Communication method and communication apparatus

Abstract

The present application provides a communication method and a communication apparatus. In the method, a network device sends a first signal to a terminal device at a first time domain position, the first signal being used for instructing to receive a second signal at a second time domain position, the first time domain position being within an Mth time range, and the second time domain position being within an (M+1)th time range, wherein the interval between the starting position of the second time domain position and the starting position of the (M+1)th time range is T1, the length of each time range is T2, T1 is greater than or equal to 0, T2 is greater than 0, and M is an integer greater than 0; and the network device sends the second signal to the terminal device at the second time domain position. In this way, the resource overhead of the network device and the terminal device can be reduced.

Description

Communication method and communication apparatus

[0001] The present application claims priority to the Chinese patent application No. 202410905620.3, filed on July 5, 2024, and entitled "Communication method and communication apparatus", the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present application relates to the field of communication, and in particular to a communication method and a communication apparatus. BACKGROUND

[0003] In future communication networks, the receiver architecture of a terminal device contains a low power wake up receiver (LP-WUR), i.e., all terminal devices have the ability to receive low power synchronization signals (LP-SS). The main function of the LP-SS is similar to that of the primary synchronization signals (PSS) and secondary synchronization signals (SSS) in the synchronization signal block (SSB), i.e., to achieve downlink symbol synchronization, or to perform terminal device self-clock synchronization, or to complete synchronization between the network device and the terminal device.

[0004] However, in actual communication processes, the network device periodically transmits SSBs, which may cause a large resource overhead and resource waste. SUMMARY

[0005] The present application provides a communication method and a communication apparatus, which are beneficial to reduce the resource overhead of the network device and the terminal device.

[0006] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be applied to a network device, for example, can be executed by the network device, or can also be executed by a component (such as a processor, a chip, a chip system, etc.) configured in the network device, and can also be implemented by a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the network device. The present application does not make any limitation in this regard.

[0007] The method comprises: a network device sending a first signal at a first time domain position, the first signal being used for indicating receiving a second signal at a second time domain position, the first time domain position being in an Mth time range, the second time domain position being in an M+1th time range, wherein a starting position of the second time domain position is spaced apart from a starting position of the M+1th time range by T1, a length of each time range is T2, the T1 is greater than or equal to 0, the T2 is greater than 0, and the M is an integer greater than 0; and the network device sending the second signal at the second time domain position.

[0008] The first signal can be a low-power signal, for example, an LP-SS, a low-power wake-up signal (LP-WUS), a low-power physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a low-power physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a low-power physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), a low-power physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), a low-power SSB, a low-power tracking reference signal (TRS), a low-power channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), a low-power positioning signal, a low-power sensing communication signal, a low-power sounding reference signal (SRS), a low-power random access channel (RACH), a low-power preamble signal, a low-power contention resolution message, a low-power downlink control information (DCI) signal, a low-power uplink control information (UCI), or a newly designed low-power signal, without limitation.

[0009] The second signal can be an SSB, a PSS, an SSS, a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), a physical broadcast channel (PBCH), or a newly designed signal, without limitation.

[0010] It should be understood that the first signal can carry an indication of waking up a main receiver (MR) of the terminal device, for example, the MR of the terminal device wakes up to receive the second signal.

[0011] The indication can be an update indication of carrying system information, or the network device wants all terminal devices to exit the low-power consumption mechanism, and then indicates all terminal devices to wake up through the first signal and return to the normal mode (non-low-power consumption mode or existing procedure).

[0012] Based on the above scheme, the network device can send a first signal (for example, a low-power consumption signal) to the terminal device to indicate receiving the second signal, for example, the first signal can indicate the MR of the terminal device to wake up to receive the second signal, and the terminal device receives the second signal at the position where the network device sends the second signal after receiving the indication of sending the second signal. In this way, if the network device does not send the first signal, it does not need to send the second signal, which is beneficial to reduce the resource consumption of the network device. The terminal device only monitors whether the second signal is sent after receiving the first signal, which is beneficial to reduce the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0013] In a possible implementation, the time domain positions in the M+1 time range except the second time domain position are not used to send the second signal.

[0014] In a possible case, the second time domain position only includes one time domain position. For example, the time domain position is only used to send one second signal.

[0015] In another possible case, the second time domain position can include multiple time domain positions, the multiple time domain positions occupy a small time range in the M+1 time range, or in other words, the multiple time domain positions occupy a concentrated time range in the M+1 time range, or in other words, the multiple time domain positions occupy continuous time domain positions in the M+1 time range. In this way, if the terminal device fails to receive the second signal at a time domain position, it can also receive the second signal at a continuous time domain position.

[0016] Based on the above scheme, by repeatedly sending the second signal by the network device at multiple time domain positions, it is helpful to improve the reliability of the terminal device receiving the second signal. At the same time, through the repeated sending of the second signal, it is helpful to improve the coverage performance of the second signal.

[0017] In a possible implementation, the first indication information is sent, and the first indication information is used to indicate the T1; and / or, the second indication information is sent, and the second indication information is used to indicate the T2.

[0018] The T1 and / or T2 are predefined values. The first indication information and the second indication information can be the same indication information or different indication information. The first indication information or the second indication information can be located in one or more of the following: a system information block (SIB), a master information block (MIB), a broadcast message, a radio resource control (RRC) message, a paging message, a medium access control (MAC)-control element (CE), DCI signaling, a PDCCH, a PDSCH, a CSI-RS, a DMRS, a TRS, a paging message, a short message, or the first indication information or the second indication information can also be located in any new signal, channel, or signaling. The SIB contains system information elements, the SIB can combine system information elements with the same properties together, different SIBs can have different characteristics, and the SIB can be located in a PDSCH.

[0019] In a possible implementation, the first signal and the second signal are in one time slot.

[0020] The length of one transmission period of the first signal and the length of one transmission period of the second signal are less than or equal to the length of one time slot, that is, one transmission period of the first signal and one transmission period of the second signal occupy the same time slot of an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol, or one transmission period of the first signal and one transmission period of the second signal occupy time units in an integer multiple relationship.

[0021] Based on the above scheme, the time domain positions of the first signal and the second signal can be predefined, and the time domain position of one of the signals can be used to derive the time domain position of the other signal, thereby reducing signaling overhead and possibly reducing network complexity.

[0022] In a possible implementation, the third signal is transmitted at a third time domain position, the third signal is a periodically transmitted signal, and the time interval between the third time domain position and the second time domain position is equal to the transmission period of the third signal.

[0023] The third signal can be a low-power signal, such as an LP-SS, an LP-WUS, a low-power PDCCH, a low-power PDSCH, a PUSCH, a low-power PUCCH, a low-power SSB, a low-power TRS, a low-power CSI-RS, a low-power positioning signal, a low-power sensing communication signal, a low-power SRS, a RACH, a low-power preamble signal, a low-power contention resolution message, a low-power DCI signal, a low-power UCI, or a newly designed low-power signal, without limitation.

[0024] In a possible implementation, the first time domain position is one of candidate sending positions of the third signal.

[0025] The time interval is a start position of the second time domain position and a start position of the third time domain position, or an end position of the second time domain position and a start position of the third time domain position, or a start position of the second time domain position and an end position of the third time domain position, without limitation.

[0026] In a possible implementation, the third signal and the first signal are the same signal, except that bit information of the signals is different.

[0027] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be applied to a terminal device, for example, can be executed by the terminal device, or can also be executed by a component (such as a processor, a chip, a chip system, etc.) configured in the terminal device, and can also be implemented by a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the terminal device. The present application does not make any limitation.

[0028] The method comprises: receiving, by a terminal device, a first signal at a first time domain position, the first signal being used to indicate receiving a second signal at a second time domain position, the first time domain position being in an Mth time range, and the second time domain position being in an M+1th time range, wherein a start position of the second time domain position is separated from a start position of the M+1th time range by T1, a length of the time range is T2, the T1 is greater than or equal to 0, the T2 is greater than 0, and the M is an integer greater than 0; and receiving, by the terminal device, the second signal at the second time domain position.

[0029] Based on the above scheme, the network device can send a first signal (e.g., a low-power signal) to the terminal device to indicate reception of a second signal. For example, the first signal can indicate that the terminal device wakes up the MR to receive the second signal. After receiving the indication that the network device sends the second signal, the terminal device receives the second signal at the position where the second signal is sent. In this way, if the network device does not send the first signal, it does not need to send the second signal, which helps to reduce the resource overhead of the network device. The terminal device only monitors whether the second signal is sent after receiving the first signal, which helps to reduce the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0030] In a possible implementation, the first signal is received through a first communication link, and the second signal is received through a second communication link. The power consumption of the first communication link for receiving the first signal is less than the power consumption of the second communication link for receiving the second signal.

[0031] The first communication link can be an LP-WUR. For example, the LP-WUR can be an envelope detection receiver and / or a correlation detection receiver. The correlation detection receiver can be understood as a receiver with correlation detection capability, or a receiver with I / Q two-way, or a receiver with sequence detection capability.

[0032] The second communication link can be a high-power MR. For example, the MR can be a receiver with I / Q two-way, a receiver supporting decoding, a receiver supporting reception of PDSCH, a receiver supporting reception of PDCCH, or a receiver with uplink signal / channel transmission capability. Therefore, the terminal device can use the LP-WUR to receive the first signal and use the MR to receive the second signal.

[0033] The LP-WUR can include a first type of receiver and a second type of receiver. At least the following possible cases are included.

[0034] In a first possible case, the first type of receiver is an OFDM receiver, and the second type of receiver is an OOK receiver. Alternatively, the first type of receiver is an OOK receiver, and the second type of receiver is an OFDM receiver.

[0035] In a second possible case, the first type of receiver has I / Q two-way (i.e., two branches), and the second type of receiver has one way (i.e., one branch). Alternatively, the first type of receiver has one way (i.e., one branch), and the second type of receiver has I / Q two-way (i.e., two branches).

[0036] The third possible case is that the first type of receiver is a coherent receiver and the second type of receiver is a non-coherent receiver, or the first type of receiver is a non-coherent receiver and the second type of receiver is a coherent receiver.

[0037] The fourth possible case is that the first type of receiver is an I / Q two-way coherent receiver and the second type of receiver is an I / Q non-two-way non-coherent receiver, or the first type of receiver is an I / Q non-two-way non-coherent receiver and the second type of receiver is an I / Q two-way coherent receiver.

[0038] The fifth possible case is that the first type of receiver can receive a complex signal and the second type of receiver cannot receive a complex signal (for example, the second type of receiver receives a real signal), or the first type of receiver cannot receive a complex signal (for example, the first type of receiver receives a real signal) and the second type of receiver can receive a complex signal.

[0039] The sixth possible case is that the first type of receiver receives a signal in an energy detection manner and the second type of receiver can receive a signal in multiple manners, or the first type of receiver can receive a signal in multiple manners and the second type of receiver receives a signal in an energy detection manner.

[0040] The seventh possible case is that the first type of receiver can receive an OFDM signal and the second type of receiver cannot receive an OFDM signal (for example, the second type of receiver receives an OOK signal), or the first type of receiver cannot receive an OFDM signal (for example, the first type of receiver receives an OOK signal) and the second type of receiver can receive an OFDM signal.

[0041] In a possible implementation, first indication information is received, and the first indication information is used to indicate the T1; and / or, second indication information is received, and the second indication information is used to indicate the T2.

[0042] In a possible implementation, the first signal and the second signal are in one time slot. In a possible implementation, a third signal is received at a third time domain position, the third signal is a periodically transmitted signal, and a time interval between the third time domain position and a second time domain position is equal to a transmission period of the third signal.

[0043] In a possible implementation, the first time domain position is one of candidate transmission positions of the third signal. It should be understood that the technical solution of the second aspect corresponds to the technical solution of the first aspect.

[0044] For more detailed descriptions of various possible implementations of the second aspect, refer to the related descriptions of the first aspect, which will not be repeated here.

[0045] In a third aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be applied to a network device, for example, can be executed by the network device, or can also be executed by a component (such as a processor, a chip, a chip system, etc.) configured in the network device, and can also be implemented by a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the network device. This application does not limit this.

[0046] The method comprises: receiving, by the network device, a first request message, the first request message being used to request to update a first sending period, the first sending period being a sending period of part or all information in a fourth signal; sending, by the network device, the fourth signal according to the updated first sending period; and sending, by the network device, a fifth signal according to a second sending period.

[0047] The fourth signal can be an SSB, a PSS, an SSS, a DMRS, a PBCH, or a newly designed signal, and the application does not limit this.

[0048] The fifth signal can be a low-power signal, for example, an LP-SS, an LP-WUS, a low-power PDCCH, a low-power PDSCH, a PUSCH, a low-power PUCCH, a low-power SSB, a low-power TRS, a low-power CSI-RS, a low-power positioning signal, a low-power sensing communication signal, a low-power SRS, a RACH, a low-power preamble signal, a low-power contention resolution message, a low-power DCI signal, a low-power UCI, or a newly designed low-power signal, and the application does not limit this.

[0049] The LP-WUR can include a first type of receiver and a second type of receiver, and at least includes the following possible cases.

[0050] In the first possible case, the first type of receiver is an OFDM receiver, and the second type of receiver is an OOK receiver; or the first type of receiver is an OOK receiver, and the second type of receiver is an OFDM receiver.

[0051] In the second possible case, the first type of receiver has two branches (I / Q), and the second type of receiver has one branch; or the first type of receiver has one branch, and the second type of receiver has two branches (I / Q).

[0052] In the third possible case, the first type of receiver is a coherent receiver, and the second type of receiver is a non-coherent receiver; or the first type of receiver is a non-coherent receiver, and the second type of receiver is a coherent receiver.

[0053] The fourth possible case is that the first type of receiver is an I / Q two-way coherent receiver, and the second type of receiver is an I / Q two-way non-coherent receiver; or the first type of receiver is an I / Q two-way non-coherent receiver, and the second type of receiver is an I / Q two-way coherent receiver.

[0054] The fifth possible case is that the first type of receiver can receive a complex signal, and the second type of receiver cannot receive a complex signal (for example, the second type of receiver receives a real signal); or the first type of receiver cannot receive a complex signal (for example, the first type of receiver receives a real signal), and the second type of receiver can receive a complex signal.

[0055] The sixth possible case is that the first type of receiver receives a signal in an energy detection manner, and the second type of receiver can receive a signal in multiple manners; or the first type of receiver can receive a signal in multiple manners, and the second type of receiver receives a signal in an energy detection manner.

[0056] The seventh possible case is that the first type of receiver can receive an OFDM signal, and the second type of receiver cannot receive an OFDM signal (for example, the second type of receiver receives an OOK signal); or the first type of receiver cannot receive an OFDM signal (for example, the first type of receiver receives an OOK signal), and the second type of receiver can receive an OFDM signal.

[0057] The first request message can be located in one or more of the following: a message 1 (Msg 1), a message 3 (Msg 3), a UCI, a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) message, a PUSCH channel, a PUCCH channel, a redesigned uplink signal, or a redesigned uplink channel.

[0058] Based on the above scheme, the network device can send a fourth signal to the terminal device, and the terminal device can send a first request message to the network device based on the received fourth signal and a fifth signal (for example, based on a channel state measurement value of the fourth signal and the fifth signal), to request updating a transmission period value of the fourth signal. In this way, when the network device sends the fourth signal, the request reported by the terminal device can be combined, which is beneficial to reducing the resource overhead of the network device and the terminal device.

[0059] In a possible implementation, the transmission period of the fourth signal is greater than the transmission period of the fifth signal.

[0060] Based on the above scheme, the network device transmits the fifth signal most of the time and transmits the fourth signal a few times, and the terminal device receives the fifth signal using a low-power receiver and receives the fourth signal using a higher-power MR, which helps to save the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0061] In a possible implementation, the receiving terminal device sends a first request message based on a first measurement result and a second measurement result, the first measurement result is obtained based on the fifth signal, and the second measurement result is obtained based on the fourth signal.

[0062] Based on the above scheme, the fourth signal and the fifth signal transmitted by the network device are used for the terminal device to determine whether the transmission period of the fourth signal is reasonable, and the terminal device assists the network device in adjusting the transmission period of the fourth signal, which helps to improve the receiving performance of the terminal device and improve the network capacity.

[0063] In a possible implementation, the transmitting the fourth signal according to the updated first transmission period includes: when the number of the first request messages received in the first time period is greater than or equal to a preset value, transmitting the fourth signal according to the updated first transmission period.

[0064] Based on the above scheme, it is helpful for the network device to meet the needs of most terminal devices and improve the network capacity.

[0065] In a possible implementation, the first transmission period is updated based on the number of the first request messages received in the first time period.

[0066] Based on the above scheme, it is helpful for the network device to meet the needs of most terminal devices and meet the needs of terminal devices that dynamically change in a period of time, and improve the network capacity.

[0067] In a fourth aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be applied to a terminal device, for example, can be executed by the terminal device, or can also be executed by a component (such as a processor, a chip, a chip system, etc.) configured in the terminal device, and can also be implemented by a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the terminal device. This application does not limit this.

[0068] The method includes: a terminal device sends a first request message, the first request message is used to request to update a first transmission period, the first transmission period is a transmission period of part or all information in a fourth signal; the terminal device receives the fourth signal according to the updated first transmission period; and the terminal device receives a fifth signal according to a second transmission period.

[0069] Based on the above scheme, the network device can send the fourth signal to the terminal device, the terminal device can receive the fourth signal to perform channel state measurement, and can compare the channel state measurement value of the fourth signal with the channel state measurement value of the fifth signal, and according to the comparison result, send the first request message to the network device to request to update the sending period value of the fourth signal. In this way, when the network device sends the fourth signal, the channel state measurement result of the terminal device can be combined, which is beneficial to reduce the resource consumption of the network device and the terminal device.

[0070] In a possible implementation, the sending period of the fourth signal is greater than the sending period of the fifth signal.

[0071] In a possible implementation, the first request message is sent based on a first measurement result and a second measurement result, the first measurement result is measured based on the fifth signal, and the second measurement result is measured based on the fourth signal.

[0072] Based on the above scheme, the terminal device judges whether the sending period of the fourth signal is reasonable based on the fourth signal and the fifth signal sent by the network device, and sends a request to the network device to adjust the sending period of the fourth signal, which helps to improve the receiving performance of the terminal device and improve the network capacity.

[0073] In a possible implementation, when the first measurement result is less than the second measurement result, and the difference between the first measurement result and the second measurement result is greater than or equal to a first threshold, the first request message is used to request to reduce the first sending period, or the first request message carries the value of the first sending period after being reduced; or, when the first measurement result is greater than the second measurement result, and the difference between the first measurement result and the second measurement result is greater than or equal to a second threshold, the first request message is used to request to increase the first sending period, or the first request message carries the value of the first sending period after being increased.

[0074] Based on the above scheme, the terminal device can compare the channel state measurement result of the fourth signal with the channel state measurement result of the fifth signal, and send a request to the network device to reduce or increase the value of the first sending period, so that when the network device sends the fourth signal, the channel state measurement result of the terminal device can be combined, which is beneficial to reduce the resource consumption of the network device and improve the communication efficiency of the network device and the terminal device.

[0075] In a possible implementation, when the first measurement result is less than the second measurement result, and the difference between the first measurement result and the second measurement result is greater than or equal to a third threshold, the fifth signal is stopped from being received.

[0076] Based on the above scheme, when the channel measurement result of the fifth signal and the channel measurement result of the fourth signal are very different, the terminal device can stop receiving the fifth signal, which is beneficial to save the resource consumption of the terminal device.

[0077] It should be understood that the technical solutions of the fourth aspect correspond to the technical solutions of the third aspect. For more detailed descriptions of various possible implementations of the fourth aspect, please refer to the related descriptions of the first aspect, which will not be repeated here.

[0078] In the fifth aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be applied to a network device, for example, can be executed by the network device, or can also be executed by a component (such as a processor, a chip, a chip system, etc.) configured in the network device, and can also be implemented by a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the network device. The present application does not limit this.

[0079] The method comprises: receiving, by the network device, a second request message, the second request message being used to request transmission of a sixth signal; and transmitting, by the network device, the sixth signal at a fourth time domain position, the fourth time domain position being determined based on a first time domain offset.

[0080] The sixth signal can be an SSB, a PSS, an SSS, a DMRS, a PBCH, or a newly designed signal, which is not limited.

[0081] The second request message can be located in one or more of the following: Msg 1, Msg 3, UCI, HARQ message, PUSCH channel, PUCCH channel, newly designed uplink signal, or newly designed uplink channel.

[0082] Based on the above scheme, when the terminal device has a service demand, a request message is sent to the network device to request the sixth signal. The network device can burst the sixth signal after a certain time domain offset (for example, the first time domain offset) based on the request message of the terminal device. In this way, the network device does not need to periodically transmit the sixth signal, and the terminal device does not need to frequently receive the sixth signal, which is beneficial to reduce the resource consumption of the network device and the terminal device.

[0083] In the sixth aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be applied to a terminal device, for example, can be executed by the terminal device, or can also be executed by a component (such as a processor, a chip, a chip system, etc.) configured in the terminal device, and can also be implemented by a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the terminal device. The present application does not limit this.

[0084] The method comprises: the terminal device sending a second request message, the second request message being used for requesting transmission of a sixth signal; and the terminal device receiving the sixth signal at a fourth time domain position, the fourth time domain position being determined based on a first time domain offset.

[0085] The receiver of the terminal device receiving the sixth signal at the fourth time domain position can be an MR, for example, the MR can be a receiver with I / Q two-way, a receiver supporting decoding, a receiver supporting reception of a PDSCH, a receiver supporting reception of a PDCCH, or a receiver with uplink signal / channel transmission capability. Therefore, the terminal device can receive the sixth signal using the MR.

[0086] Based on the above scheme, when the terminal device has a service requirement, a request message is sent to the network device, which is used for requesting the sixth signal. The network device can burst the sixth signal after a certain time domain offset (for example, the first time domain offset) based on the request message of the terminal device. In this way, the network device does not need to periodically send the sixth signal, and the terminal device does not need to frequently receive the sixth signal, which is beneficial to reduce the resource consumption of the network device and the terminal device.

[0087] In combination with the fifth or sixth aspect, in some implementations, the first time domain offset is greater than or equal to a first value, and the first value is determined based on at least one of the following: a time for waking up a first communication module used for receiving the sixth signal; a synchronization time of the first communication module; a transmission delay of an uplink signal; a processing time of the network device for the uplink signal; and a transmission delay of the sixth signal.

[0088] Based on the above scheme, the network device sends the sixth signal to the terminal device after a certain time domain offset, so that the terminal device has more reaction time to start the receiver for receiving the sixth signal, and can receive the sixth signal in time at the position where the network device sends the sixth signal.

[0089] In combination with the fifth or sixth aspect, in some implementations, the fourth time domain position is determined based on a fifth time domain position and the first time domain offset, and the fifth time domain position comprises a time domain position occupied by each terminal device in at least one cluster.

[0090] The time domain position occupied by each terminal device in the at least one cluster, in other words, the time domain position at which one or more terminal devices send the second request message to the network device can be divided into one or more clusters.

[0091] Based on the above scheme, the time domain position (e.g., the fourth time domain position) at which the network device transmits the sixth signal can correspond to the time domain position at which one or more terminal devices transmit the request message. In this way, the network device can complete synchronization with one or more terminal devices by transmitting only one sixth signal, thereby reducing resource consumption of the network device.

[0092] In a seventh aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be applied to a network device, for example, can be executed by the network device, or can also be executed by a component (such as a processor, a chip, a chip system, etc.) configured in the network device, and can also be implemented by a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the network device. The present application does not make any limitation in this regard.

[0093] The method includes: the network device transmits a seventh signal; and the network device transmits an eighth signal at a sixth time domain position, the sixth time domain position being determined based on a time domain position of the seventh signal and a second time domain offset.

[0094] The seventh signal can carry a paging message, which is used to indicate a signal to be transmitted by the network device.

[0095] The eighth signal can be an SSB, a PSS, an SSS, a DMRS, a PBCH, or a newly designed signal, and the present application does not make any limitation in this regard.

[0096] Based on the above scheme, the network device can transmit a seventh signal (e.g., a low-power signal) to the terminal device, which can be used to instruct the terminal device to receive an eighth signal. After receiving the seventh signal, the terminal device will receive the eighth signal at a position where the network device transmits the eighth signal after a certain time domain offset (e.g., a second time domain offset). In this way, it is beneficial to reduce the resource consumption of the network device and the terminal device.

[0097] In an eighth aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be applied to a terminal device, for example, can be executed by the terminal device, or can also be executed by a component (such as a processor, a chip, a chip system, etc.) configured in the terminal device, and can also be implemented by a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the terminal device. The present application does not make any limitation in this regard.

[0098] The method includes: the terminal device receives a seventh signal; and the terminal device receives an eighth signal at a sixth time domain position, the sixth time domain position being determined based on a time domain position of the seventh signal and a second time domain offset.

[0099] The receiver of the terminal device receiving the seventh signal can be an LP-WUR, for example, the LP-WUR can be an envelope detection receiver and / or a correlation detection receiver, wherein the correlation detection receiver can be understood as a receiver with correlation detection capability, or a receiver with I / Q two-way, or a receiver with sequence detection capability.

[0100] The LP-WUR can include a first type of receiver and a second type of receiver, including at least the following possible cases.

[0101] The first possible case is that the first type of receiver is an OFDM receiver and the second type of receiver is an OOK receiver, or the first type of receiver is an OOK receiver and the second type of receiver is an OFDM receiver.

[0102] The second possible case is that the first type of receiver has I / Q two-way (i.e., two branches) and the second type of receiver has one way (i.e., one branch), or the first type of receiver has one way (i.e., one branch) and the second type of receiver has I / Q two-way (i.e., two branches).

[0103] The third possible case is that the first type of receiver is a coherent receiver and the second type of receiver is a non-coherent receiver, or the first type of receiver is a non-coherent receiver and the second type of receiver is a coherent receiver.

[0104] The fourth possible case is that the first type of receiver is a coherent receiver with I / Q two-way and the second type of receiver is a non-coherent receiver without I / Q two-way, or the first type of receiver is a non-coherent receiver without I / Q two-way and the second type of receiver is a coherent receiver with I / Q two-way.

[0105] The fifth possible case is that the first type of receiver can receive complex signals and the second type of receiver cannot receive complex signals (e.g., the second type of receiver receives real signals), or the first type of receiver cannot receive complex signals (e.g., the first type of receiver receives real signals) and the second type of receiver can receive complex signals.

[0106] The sixth possible case is that the first type of receiver receives signals in an energy detection manner and the second type of receiver can receive signals in multiple ways, or the first type of receiver can receive signals in multiple ways and the second type of receiver receives signals in an energy detection manner.

[0107] In a seventh possible scenario, the first type of receiver can receive the OFDM signal, and the second type of receiver can not receive the OFDM signal (e.g., the second type of receiver receives an OOK signal); or the first type of receiver can not receive the OFDM signal (e.g., the first type of receiver receives an OOK signal), and the second type of receiver can receive the OFDM signal.

[0108] The receiver of the terminal device receiving the eighth signal can be an MR, for example, the MR can be a receiver with I / Q two-way, a receiver supporting decoding, a receiver supporting receiving a PDSCH, a receiver supporting receiving a PDCCH, or a receiver with uplink signal / channel transmission capability. Therefore, the terminal device can receive the sixth signal using the MR.

[0109] Based on the above scheme, the network device can send the seventh signal (e.g., a low-power signal) to the terminal device, which can be used to instruct the terminal device to receive the eighth signal. After receiving the seventh signal, the terminal device will receive the eighth signal at a position where the network device sends the eighth signal after a certain time domain offset (e.g., a second time domain offset). In this way, it is beneficial to reduce the resource overhead of the network device and the terminal device.

[0110] In combination with the seventh or eighth aspect, in some implementations, the second time domain offset is greater than or equal to a second value, and the second value is determined based on at least one of the following: a time for waking up a second communication module, the first communication module being used to receive the eighth signal; a synchronization time of the second communication module; a transmission delay of the uplink signal; a processing time of the network device for the uplink signal; and a transmission delay of the eighth signal.

[0111] Based on the above scheme, the network device sends the eighth signal to the terminal device after a certain time domain offset. In this way, the terminal device can have more reaction time to start the receiver for receiving the eighth signal, and can timely receive the eighth signal at the position where the network device sends the eighth signal.

[0112] In a ninth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which can implement the communication method described in any possible implementation manner of the first to eighth aspects. The apparatus includes one or more functional units or modules for performing the corresponding method. The functional units or modules included in the apparatus can be implemented by software and / or hardware.

[0113] In a tenth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which includes at least one processor configured to perform the communication method described in any possible implementation manner of the first to eighth aspects.

[0114] Optionally, the apparatus can further include a memory for storing instructions and data. The memory is coupled to the processor, and the processor, when executing the instructions stored in the memory, can implement the method described in the above aspects.

[0115] Optionally, the apparatus can further include a communication interface for the apparatus to communicate with other devices. The communication interface can be a transceiver, a circuit, a bus, a module or other types of communication interface.

[0116] In an eleventh aspect, a chip system is provided. The chip system includes at least one processor configured to support a function described in any of the possible implementation manners of the first to eighth aspects, for example, receiving or processing data and / or information involved in the above method.

[0117] In a possible design, the chip system further includes a memory configured to store program instructions and data. The memory is located in or out of the processor.

[0118] In a possible design, the chip system further includes an interface circuit configured to transmit data and / or a power supply circuit configured to supply power to the chip system.

[0119] The chip system can be composed of a chip, or include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0120] In a twelfth aspect, a communication system is provided. The communication system includes the network device described above.

[0121] In a thirteenth aspect, a computer readable storage medium is provided. The computer readable storage medium includes a computer program, which, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to implement the method in any of the possible implementation manners of the first to eighth aspects.

[0122] In a fourteenth aspect, a computer program product is provided. The computer program product includes a computer program (also referred to as code or instructions), which, when executed, causes a computer to perform the method in any of the possible implementation manners of the first to eighth aspects. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0123] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0124] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a working flow of an LP-WUR according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0125] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of positions of PSS, SSS and PBCH in a time-frequency domain in an SSB according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0126] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of time-domain position relationship of SSBs of different beams provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0127] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of resource mapping of DMRS of PBCH provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0128] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a terminal device receiving a system information change position provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0129] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a terminal device receiving a system information change position provided by another embodiment of the present application;

[0130] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a system information change provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0131] FIG. 9 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0132] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of indicating system information update by LP-SS provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0133] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of distribution of LP-SS and SSB in a time slot provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0134] FIG. 12 is a schematic flowchart of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0135] FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of periodically sending SSB provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0136] FIG. 14 is a schematic flowchart of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0137] FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram of distribution of a cluster and synchronization signal provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0138] FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram of a terminal device requesting a network device to send SSB provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0139] FIG. 17 is a schematic flowchart of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0140] FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram of a network device indicating a terminal device of having a paging message provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0141] FIG. 19 is a schematic block diagram of a communication apparatus provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0142] FIG. 20 is another schematic block diagram of a communication apparatus provided by an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0143] The technical solutions provided by the present application will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0144] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, the following points are first explained:

[0145] First, in the present application, indication includes explicit indication (also referred to as direct indication) and implicit indication (also referred to as indirect indication). Among them, the explicit indication information A means to include the information A; the implicit indication information A means to indicate the information A through the correspondence between the information A and the information B and the direct indication of the information B, and the correspondence between the information A and the information B can be predefined, pre-stored, pre-burned, or pre-configured; or it can also mean to indicate the information A through the information B and a preset rule.

[0146] Second, in the present application, the information C used for the determination of the information D includes that the information D is determined based on the information C only, and also includes that the information D is determined based on the information C and other information. In addition, the information C used for the determination of the information D can also be determined indirectly, such as the case that the information D is determined based on the information E, and the information E is determined based on the information C.

[0147] Third, in the present application, "at least one" means one or more, and "multiple" means two or more. The "and / or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, which means that there can be three kinds of relationships, for example, A and / or B, which can represent the following three cases: A exists alone, A and B exist together, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally represents an "or" relationship between the associated objects before and after it, but it does not rule out the case that the associated objects before and after it represent an "and" relationship, and the specific meaning can be understood in combination with the context. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions means any combination of these items, including any combination of single item or multiple items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can represent: a, b, c; a and b; a and c; b and c; or a and b and c. Where a, b, and c can be single or multiple.

[0148] Fourth, in the present application, the use of prefixes such as "first", "second", and the like is only for the convenience of distinguishing and describing different things belonging to the same name category, and does not constrain the order, size, or quantity of the things. For example, "first communication time domain position" and "second time domain position" are only different time domain positions, and there is no time sequence relationship, size relationship, or priority relationship between them.

[0149] Fifth, in the present application, "sending" and "receiving" refer to the direction of signal transmission. For example, "sending a first signal to a terminal device" can be understood as the destination of the information being the terminal device, which can include direct transmission over the air interface, or indirect transmission over the air interface by other units or modules. "Receiving a first signal from a network device" can be understood as the source of the information being the network device, which can include direct reception from the network device over the air interface, or indirect reception from the network device over the air interface from other units or modules. "Sending" can also be understood as the "output" of the chip interface, and "receiving" can also be understood as the "input" of the chip interface.

[0150] In other words, sending and receiving can be between devices, such as between a terminal and a network device, or within a device, such as between components, modules, chips, software modules or hardware modules within a device through a bus, wire or interface.

[0151] Sixth, in the embodiments of the present application, "when", "if" and "when" all refer to the device making corresponding processing under certain objective conditions, and are not limited to time, and do not require the device to have a judgment action when implemented, nor does it mean that there are other limitations.

[0152] The technical solutions provided by the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as long term evolution (LTE) system, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) system, LTE time division duplex (TDD), sidelink (SL) communication system, universal mobile communication system (UMTS), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication system, 5th generation (5G) mobile communication system or new radio access technology (NR). Among them, the 5G mobile communication system can include non-standalone (NSA) and / or standalone (SA). The technical solutions provided by the present application can also be applied to future communication systems, such as 6th generation (6G) mobile communication system, etc. The present application does not make any limitation.

[0153] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of an architecture of a communication system to which embodiments of the application can be applied. As shown in Figure 1, the mobile communication system includes a core network device 110, a radio access network device 120 and at least one terminal device (e.g., terminal device 130 and terminal device 140 in Figure 1). The terminal device is connected to the radio access network device in a wireless manner, and the radio access network device is connected to the core network device in a wireless or wired manner. The core network device and the radio access network device can be independent and different physical devices, or can be integrated into the same physical device with the functions of the core network device and the logical functions of the radio access network device, or can be a physical device integrated with part of the functions of the core network device and part of the functions of the radio access network device. The terminal device can be fixed or mobile.

[0154] It should be understood that Figure 1 is only a schematic diagram, and other network devices can also be included in the communication system, such as wireless relay devices and wireless backhaul devices, which are not shown in Figure 1. Embodiments of the application do not limit the number of core network devices, radio access network devices and terminal devices included in the mobile communication system.

[0155] In embodiments of the application, the terminal device can also be referred to as a user equipment (UE), an access terminal, a user unit, a user station, a mobile station, a mobile station, a remote station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a user terminal, a terminal, a wireless communication device, a user agent or a user apparatus.

[0156] The terminal device can be a device providing voice / data, for example, a handheld device with wireless connection function, a vehicle-mounted device, etc. At present, some examples of terminals are: mobile phone, tablet computer, notebook computer, palm computer, mobile internet device (MID), wearable device, virtual reality (VR) device, augmented reality (AR) device, wireless terminal in industrial control, wireless terminal in self-driving, wireless terminal in remote medical surgery, wireless terminal in smart grid, wireless terminal in transportation safety, wireless terminal in smart city, wireless terminal in smart home, cellular phone, cordless phone, session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, wireless local loop (WLL) station, personal digital assistant (PDA), handheld device with wireless communication function, computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, wearable device, terminal device in a 5G network, or terminal device in a future evolved public land mobile network (PLMN), etc. The embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto.

[0157] By way of example and not limitation, in the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device can also be a wearable device. The wearable device can also be referred to as a wearable smart device, which is a general term for devices that are designed and developed by applying wearable technology to daily wear, such as glasses, gloves, watches, clothing, and shoes. The wearable device is a portable device that is directly worn on the body or integrated into the user's clothes or accessories. The wearable device is not only a hardware device, but also a device that realizes powerful functions through software support and data interaction and cloud interaction. The general wearable smart device includes devices with full functions, large size, and the ability to realize complete or partial functions without relying on a smart phone, such as smart watches or smart glasses, and devices that focus on a certain application function and need to be used in cooperation with other devices, such as smart phones, such as various smart wristbands and smart jewelry for monitoring vital signs.

[0158] In the embodiments of the present application, the apparatus for implementing the function of the terminal device can be a terminal device, or can be an apparatus capable of supporting the terminal device to implement the function, for example, a chip system, which can be installed in the terminal device or used in matching with the terminal device. In the embodiments of the present application, the chip system can be composed of a chip, or can include the chip and other discrete devices. In the embodiments of the present application, only the apparatus for implementing the function of the terminal device is taken as an example for description, and the scheme of the embodiments of the present application is not limited in this way.

[0159] The network device in the embodiments of the present application can be a device for communicating with a terminal device, which can also be referred to as an access network device or a radio access network device, such as a network device can be a base station. The network device in the embodiments of the present application can refer to a radio access network (RAN) node (or device) that accesses a terminal device to a wireless network. The base station can broadly cover various names in the following or be replaced by the following names, such as: Node B (NodeB), evolved Node B (eNB), next generation Node B (gNB), relay station, access point, transmitting and receiving point (TRP), transmitting point (TP), primary station, secondary station, multi-standard radio (MSR) node, home base station, network controller, access node, wireless node, access point (AP), transmission node, transceiver node, baseband unit (BBU), remote radio unit (RRU), active antenna unit (AAU), remote radio head (RRH), central unit (CU), distributed unit (DU), radio unit (RU), positioning node, satellite base station, cellular base station, etc. The base station can be a macro base station, a micro base station, a relay node, a donor node or the like, or a combination thereof. The base station can also refer to a communication module, modem or chip used in the above-mentioned devices or apparatuses. The base station can also be a mobile switching center and a device that performs the function of a base station in D2D, V2X, M2M communication, a network side device in a 6G network, a device that performs the function of a base station in a future communication system, etc. The base station can support networks of the same or different access technologies. Optionally, the RAN node can also be a server, a wearable device, a vehicle or a vehicle-mounted device, etc. For example, the access network device in vehicle to everything (V2X) technology can be a road side unit (RSU). The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the network device.In some deployments, the network device mentioned by embodiments of the present application can be a device including a CU, or a DU, or a device including a CU and a DU, or a control plane CU node (central unit-control plane (CU-CP)) and a user plane CU node (central unit-user plane (CU-UP)) and a DU node. For example, the network device can include a gNB-CU-CP, a gNB-CU-UP and a gNB-DU.

[0160] In some deployments, wireless access by a terminal is assisted by cooperation of multiple RAN nodes, and different RAN nodes respectively implement part of the functions of a base station. For example, the RAN node can be a CU, a DU, a CU-CP, a CU-UP, or an RU, etc. The CU and the DU can be separately arranged, or can also be included in the same network element, for example, in a BBU. The RU can be included in a radio frequency device or a radio frequency unit, for example, included in an RRU, an AAU or an RRH.

[0161] The RAN node can support one or more types of front interfaces, and different front interfaces respectively correspond to DUs and RUs with different functions. If the front interface between the DU and the RU is a common public radio interface (CPRI), the DU is configured to implement one or more of the baseband functions, and the RU is configured to implement one or more of the radio frequency functions. If the front interface between the DU and the RU is another interface, compared with the CPRI, part of the baseband functions of the downlink and / or uplink, such as one or more of precoding, digital beamforming (BF), or inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) / adding a cyclic prefix (CP) for the downlink, or one or more of digital beamforming (BF), or fast Fourier transform (FFT) / removing a cyclic prefix (CP) for the uplink, are moved from the DU to the RU for implementation. In a possible implementation, the interface can be an enhanced common public radio interface (eCPRI). Under the eCPRI architecture, the splitting manner between the DU and the RU is different, corresponding to different categories (Cat) of eCPRI, such as eCPRI Cat A, B, C, D, E, F.

[0162] Taking eCPRI Cat A as an example, for downlink transmission, the DU is configured to implement layer mapping and one or more functions (i.e., one or more of encoding, rate matching, scrambling, modulation, layer mapping) before layer mapping, while other functions (e.g., one or more of RE mapping, digital beamforming (BF), or inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) / adding cyclic prefix (CP)) after layer mapping are implemented in the RU. For uplink transmission, the DU is configured to implement de-mapping and one or more functions (i.e., one or more of decoding, de-rate matching, de-scrambling, de-modulation, inverse discrete Fourier transform (IDFT), channel equalization, de-RE mapping) before de-mapping, while other functions (e.g., one or more of digital BF or fast Fourier transform (FFT) / CP removal) after de-mapping are implemented in the RU. It can be understood that the function description of the DU and the RU corresponding to various types of eCPRI can refer to the eCPRI protocol, which is not described here.

[0163] In a possible design, the processing unit in the BBU for implementing baseband functions is referred to as a base band high (BBH) unit, and the processing unit in the RRU / AAU / RRH for implementing baseband functions is referred to as a base band low (BBL) unit.

[0164] 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 the 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. Any 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.

[0165] In the embodiments of the present application, the apparatus for implementing the function of the network device can be the network device, or can be an apparatus capable of supporting the network device to implement the function, such as a chip system, a hardware circuit, a software module, or a hardware circuit plus a software module. The apparatus can be installed in the network device or used in combination with the network device. In the embodiments of the present application, only the apparatus for implementing the function of the network device is taken as an example for description, and the scheme of the embodiments of the present application is not limited in this way.

[0166] The network device and / or the terminal device can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; can also be deployed on water surface; and can also be deployed on airplanes, balloons and satellites in the air. The scenarios in which the network device and the terminal device are located are not limited in the embodiments of the present application. In addition, the terminal device and the network device can be hardware devices, or can be software functions running on special hardware, general hardware, such as virtualized functions instantiated on a platform (for example, a cloud platform), or entities including special or general hardware devices and software functions. The specific forms of the terminal device and the network device are not limited in the present application.

[0167] In the embodiments of the present application, in order to better understand the method provided by the embodiments of the present application, the terms involved in the present application will be briefly explained as follows.

[0168] 1. Wake-up receiver or wake-up radio (WUR) technology

[0169] In future communication networks, in order to achieve ultra-high energy efficiency, ultra-long endurance of terminal devices, and energy saving of terminal devices, when there is no paging or no data transmission, the terminal device will start the LP-WUR and use the LP-WUR to blindly detect signals. Only when there is paging, or data transmission, or system information update, or the terminal device actively wakes up the MR, the terminal device will start the MR.

[0170] FIG. 2 shows a working flow diagram of the LP-WUR. As shown in FIG. 2, when the terminal device starts the LP-WUR, the MR can be turned off; whether the LP-WUR is started after the MR is started depends on the terminal device. If the MR and the LP-WUR of the terminal device use a set of receiving modules (for example, a radio frequency module and / or a baseband module), the terminal device needs to turn off the LP-WUR after the MR is started; if the MR and the LP-WUR of the terminal device use a set of receiving modules (for example, a radio frequency module and / or a baseband module) respectively, the terminal device can keep the LP-WUR started after the MR is started.

[0171] The signal that the LP-WUR can receive includes, but is not limited to, the LP-WUS and / or a synchronization signal. The synchronization signal can be an SSB defined in the NR system, or can be a redesigned synchronization signal. For example, the redesigned synchronization signal can be a low power synchronization signal (LP-SS). The LP-SS can be an OOK-based low power synchronization signal, or an FSK-based low power synchronization signal, or an OFDM-based low power synchronization signal, or a low power synchronization signal based on a fusion of different modulation modes. The fusion scheme can include a fusion of OOK and OFDM or a fusion of FSK and OFDM. The OOK modulation is a signal transmission mode in which some symbols are transmitted and some symbols are not transmitted. The fusion scheme of OOK and OFDM is that an OFDM sequence is scrambled and superimposed on a symbol in which a signal is transmitted by OOK. The LP-WUR can be used to receive the synchronization signal for synchronization and / or measurement.

[0172] There are two types of LP-WURs, including a receiver with envelope detection capability and a receiver with correlation detection capability. The receiver with correlation detection capability can be understood as a receiver with sequence detection capability, or as a receiver with phase detection capability, or as an OFDM receiver, or as a receiver with I / Q two-way, or as a receiver that can detect phase information, or as a receiver with a module for detecting phase information. If the receiver architecture of the LP-WUR only supports envelope detection, the terminal device cannot complete the synchronization / measurement function by receiving and detecting a secondary synchronization signal (SSS) because the envelope detection cannot obtain phase information. If the receiver architecture of the LP-WUR supports sequence detection, the terminal device can complete the synchronization / measurement function by receiving and detecting the SSS.

[0173] 2. LP-SS

[0174] Generally, the LP-SS is a low power synchronization signal that is periodically transmitted. The period of the LP-SS can be greater than the period of the SSB. For example, the period of the SSB can be 20 ms, and the period of the LP-SS can be 80 ms, 160 ms, 320 ms, 640 ms, or 1280 ms. Generally, the transmission of the LP-SS is at the cell level, that is, all terminal devices in a cell receive the same LP-SS.

[0175] The waveform modulation technology of the LP-SS can be consistent with the modulation technology of the LP-WUS. For example, the modulation mode of the LP-SS is OOK modulation; or the modulation mode of the LP-SS is FSK modulation; or the modulation mode of the LP-SS is a fusion scheme of OOK and OFDM, that is, an OFDM sequence is scrambled / superimposed on a symbol of OOK signaling, and the OFDM sequence is one or more of the following: a zadoff-chu (zc) sequence, a small maximum length (m) sequence, an m sequence, a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) sequence, a gold sequence, a quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) modulation sequence, a 16-order quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) sequence, a 64QAM modulation sequence, a binary phase shift keying (BPSK) modulation sequence, and a computer search-based sequence.

[0176] 3. SSB

[0177] In the 5G or NR communication system, the SSB is a special synchronization signal block containing key signals for synchronization between network devices and terminal devices. The SSB period can be 5 ms, 10 ms, 20 ms, 40 ms, 80 ms, or 160 ms, and this period is indicated in the system information block type 1 (SIB1), but when the initial cell search is performed, the terminal device has not received the SIB1, so the SSB is searched according to the default period of 20 ms.

[0178] The SSB mainly includes three parts: PSS and SSS, and PBCH. The main function of PSS and SSS is to perform downlink symbol synchronization. In addition, the cell identity document (ID) can be obtained through PSS and SSS. The main function of PBCH is to enable the terminal to complete frame synchronization through physical layer information; the RRC layer carries the MIB message to improve the necessary system information of the system.

[0179] Figure 3 shows the location distribution of PSS, SSS and PBCH in SSB in time-frequency domain. As shown in Figure 3, PSS occupies the middle 127 subcarriers of OFDM symbol 0; SSS occupies the middle 127 subcarriers of OFDM symbol 2, and the subcarriers at both ends are set to zero for protection of PSS and SSS; PBCH is located in OFDM symbol 1 to OFDM symbol 3, of which OFDM symbol 1 or OFDM symbol 3 each occupies 0-239 subcarriers, and OFDM symbol 2 occupies 96 subcarriers excluding the subcarriers occupied by SSS and the subcarriers set to zero for protection of SSS, and PBCH has a total of 576 resource elements (REs).

[0180] 4. Time-domain location of SSB

[0181] Considering the case of multiple beams, the transmission locations of SSBs corresponding to different beams have a fixed pattern. As shown in Table 1, the standard specifies five different time-domain locations of SSBs (e.g., case A, case B, case C, case D, and case E).

[0182] Table 1

[0183] wherein the subcarrier spacing (SCS) and the frequency (f).

[0184] Taking case A in Table 1 as an example, when the subcarrier spacing is 15 kHz and the frequency is less than 3 GHz, n = 0, 1, and the SSB starting symbol index = {2, 8} + 14*n. The calculation of the starting symbol index is as follows:

[0185] When n = 0, the starting symbol number = {2, 8} + 14*0 = {2, 8}. There are 2 SSBs in this slot, and the starting symbols are 2 and 8, respectively.

[0186] When n = 1, the starting symbol number = {2, 8} + 14*1 = {2+14*1, 8+14*1} = {16, 22}. There are 2 SSBs in this slot, and the starting symbols are 16 and 22, respectively.

[0187] Therefore, the SSBs in the half-frame range occupy a total of 2 slots, and each slot has 2 SSBs, so the total number of SSBs (L) is 4, and the starting symbol numbers of the SSBs are {2, 8, 16, 22}, respectively.

[0188] When the subcarrier spacing is 15 kHz and the frequency is 3GHz-6GHz, n = 0, 1, 2, 3, and the SSB starting symbol index = {2, 8} + 14*n. The starting symbol index is calculated as follows:

[0189] When n = 0, the starting symbol number = {2, 8} + 14*0 = {2, 8}. There are 2 SSBs in this slot, and the starting symbols are 2 and 8, respectively.

[0190] When n = 1, the starting symbol number = {2, 8} + 14*1 = {2+14*1, 8+14*1} = {16, 22}. There are 2 SSBs in this slot, and the starting symbols are 16 and 22, respectively.

[0191] When n = 2, the starting symbol number = {2, 8} + 14*2 = {2+14*2, 8+14*2} = {30, 36}. There are 2 SSBs in this slot, and the starting symbols are 30 and 36, respectively.

[0192] When n = 3, the starting symbol number = {2, 8} + 14*3 = {2+14*3, 8+14*3} = {44, 50}. There are 2 SSBs in this slot, and the starting symbols are 44 and 50, respectively.

[0193] Therefore, the SSBs in the half-frame range occupy a total of 4 slots, each with 2 SSBs, so the total number of SSBs (L) is 8, and the starting symbol numbers of the SSBs are {2, 8, 16, 22, 30, 36, 44, 50}, respectively.

[0194] Taking case C in Table 1 as an example, when the subcarrier spacing is 30 kHz and the frequency is less than 3GHz, n = 0, 1, and the SSB starting symbol index = {2, 8} + 14*n. The starting symbol index is calculated as follows:

[0195] When n = 0, the starting symbol number = {2, 8} + 14*0 = {2, 8}. There are 2 SSBs in this slot, and the starting symbols are 2 and 8, respectively.

[0196] When n = 1, the starting symbol number = {2, 8} + 14*1 = {2+14*1, 8+14*1} = {16, 22}. There are 2 SSBs in this slot, and the starting symbols are 16 and 22, respectively.

[0197] Therefore, the SSBs in the half-frame range occupy a total of 2 slots, each with 2 SSBs, so the total number of SSBs (L) is 4, and the starting symbol numbers of the SSBs are {2, 8, 16, 22}, respectively.

[0198] When the subcarrier spacing is 30 kHz and the frequency is 3 GHz-6 GHz, n = 0, 1, 2, 3, and the SSB starting symbol index = {2, 8} + 14*n. The starting symbol index is calculated as follows:

[0199] When n = 0, the starting symbol number = {2, 8} + 14*0 = {2, 8}. There are 2 SSBs in the time slot, and the starting symbols are 2 and 8, respectively.

[0200] When n = 1, the starting symbol number = {2, 8} + 14*1 = {2+14*1, 8+14*1} = {16, 22}. There are 2 SSBs in the time slot, and the starting symbols are 16 and 22, respectively.

[0201] When n = 2, the starting symbol number = {2, 8} + 14*2 = {2+14*2, 8+14*2} = {30, 36}. There are 2 SSBs in the time slot, and the starting symbols are 30 and 36, respectively.

[0202] When n = 3, the starting symbol number = {2, 8} + 14*3 = {2+14*3, 8+14*3} = {44, 50}. There are 2 SSBs in the time slot, and the starting symbols are 44 and 50, respectively.

[0203] Therefore, the SSBs in the half-frame range occupy a total of 4 time slots, and each time slot has 2 SSBs, so the total number of SSBs (L) is 8, and the starting symbol numbers of the SSBs are {2, 8, 16, 22, 30, 36, 44, 50}, respectively.

[0204] The calculation of the starting symbol index in case B, case D, and case E in Table 1 is similar to that in case A and case C, and will not be described here.

[0205] Based on the mode setting in Table 1, FIG. 4 shows a schematic diagram of the time-domain position relationship of SSBs of different beams. As shown in FIG. 4, taking case A and case C as examples, the subcarrier spacing of case A is 15 kHz, when the frequency is less than 3 GHz, there are 2 SSBs in each time slot, and the starting symbol numbers of the SSBs are {2, 8, 16, 22}, respectively; when the frequency is 3 GHz-6 GHz, there are 2 SSBs in each time slot, and the starting symbol numbers of the SSBs are {2, 8, 16, 22, 30, 36, 44, 50}, respectively. The subcarrier spacing of case C is 30 kHz, when the frequency is less than 3 GHz (frequency division duplex (FDD)) or the frequency is less than 2.4 GHz (time division duplex (TDD)),

[0206] There are 2 SSBs in each time slot, and the starting symbol numbers of the SSBs are {2, 8, 16, 22} respectively; when the frequency is less than 3 GHz (frequency division duplex (FDD)) or the frequency is less than 2.4 GHz (time division duplex (TDD)), when the frequency is 3 GHz-6 GHz (FDD) or the frequency is 2.4 GHz-6 GHz (TDD), there are 2 SSBs in each time slot, and the starting symbol numbers of the SSBs are {2, 8, 16, 22, 30, 36, 44, 50} respectively. The time domain position distribution of the SSBs of different beams in case B, case D, and case E is similar to that of the SSBs of different beams in case A and case C, and details are not described herein.

[0207] 5. Function, content, and flow of SSB

[0208] The starting point of cell access by a user is downlink synchronization. After the terminal device is powered on, everything about the network device is unknown, for example, the terminal device does not know the cell ID, bandwidth, frequency point, and any other information. However, the protocol has agreed that the terminal device can detect the SSB signal on some frequency points. The SSB signal is a downlink synchronization signal periodically transmitted by the base station on a fixed resource grid, including PSS, SSS, and PBCH. After the terminal device blindly detects the PSS signal (the receiving end and the sending end have agreed on the generated sequence, modulation method, and resource grid position), the terminal device can further detect the SSB signal, so as to obtain the cell ID. For example, the reference signal receiving power (RSRP) of the SSB is also obtained by measuring the SSS.

[0209] After the terminal device obtains the cell ID information, the terminal device can further detect the PBCH signal. First, the DMRS information of the PBCH can be determined. The DMRS of the PBCH is usually offset in the frequency domain according to the cell ID, that is, each resource block (RB) of the PBCH contains 3 REs of DMRS pilot. In order to avoid interference between the DMRS of the PBCH between cells, the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) defines that the DMRS of the PBCH is offset in the frequency domain according to the cell ID.

[0210] Exemplarily, FIG. 5 shows a resource mapping diagram of DMRS of PBCH. As shown in FIG. 5, (a) in FIG. 5 shows the distribution position of DMRS of PBCH on OFDM symbol when cell ID%4=0, wherein DMRS is distributed on the 0th, 4th and 8th subcarriers, and the remaining subcarriers are arranged with PBCH; (b) in FIG. 5 shows the distribution position of DMRS of PBCH on OFDM symbol when cell ID%4=1, wherein DMRS is distributed on the 1st, 5th and 9th subcarriers, and the remaining subcarriers are arranged with PBCH; (c) in FIG. 5 shows the distribution position of DMRS of PBCH on OFDM symbol when cell ID%4=2, wherein DMRS is distributed on the 2nd, 6th and 10th subcarriers, and the remaining subcarriers are arranged with PBCH; (d) in FIG. 5 shows the distribution position of DMRS of PBCH on OFDM symbol when cell ID%4=3, wherein DMRS is distributed on the 3rd, 7th and 11th subcarriers, and the remaining subcarriers are arranged with PBCH.

[0211] Wherein, cell ID%4=0 means that the cell ID is a multiple of 4 when divided by 4; cell ID%4=1 means that the cell ID is a number in the form of (4k+1), k is a non-negative integer; cell ID%4=2 means that the cell ID is a number in the form of (4k+2), k is a non-negative integer; cell ID%4=3 means that the cell ID is a number in the form of (4k+3), k is a non-negative integer.

[0212] By performing channel estimation on the DMRS of PBCH, the content of PBCH can be further demodulated and decoded. The PBCH contains MIB, and the MIB contains system frame number, half frame information, subcarrier spacing of remaining minimum system information (RMSI), subcarrier offset of SSB, etc. Among them, obtaining the system frame number and half frame information means that the terminal device and the network device achieve frame synchronization; obtaining the subcarrier offset of SSB means that the terminal device can determine the position of full-band subcarrier 0, thereby realizing the frequency synchronization between the terminal device and the network device; after obtaining the subcarrier spacing of RMSI, the common search space on PDCCH can be further detected to obtain SIB1 information.

[0213] In general, the process of downlink synchronization is: through blind detection of PSS, blind detection of SSS is realized, and further detection of the DMRS of PBCH is realized, so as to realize decoding of PBCH. Decoding of PBCH (namely, MIB) can realize frame synchronization and frequency synchronization, and can obtain SIB1 information, further realize decoding of SIB1, and complete decoding of SIB1 can further obtain information of system information block type 2 (SIB2) to system information block type 10 (SIB10), which are collectively referred to as open system interconnect (OSI).

[0214] 6. System information update

[0215] 1) Network device informs terminal device to update system information

[0216] If some system parameters of a cell change, for example, PBCH or MIB or SIB information in SSB can be updated.

[0217] Exemplarily, in NR, when part of the parameters in SIB1 change, since the terminal device does not always receive SIB1 at the periodic time point of SIB1, in the case that the current system information is still valid, the terminal device can obtain the system information change indication by receiving DCI of P-RNTI.

[0218] In the RRC_idle or RRC_inactive state, the terminal device detects the DCI of P-RNTI at the respective time point of receiving paging, to obtain whether there is a system information change indication.

[0219] Exemplarily, FIG. 6 shows a schematic diagram of a terminal device receiving a system information change position, as shown in FIG. 6, there are multiple terminal devices (such as terminal device 1 and terminal device 2) receiving paging time points (paging occasions) of system information change indications in a paging period, and the terminal device 1 and the terminal device 2 receive the indication of the system information change at the respective paging time points in each paging period.

[0220] In the RRC_connected state, the terminal device detects the DCI scrambled with the P-RNTI at any paging time point in a paging cycle, even if the time point is that of other terminal devices.

[0221] Exemplarily, FIG. 7 shows a schematic diagram of the terminal device receiving the system information modification position. As shown in FIG. 7, there are multiple terminal devices (e.g., terminal device 1, terminal device 2, terminal device 3, and terminal device 4) receiving the paging time point of the system information modification indication in a paging cycle. For example, the terminal device 1 can receive the indication of the system information modification at its own paging time point or the paging time point of other terminal devices in each paging cycle, and the terminal device 2, the terminal device 3, and the terminal device 4 are similar, which will not be described here.

[0222] 2) The terminal device receives the new system information

[0223] The network device will configure a modification period, which is an integer multiple of the paging cycle, and the multiple relationship is configured in the SIB1. The modification period is in units of radio frames.

[0224] Exemplarily, FIG. 8 shows a schematic diagram of the system information modification. As shown in FIG. 8, the system information update cycle is 2 paging cycles, and the boundary time point of the system information modification satisfies SFN mod modification period = 0, that is, when SFN mod modification period is set to 0, it means that there is no specific periodic modification.

[0225] In the range of SFN mod modification period = 0, or in the first modification period, neither the MIB nor the SIB1 is changed; in the second modification period, the MIB is not changed, and the SIB1 is changed.

[0226] The energy efficiency of the terminal device is crucial to future communication networks. Currently, the terminal device may need to be charged every week or every day, depending on the individual's usage time. Generally speaking, the terminal device consumes tens of milliwatts in the RRC idle / inactive state and hundreds of milliwatts in the RRC connected state. Therefore, the design of prolonging the battery life is a necessary condition for improving the energy efficiency and better user experience.

[0227] For terminal devices without continuous energy source, such as terminal devices using small rechargeable batteries and coin cells, energy efficiency is even more critical. In vertical use cases, such as sensors and actuators are widely deployed for monitoring, measurement, charging, etc., usually, their batteries are not rechargeable and are expected to last for at least a few years. In some Internet of Things scenarios, such as wearable devices including smart watches, rings, electronic health related devices and medical monitoring devices, it is challenging to maintain the performance for 1-2 weeks of battery life under typical battery capacity.

[0228] The power consumption depends on the configured wake-up cycle length, for example, in RRC_IDLE state, the power consumption depends on the configured paging cycle. The longer the configured paging cycle, the longer the terminal device can enter the sleep state to achieve energy saving effect. In order to meet the above battery life requirements, it is expected to use the valuable extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) cycle, the value of which will be very large. However, using eDRX to achieve higher energy efficiency will result in higher latency, which is not suitable for services that require both long battery life and low latency.

[0229] Currently, the terminal device needs to wake up once every discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle. When the terminal device is in the wake-up state, but there is no transmission of signaling and data services during the wake-up period, the terminal device belongs to the state of invalid wake-up, and the power consumption of this period occupies a dominant position of the overall power consumption of the terminal device. If the terminal device only wakes up when it needs to transmit signaling or data services, for example, receives its own paging message, the power consumption of the terminal device can be greatly reduced, and the energy saving of the terminal device is also an important means to further improve the user experience.

[0230] Higher energy saving gain can be achieved by using a wake-up signal to trigger the MR and a separate receiver with ultra-low power consumption monitoring wake-up signal capability. The MR is used for data transmission and reception, which can be turned on when needed, or turned off or set to deep sleep otherwise.

[0231] In actual communication process, the network device will periodically send SSB to enable the terminal device to achieve synchronization at any time point. For the terminal device, the terminal device frequently wakes up the MR to receive the SSB to achieve synchronization or measurement. In this way, the network device and the terminal device will cause large resource overhead, resulting in resource waste.

[0232] Therefore, the application provides a communication method. When there is system information update, a network device carries a system information update indication in a low-power signal and sends the indication to a terminal device. The network device sends an SSB to the terminal device in the case of indicating system information update. The terminal device starts to receive the SSB by the MR after receiving the low-power signal carrying the system information update indication. In this way, the resource consumption of the network device and the terminal device is reduced. It should be noted that the application does not limit the communication scenario, such as always applying to the scenario of updating system information. In the case of indicating the transmission of a certain signal, the transmission of the signal is performed between the transmitting end and the receiving end. In the case of not indicating the transmission of a certain signal, the transmission of the signal is not performed between the transmitting end and the receiving end, which all belong to the protection scope of the application.

[0233] The method provided by the application will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. It should be understood that the technical solution of the application can be applied to a communication system as shown in FIG. 1.

[0234] In the embodiments shown in the following multiple drawings, each process is described by taking the interaction process between a terminal device and a network device as an example, but this should not constitute any limitation on the execution subject of the application. For example, the terminal device can also be replaced by a component configured in the terminal device, such as a chip, a chip system or other modules that can be used to realize part or all of the functions of the terminal device; the network device can also be replaced by a component configured in the network device, such as a chip, a chip system or other modules that can be used to realize part or all of the functions of the network device.

[0235] FIG. 9 shows a communication method 900 provided by an embodiment of the application. The method 900 includes steps 910 to 920. Each step in the method 900 will be described in detail below.

[0236] In step 910, a network device sends a first signal to a terminal device at a first time domain position, the first signal being used to indicate receiving a second signal at a second time domain position, the first time domain position being in an Mth time range, the second time domain position being in an M+1th time range, wherein the interval between the starting position of the second time domain position and the starting position of the M+1th time range is T1, the length of each time range is T2, T1 is greater than or equal to 0, T2 is greater than 0, and M is an integer greater than 0. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first signal from the network device at the first time domain position.

[0237] It should be understood that the above-mentioned first signal can carry an indication of waking up the MR of the terminal device, for example, waking up the MR of the terminal device to receive the second signal.

[0238] The indication can be an update indication carrying system information, or the network device wants all terminal devices to exit the low-power consumption mechanism, and then indicates all terminal devices to wake up and return to a normal mode (a non-low-power consumption mode or an existing procedure) through the first signal.

[0239] The first signal can be a low-power consumption signal, such as an LP-SS, an LP-WUS, a low-power consumption PDCCH, a low-power consumption PDSCH, a PUSCH, a low-power consumption PUCCH, a low-power consumption SSB, a low-power consumption TRS, a low-power consumption CSI-RS, a low-power consumption positioning signal, a low-power consumption sensing communication signal, a low-power consumption SRS, a RACH, a low-power consumption preamble signal, a low-power consumption contention resolution message, a low-power consumption DCI signal, a low-power consumption UCI, or a newly designed low-power consumption signal, without limitation.

[0240] The Mth time range can be, for example, a valid time period in which the network device sends the first signal. The network device can send the first signal in any one of a plurality of time domain positions within the valid time period, and does not send the second signal within the valid time period. That is, whether the network device sends the second signal within the valid time period is determined by whether the network device sends the first signal within the (M-1)th time range.

[0241] The (M+1)th time range can be, for example, a valid time period in which the network device sends the second signal. The network device sends the second signal in any one of a plurality of time domain positions within the valid time period, or repeatedly sends the second signal within a small range of time within the valid time period.

[0242] The second signal can be an SSB, a PSS, an SSS, a DMRS, a PBCH, or a newly designed signal, without limitation.

[0243] The first signal is used to indicate that the second signal is received at the second time domain position, or the first signal carries indication information indicating that the updated second signal is received at the second time domain position.

[0244] The update of the second signal can include updating a related configuration parameter of the second signal, such as updating a configuration parameter in a PSS, an SSS, a cell ID, a DMRS, a PBCH, an MIB, or a SIB.

[0245] The Mth time range and the (M+1)th time range are both T2, where the Mth time range can belong to a first update period, the (M+1)th time range can belong to a second update period, the first update period can be equal to the second update period, that is, the time range of each update period is T2.

[0246] In step 920, the network device sends the second signal to the terminal device at a second time domain position. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the second signal from the network device at the second time domain position.

[0247] The first time domain position and the second time domain position are different time domain positions, and the second time domain position is after the first time domain position. As the network device, after sending the first signal to the terminal device at the first time domain position, the network device sends the second signal to the terminal device at the second time domain position. As the terminal device, after receiving the first signal at the first time domain position, the terminal device can determine to receive the second signal at the second time domain position, and wake up the receiver that can be used to receive the second signal in advance, so as to receive the second signal in time.

[0248] Based on the above scheme, the network device can send the first signal (for example, a low-power signal) to the terminal device to indicate receiving the second signal. For example, the first signal can indicate that the MR of the terminal device wakes up to receive the second signal. After receiving the indication of the network device sending the second signal, the terminal device receives the second signal at the position where the second signal is sent. In this way, it is beneficial to reduce the resource consumption of the network device and the terminal device.

[0249] In a possible case, the first signal is received by the terminal device through a first communication link, and the second signal is received by the terminal device through a second communication link. The power consumption of the first communication link receiving the first signal is less than the power consumption of the second communication link receiving the second signal.

[0250] The first communication link can be an LP-WUR. For example, the LP-WUR can be an envelope detection receiver and / or a correlation detection receiver. The correlation detection receiver can be understood as a receiver with correlation detection capability, or a receiver with I / Q two-way, or a receiver with sequence detection capability. The second communication link can be an MR. For example, the MR can be a receiver with I / Q two-way, a receiver supporting decoding, a receiver supporting receiving PDSCH, a receiver supporting receiving PDCCH, or a receiver with uplink signal / channel transmission capability. Therefore, the terminal device can receive the first signal using the LP-WUR, and receive the second signal using the MR.

[0251] The LP-WUR can include a first type of receiver and a second type of receiver, and at least include the following possible cases.

[0252] In a first possible case, the first type of receiver is an OFDM receiver, and the second type of receiver is an on-off keying (OOK) receiver. Alternatively, the first type of receiver is an OOK receiver, and the second type of receiver is an OFDM receiver.

[0253] The second possible case is that the first type of receiver has two I / Q branches (i.e., two branches), and the second type of receiver has one branch; or, the first type of receiver has one branch, and the second type of receiver has two I / Q branches (i.e., two branches).

[0254] The third possible case is that the first type of receiver is a coherent receiver, and the second type of receiver is a non-coherent receiver; or, the first type of receiver is a non-coherent receiver, and the second type of receiver is a coherent receiver.

[0255] The fourth possible case is that the first type of receiver is a coherent receiver with two I / Q branches, and the second type of receiver is a non-coherent receiver without two I / Q branches; or, the first type of receiver is a non-coherent receiver without two I / Q branches, and the second type of receiver is a coherent receiver with two I / Q branches.

[0256] The fifth possible case is that the first type of receiver can receive a complex signal, and the second type of receiver cannot receive a complex signal (e.g., the second type of receiver receives a real signal); or, the first type of receiver cannot receive a complex signal (e.g., the first type of receiver receives a real signal), and the second type of receiver can receive a complex signal.

[0257] The sixth possible case is that the first type of receiver receives a signal in an energy detection manner, and the second type of receiver can receive a signal in multiple manners; or, the first type of receiver can receive a signal in multiple manners, and the second type of receiver receives a signal in an energy detection manner.

[0258] The seventh possible case is that the first type of receiver can receive an OFDM signal, and the second type of receiver cannot receive an OFDM signal (e.g., the second type of receiver receives an OOK signal); or, the first type of receiver cannot receive an OFDM signal (e.g., the first type of receiver receives an OOK signal), and the second type of receiver can receive an OFDM signal. Exemplarily, when the network device sends a low-power signal to the terminal device, the terminal device can start the LP-WUR to receive the low-power signal; when the network device sends an SSB to the terminal device, the terminal device can start the MR to receive the SSB. In this way, the resource consumption of the network device and the terminal device can be reduced.

[0259] Optionally, the time domain position other than the second time domain position in the M+1th time range is not used for sending the second signal.

[0260] In this possible case, the second time domain position includes only one time domain position. For example, the time domain position is used only for sending one second signal.

[0261] In another possible case, the second time domain position can include a plurality of time domain positions, the plurality of time domain positions occupy a small time range in the M+1 time range, or in other words, the plurality of time domain positions occupy a concentrated time range in the M+1 time range, or in other words, the plurality of time domain positions occupy continuous time domain positions in the M+1 time range. In this way, if the terminal device fails to receive the second signal at a time domain position, the terminal device can also receive the second signal at a continuous time domain position.

[0262] Based on the above scheme, by repeatedly sending the second signal by the network device at a plurality of time domain positions, the reliability of the terminal device receiving the second signal can be improved. At the same time, by repeatedly sending the second signal, the coverage performance of the second signal can be improved.

[0263] Optionally, the method further includes: the network device sending first indication information to the terminal device, the first indication information being used to indicate T1; and / or, the network device sending second indication information to the terminal device, the second indication information being used to indicate T2. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first indication information from the network device; and / or, the terminal device receives the second indication information from the network device.

[0264] The above T1 and / or T2 are predefined values. The above first indication information and second indication information can be the same indication information, or can be different indication information.

[0265] The first indication information or the second indication information can be located in one or more of the following: SIB, MIB, broadcast message, RRC message, paging message, MAC-CE, DCI signaling, PDCCH, PDSCH, CSI-RS, DMRS, TRS, paging message, short information; or, the first indication information or the second indication information can also be located in any new signal, channel, or signaling. Among them, the SIB contains system information elements, the SIB can combine system information elements with the same properties together, different SIBs can have different characteristics, and the SIB can be located in the PDSCH.

[0266] Based on the above scheme, by predefining the relationship between the time domain positions of the first signal and the second signal, only the time domain position of one signal needs to be known, and the time domain position of the other signal can be derived, reducing signaling overhead, and also possibly reducing network complexity.

[0267] Optionally, the method further includes: the network device sending a third signal to the terminal device at a third time domain position, the time interval between the third time domain position and the second time domain position being equal to the transmission period of the third signal. Optionally, the third signal is a periodically transmitted signal.

[0268] The third signal can be a low-power signal, such as an LP-SS, an LP-WUS, a low-power PDCCH, a low-power PDSCH, a PUSCH, a low-power PUCCH, a low-power SSB, a low-power TRS, a low-power CSI-RS, a low-power positioning signal, a low-power sensing communication signal, a low-power SRS, a RACH, a low-power preamble signal, a low-power contention resolution message, a low-power DCI signal, a low-power UCI, or a newly designed low-power signal, without limitation.

[0269] The third signal and the first signal can be the same signal, for example, the modulation mode and the number of bits of the first signal and the third signal can be the same, or can be different signals, without limitation. When the third signal and the first signal are the same signal, the third signal and the first signal can be signals transmitted in different transmission periods.

[0270] In one possible case, the first time domain position is one of the candidate transmission positions of the third signal, or in other words, the first time domain position is the time domain position of the periodically transmitted third signal in one transmission period. For example, when the third signal and the first signal are the same signal, the signal transmitted by the third signal at the first time domain position is the above-mentioned first signal.

[0271] In another possible case, the first time domain position has no relationship with the candidate transmission positions of the third signal, and the first time domain position is a specific position, for example, all terminal devices listen to the first signal at this specific position.

[0272] Exemplarily, FIG. 10 shows a schematic diagram of indicating system information update by an LP-SS. As shown in FIG. 10, SFN mod change period = 0, that is, when SFN mod change period is set to 0, it means that there is no specific periodic change in the Mth time range (i.e., the first update period). In the range of SFN mod change period = 0, or in other words, in the first update period, no SSB is transmitted.

[0273] In the first update period, the network device periodically transmits an LP-SS to the terminal device, and one of the LP-SSs carries an update indication of system information, indicating the terminal device to receive an updated SSB at the first time domain position of the M+1th time range (i.e., the second update period). Other time domain positions in the second update period can be used for periodically transmitting LP-SSs. After receiving the LP-SS carrying the system information update indication, the terminal device can determine to receive the updated SSB at the first time domain position of the second update period.

[0274] It should be understood that the above example only shows two update periods, and there can be more update periods, without limitation.

[0275] Optionally, the first signal and the second signal can be in one time unit, which can include hour (h), minute (min), s, ms, symbol, OFDM symbol, time slot, miniature (mini) time slot, system frame or system subframe, without limitation.

[0276] For example, the length of one transmission period of the first signal and the length of one transmission period of the second signal are less than or equal to the length of one time slot, that is, one transmission period of the first signal and one transmission period of the second signal occupy the same time slot OFDM symbol, or one transmission period of the first signal and one transmission period of the second signal occupy time units in an integer multiple relationship.

[0277] For example, the first signal is LP-SS, and the second signal is SSB. FIG. 11 shows a schematic diagram of the distribution of the time domain resources occupied by the LP-SS and the SSB in one time slot. As shown in FIG. 11, in one time slot, the PDCCH occupies the first and second OFDM symbols, the SSB occupies the third to sixth OFDM symbols, and the LP-SS occupies the seventh to fourteenth OFDM symbols.

[0278] The OFDM symbols occupied by the above-mentioned LP-SS and SSB are fixed. After the terminal device receives the LP-SS indicating that the SSB is received at the second time domain position, the terminal device can determine the position of receiving the SSB according to the number of OFDM symbols occupied by the LP-SS and the SSB in one time slot. In this way, the terminal device can save resource overhead.

[0279] It should be understood that the above examples are only examples. The number and position of the time domain resources occupied by the PDCCH, the SSB and the LP-SS can be configured by the network device through signaling or predefined by the protocol, without limitation. The number of OFDM symbols occupied by the SSB is fixed (i.e., 4 OFDM symbols), and the number of OFDM symbols occupied by the LP-SS can be less than the number of symbols occupied by the SSB, without limitation.

[0280] In another possible implementation, the transmission periods of the first signal and the second signal have no correlation, and the terminal device can determine the transmission periods of the first signal and the second signal through one or two indication information sent by the network device.

[0281] Exemplarily, taking the first signal as an LP-SS and the second signal as an SSB as an example, the starting time domain position of the LP-SS between two SSBs is the time domain position of the SSB plus a first time interval, that is, the terminal device receives the SSB to complete the synchronization and measurement function, and then transmits the LP-SS after a period of time. The first time interval can be the transmission period of the LP-SS, or the transmission period of the SSB.

[0282] For example, there are three SSBs, the starting time domain position of the time domain resource occupied by the first LP-SS transmitted between the first SSB and the second SSB relative to the starting time domain position of the time domain resource of the first SSB is a gap 1, the starting position of the time domain resource occupied by the first LP-SS transmitted between the second SSB and the third SSB relative to the starting position of the time domain resource of the second SSB is a gap 2, and gap 1 = gap 2. Between any two adjacent SSBs, the time interval between the second LP-SS and the first LP-SS is the period value of the LP-SS, and similarly, the time interval between the qth LP-SS and the (q-1)th LP-SS is the period value of the LP-SS.

[0283] When the second signal is an SSB, the SSB can be split, and the split parts can have the same or different transmission periods, which can include the following two cases:

[0284] In one possible case, the network device can split the SSB into two parts, the first part is PSS and SSS, and the second part is PBCH and DMRS on PBCH. The transmission period values of the two parts are different, wherein the transmission period value of PSS and SSS is P1, and the transmission period value of PBCH and DMRS on PBCH is P2, and the values of P1 and P2 are greater than 0. The transmission period values of P1 and P2 can be configured by the network device through signaling or predefined by the protocol. The sizes of the transmission period values of P1 and P2 can not be fixed, for example, P1 > P2.

[0285] In another possible case, the network device splits the SSB into three parts, the first part is PSS, the second part is PBCH and DMRS on PBCH, and the third part is SSS. The transmission period values of the three parts are different at least in two transmission period values, wherein the transmission period value of PSS is P1, the transmission period value of PBCH and DMRS on PBCH is P2, and the transmission period value of SSS is P3. The transmission period values of P1 and P2 can be configured by the network device through signaling or predefined by the protocol. The sizes of the transmission period values of P1, P2 and P3 can not be fixed, for example, P1 = P2 < P3.

[0286] FIG. 12 shows another communication method 1200 provided by the embodiments of the present application. The method 1200 includes steps 1210-1220. Each step in the method 1200 is described in detail below.

[0287] In step 1210, the terminal device sends a first request message to the network device, where the first request message is used to request updating a first sending period, and the first sending period is a sending period of part or all information in a fourth signal. Correspondingly, the network device receives the first request message from the terminal device.

[0288] The fourth signal can be an SSB, a PSS, an SSS, a DMRS, a PBCH, or a newly designed signal, and is not limited in this regard.

[0289] The fifth signal can be a low-power signal, such as an LP-SS, an LP-WUS, a low-power PDCCH, a low-power PDSCH, a PUSCH, a low-power PUCCH, a low-power SSB, a low-power TRS, a low-power CSI-RS, a low-power positioning signal, a low-power sensing communication signal, a low-power SRS, a RACH, a low-power preamble signal, a low-power contention resolution message, a low-power DCI signal, a low-power UCI, or a newly designed low-power signal, and is not limited in this regard.

[0290] The LP-WUR can include a first type of receiver and a second type of receiver, and at least includes the following possible cases.

[0291] In the first possible case, the first type of receiver is an OFDM receiver, and the second type of receiver is an OOK receiver; or the first type of receiver is an OOK receiver, and the second type of receiver is an OFDM receiver.

[0292] In the second possible case, the first type of receiver has two I / Q branches, and the second type of receiver has one branch; or the first type of receiver has one branch, and the second type of receiver has two I / Q branches.

[0293] In the third possible case, the first type of receiver is a coherent receiver, and the second type of receiver is a non-coherent receiver; or the first type of receiver is a non-coherent receiver, and the second type of receiver is a coherent receiver.

[0294] In the fourth possible case, the first type of receiver is a coherent receiver with two I / Q branches, and the second type of receiver is a non-coherent receiver without two I / Q branches; or the first type of receiver is a non-coherent receiver without two I / Q branches, and the second type of receiver is a coherent receiver with two I / Q branches.

[0295] In a fifth possible case, the first type of receiver can receive a complex signal, and the second type of receiver can not receive a complex signal (e.g., the second type of receiver receives a real signal); or the first type of receiver can not receive a complex signal (e.g., the first type of receiver receives a real signal), and the second type of receiver can receive a complex signal.

[0296] In a sixth possible case, the first type of receiver receives a signal in an energy detection manner, and the second type of receiver can receive a signal in multiple manners; or the first type of receiver can receive a signal in multiple manners, and the second type of receiver receives a signal in an energy detection manner.

[0297] In a seventh possible case, the first type of receiver can receive an OFDM signal, and the second type of receiver can not receive an OFDM signal (e.g., the second type of receiver receives an OOK signal); or the first type of receiver can not receive an OFDM signal (e.g., the first type of receiver receives an OOK signal), and the second type of receiver can receive an OFDM signal.

[0298] It should be understood that the transmission period of the fourth signal is greater than the transmission period of the fifth signal, and the transmission period of the fourth signal and the transmission period of the fifth signal are greatly different. Therefore, in general, the LP-WUR of the terminal device receiving the fifth signal is in an open state, and the MR of the terminal device receiving the fourth signal is periodically opened, and after receiving the fourth signal, the channel state measurement is completed, and then the MR is closed, and the MR is opened again when the next fourth signal is received.

[0299] The network device transmits the fifth signal most of the time and transmits the fourth signal a small amount of time, and the terminal device uses a low-power receiver to receive the fifth signal and uses a MR with relatively high power consumption to receive the fourth signal, which helps to save the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0300] The above LP-WUR can be an envelope detection receiver and / or a correlation detection receiver, where the correlation detection receiver can be understood as a receiver with correlation detection capability, or a receiver with I / Q two-way, or a receiver with sequence detection capability. The MR can be a receiver with I / Q two-way, a receiver supporting decoding, a receiver supporting receiving a PDSCH, a receiver supporting receiving a PDCCH, or a receiver with uplink signal / channel transmission capability.

[0301] The first request message can include: reducing the transmission period of the fourth signal, extending the transmission period of the fourth signal, supporting the transmission period of the fourth signal as t1, or not updating the transmission period of the fourth signal.

[0302] The first request message can be in one or more of the following: Msg 1, Msg 3, UCI, a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) message, a PUSCH channel, a PUCCH channel, a redesigned uplink signal, or a redesigned uplink channel.

[0303] The first request message can be a request message sent by one or more terminal devices to the network device, without limitation.

[0304] In step 1220, the network device sends a fourth signal to the terminal device according to the updated first sending period.

[0305] In this application, the network device can determine the sending period of the fourth signal according to the number of first request messages received by the terminal device within a time range. The relationship between the number of first request messages and the sending period of the fourth signal can be one or more, the relationship information between the number of first request messages and the sending period of the fourth signal can be carried in signaling, signal or channel, or the relationship information between the number of first request messages and the sending period of the fourth signal is predefined, for example, a predefined table or a predefined formula.

[0306] It should be understood that the above-mentioned time range can be N fourth signal sending periods, N fifth signal sending periods, N system frames, N paging periods, or N discontinuous reception (DRX) periods, without limitation.

[0307] Based on the above scheme, the network device can send the fourth signal to the terminal device, and the terminal device can send the first request message to the network device based on the received fourth signal and the fifth signal (for example, based on the channel state measurement value of the fourth signal and the fifth signal), to request to update the sending period value of the fourth signal. In this way, when the network device sends the fourth signal, it can combine the reported request of the terminal device, which is beneficial to reduce the resource overhead of the network device and the terminal device.

[0308] Optionally, the method further includes: the terminal device sends a first request message to the network device based on a first measurement result and a second measurement result, the first measurement result is measured based on the fifth signal, and the second measurement result is measured based on the fourth signal.

[0309] The first measurement result can include a channel measurement result of the terminal device on the fourth signal, and the second measurement result can include a channel measurement result of the terminal device on the fifth signal, without limitation.

[0310] It should be understood that the channel state measurement of the fourth signal and the fifth signal can be completed in a unified time window, and the channel state measurement of the fourth signal and the fifth signal can be completed in a short period of time after the terminal device periodically opens the MR receiving the fourth signal. In this way, it is beneficial to save the resource consumption of the terminal device.

[0311] The first measurement result and the second measurement result have different comparison relationships, which can include the following possible cases:

[0312] In one possible case, when the first measurement result is less than the second measurement result, and the difference between the first measurement result and the second measurement result is greater than or equal to the first threshold, the first request message is used to request to reduce the first sending period, or the first request message carries the value of the reduced first sending period. For example, the sending period of the fourth signal is changed from 60 ms to 20 ms.

[0313] In another possible case, when the first measurement result is greater than the second measurement result, and the difference between the first measurement result and the second measurement result is greater than or equal to the second threshold, the first request message is used to request to increase the first sending period, or the first request message carries the value of the increased first sending period. For example, the sending period of the fourth signal is changed from 60 ms to 120 ms.

[0314] In another possible case, when the first measurement result is less than the second measurement result, and the difference between the first measurement result and the second measurement result is greater than or equal to the third threshold, the reception of the fifth signal is stopped. Alternatively, when the number of first request messages received in the first time period is greater than or equal to a preset value, the fourth signal is sent according to the updated first sending period.

[0315] Based on the above scheme, the fourth signal and the fifth signal sent by the network device are used for the terminal device to judge whether the sending period of the fourth signal is reasonable, and the terminal device assists the network device to adjust the sending period of the fourth signal, which helps to improve the receiving performance of the terminal device and improve the network capacity.

[0316] Exemplarily, taking the fourth signal as an SSB as an example, Table 2 shows the relationship between the number of first request messages and the sending period of the SSB. As shown in Table 2, there are three different relationships between the number of first request messages and the sending period of the SSB.

[0317] Table 2

[0318] As shown in Table 2, for example, if the number of first request messages sent by the terminal device to the network device is greater than x1 within 1 hour, the transmission period of the SSB is 20 ms. For example, if the number of first request messages sent by the terminal device to the network device is greater than x2 and less than x1 within 1 hour, the transmission period of the SSB is 60 ms. For example, if the number of first request messages sent by the terminal device to the network device is greater than x3 and less than x2 within 1 hour, the transmission period of the SSB is 120 ms.

[0319] It should be understood that the difference between the transmission period values of the SSB corresponding to adjacent levels in the above table is fixed, or can be exponential, or can be stepwise, or can be multiplied, and the disclosure is not limited in this regard. For example, taking the fourth signal as the SSB and the fifth signal as the LP-SS as an example, FIG. 13 shows a schematic diagram of periodically transmitting the SSB. As shown in FIG. 13, the period of the SSB is greater than the period of the LP-SS, and the time range between the starting time domain position of the first SSB and the starting time domain position of the second SSB is the transmission period of the SSB, which can be referred to as the transmission period of the first SSB.

[0320] In the transmission period of the first SSB, the terminal device can start the LP-WUR to receive the LP-SS to complete the basic synchronization and measurement functions, and obtain a first measurement result. The terminal device periodically starts the MR to receive the SSB to perform channel state measurement, and obtains a second measurement result. The terminal device can send a first request message to the network device according to the comparison relationship between the first measurement result and the second measurement result, to request to update the transmission period of the SSB. The network device can determine the transmission period of the SSB according to the number of first request messages received within a period of time. For example, the network device can determine the transmission period of the SSB according to the relationship between the number of first request messages and the transmission period of the SSB shown in Table 2.

[0321] Optionally, in a possible implementation, if the number of first request messages sent by the terminal device to the network device within a period of time is less than a threshold value, the network device can not transmit the SSB at the time domain position at which the SSB should be transmitted in the future, or only periodically transmit the SSS within a period of time in the future, or only periodically transmit the PBCH within a period of time in the future.

[0322] FIG. 14 shows a communication method 1400 provided by an embodiment of the present application. The method 1200 includes steps 1410 to 1420. The steps in the method 1400 are described in detail below.

[0323] In step 1410, the terminal device sends a second request message to the network device, where the second request message is used to request transmission of a sixth signal. Correspondingly, the network device receives the second request message from the terminal device.

[0324] The sixth signal can be an SSB, a PSS, an SSS, a DMRS, a PBCH, or a newly designed signal, without limitation.

[0325] The second request message can be located in one or more of the following: a Msg 1, a Msg 3, a UCI, a HARQ message, a PUSCH channel, a PUCCH channel, a newly designed uplink signal, or a newly designed uplink channel.

[0326] In step 1420, the network device sends the sixth signal to the terminal device at a fourth time domain position, where the fourth time domain position is determined based on a first time domain offset. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the sixth signal from the network device at the fourth time domain position.

[0327] The receiver of the terminal device that receives the sixth signal at the fourth time domain position can be an MR, for example, which can be a receiver with I / Q two-way, a receiver supporting decoding, a receiver supporting receiving a PDSCH, a receiver supporting receiving a PDCCH, or a receiver with uplink signal / channel transmission capability. Therefore, the terminal device can receive the sixth signal using the MR.

[0328] The first time domain offset can be greater than or equal to a first value, where the first value is determined based on at least one of the following: a time for waking up a first communication module for receiving the sixth signal, a synchronization time of the first communication module, a transmission delay of the uplink signal, a processing time of the network device for the uplink signal, and a transmission delay of the sixth signal. In other words, the first time domain offset is greater than a sum of one or more of the following: the time for waking up the first communication module, the synchronization time of the first communication module, the transmission delay of the uplink signal, the processing time of the network device for the uplink signal, and the transmission delay of the sixth signal.

[0329] It should be understood that the second communication module can be the MR.

[0330] Based on the above scheme, the network device sends the sixth signal to the terminal device after a certain time domain offset, so that the terminal device has more reaction time to turn on the receiver for receiving the sixth signal, and can timely receive the sixth signal at the position where the network device transmits the sixth signal. The fourth time domain position is determined based on a fifth time domain position and a first time domain offset, where the fifth time domain position includes a time domain position occupied by each terminal device in at least one cluster.

[0331] The time domain position occupied by each terminal device in the at least one cluster, in other words, the time domain position at which the one or more terminal devices send the second request message to the network device, can be divided into one or more clusters.

[0332] Based on the foregoing scheme, the time domain position at which the network device sends the sixth signal (for example, the fourth time domain position) can correspond to the time domain position at which the one or more terminal devices send the request message, so that the network device only needs to send one sixth signal to complete synchronization with the one or more terminal devices, and resource consumption of the network device can be reduced.

[0333] Exemplarily, FIG. 15 shows a schematic diagram of the distribution of clusters and synchronization signals. As shown in FIG. 15, (a) in FIG. 15 can include one cluster and one sixth signal. The one cluster corresponds to one synchronization signal (for example, the sixth signal). The one cluster includes three time domain positions. The one or more terminal devices can send the second request message to the network device at any one of the three time domain positions. The sixth signal is received after a certain time domain offset. The time domain offset can be the time interval between the end time domain position of the one cluster and the time domain position at which the sixth signal is sent. Alternatively, the time domain offset can be the time interval between the start time domain position of the cluster and the time domain position at which the sixth signal is sent. Alternatively, the time domain offset can be the time interval between the middle time domain position of the cluster and the time domain position at which the sixth signal is sent. This is not limited.

[0334] (b) in FIG. 15 can include multiple clusters (for example, two clusters) and one sixth signal. The two clusters correspond to one synchronization signal (for example, the sixth signal). Each cluster includes three time domain positions. The one or more terminal devices can send the second request message to the network device at any one of the six time domain positions. The sixth signal is received after a certain time domain offset. The time domain offset can be the time interval between the end time domain position of the second cluster and the time domain position at which the sixth signal is sent. Alternatively, the time domain offset can be the time interval between the start time domain position of the first cluster and the time domain position at which the sixth signal is sent. Alternatively, the time domain offset can be the time interval between the middle time domain positions of the first cluster and the second cluster and the time domain position at which the sixth signal is sent. This is not limited.

[0335] Based on the foregoing scheme, when the terminal device has a service demand, the terminal device sends a request message to the network device to request the sixth signal. The network device can burst the sixth signal after a certain time domain offset (for example, the first time domain offset) based on the request message of the terminal device. In this way, the network device does not need to periodically send the sixth signal, and the terminal device does not need to frequently receive the sixth signal, which is beneficial to reduce resource consumption of the network device and the terminal device.

[0336] Exemplarily, taking the sixth signal as an SSB as an example, FIG. 16 shows a schematic diagram in which a terminal device requests a network device to send an SSB. As shown in FIG. 16, the network device periodically sends an LP-SS to the terminal device, but when the terminal device has a service to transmit and the delay requirement is relatively strict, the terminal device actively wakes up the MR after receiving the LP-SS, and sends a second request message to the network device at any time domain position in a cluster or multiple clusters, to request the network device to send an SSB. After receiving the request message, the network device sends the SSB to the terminal device after a certain time domain offset (for example, a first time domain offset), so that the terminal device completes the service with a relatively high delay requirement.

[0337] FIG. 17 shows a communication method 1700 provided by an embodiment of the present application. The method 1700 includes steps 1710 to 1720. The following describes each step in the method 1700 in detail.

[0338] In step 1710, a network device sends a seventh signal to a terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the seventh signal from the network device.

[0339] The seventh signal can be a low-power signal, for example, an LP-SS, an LP-WUS, a low-power PDCCH, a low-power PDSCH, a PUSCH, a low-power PUCCH, a low-power SSB, a low-power TRS, a low-power CSI-RS, a low-power positioning signal, a low-power sensing communication signal, a low-power SRS, a RACH, a low-power preamble signal, a low-power contention resolution message, a low-power DCI signal, a low-power UCI, or a newly designed low-power signal, without limitation. The seventh signal can carry a paging message, which is used to indicate a signal to be sent by the network device.

[0340] The receiver of the terminal device receiving the seventh signal can be an LP-WUR, for example, which can be an envelope detection receiver and / or a correlation detection receiver. The correlation detection receiver can be understood as a receiver with correlation detection capability, or a receiver with I / Q two-way, or a receiver with sequence detection capability.

[0341] The LP-WUR can include a first type of receiver and a second type of receiver, and at least includes the following possible cases.

[0342] In the first possible case, the first type of receiver is an OFDM receiver, and the second type of receiver is an OOK receiver; or the first type of receiver is an OOK receiver, and the second type of receiver is an OFDM receiver.

[0343] The second possible case is that the first type of receiver has two I / Q branches (i.e., two branches), and the second type of receiver has one branch; or the first type of receiver has one branch, and the second type of receiver has two I / Q branches (i.e., two branches).

[0344] The third possible case is that the first type of receiver is a coherent receiver, and the second type of receiver is a non-coherent receiver; or the first type of receiver is a non-coherent receiver, and the second type of receiver is a coherent receiver.

[0345] The fourth possible case is that the first type of receiver is a coherent receiver with two I / Q branches, and the second type of receiver is a non-coherent receiver without two I / Q branches; or the first type of receiver is a non-coherent receiver without two I / Q branches, and the second type of receiver is a coherent receiver with two I / Q branches.

[0346] The fifth possible case is that the first type of receiver can receive a complex signal, and the second type of receiver cannot receive a complex signal (e.g., the second type of receiver receives a real signal); or the first type of receiver cannot receive a complex signal (e.g., the first type of receiver receives a real signal), and the second type of receiver can receive a complex signal.

[0347] The sixth possible case is that the first type of receiver receives a signal in an energy detection manner, and the second type of receiver can receive a signal in multiple manners; or the first type of receiver can receive a signal in multiple manners, and the second type of receiver receives a signal in an energy detection manner.

[0348] The seventh possible case is that the first type of receiver can receive an OFDM signal, and the second type of receiver cannot receive an OFDM signal (e.g., the second type of receiver receives an OOK signal); or the first type of receiver cannot receive an OFDM signal (e.g., the first type of receiver receives an OOK signal), and the second type of receiver can receive an OFDM signal.

[0349] In step 1720, the network device sends an eighth signal to the terminal device at a sixth time domain position, which is determined based on the time domain position of the seventh signal and the second time domain offset. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the eighth signal from the network device.

[0350] The eighth signal can be an SSB, a PSS, an SSS, a DMRS, a PBCH, or a newly designed signal, which is not limited.

[0351] The receiver of the terminal device receiving the eighth signal can be an MR, for example, the MR can be a receiver with I / Q two-way, a receiver supporting decoding, a receiver supporting receiving a PDSCH, a receiver supporting receiving a PDCCH, or a receiver with uplink signal / channel transmission capability. Therefore, the terminal device can receive the sixth signal using the MR.

[0352] The second time domain offset can be greater than or equal to a second value, wherein the second value is determined based on at least one of the following: a time of waking up the second communication module for receiving the eighth signal; a synchronization time of the second communication module; a transmission delay of the uplink signal; a processing time of the network device for the uplink signal; a transmission delay of the seventh signal. In other words, the second time domain offset is greater than the sum of one or more of the following: a time of waking up the first communication module; a synchronization time of the second communication module; a transmission delay of the uplink signal; a processing time of the network device for the uplink signal; a transmission delay of the seventh signal.

[0353] It should be understood that the second communication module described above can be the MR described above.

[0354] The network device transmits the eighth signal to the terminal device after a certain time domain offset, so that the terminal device has more reaction time to start the receiver for receiving the eighth signal, and can receive the eighth signal in time at the position where the network device transmits the eighth signal.

[0355] Based on the above scheme, the network device can transmit a seventh signal (such as a low-power signal) to the terminal device, which can be used to instruct the terminal device to receive the eighth signal. After the terminal device receives the seventh signal, it will receive the eighth signal at a position where the network device transmits the eighth signal after a certain time domain offset (for example, a second time domain offset). In this way, it is beneficial to reduce the resource consumption of the network device and the terminal device.

[0356] For example, taking the seventh signal as an LP-WUS and the eighth signal as an SSB, FIG. 18 shows a schematic diagram of the network device instructing the terminal device to have a paging message, as shown in FIG. 18, the network device periodically transmits an LP-SS to the terminal device for basic synchronization and measurement, and can also transmit an LP-WUS carrying a paging indication message to the terminal device. After the terminal device receives the LP-WUS, it starts an MR after a certain time domain offset (for example, a second time domain offset) and receives an SSB. Optionally, if there is system information update or in the scenario of cell deterioration, even if the network device does not transmit a paging message to the terminal device, the network device can transmit information carrying wake-up of the terminal device to wake up the MR of the terminal device, and transmit the eighth signal after a certain time domain offset (for example, a second time domain offset).

[0357] In addition to sending the eighth signal based on the request of the terminal device, the network device can periodically send the eighth signal, which can include the following possible cases.

[0358] In one possible case, the network device determines that the position of sending the eighth signal and the time interval of the next periodically sent eighth signal is less than L1, then the network device no longer sends the eighth signal based on the request of the terminal device, and the terminal device can receive the eighth signal at the fixed position of periodically sending the eighth signal. In this way, it is beneficial to save the resource overhead of the network device and the terminal device.

[0359] In another possible case, the network device determines that the position of sending the eighth signal and the time interval of the next periodically sent eighth signal is greater than L1, then the network device, in addition to sending the eighth signal based on the request of the terminal device, can periodically send the eighth signal, and the terminal device, in addition to waking up the MR to receive the eighth signal after a certain time domain offset (for example, the second time domain offset), can also receive the eighth signal at the fixed position of periodically sending the eighth signal. In this way, it can meet the burst demand of the terminal device, and will not affect the normal communication demand of the network device and the terminal device.

[0360] It should be understood that the flows shown in FIG. 9, FIG. 12, FIG. 14 or FIG. 17 are only examples, and should not constitute any limitation on the present application. In other embodiments, these flows can also include more or fewer steps.

[0361] It should also be understood that the size of the serial number of the above processes does not mean the order of execution, and the execution order of the processes should be determined according to its function and inherent logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0362] The above communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application is described in detail in combination with the drawings. The following describes the apparatus provided by the embodiments of the present application in detail in combination with the drawings.

[0363] FIG. 19 to FIG. 20 are schematic block diagrams of possible communication apparatuses provided by the embodiments of the present application. These communication apparatuses can be used to implement the functions of the terminal device or the functions of the network device in the above method embodiments, and thus can also achieve the beneficial effects possessed by the above method embodiments.

[0364] One communication apparatus provided by the present application is shown in FIG. 19, which includes a communication unit 1910 and a processing unit 1920. The communication unit 1910 can be used to perform the actions of receiving or sending, and the processing unit 1920 can be used to perform actions other than receiving and sending, such as generating information or messages, processing received information or messages, etc.

[0365] In a possible design, the communication apparatus 1900 is configured to implement the function of the network device in any of the method embodiments of FIG. 9, FIG. 12, FIG. 14, or FIG. 17. For example, the communication apparatus can be a network device, or a component (such as a chip, a chip system, a processor, etc.) configured in the network device, or a logic module or software capable of implementing part or all of the function of the network device.

[0366] For example, when the communication apparatus 1900 is configured to implement the function of the network device in the method 900, the communication unit 1910 is configured to send, in a first time domain position, a first signal, where the first signal is configured to indicate receiving, in a second time domain position, a second signal, the first time domain position is in an M th time range, the second time domain position is in an M+1 th time range, a start position of the second time domain position is spaced apart from a start position of the M+1 th time range by T1, a length of each of the time ranges is T2, T1 is greater than or equal to 0, T2 is greater than 0, and M is an integer greater than 0; and send, in the second time domain position, the second signal.

[0367] Optionally, a time domain position in the M+1 th time range, other than the second time domain position, is not configured to send the second signal.

[0368] Optionally, the communication unit 1910 is further configured to send first indication information, where the first indication information is configured to indicate T1; and / or the communication unit 1910 is further configured to send second indication information, where the second indication information is configured to indicate T2.

[0369] Optionally, the first signal and the second signal are in one time slot.

[0370] Optionally, the communication unit 1910 is further configured to send, in a third time domain position, a third signal, where the third signal is a periodically sent signal, and a time interval between the third time domain position and the second time domain position is equal to a sending period of the third signal.

[0371] Optionally, the first time domain position is one of candidate sending positions of the third signal.

[0372] For example, when the communication apparatus 1900 is configured to implement the function of the network device in the method 1200, the communication unit 1910 is configured to receive a first request message, where the first request message is configured to request updating a first sending period, and the first sending period is a sending period of part or all of information in a fourth signal; send, according to the updated first sending period, the fourth signal; and send, according to a second sending period, a fifth signal.

[0373] Optionally, a sending period of the fourth signal is greater than a sending period of the fifth signal.

[0374] Optionally, the communication unit 1910 is further configured to receive a first request message sent by the receiving terminal device based on a first measurement result and a second measurement result, the first measurement result being based on the fifth signal measurement, and the second measurement result being based on the fourth signal measurement.

[0375] Optionally, the communication unit 1910 is further configured to send the fourth signal according to the updated first sending period, including: when the number of the first request messages received in the first time period is greater than or equal to a preset value, sending the fourth signal according to the updated first sending period.

[0376] Optionally, the first sending period is updated based on the number of the first request messages received in the first time period.

[0377] Optionally, the communication unit 1910 is further configured to receive a second request message, the second request message being used to request transmission of a sixth signal; and further configured to send the sixth signal at a fourth time domain position, the fourth time domain position being determined based on a first time domain offset.

[0378] Optionally, the first time domain offset is greater than or equal to a first value, the first value being determined based on at least one of: a time for waking up a first communication module, the first communication module being used to receive the sixth signal; a synchronization time of the first communication module; a sending time delay of an uplink signal; a processing time of the network device for the uplink signal; and a sending time delay of the sixth signal.

[0379] Optionally, the fourth time domain position is determined based on a fifth time domain position and the first time domain offset, the fifth time domain position including a time domain position occupied by each terminal device in at least one cluster.

[0380] Optionally, the communication unit 1910 is further configured to send a seventh signal; and further configured to send an eighth signal at a sixth time domain position, the sixth time domain position being determined based on a time domain position of the seventh signal and a second time domain offset.

[0381] Optionally, the second time domain offset is greater than or equal to a second value, the second value being determined based on at least one of: a time for waking up a second communication module, the first communication module being used to receive the eighth signal; a synchronization time of the second communication module; a sending time delay of an uplink signal; a processing time of the network device for the uplink signal; and a sending time delay of the eighth signal.

[0382] One possible design is that the communication apparatus 1900 is configured to implement the functions of the terminal device in any of the method embodiments of FIG. 9, FIG. 12, FIG. 14 or FIG. 17. For example, the communication apparatus can be a terminal device, or a component (such as a chip, a chip system, a processor, etc.) configured in a terminal device, or a logic module or software capable of implementing part or all of the functions of a terminal device.

[0383] For example, when the communication apparatus 1900 is configured to implement the functions of the terminal device in the method 900, the communication unit 1910 is configured to receive a first signal at a first time domain position, the first signal being configured to indicate receiving a second signal at a second time domain position, the first time domain position being within an Mth time range, the second time domain position being within an (M+1)th time range, wherein a start position of the second time domain position is separated from a start position of the (M+1)th time range by T1, a length of the time range is T2, T1 is greater than or equal to 0, T2 is greater than 0, and M is an integer greater than 0; and receive the second signal at the second time domain position.

[0384] Optionally, the first signal is received through a first communication link, and the second signal is received through a second communication link, and a power consumption of the first communication link for receiving the first signal is less than a power consumption of the second communication link for receiving the second signal.

[0385] Optionally, the communication unit 1910 is further configured to receive first indication information, the first indication information being configured to indicate T1; and / or the communication unit 1910 is further configured to receive second indication information, the second indication information being configured to indicate T2.

[0386] Optionally, the first signal and the second signal are within one time slot.

[0387] Optionally, the communication unit 1910 is further configured to receive a third signal at a third time domain position, the third signal being a periodically transmitted signal, and a time interval between the third time domain position and the second time domain position is equal to a transmission period of the third signal.

[0388] Optionally, the first time domain position is one of candidate transmission positions of the third signal.

[0389] For example, when the communication apparatus 1900 is configured to implement the functions of the terminal device in the method 1200, the communication unit 1910 is configured to transmit a first request message, the first request message being configured to request updating a first transmission period, the first transmission period being a transmission period of part or all of information in a fourth signal; receive the fourth signal according to the updated first transmission period; and receive a fifth signal according to a second transmission period.

[0390] Optionally, the transmission period of the fourth signal is greater than the transmission period of the fifth signal.

[0391] Optionally, the communication unit 1910 is further configured to transmit a first request message based on a first measurement result and a second measurement result, the first measurement result being measured based on the fifth signal, and the second measurement result being measured based on the fourth signal.

[0392] Optionally, when the first measurement result is less than the second measurement result, and a difference between the first measurement result and the second measurement result is greater than or equal to a first threshold value, the first request message is used to request to reduce the first transmission period, or the first request message carries a value of the first transmission period after being reduced; or, when the first measurement result is greater than the second measurement result, and a difference between the first measurement result and the second measurement result is greater than or equal to a second threshold value, the first request message is used to request to increase the first transmission period, or the first request message carries a value of the first transmission period after being increased.

[0393] Optionally, when the first measurement result is less than the second measurement result, and a difference between the first measurement result and the second measurement result is greater than or equal to a third threshold value, the reception of the fifth signal is stopped.

[0394] Optionally, when the communication apparatus 1900 is configured to implement the functions of the terminal device in the method 1400, the communication unit 1910 is configured to transmit a second request message, the second request message being used to request to transmit a sixth signal; and configured to receive the sixth signal at a fourth time domain position, the fourth time domain position being determined based on a first time domain offset.

[0395] Optionally, the first time domain offset is greater than or equal to a first value, the first value being determined based on at least one of: a time of waking up a first communication module, the first communication module being used to receive the sixth signal; a synchronization time of the first communication module; a transmission time delay of an uplink signal; a processing time of the network device on the uplink signal; and a transmission time delay of the sixth signal.

[0396] Optionally, the fourth time domain position is determined based on a fifth time domain position and the first time domain offset, the fifth time domain position comprising a time domain position occupied by each terminal device in at least one cluster.

[0397] Optionally, when the communication apparatus 1900 is configured to implement the functions of the terminal device in the method 1700, the communication unit 1910 is configured to receive a seventh signal; and configured to receive an eighth signal at a sixth time domain position, the sixth time domain position being determined based on a time domain position of the seventh signal and a second time domain offset.

[0398] Optionally, the second time domain offset is greater than or equal to a second value, the second value being determined based on at least one of: a time at which the second communication module is woken up, the first communication module being configured to receive the eighth signal; a synchronization time of the second communication module; a transmission time delay of the uplink signal; a processing time of the network device for the uplink signal; a transmission time delay of the eighth signal.

[0399] It should also be understood that the communication unit 1910 in the communication apparatus 1900 can also be referred to as a transceiving unit, and the communication unit 1910 can include a transmitting module and not include a receiving module. Alternatively, the communication unit 1910 can include a receiving module and not include a transmitting module. Specifically, whether the transmitting module and the receiving module are included in the communication unit 1910 depends on whether the transmitting action and the receiving action are included in the above-mentioned schemes performed by the communication apparatus 1900. The receiving module can be configured to perform the receiving action in the above-mentioned schemes, and the transmitting module can be configured to perform the transmitting action in the above-mentioned schemes.

[0400] It can be understood that the division of the units in the above apparatus is merely a logical function division, and each function can correspond to a functional unit, or two or more functions can be integrated into one functional unit. In actual implementation, all or part of the units can be integrated into one physical entity, or distributed on different physical entities. In addition, the functional units can be implemented in the form of hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software. Whether a function is implemented in the form of hardware or software depends on a specific application and design constraint condition of the technical solution. A person skilled in the art can implement the described functions by using different methods for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of the present application.

[0401] Another communication apparatus provided in the present application is shown in FIG. 20, and the communication apparatus 2000 includes at least one processor 2010. The at least one processor 2010 can be configured to execute computer programs or instructions in the memory to implement the steps performed by the network device in any of the method embodiments shown in FIG. 9, FIG. 12, FIG. 14, or FIG. 17.

[0402] Optionally, the communication apparatus 2000 can further include at least one memory 2020 for storing instructions executed by the processor 2010 or storing input data required by the processor 2010 to run the instructions or storing data generated after the processor 2010 runs the instructions. The at least one processor 2010 and the at least one memory 2020 can be separately arranged. For example, each memory can be connected with one or more processors, so that the connected processor can read information from the memory, store and / or write information in the memory. Alternatively, the at least one processor 2010 and the at least one memory 2020 can be integrated together, for example, one or more memories can be integrated in one processor.

[0403] Optionally, the communication apparatus 2000 further includes an interface circuit 2030, which can be configured to transmit data and / or signaling. The at least one processor 2010 and the interface circuit 2030 are coupled to each other. It can be understood that the interface circuit 2030 can be a transceiver, an input / output circuit, a bus, a module, a pin or other type of communication interface, wherein the input circuit in the input / output circuit can be configured to receive, and the output interface can be configured to send.

[0404] Optionally, the communication apparatus 2000 further includes a power supply circuit 2040, which can be configured to supply power for the communication apparatus 2000.

[0405] When the communication apparatus 2000 is configured to implement the method shown in any of the method embodiments of FIG. 9, FIG. 12, FIG. 14 or FIG. 17, the processor 2010 is configured to perform the functions of the processing unit described above, and the interface circuit 2020 is configured to perform the functions of the receiving unit and / or the sending unit described above. Whether the interface circuit 2020 is configured to send or receive depends on whether the communication apparatus 2000 is configured to perform a sending action or a receiving action in the scheme implemented by the communication apparatus 2000.

[0406] It can be understood that when the communication apparatus 2000 is a communication device (such as a terminal or a network device), the interface circuit 2020 can be a transceiver, which can specifically include a transmitter and a receiver, the transmitter being configured to send signals, and the receiver being configured to receive signals. When the communication apparatus 2000 is a chip applied to a communication device, the interface circuit 2020 can be an input / output circuit, a bus, a module, a pin or other type of communication interface, wherein the input circuit in the input / output circuit can be configured to receive, and the output interface can be configured to send.

[0407] It should be understood that in the communication apparatus 2000 shown in FIG. 20, the processor 2010 can correspond to the processing unit 1920 in the communication apparatus 1900 described above, and the interface circuit 2020 can correspond to the communication unit 1910 in the communication apparatus 1900 described above.

[0408] It should also be understood that the coupling or the communication connection between the apparatuses, units or modules in the embodiments of the present application can be indirect coupling or communication connection between the apparatuses, units or modules, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms, for information interaction between the apparatuses, units or modules. The specific connection medium between the at least one processor 2010, the at least one memory 2020, the interface circuit 2030 and the power supply circuit 2040 in the embodiments of the present application is not limited. In FIG. 20, the processor 2010, the memory 2020, the interface circuit 2030 and the power supply circuit 2040 are connected through the bus 2050. The bus 2050 is represented by a thick line in FIG. 20, and the connection mode between other components is only schematically illustrated and is not limited. The bus can be a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus or an extended industry standard architecture (EISA) bus, etc. The bus can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For convenience of representation, only one thick line is used to represent the bus in FIG. 20, but it does not mean that there is only one bus or only one type of bus.

[0409] It can be understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application can be a central processing unit (CPU), and can also be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0410] The memory in the embodiments of the present application can be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or can include both volatile and non-volatile memories. Among them, the non-volatile memory can be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically EPROM (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory can be a random access memory (RAM) used as an external cache. By way of example, but not limitation, many forms of RAM can be used, such as static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the system and method described herein is intended to include, but not be limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0411] The present application also provides a communication system, comprising the network device and the terminal device described above.

[0412] The present application also provides a computer program product, comprising: a computer program (also referred to as code or instructions) which, when executed, causes a computer to perform the method performed by the network device or the terminal device in the embodiments shown in FIG. 9, FIG. 12, FIG. 14 or FIG. 17.

[0413] The present application also provides a computer readable storage medium storing a computer program (also referred to as code or instructions). When the computer program is executed, it causes a computer to perform the method performed by the network device or the terminal device in the embodiments shown in FIG. 9, FIG. 12, FIG. 14 or FIG. 17.

[0414] The terms "unit", "module" and the like used in the present specification can be used to represent computer-related entities, hardware, combinations of hardware and software, software, or software in execution.

[0415] Those of skill would further appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. The choice of hardware or software, or combinations of both, would be dependent on the specific application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans can implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application. In several embodiments provided in the present application, it will be apparent that the disclosed devices, apparatuses, and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the division of the units described above is merely illustrative, and for example, the division of the units is merely a logical function division, and actual implementation can have another division, for example, a plurality of units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be omitted or not implemented. In addition, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection between the units shown or discussed can be indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, and can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0416] The units described as separate components can or can not be physically separate, and the components shown as units can or can not be physical units, i.e. can be located in one place, or can be distributed on a plurality of network units. Part or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the embodiments.

[0417] In addition, the functional units in each of the embodiments of the present application can be integrated in one processing unit, or each unit can be physically present separately, or two or more units can be integrated in one unit.

[0418] In the above embodiments, the functions of the various functional units can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented by software, the whole or part of the computer program instructions (program) can be implemented in the form of a computer program product. When the computer program instructions (program) are loaded and executed on a computer, the whole or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are generated. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable devices. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer readable storage medium or transferred from one computer readable storage medium to another computer readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions can be transferred from one website, computer, server or data center to another website, computer, server or data center through wired (such as coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (such as infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) mode. The computer readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. integrated with one or more available media. The available media can be magnetic media (for example, floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), optical media (for example, digital video disc (DVD)), or semiconductor media (for example, solid state disk (SSD)) and the like.

[0419] If the function is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solutions of the present application essentially or the part of the prior art or the part of the technical solutions can be embodied in the form of a software product, and the computer software product stored in a storage medium includes a plurality of instructions for making a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) execute all or part of the steps of the embodiments of the present application. The storage medium mentioned above includes: U disk, mobile hard disk, ROM, RAM, magnetic disk or optical disk and various media that can store program codes.

[0420] The above is only a specific embodiment of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art can easily think of changes or replacements within the technical range disclosed in the present application, which should be covered within the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method applied to a network device, characterized in that, The method comprises: sending a first signal at a first time domain position, the first signal being used for indicating receiving a second signal at a second time domain position, the first time domain position being within an Mth time range, the second time domain position being within an (M+1)th time range, wherein a start position of the second time domain position is spaced apart from a start position of the (M+1)th time range by T1, a length of each of the time ranges is T2, the T1 is greater than or equal to 0, the T2 is greater than 0, and the M is an integer greater than 0; sending the second signal at the second time domain position.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, A time domain position within the (M+1)th time range other than the second time domain position is not used for sending the second signal.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, Further comprising: sending first indication information, the first indication information being used for indicating the T1; and / or, sending second indication information, the second indication information being used for indicating the T2.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, Further comprising: sending a third signal at a third time domain position, the third signal being a periodically sent signal, and a time interval between the third time domain position and the second time domain position being equal to a sending period of the third signal.

5. A communication method characterized by comprising: Applied to a terminal device, the method comprises: receiving a first signal at a first time domain position, the first signal being used for indicating receiving a second signal at a second time domain position, the first time domain position being within an Mth time range, the second time domain position being within an (M+1)th time range, wherein a start position of the second time domain position is spaced apart from a start position of the (M+1)th time range by T1, a length of each of the time ranges is T2, the T1 is greater than or equal to 0, the T2 is greater than 0, and the M is an integer greater than 0; receiving the second signal at the second time domain position.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein, The first signal is received through a first communication link, the second signal is received through a second communication link, and a power consumption of the first communication link receiving the first signal is less than a power consumption of the second communication link receiving the second signal.

7. The method according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that, Further comprising: receiving first indication information, the first indication information being used for indicating the T1; and / or, receiving second indication information, the second indication information being used for indicating the T2.

8. The method according to any one of claims 5 to 7, characterized in that, Further comprising: receiving a third signal at a third time domain position, the third signal being a periodically sent signal, and a time interval between the third time domain position and the second time domain position being equal to a sending period of the third signal.

9. A communications device, characterized by One or more functional units are included for implementing the method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 8.

10. A communications device, characterized by A processor is included for executing program code to cause the communication apparatus to implement the method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 8.

11. A computer readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program, characterized in that, The computer program, when executed by a processor, causes the method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 8 to be performed.

12. A computer program product, characterised in that, The computer program, when executed by a processor, causes the method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 8 to be performed.

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