resource, and then determines the first candidate beam for receiving or transmitting the first reference signal according to the third beam.

[0379] The specific details of this implementation scenario can be referred to the foregoing, and will not be described here.

[0380] As another implementation scenario of the method 500, the first information does not include information of the third beam. In other words, the first network element only indicates to the terminal device that the first beam is about to fail, and does not send information of the candidate beam to the terminal device. Similarly, the second information does not include information of the fourth beam, in other words, the first network element only indicates to the network device that the second beam is about to fail, and does not send information of the candidate beam to the network device.

[0381] Exemplarily, in this implementation scenario, the first information can be first indication information, and the first indication information is used to indicate that the first beam is about to fail. The second information is second indication information, and the second indication information is used to indicate that the second beam is about to fail.

[0382] The specific introduction of the first indication information and the second indication information can refer to the foregoing, and details are not described herein.

[0383] Optionally, in this implementation scenario, after S530, after the terminal device receives the first information and the network device receives the second information, i.e., before the first beam and the second beam fail, the terminal device and the network device can measure the reference signal set q1 for beam failure recovery, so that the terminal device and the network device can determine the beam pair to be used, and then after the first beam and the second beam fail, the terminal device and the network device can communicate through the beam pair to be used.

[0384] Specifically, after S530, the method 500 further includes that the network device sends q1 using the beam corresponding to q1, the terminal device receives q1 using the beam corresponding to q1, and the terminal device sends the measurement result of q1 to the network device; or the terminal device sends q1 using the beam corresponding to q1, the network device receives q1 using the beam corresponding to q1, and the network device obtains the measurement result of q1. Further, the beam pair to be used is determined according to the measurement result of q1, and then the network device sends third indication information to the terminal device, and the third indication information is used to activate the beam pair to be used; in the case that the first beam and the second beam fail or are about to fail, the network device communicates with the terminal device using the beam pair to be used. The specific process is similar to S570, and details are not described herein.

[0385] Optionally, in this implementation scenario, the first network element can also not send the first indication information to the terminal device, but only send the second indication information to the network device, and the network device triggers the terminal device to search for candidate beams after receiving the second indication information, for example, to measure and report the reference signals in q1.

[0386] Optionally, in this implementation scenario, the first network element can also not send the second indication information to the network device, but only send the first indication information to the terminal device, and the terminal device starts to measure the reference signals in q1 after receiving the first indication information, and then reports the measurement result to the network device, or initiates random access on the RO corresponding to the reference signal resource with a stronger signal quality, so that the network device knows that the second beam used before is about to fail or has failed, and needs to communicate on a new candidate beam pair.

[0387] Based on the foregoing scheme, the terminal device and the network device can determine the beam pair to be used based on the reference signal set for beam failure recovery, and in the case that the first beam and the second beam are about to fail, the terminal device and the network device can directly use the beam pair to be used for communication, thereby avoiding the time delay caused by the detection process of beam failure and the process of beam failure recovery, and reducing the impact on user experience.

[0388] FIG. 7 is a schematic flow chart of a method 700 of communication provided by the present application. The method 700 can be regarded as an implementation of the method 500. As shown in FIG. 7, the method 700 includes the following steps.

[0389] S701, the SF (an example of a first network element) acquires the position of the base station.

[0390] S702, the SF continuously acquires the position of the UE.

[0391] S703, the SF acquires the current beam information (an example of information of a second beam) from the base station and the current beam information (an example of information of a first beam) from the UE.

[0392] S703 can refer to the description of S510 and S520 for details.

[0393] S704, the SF determines that one or more beam pairs currently used by the UE and the base station will be invalidated according to the base station position and the beam information, the UE position and the beam information, and the scatterer distribution information.

[0394] For example, the beam pair will be blocked by the scatterer.

[0395] S704 can refer to the description of S550 for details.

[0396] S705, the SF sends information #1 (an example of second indication information) to the base station.

[0397] The information #1 indicates the beam pair to be invalidated (such as by identifying the reference signal resource or the TCI-state ID).

[0398] Optionally, the SF can also indicate the invalidation type (such as the blocking type) and the invalidation time (such as the approximate time when the blocking occurs and / or the approximate time when the blocking disappears).

[0399] S706, the SF sends information #2 (an example of second information) to the base station.

[0400] The information #2 includes a plurality of candidate beam information on the base station side.

[0401] Optionally, each candidate beam information includes a candidate beam pair identifier + base station side beam angle information, and optionally can also indicate the validity time and / or invalidation time of the beam.

[0402] S706 can refer to the description of S540 for details.

[0403] S707, the SF sends information #3 (an example of first information) to the UE.

[0404] The information #3 indicates candidate beam information of multiple UE sides.

[0405] Optionally, each candidate beam information includes a candidate beam pair identifier and UE side beam angle information, and optionally further indicates a valid time and / or invalid time of the beam.

[0406] S707 can refer to the description of S530.

[0407] S708, the base station sends configuration information of reference signal resources to the UE.

[0408] Specifically, the base station can configure reference signal resources for each candidate beam according to the information #2 sent by the SF, and each reference signal resource is associated with a candidate beam pair identifier. Further, the base station sends the configuration information of the reference signal resources to the UE.

[0409] S708 can refer to the description of S560.

[0410] S709, the base station sends multiple first reference signals to the UE or the UE sends multiple first reference signals to the base station.

[0411] Specifically, for each first reference signal, the base station or the UE transmits signals using the corresponding beam angle (for example, the beam adjacent to the angle) corresponding to the candidate beam pair identifier associated with the reference signal, and the UE or the base station receives signals using the corresponding beam angle (for example, the beam adjacent to the angle) corresponding to the candidate beam pair identifier associated with the reference signal. If the UE is the receiving end of the reference signal, it can send the measurement result of the reference signal to the base station.

[0412] S709 can refer to the description of S570.

[0413] S710, the base station determines the candidate beam based on the measurement result of S709, and activates the TCI state ID corresponding to the candidate beam.

[0414] S711, the base station and the UE continuously monitor the current beam, and when the RSRP of the current beam decreases to a certain extent, the base station and the UE communicate using the beam corresponding to the new TCI state. For example, transmission control information or data.

[0415] It should be understood that the size of the serial number of each process in the present application does not mean the order of execution, and the execution order of each process should be determined by its function and inherent logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0416] The above describes the method of communication provided by the embodiments of the present application in detail in combination with FIG. 1 to FIG. 7. The method of communication is mainly introduced from the perspective of the interaction between the terminal device and the network device. It can be understood that the terminal device and the network device contain the hardware structure and / or software module corresponding to the execution of each function in order to achieve the above functions.

[0417] It can be understood that, in order to implement the functions in the above embodiments, the terminal device and the network device include the hardware structure and / or software module corresponding to the execution of each function. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that, in combination with the units and method steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed in the present application, the present application can be realized in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a certain function is executed in the form of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application scenario and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0418] FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 are schematic block diagrams of the communication apparatus provided by the embodiments of the present application. The communication apparatus can be used to implement the functions of the first terminal device or the network device in the above method embodiments, and thus can also achieve the beneficial effects possessed by the above method embodiments. In the embodiments of the present application, the communication apparatus can be the UE shown in FIG. 1, can be the RAN shown in FIG. 1, can be the SF shown in FIG. 1, or can be a module (such as a chip) applied to the UE, the RAN or the SF.

[0419] As shown in FIG. 8, the communication apparatus 2000 includes a transceiver unit 2020. The communication apparatus 2000 is used to implement the functions of the first network element, the terminal device or the network device in the method embodiments shown in FIG. 5 or FIG. 7. Optionally, the communication apparatus 2000 further includes a processing unit 2010.

[0420] When the communication apparatus 2000 is used to implement the functions of the first network element (or the SF) in the method embodiments shown in FIG. 5 or FIG. 7, the transceiver unit 2020 is used to receive the information of the first beam from the terminal device and receive the information of the second beam from the network device. The transceiver unit 2020 is also used to send the first information to the terminal device and send the second information to the network device.

[0421] When the communication apparatus 2000 is used to implement the functions of the terminal device (or the UE) in the method embodiments shown in FIG. 5 or FIG. 7, the transceiver unit 2020 is used to send the information of the first beam to the first network element. The transceiver unit 2020 is also used to receive the first information from the first network element.

[0422] When the communication apparatus 2000 is configured to implement the function of the network device (or base station) in the method embodiments shown in FIG. 5 or FIG. 7, the transceiver 2020 is configured to send the information of the second beam to the first network element; and the transceiver 2020 is further configured to receive the second information from the first network element.

[0423] For more details of the processing unit 2010 and the transceiver 2020, please refer to the description in the method embodiments shown in FIG. 5.

[0424] As shown in FIG. 9, the communication apparatus 3000 includes a processor 3010 and an interface circuit 3020. The processor 3010 and the interface circuit 3020 are coupled with each other. It can be understood that the interface circuit 3020 can be a transceiver or an input / output interface. Optionally, the communication apparatus 3000 can further include a memory 3030, configured to store instructions executed by the processor 3010 or store input data required by the processor 3010 to execute instructions or store data generated after the processor 3010 executes instructions. Sometimes, the interface circuit 3020 can also be understood as a part of the processor 3010, and at this time, the communication apparatus 3000 includes the processor 3010.

[0425] When the communication apparatus 3000 is configured to implement the method shown in FIG. 5, the processor 3010 is configured to implement the function of the processing unit 2010, and the interface circuit 3020 is configured to implement the function of the transceiver 2020.

[0426] When the above communication apparatus is a terminal chip, the terminal chip implements the function of the terminal in the above method embodiments. The terminal chip receives information, which can be understood as the information is first received by other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the terminal, and then sent to the terminal chip by these modules. The terminal chip sends information, which can be understood as the information is first sent to other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the terminal, and then sent by these modules.

[0427] When the above communication apparatus is a base station chip, the base station chip implements the function of the base station in the above method embodiments. The base station chip receives information, which can be understood as the information is first received by other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the base station, and then sent to the base station chip by these modules. The base station chip sends information, which can be understood as the information is first sent to other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the base station, and then sent by these modules.

[0428] When the communication device is a chip applied to the first network element, the first network element chip implements the functions of the first network element in the method embodiments. The first network element chip receiving information can be understood as the information being received by other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the first network element first, and then being sent to the first network element chip by the modules. The first network element chip sending information can be understood as the information being sent to other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the first network element first, and then being sent by the modules.

[0429] In the present application, entity A sending information to entity B can be A directly sending to B, or A indirectly sending to B through other entities. Similarly, entity B receiving information from entity A can be entity B directly receiving the information sent by entity A, or entity B indirectly receiving the information sent by entity A through other entities. Here, entity A and B can be RAN nodes or terminals, or modules inside RAN nodes or terminals. The sending and receiving of information can be the information interaction between RAN nodes and terminals, for example, the information interaction between a base station and a terminal; the sending and receiving of information can also be the information interaction between two RAN nodes, for example, the information interaction between a CU and a DU; the sending and receiving of information can also be the information interaction between different modules inside one device, for example, the information interaction between a terminal chip and other modules of the terminal, or the information interaction between a base station chip and other modules of the base station.

[0430] It can be understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application can be a central processing unit (CPU), and can also be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor, or any conventional processor.

[0431] The method steps in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in hardware or in software instructions executable by a processor. The software instructions can be composed of corresponding software modules, which can be stored in a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory, an erasable programmable read-only memory, an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, a register, a hard disk, a mobile hard disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium well known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor, so that the processor can read information from and write information to the storage medium. The storage medium can also be an integral part of the processor. The processor and the storage medium can be located in an ASIC. In addition, the ASIC can be located in a base station or a terminal. The processor and the storage medium can also exist as discrete components in the base station or the terminal.

[0432] In the above embodiments, all or part of the embodiments can be implemented by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented by software, all or part of the embodiments can be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer programs or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments are performed. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, a network device, a user equipment, or other programmable apparatus. The computer programs or instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transferred from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium, for example, the computer programs or instructions can be transferred from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center through a wired or wireless manner. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. that integrates one or more available media. The available medium can be a magnetic medium, for example, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape; an optical medium, for example, a digital video disc; or a semiconductor medium, for example, a solid-state disk. The computer-readable storage medium can be a volatile or non-volatile storage medium, or can include both volatile and non-volatile storage media.

[0433] In the above various embodiments, the terms and / or descriptions of different embodiments are consistent and can be mutually referred to if there is no special description and no logical conflict. The technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationship.

[0434] In this document, "at least one" means one or more. "More than one" means two or more. "And / or" describes the relationship between related objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, or B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. In the textual description of this application, the character " / " generally indicates that the related objects before and after are in an "or" relationship; in the formulas of this application, the character " / " indicates that the related objects before and after are in a "division" relationship. "Including at least one of A, B, and C" can mean: including A; including B; including C; including A and B; including A and C; including B and C; including A, B, and C.

[0435] In this application, "for indication" can include both direct and indirect indication. When describing indication information as indicating A, it can include whether the indication information directly or indirectly indicates A, but does not necessarily mean that the indication information includes A. The information indicated by the indication information is called the information to be indicated. In specific implementation, there are many ways to indicate the information to be indicated. The information to be indicated can be sent as a whole or divided into multiple sub-information and sent separately. Moreover, the sending period and / or sending time of these sub-information can be the same or different. This application does not limit the specific sending method. The sending period and / or sending time of these sub-information can be predefined, for example, predefined according to the protocol, or configured by the transmitting device by sending configuration information to the receiving device. The configuration information can be, but is not limited to, one or a combination of at least two of RRC signaling, MAC layer signaling, and physical layer signaling. MAC layer signaling includes, for example, MAC control elements (CE), and physical layer signaling includes, for example, downlink control information (DCI).

[0436] It should be understood that in the various embodiments of this application, the terms "first," "second," and various numerical designations are merely for descriptive convenience and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application. The order of the sequence numbers of the above processes does not imply the order of execution; the execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic.

[0437] Those skilled in the art will recognize that the units and algorithm steps of the various examples described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are implemented in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0438] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of the description, the specific working process of the system, device and unit described above can refer to the corresponding process in the foregoing method embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0439] In several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed system, device and method can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only schematic, for example, the division of the units is only a logical function division, and actual implementation can have another division manner, for example, a plurality of units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. In addition, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection between the units shown or discussed can be indirect coupling or communication connection through some interface, device or unit, and can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0440] The units described as separate components can or can not be physically separate, and the components shown as units can or can not be physical units, that is, they can be located in one place, or can be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the embodiment scheme.

[0441] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application can be integrated in one processing unit, or each unit can exist physically, or two or more units can be integrated in one unit.

[0442] If the functions are realized in the form of software function units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solutions of the present application or the part of the present application which essentially contributes to the prior art or the part of the technical solutions can be embodied in the form of software products. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium, and includes a plurality of instructions for causing a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The foregoing storage medium includes a variety of program code storage media, such as a U disk, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk, etc.

[0443] The above merely provides the specific implementation of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited to this. Any person skilled in the art can easily think of the changes or replacements within the technical range disclosed by the present application, which should be covered in the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A method of communication, comprising: comprising: receiving information of a first beam from a terminal device, the first beam being a beam currently used by the terminal device to communicate with a network device; receiving information of a second beam from the network device, the second beam being a beam currently used by the network device to communicate with the terminal device; sending first information to the terminal device, the first information being used to indicate that the first beam is about to fail, the first information comprising information of a third beam, the third beam being a candidate beam used by the terminal device to communicate with the network device, sending second information to the network device, the second information being used to indicate that the second beam is about to fail, the second information comprising information of a fourth beam, the fourth beam being a candidate beam used by the network device to communicate with the terminal device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, the first beam and the second beam are associated, the first beam and the second beam forming a beam pair currently used by the terminal device and the network device to communicate, the third beam and the fourth beam are associated, the third beam and the fourth beam forming a candidate beam pair used by the terminal device and the network device to communicate.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein: the information of the first beam comprises at least one of a direction of the first beam, a width of the first beam, and a first identifier, wherein the first identifier is used to identify the first beam and / or the second beam; the information of the second beam comprises at least one of a direction of the second beam, a width of the second beam, and the first identifier.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein, the first identifier is an identifier of a reference signal resource associated with the first beam and / or the second beam, or is an identifier of a TCI state associated with the first beam and / or the second beam.

5. The method of any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein: the information of the third beam comprises a direction of the third beam or comprises a direction of the third beam and a second identifier, wherein the second identifier is used to identify the third beam and / or the fourth beam; the information of the fourth beam comprises a direction of the fourth beam or comprises a direction of the fourth beam and the second identifier.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein, the second identifier is an identifier of a reference signal resource associated with the third beam and / or the fourth beam.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that, the information of the third beam indicates that the first beam is about to fail, and / or the information of the fourth beam indicates that the second beam is about to fail.

8. A method of communication, comprising: comprising: sending information of a second beam to a first network element, the second beam being a beam currently used by a network device to communicate with a terminal device; receiving second information from the first network element, the second information being used to indicate that the second beam is about to fail, the second information comprising information of a fourth beam, the fourth beam being a candidate beam used by the network device to communicate with the terminal device.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein, the information of the fourth beam comprises a direction of the fourth beam or comprises a direction of the fourth beam and a second identifier, wherein the second identifier is used to identify the fourth beam.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein, the method further comprising: transmitting, to the terminal device, configuration information of a first reference signal resource, the configuration information indicating that the first reference signal resource is associated with the second identifier; transmitting or receiving, using a second candidate beam, a first reference signal on the first reference signal resource, the second candidate beam being determined according to the information of the fourth beam.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein, The configuration information comprises an identifier of the first reference signal resource, and the identifier of the first reference signal resource is the second identifier.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein, The configuration information comprises type information of the first reference signal resource, and the type information indicates that the identifier of the first reference signal resource is determined by the first network element.

13. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 12, characterized in that, The information of the second beam comprises at least one of a direction of the second beam, a width of the second beam, and a first identifier, wherein the first identifier is used to identify the second beam.

14. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 13, characterized in that, The information of the fourth beam is used to indicate that the second beam is about to fail.

15. A method of communication, comprising: The method comprises: transmitting, to a first network element, information of a first beam, the first beam being a beam currently used by a terminal device to communicate with a network device; receiving first information from the first network element, the first information being used to indicate that the first beam is about to fail, and the first information comprising information of a third beam, the third beam being a candidate beam used by the terminal device to communicate with the network device.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein, The information of the third beam comprises a direction of the third beam or comprises a direction of the third beam and a second identifier, wherein the second identifier is used to identify the third beam.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein, The method further comprises: receiving, from the network device, configuration information of a first reference signal resource, the configuration information indicating that the first reference signal resource is associated with the second identifier; receiving or transmitting, using a first candidate beam, a first reference signal on the first reference signal resource, the first candidate beam being determined according to the information of the third beam.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein, The configuration information comprises an identifier of the first reference signal resource, and the identifier of the first reference signal resource is the second identifier.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein, The configuration information comprises type information of the first reference signal resource, and the type information indicates that the identifier of the first reference signal resource is determined by the first network element.

20. The method of any one of claims 15-19, wherein, The information of the first beam comprises at least one of a direction of the first beam, a width of the first beam, and a first identifier, wherein the first identifier is used to identify the first beam.

21. The method of any one of claims 15-20, wherein, The information of the third beam is used to indicate that the first beam is about to fail.

22. A communications device, characterized by The apparatus comprises a module or unit for performing the method of any of claims 1 to 14, or a module or unit for performing the method of any of claims 15 to 21.

23. A communications device, characterized by The apparatus comprises one or more processors configured to execute computer programs or instructions stored in a memory, so that the apparatus performs the method of any of claims 1 to 14, or so that the apparatus performs the method of any of claims 15 to 21.

24. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The storage medium has stored therein a computer program or instructions which, when executed by the communication device, implement the method of any one of claims 1 to 14, or implement the method of any one of claims 15 to 21.

25. A computer program product, characterised in that, The computer program, when executed, implements the method of any one of claims 1 to 14, or implements the method of any one of claims 15 to 21.

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