Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

Provided in the embodiments of the present application are a communication method and apparatus. The method comprises: a terminal device receiving a first signal, wherein the first signal is a signal used for determining a chip length of a data channel and / or a time start position of the data channel, and the first signal is used for indicating line coding used by the data channel; and on the basis of the first signal, the terminal device then determining the line coding used by the data channel. By means of the method, a terminal device can determine in advance line coding used by a subsequent data channel, and then determine whether to subsequently receive the data channel, thereby ensuring the transmission validity of the data channel, and also reducing the receiving time and receiving power consumption of the terminal device as much as possible.

Description

A communication method and apparatus

[0001] Cross-reference to Related Applications

[0002] This application claims priority to the Chinese Patent Application No. 202410868631.9, filed on June 28, 2024, and entitled "A communication method and apparatus", the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The present application relates to the technical field of wireless communication, and in particular to a communication method and apparatus. BACKGROUND

[0004] In the ambient internet of things (A-IoT) research project, two types of devices are defined: the first type of device is a device with a peak power consumption of about 1 μW and energy storage capability; the second type of device is a device with a peak power consumption of less than or equal to (≤) several hundred μW and energy storage capability; in actual implementation, the first type of device includes two types of devices with and without an off-chip capacitor; both the device with an off-chip capacitor and the device without an off-chip capacitor need to rely on the energy carried by the radio frequency signal to realize signal reception and demodulation; specifically, the device without an off-chip capacitor needs to receive a signal with a high high-level duty cycle to ensure downlink signal reception and demodulation; for the device with an off-chip capacitor, since the capacitor has a large capacity, the requirement for the high-level duty cycle of the received signal is more relaxed than that of the device without an off-chip capacitor.

[0005] In the existing wireless radio frequency identification device system, the encoding used by the downlink signal is pulse interval encoding (PIE), which enables the device to receive a high level most of the time, so as to ensure that sufficient radio frequency energy is obtained for downlink signal reception and demodulation, and thus can be applied to the above-mentioned device with an off-chip capacitor and the device without an off-chip capacitor.

[0006] When the downlink signal uses on-off keying (OOK) or amplitude-shift keying (ASK) modulation mode, the commonly used encoding is Manchester encoding, which enables the device to receive a high level for half of the time and also ensures that a certain amount of radio frequency energy is obtained for the reception and demodulation of the downlink signal, which is suitable for the above-mentioned devices with off-chip capacitors. However, Manchester encoding cannot guarantee sufficient real-time radio frequency energy because it can appear as a high level followed by two low levels, and therefore is not suitable for the above-mentioned devices without off-chip capacitors. However, compared with PIE, Manchester encoding has the advantage of transmission rate and is an equal-length encoding with periodic rising and falling edges, which has the advantage of edge detection performance.

[0007] Based on the above, in the A-IoT network, although both the devices with off-chip capacitors and the devices without off-chip capacitors have the ability to support PIE, Manchester encoding has more advantages in terms of rate, performance, etc., and therefore for the downlink transmission of A-IoT, both PIE and Manchester encoding need to be supported. However, in actual transmission, the two types of devices with ~1 μW power consumption can only support downlink transmission of one type of encoding, and these two types of devices may not be able to access the A-IoT network without knowing the encoding used by the downlink transmission. For example, the downlink transmission only supports Manchester encoding, and the receiving end (such as the device with off-chip capacitors and ~1 μW power consumption) does not support Manchester encoding detection. In this case, the receiving end cannot demodulate the downlink signal after receiving the downlink signal using Manchester encoding, resulting in the inability to access the A-IoT network. SUMMARY

[0008] The present application provides a communication method and device, which can enable terminal devices (including various low-power receiving devices) to know in advance the line code encoding used by subsequent transmission data, so as to decide whether to receive the subsequent data according to whether the terminal device supports the line code encoding, thereby not only ensuring the effectiveness of data interaction, but also minimizing the receiving power consumption.

[0009] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be performed by a terminal device, a module (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a chip system) applied to the terminal device, a logic node, a logic module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the terminal device. Taking the method performed by the terminal device as an example, the method includes: receiving, by the terminal device, a first signal, the first signal being a signal for determining a chip length of a data channel and / or a time starting position of the data channel, the first signal being used to indicate a line code encoding used by the data channel; and determining, by the terminal device based on the first signal, the line code encoding used by the data channel.

[0010] In the embodiments of the present application, the data channel can be a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) or a physical reader device channel (PRDCH), and the like. The physical reader device channel PRDCH can refer to a physical channel used by a reader to send data to a device, and the information carried by the PRDCH can be data information and / or control information.

[0011] In the present application, the terminal device receives the first signal sent by the network device, the first signal being a signal for determining the chip length of the data channel and / or the time starting position of the data channel, the first signal being used to indicate the line code encoding used by the data channel; and the terminal device can effectively determine the chip length of the data channel and / or the time starting position of the data channel through the first signal, and can also determine the line code encoding used by the data channel. In this way, the terminal device can know in advance whether the line code encoding used by the data channel is supported by the terminal device, and then decide whether to receive the data of the data channel subsequently, so as to not only ensure the effectiveness of the transmitted data of the data channel, but also reduce the receiving time and receiving power consumption of the terminal device as much as possible.

[0012] In a possible implementation, the line code encoding in the above can be a first line code encoding or a second line code encoding; and the first line code encoding can comply with one or more of the following:

[0013] (1) the time lengths of the high level and the low level in the code word of the first line code encoding of bit 1 are different;

[0014] (2) the time length of the high level in the code word of the first line code encoding of bit 1 is greater than the time length of the low level;

[0015] (3) the time lengths of the high level and the low level in the code word of the first line code encoding of bit 0 are the same.

[0016] The second line code encoding can comply with: the time length of the high level and the low level in the code word of the second line code encoding of bit 0 and bit 1 is the same. That is, the time length of the high level and the low level in the code word of the second line code encoding of bit 0 is equal, and the time length of the high level and the low level in the code word of the second line code encoding of bit 1 is equal. For example, if the second line code encoding encodes bit 0 into the code word "10" and encodes bit 1 into the code word "01", the time length of the high level chip and the time length of the low level chip are the same, or the length of the high level chip and the length of the low level chip are the same, no matter bit 0 or bit 1.

[0017] For example, the first line code encoding is pulse interval encoding (PIE), and the second line code encoding is Manchester encoding (or phase encoding).

[0018] In the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device can support the first line code encoding and the second line code encoding, or only support the first line code encoding, or only support the second line code encoding.

[0019] For example, the terminal device is a device with an off-chip capacitor and a power consumption of about 1 μW, which can support PIE (an example of the first line code encoding) and Manchester encoding (an example of the second line code encoding). The terminal device is a device without an off-chip capacitor and a power consumption of about 1 μW, which can only support PIE (an example of the first line code encoding). The terminal device is a device with an off-chip capacitor, which can only support Manchester encoding (an example of the second line code encoding).

[0020] Through the implementation mode, the definition of the line code encoding that can be used by the data channel enables the terminal device to effectively learn through the indication of the first signal.

[0021] In the embodiments of the present application, the first signal for indicating the line code encoding used by the data channel can be implemented in the following ways, but is not limited to the following ways:

[0022] Mode one: the first signal is a time acquisition signal of the data channel. The time acquisition signal is located before the data channel, and there is no time interval between the time acquisition signal and the data channel.

[0023] The first signal can be a binary sequence, and different sequences of the first signal can be used to indicate or represent different line code encodings used by the data channel. For example, a sequence corresponding to the first signal can be used to indicate a corresponding line code encoding.

[0024] For the first mode, in a possible implementation, the first signal corresponds to a line code encoding indicating the data channel uses, and the indication manner can include but is not limited to at least one of the following:

[0025] (1) Different time lengths of the first signal correspond to different line code encodings indicating the data channel uses;

[0026] (2) Different maximum high or low levels in the first signal correspond to different line code encodings indicating the data channel uses;

[0027] (3) Different combinations of high and low levels in the first signal correspond to different line code encodings indicating the data channel uses;

[0028] (4) Different chip lengths in the first signal correspond to different line code encodings indicating the data channel uses.

[0029] Through the implementation, different line code encodings that the data channel can use can be flexibly indicated by different sequences of the first signal.

[0030] The second mode: the first signal is a clock acquisition part in a time acquisition signal of the data channel.

[0031] For the second mode, in a possible implementation, when the first signal is used to indicate the line code encoding used by the data channel, the indication manner can include but is not limited to at least one of the following:

[0032] (1) Different line code encodings used by the first signal correspond to different line code encodings indicating the data channel uses.

[0033] (2) Different time lengths of the longest high or low levels in the first signal correspond to different line code encodings indicating the data channel uses.

[0034] (3) Different combination patterns of high and low levels in the first signal correspond to different line code encodings indicating the data channel uses.

[0035] (4) Different time lengths of the longest chips corresponding to high or low levels in the first signal correspond to different line code encodings indicating the data channel uses.

[0036] The third mode: the first signal is a start-indicator part in a time acquisition signal of the data channel, and the first signal can also be used to indicate one or more of the following:

[0037] (1) A line code encoding used by a clock acquisition part in the time acquisition signal;

[0038] (2) the start position of the clock acquisition part in the time acquisition signal.

[0039] Optionally, the first signal can also be used to wake up the terminal device to receive the clock acquisition part in the time acquisition signal, and / or indicate the chip length (or time length) of the clock acquisition part in the time acquisition signal.

[0040] For the third mode, in a possible implementation, the first signal is used to indicate the line code encoding used by the data channel, and the indication manner can include but is not limited to at least one of the following:

[0041] (1) the time length of different first signals corresponds to different line code encodings used by the data channel;

[0042] (2) the time length of different high levels and / or low levels in the first signal corresponds to different line code encodings used by the data channel;

[0043] (3) different high level and low level combination manners in the first signal correspond to different line code encodings used by the data channel.

[0044] In the embodiments of the present application, the time acquisition signal of the data channel can be referred to as a preamble signal, the clock acquisition part in the time acquisition signal can be referred to as a clock calibration signal in the preamble signal, and the start indication part in the time acquisition signal can be referred to as a delimiter signal in the preamble signal.

[0045] In a possible implementation, the method can further include: receiving data of the data channel when the terminal device supports the line code encoding used by the data channel; and not receiving data of the data channel when the terminal device does not support the line code encoding used by the data channel.

[0046] Through the implementation, the terminal device receives data of the data channel when supporting the line code encoding used by the data channel, which can effectively perform decoding and processing, thereby guaranteeing the effectiveness of data interaction; the terminal device does not receive data of the data channel when not supporting the line code encoding used by the data channel, thereby saving the receiving time and receiving power consumption of the terminal device.

[0047] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be performed by a network device, a module (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a chip system) applied to the network device, a logic node, a logic module, or software that can implement all or part of the function of the network device. Taking the method performed by the network device as an example, the method includes: generating, by the network device, a first signal, the first signal being a signal for determining a chip length of a data channel and / or a time starting position of the data channel, the first signal being used to indicate a line code encoding used by the data channel; and sending, by the network device, the first signal to a terminal device.

[0048] In the embodiments of the present application, the data channel can be a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) or a physical reader-to-device channel (PRDCH). The PRDCH can refer to a physical channel used by a reader to send data to a device. The information carried by the PRDCH can be data information and / or control information.

[0049] In the present application, the network device can indicate the line code encoding used by the data channel to the terminal device through the first signal, so that the terminal device can know whether the line code encoding used by the data channel is supported by the terminal device before receiving the data of the data channel, and then effectively determine whether to receive the data of the data channel subsequently. This can not only ensure the effectiveness of the data transmission of the data channel, but also reduce the receiving time and power consumption of the terminal device as much as possible.

[0050] In a possible implementation, the line code encoding in the above can be a first line code encoding or a second line code encoding. The first line code encoding can comply with one or more of the following:

[0051] (1) The time length of the high level and the low level in the code word of the first line code encoding of bit 1 is different.

[0052] (2) The time length of the high level in the code word of the first line code encoding of bit 1 is greater than the time length of the low level.

[0053] (3) The time length of the high level and the low level in the code word of the first line code encoding of bit 0 is the same.

[0054] The second line code encoding can comply with: the time length of the high level and the low level in the code word of the second line code encoding of bit 0 and bit 1 is the same. That is, the time length of the high level and the low level in the code word of the second line code encoding of bit 0 is equal, and the time length of the high level and the low level in the code word of the second line code encoding of bit 1 is equal. For example, if the second line code encoding encodes bit 0 into the code word "10" and encodes bit 1 into the code word "01", the time length of the high level after encoding is the same as the time length of the low level, or the maximum number of chips included in the high level after encoding is the same as the maximum number of chips included in the low level, regardless of bit 0 or bit 1.

[0055] For example, the first line code encoding is pulse interval encoding (PIE), and the second line code encoding is Manchester encoding (or phase encoding).

[0056] In the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device can support the first line code encoding and the second line code encoding, or the terminal device only supports the first line code encoding, or the terminal device only supports the second line code encoding.

[0057] For example, the terminal device is a device with an off-chip capacitor and a power consumption of about 1 μW, which can support PIE (an example of the first line code encoding) and Manchester encoding (an example of the second line code encoding). The terminal device is a device without an off-chip capacitor and a power consumption of about 1 μW, which can only support PIE (an example of the first line code encoding). The terminal device is a device with an off-chip capacitor, which can only support Manchester encoding (an example of the second line code encoding).

[0058] Through the implementation, the definition of the line code encoding that can be used by the data channel enables the network device to effectively indicate the line code encoding used by the data channel to the terminal device through the first signal.

[0059] In the embodiments of the present application, the first signal for indicating the line code encoding used by the data channel can be implemented in the following ways, but is not limited to the following ways:

[0060] Method one: the first signal is a time acquisition signal of the data channel. The time acquisition signal is located before the data channel, and there is no time interval between the time acquisition signal and the data channel.

[0061] The first signal can be a binary sequence, and different sequences of the first signal can be used to indicate or represent different line code encodings used by the data channel. For example, a sequence corresponding to the first signal can be used to indicate a corresponding line code encoding.

[0062] For the first mode, in a possible implementation, the first signal corresponds to a line code encoding indicating the data channel uses, and the indication manner can include but is not limited to at least one of the following:

[0063] (1) Different time lengths of the first signal correspond to different line code encodings indicating the data channel uses;

[0064] (2) Different maximum high or low level lengths in the first signal correspond to different line code encodings indicating the data channel uses;

[0065] (3) Different high and low level combination manners in the first signal correspond to different line code encodings indicating the data channel uses;

[0066] (4) Different chip lengths in the first signal correspond to different line code encodings indicating the data channel uses.

[0067] Through the implementation, different line code encodings that the data channel can use can be flexibly indicated by different sequences of the first signal.

[0068] The second mode: the first signal is a clock acquisition part in a time acquisition signal of the data channel.

[0069] For the second mode, in a possible implementation, when the first signal is used to indicate the line code encoding that the data channel uses, the indication manner can include but is not limited to at least one of the following:

[0070] (1) Different line code encodings used by the first signal correspond to different line code encodings indicating the data channel uses.

[0071] (2) Different maximum high or low level lengths in the first signal correspond to different line code encodings indicating the data channel uses.

[0072] (3) Different high and low level combination patterns in the first signal correspond to different line code encodings indicating the data channel uses.

[0073] (4) Different maximum high or low level lengths in the first signal correspond to different line code encodings indicating the data channel uses.

[0074] The third mode: the first signal is a start-indicator part in a time acquisition signal of the data channel, and the first signal can also be used to indicate one or more of the following:

[0075] (1) A line code encoding used by a clock acquisition part in the time acquisition signal;

[0076] (2) the start position of the clock acquisition part in the time acquisition signal.

[0077] Optionally, the first signal can also be used to wake up the terminal device to receive the clock acquisition part in the time acquisition signal, and / or indicate the chip length (or time length) of the clock acquisition part in the time acquisition signal.

[0078] For the third mode, in a possible implementation, the first signal is used to indicate the line code encoding used by the data channel, and the indication can include but is not limited to at least one of the following:

[0079] (1) the time length of different first signals corresponds to different line code encodings used by the data channel;

[0080] (2) the time length of different high levels and / or low levels in the first signal corresponds to different line code encodings used by the data channel;

[0081] (3) the combination of different high levels and low levels in the first signal corresponds to different line code encodings used by the data channel.

[0082] In the embodiments of the present application, the time acquisition signal of the data channel can be referred to as a preamble signal, the clock acquisition part in the time acquisition signal can be referred to as a clock calibration signal in the preamble signal, and the start indication part in the time acquisition signal can be referred to as a delimiter signal in the preamble signal.

[0083] In a possible implementation, the method can further include: the network device sends data of the data channel to the terminal device based on the line code encoding used by the data channel. Correspondingly, the terminal device can receive or not receive the data of the data channel according to whether the terminal device supports the line code encoding used by the data channel, so as to ensure the effectiveness of data interaction, or save the receiving time and receiving power consumption of the terminal device.

[0084] In a third aspect, the present application also provides a communication apparatus, which is a terminal device or a chip corresponding to the terminal device. The communication apparatus has the functions of the first aspect and any possible implementation thereof. The communication apparatus can be implemented by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more units or modules corresponding to the above functions.

[0085] In a possible design, the communication apparatus includes a processor configured to support the communication apparatus to perform the corresponding functions of the terminal device in the above-described method. The communication apparatus can further include a memory coupled to the processor, which stores program instructions and data necessary for the communication apparatus. Optionally, the communication apparatus further includes an interface circuit configured to support communication, such as transmission or reception of data or signals, between the communication apparatus and another communication apparatus. For example, the communication interface can be a transceiver, a circuit, a bus, a module, or another type of communication interface.

[0086] In a possible design, the communication apparatus includes corresponding functional modules for implementing the steps in the above-described method. The functions can be implemented by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above-described functions.

[0087] In a possible design, the structure of the communication apparatus includes a processing unit and a communication unit, which can perform the corresponding functions in the above-described method examples, details of which can be referred to the description of the method in the first aspect, and will not be repeated here.

[0088] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a communication apparatus, which is a network device or a chip corresponding to the network device. The communication apparatus has the functions of the above-described second aspect and any possible implementation manner thereof. The communication apparatus can be implemented by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more units or modules corresponding to the above-described functions.

[0089] In a possible design, the communication apparatus includes a processor configured to support the communication apparatus to perform the corresponding functions of the network device in the above-described method. The communication apparatus can further include a memory coupled to the processor, which stores program instructions and data necessary for the communication apparatus. Optionally, the communication apparatus further includes an interface circuit configured to support communication, such as transmission or reception of data or signals, between the communication apparatus and another communication apparatus. For example, the communication interface can be a transceiver, a circuit, a bus, a module, or another type of communication interface.

[0090] In a possible design, the communication apparatus includes corresponding functional modules for implementing the steps in the above-described method. The functions can be implemented by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above-described functions.

[0091] In a possible design, the structure of the communication apparatus includes a processing unit and a communication unit, which can perform the corresponding functions in the above-described method examples, details of which can be referred to the description of the method in the second aspect, and will not be repeated here.

[0092] In a fifth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which comprises a processor and an interface circuit, the interface circuit being configured to receive signals from other communication apparatuses outside the communication apparatus and transmit the signals to the processor or send signals from the processor to other communication apparatuses outside the communication apparatus, and the processor being configured to implement the method in the first aspect and any possible implementation thereof by means of a logic circuit or by executing code instructions.

[0093] In a sixth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which comprises a processor and an interface circuit, the interface circuit being configured to receive signals from other communication apparatuses outside the communication apparatus and transmit the signals to the processor or send signals from the processor to other communication apparatuses outside the communication apparatus, and the processor being configured to implement the method in the second aspect and any possible implementation thereof by means of a logic circuit or by executing code instructions.

[0094] In a seventh aspect, a computer readable storage medium is provided, which stores a computer program or instructions, when the computer program or instructions are executed by a processor, the method in any one of the first aspect and the second aspect and any possible implementation thereof is implemented.

[0095] In an eighth aspect, a computer program product is provided, which stores instructions, when the instructions are run by a processor, the method in the first aspect and the second aspect and any possible implementation thereof is implemented.

[0096] In a ninth aspect, a chip system is provided, which comprises a processor and can further comprise a memory, and is configured to implement the method in the first aspect and the second aspect and any possible implementation thereof. The chip system can be composed of a chip or can comprise a chip and other discrete devices.

[0097] In a tenth aspect, a communication system is provided, which comprises the terminal device in the first aspect and the network device in the second aspect.

[0098] It should be noted that the technical effects achieved by the third aspect to the tenth aspect or any possible implementation of the third aspect to the tenth aspect can be described with reference to the technical effects achieved by the first aspect and the second aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect and the second aspect, which will not be described herein. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0099] FIG. 1a is a schematic diagram of a topology of a communication system to which the method of the embodiments of the present application can be applied;

[0100] FIG. 1b is a schematic diagram of a topology of another communication system to which embodiments of the present application can be applied;

[0101] FIG. 1c is a schematic diagram of a topology of yet another communication system to which embodiments of the present application can be applied;

[0102] FIG. 1d is a schematic diagram of a topology of yet another communication system to which embodiments of the present application can be applied;

[0103] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a chip architecture of a device with a power consumption of about 1 μW according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0104] FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0105] FIG. 4A is a flowchart of a method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0106] FIG. 4B is a schematic diagram of a signal transmission format according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0107] FIG. 5A is a flowchart of a method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0108] FIG. 5B is a schematic diagram of a signal transmission format according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0109] FIG. 6A is a flowchart of a method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0110] FIG. 6B is a schematic diagram of a delimiter signal sequence according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0111] FIG. 6C is a schematic diagram of another delimiter signal sequence according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0112] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0113] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of another communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0114] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a chip structure of a chip according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0115] Embodiments of the present application will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The method and the device are based on the same technical concept, and since the principles of solving problems are similar, the device and the method can be understood by referring to each other, and repeated descriptions will not be provided.

[0116] The method provided by the embodiments of the present application can be applied to a communication system, including a new radio (NR) system, a long term evolution (LTE) system, an advanced long term evolution (LTE-A) system, a universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS), an evolved long term evolution (eLTE) system, a future communication system, and the like, and can also be applied to a communication system in a vehicle to X (V2X) scenario, a long term evolution-vehicle (LTE-V) scenario, a vehicle to vehicle (V2V) scenario, a vehicle networking scenario, a machine type communications (MTC) scenario, an internet of things (IoT) scenario, a long term evolution-machine to machine (LTE-M) scenario, a machine to machine (M2M) scenario, and the like. In the embodiments of the present application, no specific limitation is made. Of course, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can also be applied to a future-oriented communication technology. The system described in the embodiments of the present application is used to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and does not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application.

[0117] The present application will present various aspects, embodiments or features around a system including a plurality of devices, components, modules and the like. It should be understood and appreciated that each system can include additional devices, components, modules and the like, and / or can not include all the devices, components, modules and the like discussed in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In addition, combinations of these solutions can also be used.

[0118] Exemplarily, the topologies of several communication systems to which the embodiments of the present application can be applied are introduced below.

[0119] Structure one: FIG. 1a is a schematic diagram of a topology structure of a first communication system in an A-IoT scenario according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 1a, the communication system can include an access network device and an A-IoT device, and the access network device and the A-IoT device can directly communicate with each other. For ease of description, the communication system shown in FIG. 1a is referred to as topology structure 1 in the following embodiments of the present application. The A-IoT device in the topology structure 1 can act as a sending end or a receiving end, and the access network device can also act as a sending end or a receiving end. For example, when the access network device acts as a sending end, the A-IoT device can act as a receiving end, and when the A-IoT device acts as a sending end, the access network device can act as a receiving end.

[0120] Structure two: FIG. 1b is a schematic diagram of a topology structure of a second communication system in an A-IoT scenario according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 1b, the communication system can include an access network device, an intermediate node and an A-IoT device, and the access network device and the A-IoT device can indirectly communicate with each other through one or more intermediate nodes, that is, one or more intermediate nodes are used to transfer communication information between the access network device and the A-IoT device. The intermediate node can be a relay, an integrated access backhaul (IAB) node, a terminal device, a new type of terminal device, a repeater or a CPE, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. The access network device and the intermediate node can communicate with each other through a Uu interface. For ease of description, the communication system shown in FIG. 1b is referred to as topology structure 2 in the following embodiments of the present application.

[0121] Structure three: FIG. 1c is a schematic diagram of a topology structure of a third communication system in an A-IoT device scenario according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in the (a) schematic diagram of FIG. 1c or the (b) schematic diagram of FIG. 1c, the communication system can include an access network device, an assisting node and an A-IoT device. The (a) schematic diagram of FIG. 1c shows an uplink communication scenario, and the (b) schematic diagram of FIG. 1c shows a downlink communication scenario. The access network device and the assisting node can communicate with each other through a Uu interface. For ease of description, the communication system shown in the (a) schematic diagram of FIG. 1c and the communication system shown in the (b) schematic diagram of FIG. 1c are referred to as topology structure 3 in the following embodiments of the present application.

[0122] Structure four: FIG. 1d is a schematic diagram of a topology of a fourth communication system in an A-IoT device scenario according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 1d, the communication system can include terminal devices and A-IoT devices. For ease of description, the communication system shown in FIG. 1d is referred to as topology 4 in the following embodiments of the present application.

[0123] In the above-described topologies 1 to 4, the number of each node (or device, etc.) in each topology can be one or more. FIGS. 1a to 1d only show an example in which the number of each type of node in the corresponding topology is one, without limiting the number of nodes in the topology.

[0124] In addition, in the above-described topologies 1 to 4, the access network device that transmits signals (or information / data, etc.) to the A-IoT device and the access network device that receives signals (or information / data, etc.) from the A-IoT device can be the same access network device or different access network devices, which is not specifically limited. The direction of the link in each topology can be unidirectional or bidirectional, which is not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0125] The access network devices (such as NR base stations, pole stations, small stations, micro stations, etc.), relay nodes, auxiliary nodes, etc. shown in the above-described topologies 1 to 4 can be devices in various types of communication systems. The A-IoT device can be a device with a peak power consumption of ~1 μW and a peak power consumption of ≤ several hundred μW, can be a device supporting backscattering or a device supporting active transmission, and can be a passive, semi-passive, or active device, etc.

[0126] FIG. 2 shows a chip architecture diagram of a device with a peak power consumption of ~1 μW. As shown in FIG. 2, the architecture includes the following parts:

[0127] Antenna: RF energy reception and receiver / transmitter can be shared and separated.

[0128] Matching network: match the impedance between the antenna and other parts (including the RF energy collector and the receiver-related module).

[0129] RF energy collector: the RF energy collector can capture and convert the RF energy in the environment to power the device, such as which can include a rectifier to convert RF signals (AC) to DC.

[0130] Energy storage (such as a capacitor): the collected energy can be stored from the RF energy receiver.

[0131] Power Management Unit (PMU): The PMU is used to manage the energy stored from the energy harvester, providing energy to the active modules that need energy supply.

[0132] Digital Baseband (BB) Logic: Includes functional modules such as encoders, decoders, controllers, etc.

[0133] Memory: Includes two types of memory: (1) Non-volatile memory such as Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM) that can permanently store the identity document (ID) of the device, etc. (2) Registers that temporarily hold information, only when there is enough energy stored in the energy storage.

[0134] Clock Generator: The clock generator is used to generate or provide a clock signal.

[0135] Receive-related modules: Receive-related modules include modules for implementing receiving functions and modules related to receiving.

[0136] RF Band Pass Filter (BPF): Enhances frequency selectivity.

[0137] RF Envelope Detector (ED): Used to convert the RF signal to baseband.

[0138] Baseband Low Pass Filter (LPF): Used to filter out harmonic and high frequency components, improving the quality of the signal input to the comparator.

[0139] Comparator: Decides the high / low (level) of the input signal.

[0140] Transmit-related modules: Transmit-related modules include modules for implementing transmitting functions and modules related to transmitting.

[0141] Backscatter Modulator: Switches impedance to modulate the backscatter signal with the transmit signal from the baseband logic.

[0142] The network architecture or communication system architecture and service scenarios (or device structures) described in the embodiments of the present application are for more clearly illustrating the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and do not constitute limitation to the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application. It can be known by those skilled in the art that, with the evolution of network architecture or communication system architecture and the appearance of new service scenarios (or new device structures), the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application are also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0143] Some terms and features related to the embodiments of the present application are explained below. It should be noted that these explanations are for the purpose of making the embodiments of the present application easier to understand, and should not be regarded as a limitation to the scope of protection required by the present application.

[0144] 1) Terminal device: The terminal device can refer to an entity on the user side for receiving or transmitting signals, having a wireless transceiving function. Optionally, the terminal device includes a device for providing data connectivity to a user. The terminal device can also be referred to as a terminal, a user equipment (UE), a mobile station (MS), a mobile terminal (MT), etc.

[0145] For example, the terminal device can be a handheld device with wireless connection function, or a processing device connected to a wireless modem. The terminal device can exchange voice and / or data with a network device, such as a radio access network (RAN) device. The terminal device can include a V2X terminal device, a wireless terminal device, a mobile terminal device, a device-to-device (D2D) terminal device, a machine-to-machine / machine-type communications (M2M / MTC) terminal device, an IoT device, a virtual reality (VR) device, an augmented reality (AR) device, an industrial control device, a self driving device, a remote medical device, a smart grid device, a smart home device, a smart office device, a smart transportation device, a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver function, a vehicle, a helicopter, an airplane, a ship, a mechanical arm, a drone, a robot, an access point (AP), a remote terminal, an access terminal, a user agent, or a user device, a wearable device, a vehicle-mounted device, or a customer premise(s) equipment (CPE), etc. Optionally, the customer premise(s) equipment can also be referred to as a client device. Embodiments of the present application do not limit the device form of the terminal device.

[0146] The terminal device can be widely applied in various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D) communication, vehicle to everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), internet of things (IOT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, automatic driving, remote medical treatment, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wear, smart transportation, smart city, etc.

[0147] The terminal device in the present application can also be the A-IoT device shown in FIGS. 1a-1d.

[0148] Embodiments of the present application do not limit the form of the terminal device, and the device for implementing the function of the terminal can be a terminal device; or can be a device capable of supporting the terminal device to implement the function, such as a module or a chip system. The device can be installed in the terminal device or used in matching with 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.

[0149] 2) Network device: The network device can include an access network device and / or a core network device. The access network device can be an entity on the network side for transmitting and / or receiving signals, and can serve as a device for accessing the terminal device to the wireless network in the communication system. The access network device can also be referred to as a base station in the radio access network, and can also be referred to as a radio access network (RAN) device or a radio access network node.

[0150] Exemplary access network devices include, but are not limited to, a base station (base transceiver station (BTS), Node B, evolved Node B (eNodeB / eNB), gNodeB / gNB, transmission reception point (TRP), a 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) later evolved base station, radio network controller (RNC), access point (AP), base station controller (BSC), a home base station (e.g., home eNodeB, or home Node B (HNB)), or base band unit (BBU), an access node in a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) system, a wireless relay node, a wireless backhaul node, etc. The base station can be a macro base station, a micro base station, a pico base station, a femto base station, a relay station, etc., or any other wireless access device, or a base station in a next generation communication, etc. Multiple base stations can support a network of the same access technology, or a network of different access technologies. A base station can contain one or more co-sited or non-co-sited transmission reception points. Exemplary access network devices can also be a radio controller, a centralized unit (CU), and / or a distributed unit (DU) in a cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenario. An access network device can also be a server, etc. For example, a network device in a vehicle to everything (V2X) technology can be a road side unit (RSU).

[0151] In a possible scenario, a terminal is assisted by multiple access network devices to implement wireless access, and different access network devices respectively implement part of functions of a base station. For example, an access network device can be a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU), etc. The CU and the DU can be separately arranged, or can be included in the same network element, for example, a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in a radio frequency device or a radio frequency unit, for example, included in a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna processing unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH). It can be understood that the access network device can be a CU node, or a DU node, or a device including the CU node and the DU node. In addition, the CU can be divided into an access network device in a radio access network (RAN), or the CU can be divided into an access network device in a core network (CN), and no limitation is made in this regard.

[0152] 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 ORAN system, the CU can also be referred to as an O-CU (open CU), the DU can also be referred to as an O-DU, the CU-CP can also be referred to as an O-CU-CP, the CU-UP can also be referred to as an O-CU-UP, and the RU can also be referred to as an O-RU. For the convenience of description, the CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU, and RU are taken as examples for description in this application. Any one of the CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU, and RU in this application can be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0153] In the embodiments of this application, the form of the access network device is not limited, and the device for implementing the function of the access network device can be the access network device; or can be a device capable of supporting the access network device to implement the function, for example, a module or a chip system. The device can be installed in the access network device or used in combination with the access network device.

[0154] 3) A-IoT, refers to the technology that IoT devices collect energy from the surrounding environment (such as radio waves, solar energy, wind power, vibration, heat, etc.) to meet their work requirements. Among them, the IoT device can not use a battery or limited storage. In this application, the environment can also be understood as the surrounding environment, that is, the environmental Internet of Things can also be understood as the surrounding Internet of Things. Environmental IoT can also be called passive IoT. Among them, the source is the power source or energy source, and the passive is not connected to an external energy source (such as without a battery, etc.). The passive IoT is not a network passive in IoT, but a terminal node passive in IoT. The terminal node passive is not that the terminal node does not use energy (such as electric energy), but that the terminal node has a different way of obtaining energy.

[0155] 4) Line code encoding: Line code (or line code type) refers to the form of digital message code represented (or carried) by the selected electrical pulse waveform in line transmission such as cable and optical fiber to adapt to channel transmission. Common code types can include binary code, ternary code, multi-element code, block encoding, etc., which all belong to the category of digital baseband signals. For example, in optical fiber communication, the transmission code type is not the non-return-to-zero code generated by the input interface decoding, but the information code needs to be transformed into a suitable code type for transmission in the optical fiber line. The purpose of selecting and applying these line code types is to optimize the efficiency, reliability and compatibility of signal transmission, and to ensure that data can be correctly transmitted in various communication channels.

[0156] The process of transforming the signal output from the source or encoder into a digital signal suitable for channel transmission is called line coding (line coding), and the code type used is called line code. Line coding can also be called channel coding, which functions to eliminate or reduce the direct current and low frequency components in the digital electrical signal to facilitate transmission, reception and monitoring in optical fibers.

[0157] In the embodiments of the present application, line code encoding can refer to the encoding method adopted by line coding (line coding).

[0158] 5) A device capable of communication, to support wireless communication technology, a device capable of communicating with other devices or equipment. The communication device can also be called a communication device. In the embodiments of the present application, the specific appearance of the communication device is not limited, for example, the communication device can be a terminal device, an access network device, an Internet of Things device, etc. It should be noted that in this application, when referring to a communication device, it can refer to the communication device itself, or a chip, functional module or integrated circuit in the communication device that completes the method provided in the present application, and the specific application is not limited.

[0159] 6) Transmission power refers to the energy transmitted or consumed by a signal. In wireless communication, transmission power is usually used to describe the strength (or power) of the signal sent by a wireless device. A wireless device can transmit information by sending electromagnetic waves, and the strength of the electromagnetic waves sent is the embodiment of power. The unit of power is usually watt (W) or decibel milliwatt (dBm), where decibel milliwatt is a relative unit used to represent the ratio of power relative to the reference power.

[0160] It should be noted that in this application, the association relationship of the associated objects described by "and / or" indicates that there can be three relationships, for example, A and / or B can represent the following three cases: A exists alone, A and B exist together, B exists alone. The character " / " generally represents that the associated objects before and after it are in an "or" relationship. The plurality of the present application refers to two or more. At least one refers to one or more. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions are used to represent any combination of the listed items; for example, at least one of A, B and (or) C can represent the following cases: A exists alone, B exists alone, C exists alone, A and B exist together, B and C exist together, A and C exist together, A, B and C exist together, where A, B, C can be single or multiple. In addition, it should be understood that in the description of the present application, "first", "second" and the like are only used for the purpose of distinguishing the description, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance, nor can it be understood as indicating or implying order.

[0161] Reference within the specification to "one embodiment" or "some embodiments" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. The appearances of the phrase "in one embodiment" or "in some embodiments" in various places within specified sections of the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, although it can. The terms "including," "containing," "having," and variations thereof are meant to encompass the terms "including but not limited to." The terms "example" and "for example" are used to mean "an example of" or "for the purpose of example." Any embodiment or design solution described as an "example" or "for example" should not be construed as being preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or design solutions. The use of the terms "example" and "for example" is merely intended to present concepts in a concrete manner. The terms "a plurality" and "a plurality of" mean two or more. The terms "of", "corresponding", and "corresponding" can be used interchangeably in the embodiments of the present application, and it should be noted that they express the same meaning when not emphasized.

[0162] It should be noted that the term "for indicating" mentioned in the description of the embodiments of the present application can include for direct indication and for indirect indication. When describing that certain indication information is used to indicate A, it can include that the indication information directly indicates A or indirectly indicates A, and does not mean that A must be carried in the indication information.

[0163] The foregoing introduces the features or terms related to the embodiments of the present application, and the following introduces the technical background related to the present application.

[0164] In the A-IoT research project, two types of devices are defined: the first type of device is a device with a peak power consumption of ~1 μW and energy storage capability; the second type of device is a device with a peak power consumption of ≤ several hundred μW and energy storage capability; in actual implementation, the first type of device includes two types of devices with and without an off-chip capacitor, and both the device with an off-chip capacitor and the device without an off-chip capacitor need to rely on the energy carried by the radio frequency signal to realize signal reception and demodulation. Specifically, the device without an off-chip capacitor needs to receive a signal with a high high-level duty cycle to ensure downlink signal reception and demodulation; for the device with an off-chip capacitor, because the capacitor has a large capacity, the requirement for the high-level duty cycle of the received signal is more relaxed than that of the device without an off-chip capacitor.

[0165] In the existing wireless radio frequency identification device system, the encoding used by the downlink signal is pulse interval encoding (hereinafter referred to as PIE). In PIE, bit 1 is encoded into a chip with a high level length greater than a low level length, and bit 0 is encoded into a chip with a high level length equal to a low level length, for example, bit 1 is encoded into a chip "1110", and bit 0 is encoded into a chip "10". It can be seen that the proportion of high level in PIE is greater than 50%, and PIE enables the device to receive high level most of the time, which can ensure that sufficient radio frequency energy is obtained for the reception and demodulation of the downlink signal, and therefore PIE can be applied to the devices with and without external capacitors in the first type of devices.

[0166] When the downlink signal uses on-off keying (OOK) or amplitude shift keying (ASK) modulation mode, the commonly used encoding of the downlink signal is Manchester encoding, in which bit 1 and bit 0 are both encoded into chips with equal length of high level and low level, for example, bit 1 is encoded into a chip "10", and bit 0 is encoded into a chip "01". It can be seen that the proportion of high level in Manchester encoding is equal to 50%, and Manchester encoding enables the device to receive high level for half of the time, which can also ensure that certain radio frequency energy is obtained for the reception and demodulation of the downlink signal, and is applicable to the devices with external capacitors in the first type of devices. Since Manchester encoding can result in a high level followed by two low levels, it cannot guarantee that the real-time radio frequency energy is sufficient, and therefore is not applicable to the devices without external capacitors in the first type of devices. In addition, compared with PIE, Manchester encoding has the advantage of transmission rate, and Manchester encoding is equal-length encoding with periodic rising and falling edges, and edge detection has the advantage of performance.

[0167] Based on the above, in the A-IoT network, the devices with and without external capacitors both have the ability to support PIE, but Manchester encoding has more advantages in rate and performance, and therefore, for the downlink transmission of A-IoT, both PIE and Manchester encoding can be supported. However, the two types of devices with and without external capacitors and with ~1 μW power consumption can only support the downlink transmission of one type of encoding in actual transmission, and therefore, these two types of devices may not be able to access the A-IoT network without knowing the encoding used by the downlink transmission. For example, the downlink transmission only supports Manchester encoding, and the receiving end (such as the devices with and without external capacitors and with ~1 μW power consumption) does not support Manchester encoding detection, so that the receiving end cannot demodulate the downlink signal after receiving the downlink signal using Manchester encoding, resulting in the inability to access the A-IoT network.

[0168] In view of the above problems, the present application provides a communication method and device, which can enable a terminal device (including various low-power receiving devices) to know in advance the line code encoding used by subsequent data transmission, so as to determine whether to receive the subsequent data according to whether the terminal device supports the line code encoding, thereby not only ensuring the effectiveness of data interaction, but also reducing the receiving power consumption as much as possible.

[0169] In the present application, the names of various messages (or information, etc.) in the following processes are only examples. As the communication technology evolves, the names of various messages (or information, etc.) in the following processes may change. However, as long as the meaning of the names is the same as the function or meaning of the messages (or information, etc.) in the present application, the names are within the protection scope of the present application.

[0170] In the present application, "sending a first signal (or information / data, etc.) to a terminal device" can be understood as that the destination of the first signal (or information / data, etc.) is the terminal device, which can include directly or indirectly sending the first signal (or information / data, etc.) to the terminal device. "Receiving information (or data, etc.) from a terminal device" can be understood as that the source of the information (or data, etc.) is the terminal device, which can include directly or indirectly receiving the information (or data, etc.) from the terminal device. The information (or data, etc.) can be processed as necessary between the source and the destination, such as format change, etc., but the destination can understand the valid information (or data, etc.) from the source. Similar expressions in the present application can be understood similarly, which will not be repeated here.

[0171] The scheme of the embodiments of the present application is introduced as follows.

[0172] The communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application can be applied to, but is not limited to, the architecture shown in FIGS. 1a-1d. The method can be executed by a terminal device (which can also be a network device), a module (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.) of the terminal device (which can also be a network device), a logic node, a logic module, or software capable of realizing all or part of the functions of the terminal device (which can also be a network device). In addition, the present application does not limit the specific structure of the execution subject (such as a terminal device, a network device) of the method provided by the embodiments of the present application and the number of execution subjects, as long as the execution subject can communicate according to the method provided by the embodiments of the present application by running a program in which the code of the method provided by the embodiments of the present application is recorded.

[0173] For the convenience of description, hereinafter, the interaction between the terminal device and the network device is taken as an example for illustration, for example, the terminal device is the A-IoT device in the structure shown in FIGS. 1a-1c, and the network device is the access network device in the structure shown in FIGS. 1a-1c; the embodiments of the present application method can also be applicable to the structure shown in FIG. 1d, for example, the A-IoT device can replace the terminal device as the receiving end of the first signal, and the terminal device can replace the network device as the sending end of the first signal. The order of the steps in each of the following processes is only an example, and in actual application, the order of the steps in each of the processes can be adjusted, and all or part of the steps described below can be adaptively executed.

[0174] Referring to FIG. 3, the specific flow of the method can include the following:

[0175] Step S301: The network device generates a first signal, the first signal being a signal for determining the chip length of a data channel and / or the time starting position of the data channel, and the first signal being used for indicating the line code encoding used by the data channel.

[0176] Exemplarily, the network device can be, but is not limited to, an access network device (for example, a base station).

[0177] In the embodiments of the present application, the data channel can be, but is not limited to, a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) or a physical reader-to-device channel (PRDCH). The physical reader-to-device channel (PRDCH) can refer to a physical channel through which the reader sends data to the device, and the information carried by the PRDCH can be data information and / or control information.

[0178] In one possible implementation, the line code encoding described above can be a first line code encoding or a second line code encoding.

[0179] The first line code encoding can comply with, but is not limited to, one or more of the following:

[0180] (1) The time length of the high level and the low level in the code word in which the bit 1 is encoded by the first line code encoding is different.

[0181] For example, if the bit 1 is encoded as the code word "1110" by using the first line code encoding, it can be seen that the length of the high level and the length of the low level included in the code word are different; or the chip length is defined as the minimum length of the high level and / or the low level, and the maximum number of chips included in the high level after the bit 1 is encoded and the maximum number of chips included in the low level after the bit 1 is encoded are determined, for example, the maximum number of chips included in the high level after the bit 1 is encoded is 3, and the maximum number of chips included in the low level after the bit 1 is encoded is 1, it can be seen that the time length of the high level and the time length of the low level in the code word of the bit 1 are different.

[0182] (2) The length of high level in the code word of bit 1 encoded by the first line code is longer than the length of low level.

[0183] For example, if bit 1 is encoded as code word "1110" by the first line code, the length of high level included in the code word of bit 1 is longer than the length of low level included in the code word; or the minimum length of chip is defined as the length of high level and / or low level, and the maximum number of chips included in high level after encoding of bit 1 is compared with the maximum number of chips included in low level after encoding of bit 1, for example, the maximum number of chips included in high level after encoding of bit 1 is 3, and the maximum number of chips included in low level after encoding of bit 1 is 1, so the length of high level in the code word of bit 1 is longer than the length of low level.

[0184] (3) The length of high level and low level in the code word of bit 0 encoded by the first line code is the same.

[0185] For example, if bit 0 is encoded as code word "10" by the first line code, the length of high level included in the code word of bit 0 is equal to the length of low level included in the code word; or the minimum length of chip is defined as the length of high level and / or low level, and the maximum number of chips included in high level after encoding of bit 0 is compared with the maximum number of chips included in low level after encoding of bit 0, for example, the maximum number of chips included in high level after encoding of bit 0 is 1, and the maximum number of chips included in low level after encoding of bit 0 is 1, so the length of high level in the code word of bit 0 is the same as the length of low level.

[0186] The second line code above can comply with but is not limited to: the length of high level and low level in the code word of bit 0 and bit 1 encoded by the second line code is the same.

[0187] For example, if bit 0 is encoded as code word "10" and bit 1 is encoded as code word "01" by the second line code, the length of high level after encoding of bit 0 and bit 1 is the same as the length of low level, or the maximum number of chips included in high level is the same as the maximum number of chips included in low level.

[0188] In a possible implementation, the first line code above is PIE, and the second line code is Manchester encoding.

[0189] In the embodiments of the present application, the first signal used for indicating the line code encoding used by the data channel can be implemented in the following ways but is not limited to the following ways:

[0190] Method one: the first signal is a time acquisition signal of the data channel.

[0191] For time acquisition of the data channel, the time acquisition signal itself can be used to determine the chip length of the data channel (or the time length of high and low levels in the code word encoded by the line code used by the data channel) and / or the time starting position of the data channel. The time acquisition signal is located before the data channel, and there is no time interval between the time acquisition signal and the data channel. Embodiments of the present application propose that the line code used by the data channel can be indicated by the time acquisition of the data channel.

[0192] The first signal can be a binary sequence, and different sequences of the first signal can be used to indicate or represent different line codes used by the data channel, for example, a sequence corresponding to the first signal can be used to indicate a corresponding line code.

[0193] For mode one, in a possible implementation, the first signal corresponds to indicating the line code used by the data channel, and the indication mode can include but is not limited to at least one of the following:

[0194] Mode 1: Different time lengths of the first signal correspond to indicating different line codes used by the data channel;

[0195] Mode 2: Different maximum high or low lengths in the first signal correspond to indicating different line codes used by the data channel;

[0196] Mode 3: Different combinations of high and low levels in the first signal correspond to indicating different line codes used by the data channel;

[0197] Mode 4: Different chip lengths in the first signal correspond to indicating different line codes used by the data channel.

[0198] Mode two: the first signal is a clock acquisition part in the time acquisition signal of the data channel.

[0199] For the clock acquisition part in the time acquisition signal of the data channel, the signal itself can also be used to determine the chip length of the data channel (or the time length of high and low levels in the code word encoded by the line code used by the data channel, or the number of chips contained by the high level and the number of chips contained by the low level in the code word in the data channel) and / or the time starting position of the data channel. Embodiments of the present application propose that the line code used by the data channel can be indicated by the clock acquisition part in the time acquisition signal of the data channel.

[0200] For the second mode, in one possible implementation, when the first signal is used to indicate the line code encoding used by the data channel, the indication manner can include, but is not limited to, at least one of the following:

[0201] Mode 1: the different line code encoding used by the first signal corresponds to the indication of the different line code encoding used by the data channel.

[0202] For example, if the first signal uses the first line code encoding, the data channel indicated by the first signal also uses the first line code encoding; if the first signal uses the second line code encoding, the data channel indicated by the first signal also uses the second line code encoding. For example, when the first line code encoding is PIE, the code word corresponding to the first signal is the combination of the code word of bit 1 and the code word of bit 0, for example, the code word of the first signal is “111010” or “101110”; for example, when the second line code encoding is Manchester encoding, the code word corresponding to the first signal is the combination of the code word of bit 1 and the code word of bit 0, for example, the code word of the first signal is “1001” or “0110” or the code word corresponding to the first signal is the repetition of the code word of bit 1 for X times or the repetition of the code word of bit 0 for X times, where X is a positive integer.

[0203] Alternatively, if the first signal uses the first line code encoding, the data channel indicated by the first signal uses the second line code encoding; if the first signal uses the second line code encoding, the data channel indicated by the first signal uses the first line code encoding.

[0204] Mode 2: the different time length of the longest high level or the longest low level in the first signal corresponds to the indication of the different line code encoding used by the data channel.

[0205] For example, if the time length of the longest high level or the longest low level in the first signal is x (unit: microsecond), the data channel indicated by the first signal uses the first line code encoding; if the time length of the longest high level or the longest low level in the first signal is y (unit: microsecond), the data channel indicated by the first signal uses the second line code encoding.

[0206] Mode 3: the different combination pattern of the high level and the low level in the first signal corresponds to the indication of the different line code encoding used by the data channel.

[0207] For example, if the combination pattern of the high level and the low level in the first signal is “111010” and the length of the longest high level is 3 chips, the data channel indicated by the first signal uses the first line code encoding; if the combination pattern of the high level and the low level in the first signal is “1001” or “1010” and the length of the longest high level is 2 chips or 1 chip, the data channel indicated by the first signal uses the second line code encoding.

[0208] For example, if the length / time length of the longest chip corresponding to the different high level or low level in the first signal is x1, it indicates that the data channel uses the first line code encoding; if the length / time length of the longest chip corresponding to the different high level or low level in the first signal is y1, it indicates that the data channel uses the second line code encoding.

[0209] For example, if the length / time length of the longest chip corresponding to the different high level or low level in the first signal is x1, it indicates that the data channel uses the first line code encoding; if the length / time length of the longest chip corresponding to the different high level or low level in the first signal is y1, it indicates that the data channel uses the second line code encoding.

[0210] For example, if the length / time length of the longest chip corresponding to the different high level or low level in the first signal is x1, it indicates that the data channel uses the first line code encoding; if the length / time length of the longest chip corresponding to the different high level or low level in the first signal is y1, it indicates that the data channel uses the second line code encoding.

[0211] (1) the line code encoding used by the clock acquisition part in the time acquisition signal; (2) the starting position of the clock acquisition part in the time acquisition signal.

[0212] Optionally, the first signal can also be used to wake up the terminal device to receive the clock acquisition part in the time acquisition signal and / or indicate the chip length (or time length) of the clock acquisition part in the time acquisition signal.

[0213] For example, if the length / time length of the longest chip corresponding to the different high level or low level in the first signal is x1, it indicates that the data channel uses the first line code encoding; if the length / time length of the longest chip corresponding to the different high level or low level in the first signal is y1, it indicates that the data channel uses the second line code encoding.

[0214] For example, if the length / time length of the longest chip corresponding to the different high level or low level in the first signal is x1, it indicates that the data channel uses the first line code encoding; if the length / time length of the longest chip corresponding to the different high level or low level in the first signal is y1, it indicates that the data channel uses the second line code encoding.

[0215] For example, if the length / time length of the longest chip corresponding to the different high level or low level in the first signal is x1, it indicates that the data channel uses the first line code encoding; if the length / time length of the longest chip corresponding to the different high level or low level in the first signal is y1, it indicates that the data channel uses the second line code encoding.

[0216] For example, if the length / time length of the longest chip corresponding to the different high level or low level in the first signal is x1, it indicates that the data channel uses the first line code encoding; if the length / time length of the longest chip corresponding to the different high level or low level in the first signal is y1, it indicates that the data channel uses the second line code encoding.

[0217] For example, if the length / time length of the longest chip corresponding to the different high level or low level in the first signal is x1, it indicates that the data channel uses the first line code encoding; if the length / time length of the longest chip corresponding to the different high level or low level in the first signal is y1, it indicates that the data channel uses the second line code encoding.

[0218] For example, the first signal is a signal of high level plus low level, if the time length of the low level contained in the first signal is w3 (unit: microsecond), it indicates that the data channel uses the first line code encoding; if the time length of the low level contained in the first signal is w4 (unit: microsecond), it indicates that the data channel uses the second line code encoding.

[0219] Alternatively, the time length of the high level contained in the first signal is w5 (unit: microsecond) and the time length of the low level is w6 (unit: microsecond), which indicates that the data channel uses the first line code encoding; if the time length of the low level contained in the first signal is w7 (unit: microsecond) and the time length of the high level is w8 (unit: microsecond), it indicates that the data channel uses the second line code encoding.

[0220] Mode 3: Different combination modes of high level and low level in the first signal correspond to different line code encodings used by the data channel.

[0221] For example, if the combination mode of high level and low level in the first signal is that the high level can be continuous, for example, "1110", it indicates that the data channel uses the first line code encoding.

[0222] If the combination mode of high level and low level in the first signal is that the high level cannot be continuous, for example, "1001", it indicates that the data channel uses the second line code encoding.

[0223] In the embodiments of the present application, the time acquisition signal of the data channel can also be referred to as a preamble signal, the start indication part in the time acquisition signal can be referred to as a delimiter signal, and the clock acquisition part in the time acquisition signal can be referred to as a clock calibration signal.

[0224] Step S302: The network device sends the first signal to the terminal device; correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first signal.

[0225] In the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device can be a terminal device capable of supporting the first line code encoding and the second line code encoding; or the terminal device can be a terminal device supporting only the first line code encoding; or the terminal device can be a terminal device supporting only the second line code encoding.

[0226] For example, the terminal device is a device with an off-chip capacitor and with a power consumption of about 1 μW, which can support PIE (an example of the first line code encoding) and Manchester encoding (an example of the second line code encoding). The terminal device is a device without an off-chip capacitor and with a power consumption of about 1 μW, which can only support PIE (an example of the first line code encoding). The terminal device is a device with an off-chip capacitor, which can only support Manchester encoding (an example of the second line code encoding).

[0227] Step S303: The terminal device determines, based on the first signal, a line code encoding used by the data channel.

[0228] In a possible implementation, the method can further include: when the terminal device supports the line code encoding used by the data channel, receiving data of the data channel sent by the network device; and when the terminal device does not support the line code encoding used by the data channel, not receiving the data of the data channel sent by the network device.

[0229] Through the implementation, when the terminal device supports the line code encoding used by the data channel, the terminal device receives the data of the data channel, can effectively perform decoding and processing, and thus the effectiveness of data interaction can be ensured; when the terminal device does not support the line code encoding used by the data channel, the terminal device does not receive the data of the data channel, and thus the receiving time and receiving power consumption of the terminal device can be saved.

[0230] To sum up, the embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which includes: a terminal device receives a first signal, the first signal is a signal used to determine a chip length of a data channel and / or a time starting position of the data channel, and the first signal is used to indicate a line code encoding used by the data channel; and then the terminal device determines, based on the first signal, not only the chip length of the data channel and / or the time starting position of the data channel, but also the line code encoding used by the data channel, so that the terminal device can know in advance whether the terminal device supports the line code encoding used by the data channel, and then decide whether to receive data of the data channel subsequently, thereby not only the effectiveness of data channel transmission can be ensured, but also the receiving time and receiving power consumption of the terminal device can be reduced as much as possible.

[0231] The technical solution provided by the embodiment of the present application can be applied to communication between a network device and a terminal device, and can also be applied to communication between other devices capable of communicating. For communication between other devices, the technical solution provided by the embodiment of the present application can also be used for implementation, so that the receiving end can decide in advance whether to receive subsequent signals or data, thereby the effectiveness of the interactive signals or data can be ensured, and the receiving time and power consumption of the receiving end can be reduced as much as possible, which will not be described in detail.

[0232] Based on the method shown in FIG. 3, the method is described in detail through several specific embodiments.

[0233] In the embodiments of the present application, the time acquisition signal of the data channel can also be referred to as a preamble signal, the start indicator part in the time acquisition signal can be referred to as a delimiter signal, and the clock acquisition part in the time acquisition signal can be referred to as a clock calibration signal. The following embodiments take the first signal as the time acquisition signal, the clock acquisition part, and the start indicator part as examples to specifically introduce the method of the embodiments of the present application.

[0234] Embodiment one:

[0235] In the embodiment one, the network device is a base station, and the first signal takes the time acquisition signal (which can also be referred to as a preamble signal) of the data channel as an example to introduce the method provided by the embodiments of the present application (corresponding to the method one in S301 of the scheme shown in FIG. 3), which is used to indicate the line code encoding used by the subsequent PDSCH / PRDCH. Referring to FIG. 4A, the specific process of the embodiment one can include the following:

[0236] S401A: The base station sends a time acquisition signal to the UE, and the time acquisition signal is used to indicate the line code encoding used by the PDSCH / PRDCH. Accordingly, the UE receives the time acquisition signal.

[0237] In the above, the time acquisition signal can also be used to indicate or determine one or more of the following:

[0238] (1) The time starting position of the PDSCH / PRDCH. (2) The chip length of the PDSCH / PRDCH signal (or the time length of the high level and the low level in the code word of the line code encoding used by the PDSCH / PRDCH).

[0239] In a possible implementation manner, the line code encoding used by the PDSCH / PRDCH can be a first line code encoding or a second line code encoding; wherein the first line code encoding can comply with one or more of the following: (1) the time length of the high level chip and the low level chip in the code word of the first line code encoding of bit 1 is different; (2) the time length of the high level in the code word of the first line code encoding of bit 1 is greater than the time length of the low level; (3) the time length of the high level and the low level in the code word of the first line code encoding of bit 0 is the same.

[0240] The second line code encoding can comply with: the time length of high level and low level in the code word of encoding bit 0 and bit 1 by the second line code encoding is the same. For example, if the second line code encoding encodes bit 0 into code word "10" and encodes bit 1 into code word "01", the time length of the high level chip after encoding and the time length of the low level chip after encoding are the same, or the number of chips included in the high level after encoding and the number of chips included in the low level after encoding are the same.

[0241] For example, the first line code encoding is PIE, and the second line code encoding is Manchester encoding.

[0242] In a possible implementation, different sequences of the time acquisition signal can be used to indicate / represent different line code encodings used by the subsequent PDSCH / PRDCH; for example, a sequence corresponding to the time acquisition signal can be used to indicate / represent a corresponding line code encoding.

[0243] Specifically, the manner in which the time acquisition signal is used to indicate / represent different line code encodings used by the subsequent PDSCH / PRDCH can include but is not limited to at least one of the following:

[0244] (1) the time length of different time acquisition signals corresponds to indicating / representing different line code encodings used by the subsequent PDSCH / PRDCH; (2) the length of the maximum high level or low level in different time acquisition signals corresponds to indicating / representing different line code encodings used by the subsequent PDSCH / PRDCH; (3) the combination mode of different high levels and low levels in the time acquisition signal corresponds to indicating / representing different line code encodings used by the subsequent PDSCH / PRDCH; (4) the chip length in the time acquisition signal corresponds to indicating / representing different line code encodings used by the subsequent PDSCH / PRDCH.

[0245] For example, if the sequence of the time acquisition signal (also referred to as the preamble signal) is [101110], it indicates / represents that the line code encoding used by the subsequent PDSCH / PRDCH is PIE; if the sequence of the time acquisition signal (also referred to as the preamble signal) is [010101], it indicates / represents that the line code encoding used by the subsequent PDSCH / PRDCH is Manchester encoding.

[0246] S402A: The UE determines the line code encoding used by the PDSCH / PRDCH based on the time acquisition signal.

[0247] S403A: The UE receives or does not receive the PDSCH / PRDCH data sent by the base station based on the line code encoding used by the PDSCH / PRDCH.

[0248] In one possible implementation, the UE determines the line code encoding used by the PDSCH / PRDCH from the time acquisition signal to be the first line code encoding (e.g., PIE):

[0249] If the UE can only support the first line code encoding (e.g., PIE), then in S403A, the UE continues to receive the data of the PDSCH / PRDCH transmitted by the base station.

[0250] If the UE can only support the second line code encoding (e.g., Manchester encoding), then in S403A, the UE does not receive the data of the PDSCH / PRDCH transmitted by the base station.

[0251] If the UE supports both the first line code encoding (e.g., PIE) and the second line code encoding (e.g., Manchester encoding), then in S403A, the UE continues to receive the data of the PDSCH / PRDCH transmitted by the base station.

[0252] In another possible implementation, the UE determines the line code encoding used by the PDSCH / PRDCH from the time acquisition signal to be the second line code encoding (e.g., Manchester encoding):

[0253] If the UE can only support the first line code encoding (e.g., PIE), then in S403A, the UE does not continue to receive the data of the PDSCH / PRDCH transmitted by the base station.

[0254] If the UE can only support the second line code encoding (e.g., Manchester encoding), then in S403A, the UE continues to receive the data of the PDSCH / PRDCH transmitted by the base station.

[0255] If the UE supports both the first line code encoding (e.g., PIE) and the second line code encoding (e.g., Manchester encoding), then in S403A, the UE continues to receive the data of the PDSCH / PRDCH transmitted by the base station.

[0256] In the above, in the case where the UE supports the first line code encoding, after the UE receives the data of the PDSCH / PRDCH using the first line code encoding, the UE can effectively perform decoding / demodulation, thereby ensuring that the communication process is completed. In the case where the UE supports the second line code encoding, after the UE receives the data of the PDSCH / PRDCH using the second line code encoding, the UE can effectively perform decoding / demodulation, thereby ensuring that the communication process is completed.

[0257] In a possible implementation, when receiving the PDSCH / PRDCH data sent by the base station, the UE can determine the time starting position of the PDSCH / PRDCH and / or the chip length of the PDSCH / PRDCH signal based on the time acquisition signal, and then receive the PDSCH / PRDCH data sent by the base station based on the time starting position of the PDSCH / PRDCH and / or the chip length of the PDSCH / PRDCH signal.

[0258] FIG. 4B shows a format of signal transmission. As shown in FIG. 4B, after the base station sends the time acquisition signal to the UE, the base station sends the PDSCH / PRDCH data to the UE, and there is no time gap between the time acquisition signal and the subsequent PDSCH / PRDCH data. The time acquisition signal (also referred to as a preamble signal) is composed of a starting indication part (also referred to as a clock calibration signal) and a clock acquisition part (also referred to as a delimiter signal).

[0259] In the above S401A to S403A, the base station and the UE directly communicate or interact with each other to introduce the first embodiment. In actual application, there can be one or more intermediate nodes between the base station and the UE, and the base station and the UE can indirectly communicate or interact with each other through the one or more intermediate nodes, which will not be described in detail.

[0260] In the first embodiment, the base station indicates the line code encoding used by the subsequent PDSCH / PRDCH to the UE through the time acquisition signal. In this way, the UE can not only obtain the starting position of the subsequent PDSCH / PRDCH transmission and / or the chip length of the PDSCH / PRDCH signal through the time acquisition signal, but also determine the line code encoding used by the subsequent PDSCH / PRDCH. If the UE supports the line code encoding, the UE will continue to receive the PDSCH / PRDCH data sent by the base station to ensure the effectiveness of the communication. If the UE does not support the line code encoding, the UE can turn off the communication function in advance and no longer continue to receive the PDSCH / PRDCH data sent by the base station, so as to reduce the reception time and power consumption of the UE as much as possible. In addition, since the UE cannot support the line code encoding used by the PDSCH / PRDCH, the UE will not try to access the A-IoT network, thereby improving the efficiency of the A-IoT network in performing inventory of devices.

[0261] Embodiment two:

[0262] In the second embodiment, the network device is taken as a base station, and the first signal is taken as a clock capture part (also referred to as a clock calibration signal) to introduce the method provided in the embodiments of the present application (corresponding to the second method in S301 of the scheme shown in FIG. 3). The clock capture part is used to indicate the line code encoding used by the subsequent PDSCH / PRDCH. Referring to FIG. 5A, the specific flow of the second embodiment can include the following steps.

[0263] S501A: The base station sends a starting indication part to the UE. Accordingly, the UE receives the starting indication part.

[0264] The starting indication part can be used to indicate or determine one or more of the following:

[0265] (1) to wake up the UE to receive the clock capture part; (2) the starting position of the clock capture part, for example, the starting indication part is used to indicate the starting frame of the clock capture part sent by the base station; (3) the chip length (or duration) of the clock capture part; (4) the line code encoding used by the clock capture part.

[0266] S502A: The base station sends the clock capture part to the UE, and the clock capture part is used to indicate the line code encoding used by the PDSCH / PRDCH. Accordingly, the UE receives the clock capture part.

[0267] In the above, the clock capture part can also have one or more of the following functions:

[0268] (1) used to indicate the time starting position of the PDSCH / PRDCH.

[0269] (2) used to determine the chip length of the PDSCH / PRDCH signal (or the duration of the PDSCH / PRDCH signal, or the time length of the high level and the low level in the code word used by the PDSCH / PRDCH to encode the line code, or the number of chips contained in the high level and the number of chips contained in the low level in the code word in the PDSCH / PRDCH).

[0270] In this embodiment, the indication manner of the clock capture part used to indicate / represent the line code encoding used by the subsequent PDSCH / PRDCH can include but is not limited to at least one of the following:

[0271] (1) the clock acquisition part uses different line code encoding corresponding to the indication / representation of the different line code encoding used by the PDSCH / PRDCH; (2) the different maximum length of high level or the different maximum length of low level in the clock acquisition part corresponds to the indication / representation of the different line code encoding used by the PDSCH / PRDCH; (3) the different combination pattern of high level and low level in the clock acquisition part corresponds to the indication / representation of the different line code encoding used by the PDSCH / PRDCH; (4) the different maximum length of chip corresponding to the high level or the low level in the clock acquisition part corresponds to the indication / representation of the different line code encoding used by the PDSCH / PRDCH.

[0272] S503A: the UE determines the line code encoding used by the PDSCH / PRDCH based on the clock acquisition part.

[0273] S503A can refer to the above-mentioned several possible implementation manners described in S402A, which will not be repeated here, but the difference between S402A and S503A is that the UE determines the line code encoding used by the PDSCH / PRDCH through the clock acquisition part.

[0274] S504A: the UE receives or does not receive the data of the PDSCH / PRDCH sent by the base station based on the line code encoding used by the PDSCH / PRDCH.

[0275] S504A can be implemented with reference to the above-mentioned several possible implementation manners described in S403A, which will not be repeated here.

[0276] In the second embodiment, as shown in the format of signal transmission in FIG. 5B, the time acquisition signal includes a starting indication part and a clock acquisition part, as shown in FIG. 5B, the base station first sends the starting indication part, then sends the clock acquisition part, there is no time gap between the starting indication part and the clock acquisition part, after the transmission of the two signals, the base station sends the data of the PDSCH / PRDCH, and there is no time gap between the clock acquisition part and the PDSCH / PRDCH.

[0277] In the second implementation, the base station indicates the line code encoding used by the subsequent PDSCH / PRDCH to the UE through the clock acquisition part, so that the UE can determine the line code encoding used by the subsequent PDSCH / PRDCH in advance through the clock acquisition part. In the case that the UE supports the line code encoding used by the PDSCH / PRDCH, the UE will continue to receive the data of the PDSCH / PRDCH sent by the base station to ensure the effectiveness of the communication. However, in the case that the UE does not support the line code encoding used by the PDSCH / PRDCH, the UE can turn off the communication function in advance and no longer continue to receive the data of the PDSCH / PRDCH sent by the base station, so as to reduce the receiving time and power consumption of the UE as much as possible. In addition, since the UE cannot support the line code encoding used by the PDSCH / PRDCH, it will not try to access the A-IoT network, so as to further improve the efficiency of the A-IoT network in performing inventory of devices.

[0278] The third implementation is as follows.

[0279] In the third implementation, the network device is the base station, and the first signal is taken as an example to introduce the method provided by the embodiments of the present application (corresponding to the third method in S301 of the scheme shown in FIG. 3), and the starting indication part (also referred to as a delimiter signal) is used to indicate the line code encoding of the clock acquisition part and the line code encoding used by the PDSCH / PRDCH. Referring to FIG. 6A, the specific process of the third implementation can include the following steps.

[0280] S601A: The base station sends a starting indication part to the UE, and the starting indication part is used to indicate the line code encoding of the clock acquisition part and the line code encoding used by the PDSCH / PRDCH. Accordingly, the UE receives the starting indication part.

[0281] In the above, the starting indication part can also be used to indicate or determine one or more of the following:

[0282] (1) wake up the UE to receive the clock acquisition part; (2) the time starting position of the clock acquisition part; (3) the chip length of the clock acquisition part (or the duration of the clock acquisition part, or the time length of the high level and the low level in the code word of the clock acquisition part, or the number of chips contained by the high level and the number of chips contained by the low level in the code word of the clock acquisition part).

[0283] In one possible implementation, the line code encoding used by the clock acquisition part (which can also be the PDSCH / PRDCH) can be a first line code encoding or a second line code encoding. Here, the first line code encoding and the second line code encoding can be referred to the introduction of the first line code encoding and the second line code encoding in S401A above, which will not be repeated here.

[0284] In the third embodiment, the starting indication part and the clock acquisition part sent by the base station and the signal transmission format corresponding to the PDSCH / PRDCH can refer to the above-mentioned Figure 5B, which will not be described here again.

[0285] In this embodiment, the indication mode of the starting indication part for indicating / representing the line code encoding used by the subsequent PDSCH / PRDCH can include but is not limited to at least one of the following:

[0286] (1) The time length of different starting indication parts corresponds to the indication / representation of different line code encoding used by the subsequent PDSCH / PRDCH; (2) The time length of different continuous low level and / or high level in the starting indication part corresponds to the indication / representation of different line code encoding used by the subsequent PDSCH / PRDCH; (3) The different high level and low level combination mode in the starting indication part corresponds to the indication / representation of different line code encoding used by the subsequent PDSCH / PRDCH.

[0287] For example, as shown in Figure 6B (1), if the sequence of the starting indication part (which can also be called a delimiter signal) is [000000], the sequence is used to indicate / represent that the line code encoding used by the subsequent PDSCH / PRDCH is PIE (an example of the first line code encoding). As shown in Figure 6B (2), if the sequence of the starting indication part is

[0000] , the sequence is used to indicate / represent that the line code encoding used by the subsequent PDSCH / PRDCH is Manchester encoding (an example of the second line code encoding). In addition, the sequence [000000] and the sequence

[0000] can also represent that the time length (duration) of the corresponding starting indication part is different. In this way, it is relatively simple to distinguish different starting indication parts, but it requires a continuous high level in front.

[0288] For another example, as shown in Figure 6C (1), if the sequence of the starting indication part (which can also be called a delimiter signal) is [111100], the sequence is used to indicate / represent that the line code encoding used by the subsequent PDSCH / PRDCH is PIE (an example of the first line code encoding). As shown in Figure 6C (2), if the sequence of the starting indication part (which can also be called a delimiter signal) is [110011], the sequence is used to indicate / represent that the line code encoding used by the subsequent PDSCH / PRDCH is Manchester encoding (an example of the second line code encoding). In addition, the sequence [111100] and the sequence [110011] can also represent that the time length (duration) of the corresponding starting indication part is the same, but the sequence of the starting indication part is different. In this way, the false detection rate can be reduced, but the distinguishing mode is more complex.

[0289] S602A: The UE determines the line code encoding of the clock acquisition part based on the start indication part and the line code encoding used by the PDSCH / PRDCH.

[0290] S603A: The UE receives or does not receive the clock acquisition part sent by the base station based on the line code encoding used by the clock acquisition part.

[0291] The clock acquisition part can be used to indicate or determine one or more of the following:

[0292] (1) the starting position of the PDSCH / PRDCH transmission; for example, the clock acquisition part is used to indicate the starting frame in which the base station sends the PDSCH / PRDCH data; (2) the chip length (or duration) of the PDSCH / PRDCH.

[0293] In one possible implementation, if the UE determines, in S602A above, that the line code encoding of the clock acquisition part is the first line code encoding (e.g., PIE) based on the start indication part:

[0294] If the UE can only support the first line code encoding (e.g., PIE), then the UE will receive the clock acquisition part sent by the base station.

[0295] If the UE can only support the second line code encoding (e.g., Manchester), then the UE will not receive the clock acquisition part sent by the base station.

[0296] If the UE supports both the first line code encoding (e.g., PIE) and the second line code encoding (e.g., Manchester encoding), then the UE will receive the clock acquisition part sent by the base station.

[0297] In another possible implementation, if the UE determines, in S602A above, that the line code encoding of the clock acquisition part is the second line code encoding (e.g., Manchester encoding) based on the start indication part:

[0298] If the UE can only support the first line code encoding (e.g., PIE), then the UE will not receive the clock acquisition part sent by the base station.

[0299] If the UE can only support the second line code encoding (e.g., Manchester), then the UE will receive the clock acquisition part sent by the base station.

[0300] If the UE supports both the first line code encoding (e.g., PIE) and the second line code encoding (e.g., Manchester encoding), then the UE will receive the clock acquisition part sent by the base station.

[0301] In a possible implementation, the UE receiving the clock acquisition part transmitted by the base station can include: the UE receiving the clock acquisition part transmitted by the base station based on the starting position of the clock acquisition part transmission and / or the chip length of the clock acquisition part.

[0302] S604A: The UE receiving or not receiving the data of the PDSCH / PRDCH transmitted by the base station based on the line code encoding used by the PDSCH / PRDCH.

[0303] S604A can refer to the above-mentioned possible implementation of S403A (or S504A) for details, which will not be described here again, but is different from S403A (or S504A), in which the UE indirectly determines the line code encoding used by the PDSCH / PRDCH through the starting indication part.

[0304] If the UE supports the line code encoding used by the PDSCH / PRDCH, the UE will receive the data of the PDSCH / PRDCH transmitted by the base station in S604A. If the UE does not support the line code encoding used by the PDSCH / PRDCH, the UE will not receive the data of the PDSCH / PRDCH transmitted by the base station in S604A.

[0305] In a possible implementation, the UE receiving the data of the PDSCH / PRDCH transmitted by the base station can include: the UE receiving the data of the PDSCH / PRDCH transmitted by the base station based on the starting position of the PDSCH / PRDCH transmission and / or the chip length.

[0306] In the third implementation, the base station indicates the line code encoding of the subsequent clock acquisition part and the line code encoding used by the PDSCH / PRDCH to the UE through the starting indication part, so that the UE determines the line code encoding used by the subsequent clock acquisition part and the PDSCH / PRDCH through the starting indication part, and then the UE continues to receive the clock acquisition part (or the data of the PDSCH / PRDCH) transmitted by the base station in the case that the UE itself supports the line code encoding used by the clock acquisition part (or the PDSCH / PRDCH), to ensure the effectiveness of the communication; the UE no longer continues to receive the clock acquisition part (or the data of the PDSCH / PRDCH) transmitted by the base station in the case that the UE itself does not support the line code encoding used by the clock acquisition part (or the PDSCH / PRDCH), so as to reduce the receiving time and the receiving power consumption of the UE as much as possible, in addition, since the UE cannot support the line code encoding used by the clock acquisition part (or the PDSCH / PRDCH), it will not try to access the A-IoT network, so as to further improve the efficiency of the A-IoT network in performing inventory of devices.

[0307] The above embodiments one to three correspond to the first signal as the time capture signal, the clock capture part in the time capture signal, and the start indication part, to introduce the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application. In actual application, the first signal can also be other signals (or information or data, etc.) to implement, which will not be enumerated in detail here. In addition, in other application scenarios, when both ends of communication (i.e. the sending end and the receiving end) also have the same solution needs as the present application, the solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application can be referred to for implementation to ensure that the receiving end can know in advance the line code coding corresponding to the signal and / or data sent by the subsequent sending end, so as to ensure the effectiveness of the subsequent interactive signal and / or data, and as far as possible to reduce the receiving time and power consumption of the receiving end.

[0308] For the above embodiments one to three, it needs to be explained that:

[0309] (1) The above embodiments one to three can be implemented separately or partially combined, which is not limited specifically.

[0310] (2) The above focuses on the differences between the embodiments one to three, and the other contents except the differences can be referred to each other between the embodiments one to three.

[0311] (3) The step number of each flowchart described in the embodiments one to three is only an example of the execution flow, and does not constitute a limitation on the execution sequence of the steps. The steps in the embodiments of the present application have no time sequence dependency relationship between each other, and have no strict execution order. In addition, the steps shown in each flowchart are not all the steps that must be executed, and part of the steps can be added or deleted based on each flowchart according to actual needs.

[0312] In the above embodiments provided by the present application, the methods provided by the embodiments of the present application are introduced from the perspective of interaction between each device. In order to realize each function in the above methods provided by the embodiments or implementation modes of the present application, the terminal device or network device can include hardware structure and / or software module to realize the above functions in the form of hardware structure, software module, or hardware structure plus software module. Whether a certain function in the above functions is executed in the form of hardware structure, software module, or hardware structure plus software module depends on the specific application of the technical solution and the design constraint conditions.

[0313] The division of the modules in the embodiments of the present application is illustrative, and is merely a logical function division. In actual implementation, another division manner can be used. In addition, each function module in each embodiment or implementation manner of the present application can be integrated in one processor, or can be physically separated, or two or more modules can be integrated in one module. The integrated module can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of a software function module.

[0314] The same as the above idea, as shown in FIG. 7, the embodiments of the present application also provide a communication apparatus 700 for implementing the functions of the terminal device or the network device in the above method. For example, the communication apparatus 700 can be a software module or a chip system. In the embodiments of the present application, the chip system can be composed of a chip, or can include a chip and other discrete devices. The communication apparatus 700 can include a communication unit 701 and a processing unit 702.

[0315] In the embodiments of the present application, the communication unit 701 can also be referred to as a transceiver unit, and can include a sending unit and / or a receiving unit, which are respectively used to perform the steps of sending and receiving of the terminal device or the network device in the above method embodiments. The processing unit 702 can be used to read the instructions and / or data in the storage module, so that the communication apparatus 700 implements the above method embodiments or implementation manners.

[0316] Optionally, the communication apparatus 700 can further include a storage unit 703, which is equivalent to a storage module, and can be used to store instructions and / or data.

[0317] In the following, the communication apparatus provided by the embodiments of the present application will be described in detail in combination with FIGS. 7 to 8. It should be understood that the description of the apparatus embodiments corresponds to the description of the method embodiments, and therefore, the contents not described in detail can be implemented in the above manner shown in FIGS. 3 and 4A and 5A and 6A, and for brevity, will not be described here again.

[0318] The communication unit 701 can also be referred to as a transceiver, a transceiver, a transceiver device, etc. The processing unit can also be referred to as a processor, a processing board, a processing module, a processing device, etc. Optionally, the devices in the communication unit 701 used to implement the receiving function can be regarded as a receiving unit, and the devices in the communication unit 701 used to implement the sending function can be regarded as a sending unit, that is, the communication unit 701 includes a receiving unit and a sending unit. The communication unit can also be referred to as a transceiver, a transceiver, or a transceiver circuit, etc. The receiving unit can also be referred to as a receiver, a receiver, or a receiving circuit, etc. The sending unit can also be referred to as a transmitter, a transmitter, or a transmitting circuit, etc.

[0319] When the communication apparatus 700 performs the terminal device in the flow shown in FIG. 3 in the above embodiments:

[0320] The communication unit 701 is configured to receive a first signal, the first signal being a signal for determining a chip length of a data channel and / or a time starting position of the data channel, the first signal being used for indicating a line code used by the data channel.

[0321] The processing unit 702 is configured to determine the line code used by the data channel based on the first signal.

[0322] When the communication apparatus 700 is used as the network device in the flow shown in FIG. 3 in the above embodiments, the processing unit 702 is configured to:

[0323] The processing unit 702 is configured to generate a first signal, the first signal being a signal for determining a chip length of a data channel and / or a time starting position of the data channel, the first signal being used for indicating a line code used by the data channel.

[0324] The communication unit 701 is configured to send the first signal to a terminal device.

[0325] The above is only an example, the communication unit 701 and the processing unit 702 can also perform other functions, and more detailed descriptions can be referred to the related descriptions in the method embodiments shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4A-5A and FIG. 6A, which are not repeated here.

[0326] FIG. 8 shows another communication apparatus 800 provided by the embodiments of the present application, the communication apparatus shown in FIG. 8 can be a hardware circuit implementation of the communication apparatus shown in FIG. 7. The communication apparatus 800 can be applied to the flowcharts shown above, and perform the functions of the terminal device or the network device in the above method embodiments. For the convenience of description, FIG. 8 only shows the main components of the communication apparatus.

[0327] As shown in FIG. 8, the communication apparatus 800 includes a communication interface 801 and a processor 802. The communication interface 801 and the processor 802 are coupled with each other. It can be understood that the communication interface 801 can be a transceiver or an input / output interface, or an interface circuit such as a transceiver circuit. Optionally, the communication apparatus 800 can further include a memory 803, used for storing instructions executed by the processor 802 or storing input data required by the processor 802 to run instructions or storing data generated after the processor 802 runs instructions.

[0328] When the communication apparatus 800 is used to implement the methods shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4A-5A and FIG. 6A, the communication interface 801 is used to implement the functions of the communication unit 701, and the processor 802 is used to implement the functions of the processing unit 702.

[0329] The specific connection medium between the communication interface 801, the processor 802 and the memory 803 in the embodiments of the present application is not limited. In FIG. 8, the memory 803, the processor 802 and the communication interface 801 are connected through a communication bus 804, which is represented by a thick line in FIG. 8. The connection mode between other components is only illustrative and is not limited. The communication bus 804 can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus and the like. For convenience of representation, only one thick line is used in FIG. 8, but it does not mean that there is only one bus or only one type of bus.

[0330] When the communication device is a chip, FIG. 9 shows a simplified device structure diagram of the chip, which includes an interface circuit 901 and one or more processors 902. Optionally, the chip 900 can also include a bus. Wherein:

[0331] The processor 902 can be an integrated circuit chip with processing capability of signals. In the implementation process, each step of the method for determining the service node information can be completed by the integrated logic circuit of hardware in the processor 902 or the instructions in the form of software. The processor 902 can be a general processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components. Each method and step disclosed in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented or executed. The general processor can be a microprocessor or the processor can also be any conventional processor.

[0332] The interface circuit 901 can be used for sending or receiving data, instructions or information. The processor 902 can process the data, instructions or other information received by the interface circuit 901, and can send the processed information through the interface circuit 901.

[0333] Optionally, the chip also includes a memory 903, which can include read-only memory and random access memory, and provides operation instructions and data to the processor. Part of the memory 903 can also include non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM).

[0334] Optionally, the memory stores executable software modules or data structures, and the processor can execute corresponding operations by calling operation instructions stored in the memory (the operation instructions can be stored in an operating system).

[0335] Optionally, the chip can be used in a terminal device or a network device related to the embodiments of the present application. Optionally, the interface circuit 901 can be used to output the execution result of the processor 902. The communication method provided by one or more embodiments of the present application can refer to the foregoing various embodiments or implementation manners, which will not be described here.

[0336] It should be noted that the functions of the interface circuit 901 and the processor 902 respectively can be realized by hardware design, software design, or a combination of software and hardware, which is not limited here.

[0337] The embodiments of the present application also provide a computer readable storage medium, which stores computer instructions for implementing the method executed by the terminal device or the network device in the above method embodiments.

[0338] For example, the computer program is executed by a computer, so that the computer can implement the method executed by the terminal device or the network device in the above method embodiments.

[0339] The embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program product containing instructions, which are executed by a computer to make the computer implement the method executed by the terminal device or the network device in the above method embodiments.

[0340] The embodiments of the present application also provide a chip, which includes a processor, and is used to call computer degrees or computer instructions stored in the memory, so that the processor executes the communication method of the implementation manners shown in FIGS. 3 and 4A-5A and 6A.

[0341] In a possible implementation manner, the input of the chip corresponds to the receiving operation in the implementation manners shown in FIGS. 3 and 4A-5A and 6A, and the output of the chip corresponds to the sending operation in the implementation manners shown in FIGS. 3 and 4A-5A and 6A.

[0342] Optionally, the processor is coupled with the memory through an interface.

[0343] Optionally, the chip further includes a memory, and the memory stores computer degrees or computer instructions.

[0344] The processor mentioned in any of the above can be a general central processing unit, a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits for controlling the execution of a program for controlling the communication method of the implementation modes shown in FIGS. 3 and 4A-5A and FIG. 6A. The memory mentioned in any of the above can be a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that can store static information and instructions, a random access memory (RAM), etc.

[0345] It should be noted that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the explanations and beneficial effects of the related content in any of the above communication devices can refer to the corresponding embodiments of the communication method provided above, which will not be repeated here.

[0346] In this application, the communication devices can also include a hardware layer, an operating system layer running on the hardware layer, and an application layer running on the operating system layer. The hardware layer can include central processing unit (CPU), memory management module (MMU), and memory (also known as main memory) and other hardware. The operating system of the operating system layer can be any one or more computer operating systems that implement business processing through processes, such as Linux operating system, Unix operating system, Android operating system, iOS operating system, or windows operating system, etc. The application layer can include browsers, address books, word processing software, instant messaging software, etc.

[0347] The division of modules in the embodiments of the present application is illustrative, and is only a logical functional division. Actual implementation can have another division mode. In addition, the functional modules in each embodiment of the present application can be integrated in one processor, or can be physically separated, or two or more modules can be integrated in one module. The integrated module can be realized in the form of hardware or in the form of a software functional module.

[0348] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that the application can be implemented by a hardware only or a combination of hardware and software, or a firmware, and can be implemented by a combination of hardware and software or a firmware. When software is implemented, the above functions can be stored in a computer-readable medium or transmitted as one or more instructions or codes on a computer-readable medium. The computer-readable medium includes a computer storage medium and a communication medium, and the communication medium includes any medium that facilitates the transfer of computer program from one place to another. The storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. For example, but not limited to: the computer-readable medium can include RAM, ROM, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage medium or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program codes in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer. In addition, any connection can be properly included in the computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL) or wireless technology such as infrared, radio and microwave, the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL or wireless technology such as infrared, radio and microwave is included in the definition of the medium. As used in the embodiments of the present application, disk and disc include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital video disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray disc, wherein disk usually magnetically replicates data, and disc uses laser to optically replicate data. The above combinations should also be included in the scope of the computer-readable medium.

[0349] In summary, the above only describes the embodiments of the present application, and is not used to limit the protection scope of the present application. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made according to the disclosure of the present application should be included in the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, The method is applied to a terminal device or a chip of the terminal device, including: Receive a first signal, the first signal being a signal used to determine the chip length of the data channel and / or the time start position of the data channel, the first signal being used to indicate the line code encoding used by the data channel; Based on the first signal, the line code encoding used by the data channel is determined.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The line code is encoded as any one of the following: First line code encoding, second line code encoding; Wherein, the first line code encoding conforms to one or more of the following: In the codeword encoded by bit 1 using the first line code, the high and low levels have different durations. In the codeword encoded by bit 1 using the first line code, the duration of the high-level code chip is greater than the duration of the low-level code chip. In the codeword encoded by bit 0 using the first line code, the high-level and low-level code segments have the same time length; The second line code encoding conforms to the following: In the codeword encoded by the second line code using bits 0 and 1, the high and low levels have the same duration.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, The first line code is encoded as Pulse Interval Encoding (PIE), and the second line code is encoded as Manchester Encoding.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The first signal is the time acquisition signal of the data channel.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, When the first signal is used to indicate the line code encoding used by the data channel, the indication method includes at least one of the following: Different durations of the first signal correspond to different line code encodings used by the data channel; The lengths of the maximum high or low levels in the different first signals correspond to different line code encodings used by the data channel. The different combinations of high and low levels in the first signal correspond to different line code encodings used by the data channel. Different chip lengths in the first signal correspond to different line code encodings used by the data channel.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The first signal is the clock capture portion of the time capture signal in the data channel.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that, When the first signal is used to indicate the line code encoding used by the data channel, the indication method includes at least one of the following: The different line code codes used by the first signal correspond to the different line code codes used by the data channel; The different durations of the longest high level or the longest low level in the first signal correspond to different line code encodings used by the data channel. The different combinations of high and low levels in the first signal correspond to different line code encodings used by the data channel; The longest chip time length corresponding to different high or low levels in the first signal indicates the different line code encoding used by the data channel.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The first signal is the start indication portion of the time acquisition signal of the data channel, and the first signal is also used to indicate one or more of the following: The line code encoding used in the clock capture portion of the time capture signal; the starting position of the clock capture portion of the time capture signal.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that, The first signal is used to indicate the line code encoding used by the data channel, and the indication method includes at least one of the following: Different durations of the first signal correspond to different line code encodings used by the data channel; The different durations of high and / or low levels in the first signal correspond to different line code encodings used by the data channel. Different combinations of high and low levels in the first signal correspond to different line code encodings used by the data channel.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that, The method further includes: When the terminal device supports the line code encoding used by the data channel, it receives the data transmitted by the data channel; When the terminal device does not support the line code encoding used by the data channel, it will not receive the data transmitted by the data channel.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that, The data channel is either the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) or the Physical Reader-to-Device Channel (PRDCH).

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that, The terminal device supports both the first line code encoding and the second line code encoding, or the terminal device only supports the first line code encoding, or the terminal only supports the second line code encoding.

13. A communication method, characterized in that, The method is applied to a network device or a chip of the network device, including: Generate a first signal, which is a signal used to determine the chip length of the data channel and / or the time start position of the data channel, and the first signal is used to indicate the line code encoding used by the data channel; Send the first signal to the terminal device.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that, The line code is encoded as any one of the following: First line code encoding, second line code encoding; Wherein, the first line code encoding conforms to one or more of the following: In the codeword encoded by bit 1 using the first line code, the high and low levels have different durations. In the codeword encoded by bit 1 using the first line code, the duration of the high level is longer than the duration of the low level. In the codeword encoded by bit 0 using the first line code, the high and low levels have the same duration. The second line code encoding conforms to the following: In the codeword encoded by the second line code using bits 0 and 1, the high and low levels have the same duration.

15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that, The first line code is encoded as Pulse Interval Encoding (PIE), and the second line code is encoded as Manchester Encoding.

16. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 15, characterized in that, The first signal is the time acquisition signal of the data channel.

17. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that, When the first signal is used to indicate the line code encoding used by the data channel, the indication method includes at least one of the following: Different durations of the first signal correspond to different line code encodings used by the data channel; The lengths of the maximum high or low levels in the different first signals correspond to different line code encodings used by the data channel. The different combinations of high and low levels in the first signal correspond to different line code encodings used by the data channel. Different chip lengths in the first signal correspond to different line code encodings used by the data channel.

18. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 15, characterized in that, The first signal is the clock capture portion of the time capture signal in the data channel.

19. The method according to claim 18, characterized in that, The first signal is used to indicate the line code encoding used by the data channel, and the indication method includes at least one of the following: The different line code codes used by the first signal correspond to the different line code codes used by the data channel; The different durations of the longest high level or the longest low level in the first signal correspond to different line code encodings used by the data channel. The different combinations of high and low levels in the first signal correspond to different line code encodings used by the data channel; The longest chip time length corresponding to different high or low levels in the first signal indicates the different line code encoding used by the data channel.

20. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 15, characterized in that, The first signal is the start indication portion of the time acquisition signal of the data channel, and the first signal is also used to indicate one or more of the following: The line code encoding used in the clock capture portion of the time capture signal; the starting position of the clock capture portion of the time capture signal.

21. The method according to claim 20, characterized in that, The first signal is used to indicate the line code encoding used by the data channel, and the indication method includes at least one of the following: Different durations of the first signal correspond to different line code encodings used by the data channel; The different durations of high and / or low levels in the first signal correspond to different line code encodings used by the data channel. Different combinations of high and low levels in the first signal correspond to different line code encodings used by the data channel.

22. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 21, characterized in that, The data channel is either the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) or the Physical Reader-to-Device Channel (PRDCH).

23. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 22, characterized in that, The terminal device supports both the first line code encoding and the second line code encoding, or the terminal device only supports the first line code encoding, or the terminal only supports the second line code encoding.

24. A communication device, characterized in that, It includes units or modules for performing the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 12, or includes units or modules for performing the method as described in any one of claims 13 to 23.

25. A communication device, characterized in that, It includes a processor and a memory, the memory being used to store a program or instructions, the processor causing the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 12 to be performed when executing the program or instructions, or the processor causing the method as described in any one of claims 13 to 23 to be performed when executing the program or instructions.

26. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer-readable program or instructions that, when executed on a communication device, cause the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 23 to be performed.

27. A computer program product, characterized in that, The computer program product includes a computer program or instructions that, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 23.

28. A chip, characterized in that, The chip is coupled to a memory for reading and executing programs or instructions stored in the memory to implement the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 23.

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