Communication processing method, apparatus, chip and storage medium

Abstract

Disclosed in the present application are a communication processing method, an apparatus, a chip and a storage medium. The method comprises: receiving semi-static signaling from a network device, the semi-static signaling being used for configuring an initial PRACH resource; and receiving dynamic signaling from the network device, the dynamic signaling indicating a change of a target PRACH resource with respect to the initial PRACH resource. The method of the present application indicates changes of PRACH resources by means of dynamic signaling, so as to enable flexible adjustment of PRACH resources, and allow dynamic adaptation to changes of the number of random access devices, thus helping to improve the system energy-saving gain.

Description

A communication processing method, apparatus, chip, and storage medium

[0001] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202410946681.4, filed on July 12, 2024, entitled “A Communication Processing Method, Apparatus, Chip and Storage Medium”, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0002] This application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication processing method, apparatus, chip, and storage medium. Background Technology

[0003] In wireless communication systems, the energy cost of the mobile network accounts for approximately 23% of the operator's total cost. The majority of energy consumption comes from the radio access network, particularly active antenna units (AAUs) and baseband units (BBUs), accounting for over 90% of the total energy cost. Therefore, 3GPP Release 18 established the project "Network Energy Saving (NES)" with the goal of researching methods to reduce network energy consumption.

[0004] The existing base station configures the resources of the physical random access channel (PRACH) and the actual number of beams transmitted by the synchronization signal block (SSB) through system information block 1 (SIB1). Then, the user equipment (UE) determines the correspondence between SSB and PRACH based on these two pieces of information.

[0005] However, the adjustment cycle for configuring PRACH resources through SIB1 is too long, inflexible, and not conducive to energy saving. Summary of the Invention

[0006] This application provides a communication processing method, apparatus, chip, and storage medium. Based on the method described in this application, PRACH resources can be flexibly adjusted, and the number of randomly accessed devices can be dynamically adapted, which is beneficial to improving the system's energy-saving gains.

[0007] In a first aspect, this application provides a communication processing method, the method comprising: receiving semi-static signaling from a network device, the semi-static signaling being used to configure initial PRACH resources; and receiving dynamic signaling from the network device, the dynamic signaling indicating changes in target PRACH resources relative to the initial PRACH resources.

[0008] Based on the method described in the first aspect, by dynamically signaling changes to PRACH resources, PRACH resources can be flexibly adjusted, which can dynamically adapt to changes in the number of randomly accessed devices and is beneficial to improving system energy efficiency.

[0009] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: semi-static signaling for configuring initial PRACH resources, including: the semi-static signaling including a first PRACH configuration index, the first PRACH configuration index indicating the initial PRACH resources.

[0010] In one possible implementation, the semi-static signaling also includes first frequency domain resource indication information and a first PRACH configuration index indicating initial PRACH resources, including: the first PRACH configuration index and the first frequency domain resource indication information indicating initial PRACH resources.

[0011] In one possible implementation, semi-static signaling is used to configure the initial PRACH resource, including: the semi-static signaling includes a first PRACH configuration index and a second PRACH configuration index, the second PRACH configuration index being different from the first PRACH configuration index, and the second PRACH configuration index indicating the initial PRACH resource.

[0012] In one possible implementation, semi-static signaling is used to configure initial PRACH resources, including: the semi-static signaling includes a first PRACH configuration index and a second PRACH configuration index, the second PRACH configuration index being different from the first PRACH configuration index, and the initial PRACH resources being the remaining resources after excluding resources that overlap with resources indicated by the first PRACH configuration index from the resources indicated by the second PRACH configuration index.

[0013] In one possible implementation, the dynamic signaling includes first indication information and / or second indication information, wherein the first indication information is used to indicate the change in frequency domain resources of the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource, and the second indication information is used to indicate the change in time domain resources of the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource.

[0014] In one possible implementation, the dynamic signaling includes a first indication information and a second indication information. The first indication information is used to indicate that the frequency domain resources or time domain resources of the initial PRACH resources have changed, and the second indication information is used to indicate the amount of change corresponding to the change in the frequency domain resources or time domain resources.

[0015] In one possible implementation, dynamic signaling indicates changes in the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource, including: dynamic signaling indicates an increase or decrease in the time domain resource of the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource.

[0016] In one possible implementation, dynamic signaling indicates changes in the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource, including: dynamic signaling indicating whether the resource in the initial PRACH resource is available.

[0017] In one possible implementation, dynamic signaling indicates whether resources in the initial PRACH resource are available, including: dynamic signaling indicates whether the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources of the initial PRACH resource are available after filtering by modulo operation based on the index of the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources.

[0018] In one possible implementation, dynamic signaling indicates whether resources in the initial PRACH resource are available, including: dynamic signaling indicates whether the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources of the initial PRACH resource are available after filtering by division based on the index of the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources.

[0019] In one possible implementation, dynamic signaling indicates whether resources in the initial PRACH resource are available, including: dynamic signaling indicates whether the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources of the initial PRACH resource are available after being filtered by hash operation based on the index of the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources.

[0020] In one possible implementation, dynamic signaling indicates whether a resource in the initial PRACH resource is available, including: the dynamic signaling indicates whether the corresponding PRACH resource in the initial PRACH resource is available through a bitmap or code point value.

[0021] In one possible implementation, dynamic signaling indicates whether resources in the initial PRACH resources are available, including: dynamic signaling is used to indicate the proportion of changes in PRACH resources corresponding to each synchronization signal block index in the initial PRACH resources.

[0022] In one possible implementation, the semi-static signaling further includes third indication information, which indicates that the initial PRACH resources are divided into multiple PRACH resource subsets based on frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources; the dynamic signaling indicates the change of the target PRACH resources relative to the initial PRACH resources, including: the dynamic signaling is used to indicate whether each PRACH resource subset in the multiple PRACH resource subsets is available.

[0023] Secondly, this application provides a communication processing method, which includes: sending semi-static signaling to a terminal device, the semi-static signaling being used to configure initial physical random access channel (PRACH) resources; and sending dynamic signaling to the terminal device, the dynamic signaling indicating changes in target PRACH resources relative to the initial PRACH resources.

[0024] The beneficial effects of the possible implementation of the second aspect can be found in the beneficial effects of the possible implementation of the first aspect, and will not be repeated here.

[0025] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: semi-static signaling for configuring initial PRACH resources, including: the semi-static signaling including a first PRACH configuration index, the first PRACH configuration index indicating the initial PRACH resources.

[0026] In one possible implementation, the semi-static signaling also includes first frequency domain resource indication information and a first PRACH configuration index indicating initial PRACH resources, including: the first PRACH configuration index and the first frequency domain resource indication information indicating initial PRACH resources.

[0027] In one possible implementation, semi-static signaling is used to configure the initial PRACH resource, including: the semi-static signaling includes a first PRACH configuration index and a second PRACH configuration index, the second PRACH configuration index being different from the first PRACH configuration index, and the second PRACH configuration index indicating the initial PRACH resource.

[0028] In one possible implementation, semi-static signaling is used to configure initial PRACH resources, including: the semi-static signaling includes a first PRACH configuration index and a second PRACH configuration index, the second PRACH configuration index being different from the first PRACH configuration index, and the initial PRACH resources being the remaining resources after excluding resources that overlap with resources indicated by the first PRACH configuration index from the resources indicated by the second PRACH configuration index.

[0029] In one possible implementation, the dynamic signaling includes first indication information and / or second indication information, wherein the first indication information is used to indicate the change in frequency domain resources of the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource, and the second indication information is used to indicate the change in time domain resources of the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource.

[0030] In one possible implementation, the dynamic signaling includes a first indication information and a second indication information. The first indication information is used to indicate that the frequency domain resources or time domain resources of the initial PRACH resources have changed, and the second indication information is used to indicate the amount of change corresponding to the change in the frequency domain resources or time domain resources.

[0031] In one possible implementation, dynamic signaling indicates changes in the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource, including: dynamic signaling indicates an increase or decrease in the time domain resource of the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource.

[0032] In one possible implementation, dynamic signaling indicates changes in the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource, including: dynamic signaling indicating whether the resource in the initial PRACH resource is available.

[0033] In one possible implementation, dynamic signaling indicates whether resources in the initial PRACH resource are available, including: dynamic signaling indicates whether the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources of the initial PRACH resource are available after filtering by modulo operation based on the index of the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources.

[0034] In one possible implementation, dynamic signaling indicates whether resources in the initial PRACH resource are available, including: dynamic signaling indicates whether the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources of the initial PRACH resource are available after filtering by division based on the index of the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources.

[0035] In one possible implementation, dynamic signaling indicates whether resources in the initial PRACH resource are available, including: dynamic signaling indicates whether the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources of the initial PRACH resource are available after being filtered by hash operation based on the index of the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources.

[0036] In one possible implementation, dynamic signaling indicates whether a resource in the initial PRACH resource is available, including: the dynamic signaling indicates whether the corresponding PRACH resource in the initial PRACH resource is available through a bitmap or code point value.

[0037] In one possible implementation, dynamic signaling indicates whether resources in the initial PRACH resources are available, including: dynamic signaling is used to indicate the proportion of changes in PRACH resources corresponding to each synchronization signal block index in the initial PRACH resources.

[0038] In one possible implementation, the semi-static signaling further includes third indication information, which indicates that the initial PRACH resources are divided into multiple PRACH resource subsets based on frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources; the dynamic signaling indicates the change of the target PRACH resources relative to the initial PRACH resources, including: the dynamic signaling is used to indicate whether each PRACH resource subset in the multiple PRACH resource subsets is available.

[0039] Thirdly, this application provides a communication device, which may be a terminal device, a device within a terminal device, or a device compatible with a terminal device. The communication device may also be a chip system, capable of executing the methods performed by the terminal device in the first aspect. The functions of the communication device can be implemented in hardware or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more units corresponding to the aforementioned functions. These units may be software and / or hardware. The operations performed by the communication device and its beneficial effects are described in the first aspect above, and will not be repeated here.

[0040] Fourthly, this application provides a communication device, which may be a network device, a device within a network device, or a device compatible with a network device. The communication device may also be a chip system, capable of executing the methods performed by the network device in the second aspect. The functions of the communication device can be implemented in hardware or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more units corresponding to the aforementioned functions. These units may be software and / or hardware. The operations performed by the communication device and its beneficial effects are described in the second aspect above, and will not be repeated here.

[0041] Fifthly, this application provides a communication device including a processor, which, when the processor invokes a computer program in memory, executes a method performed by a terminal device or network device as described in the first or second aspect.

[0042] In a sixth aspect, this application provides a communication device including a processor and a memory for storing computer execution instructions; the processor is configured to execute the computer execution instructions stored in the memory to cause the communication device to perform the method performed by a terminal device or network device as described in the first or second aspect.

[0043] In a seventh aspect, this application provides a communication device including a processor, a memory, and a transceiver. The transceiver is used to receive or transmit signals; the memory is used to store a computer program; and the processor is used to invoke the computer program from the memory to execute the method performed by the terminal device or network device as described in the first or second aspect.

[0044] Eighthly, this application provides a communication device including a processor and an interface circuit for receiving computer execution instructions and transmitting them to the processor; the processor executes the computer execution instructions to perform the method performed by the terminal device or network device as described in the first or second aspect.

[0045] Ninthly, this application provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause a terminal device or network device to perform a method as described in the first or second aspect.

[0046] In a tenth aspect, this application provides a communication device that includes functions or units for performing the methods described in any one of the first or second aspects.

[0047] In one aspect, this application provides a computer program product including a computer program that, when executed, causes the method performed by a terminal device or network device as described in the first or second aspect to be implemented.

[0048] In a twelfth aspect, this application provides a communication system comprising a terminal device and a network device; wherein the terminal device is configured to perform the method described in the first aspect above, and the network device is configured to perform the method described in the second aspect above. Attached Figure Description

[0049] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0050] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a random access procedure provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0051] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the preamble time-domain structure provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0052] Figure 4A is an example of an SSB-to-RO mapping provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0053] Figure 4B is an example of an SSB-RO mapping provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0054] Figure 4C is an example of an SSB-RO mapping provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0055] Figure 4D is an example of an SSB-to-RO mapping provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0056] Figure 5 is a flowchart illustrating a communication processing method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0057] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of a PRACH resource provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0058] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of an initial PRACH resource provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0059] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of an initial PRACH resource provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0060] Figure 9A is a schematic diagram of an initial PRACH resource provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0061] Figure 9B is a schematic diagram of an initial PRACH resource provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0062] Figure 10 is a schematic diagram of dynamic signaling provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0063] Figure 11 is a schematic diagram of dynamic signaling provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0064] Figure 12A is a schematic diagram of an initial PRACH resource index provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0065] Figure 12B is a schematic diagram of an initial PRACH resource index provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0066] Figure 12C is a schematic diagram of an initial PRACH resource index provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0067] Figure 13 is a flowchart illustrating a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0068] Figure 14 is a flowchart illustrating a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0069] Figure 15 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0070] Figure 16 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0071] Figure 17 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a chip provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0072] The terms "first" and "second," etc., used in the specification, claims, and drawings of this application are used to distinguish different objects, not to describe a specific order. Furthermore, the terms "comprising" and "having," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, system, product, or apparatus that includes a series of steps or units is not limited to the listed steps or units, but may optionally include steps or units not listed, or may optionally include other steps or units inherent to these processes, methods, products, or apparatuses.

[0073] In this document, the term "embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment may be included in at least one embodiment of this application. The appearance of this phrase in various places throughout the specification does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, nor is it a separate or alternative embodiment mutually exclusive with other embodiments. It will be explicitly and implicitly understood by those skilled in the art that the embodiments described herein can be combined with other embodiments.

[0074] In this application, "at least one (item)" refers to one or more, "more than one" refers to two or more, "at least two (items)" refers to two or three or more, and "and / or" is used to describe the correspondence between related objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, "A and / or B" can mean: only A exists, only B exists, and both A and B exist simultaneously, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the related objects before and after are in an "or" relationship. "At least one (item) of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, at least one (item) of a, b, or c can mean: 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.

[0075] The terms "comprising" and "having," and any variations thereof, mentioned in the following description of the embodiments of this application are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, system, product, or device that includes a series of steps or units is not limited to the listed steps or units, but may optionally include other steps or units not listed, or may optionally include other steps or units inherent to these processes, methods, products, or devices. It should be noted that in the embodiments of this application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations, or descriptions. Any method or design described as "exemplary" or "for example" in the embodiments of this application should not be construed as being more preferred or advantageous than other methods or designs. Specifically, the use of words such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present the relevant concepts in a specific manner. To better understand the embodiments of this application, the system architecture involved in the embodiments of this application is first introduced below:

[0076] The technical solutions of this application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) systems, LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD) systems, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) or Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) systems, New Radio (NR), the 3rd Generation Partner Project (3GPP) service-based architecture (SBA) and other fifth-generation (5G) or sixth-generation (6G) communication systems, and other communication systems that have evolved after 5G.

[0077] In a communication system, one network element can send signals to or receive signals from another network element. These signals can include information, configuration information, or data. For example, a communication system may include at least one terminal device and at least one network device. The network device can be the network element sending the configuration information, and the terminal device can be the network element receiving the configuration information. Furthermore, it is understood that if the communication system includes multiple terminal devices, these devices can also exchange signals; that is, both the network element sending and receiving configuration information can be a terminal device.

[0078] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system provided in an embodiment of this application. The communication system 100 may include a network device 110 and at least one terminal device 120. Figure 1 illustrates a communication system including a network device (i.e., network device 110) and one terminal device (i.e., terminal device 120). The terminal device 120 is wirelessly connected to the network device 110. The terminal device 120 can be fixed in location or movable. The terminal device 120 can send uplink signals to the network device 110, and the network device 110 can receive the uplink signals. The network device 110 can send downlink signals to the terminal device 120. The network device 110 and the terminal device 120 involved in the communication system 100 in Figure 1 will be described in detail below.

[0079] Network device 110 can provide wireless access services to terminal device 120, that is, network device 110 is an access device that enables terminal device 120 to access the communication system wirelessly. Network device 110 can be an evolved Node B (eNB or eNodeB) in LTE; or a base station, broadband network gateway (BNG), aggregation switch, or non-3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) access device in a 5G network, etc., which are not specifically limited in this embodiment. Network device 110 can also be called access network device, access node (AN), radio access node (RAN), etc. For example, the base station in the embodiments of this application may include various forms of base stations, such as: macro base stations, micro base stations (also known as small stations), relay stations, access points, next-generation base stations (gNodeB, gNB), radio network controllers (RNC), node B (NB), base station controllers (BSC), base transceiver stations (BTS), home base stations (e.g., homeevolved nodeB, or home node B, HNB), base band units (BBU), transmitting and receiving points (TRP), transmitting points (TP), mobile switching centers, and devices that perform base station functions in device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X), machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, and Internet of Things (IoT) communication, etc. The embodiments of this application do not specifically limit these. Alternatively, network device 110 can also be a centralized unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a centralized unit control plane (CU-CP) node, or a centralized unit user plane (CU-UP) node.

[0080] It is understood that in the embodiments of this application, the device used to implement the network device function can be the network device itself, or it can be a device that supports the network device in implementing the function, such as a chip system or a combination of devices or components that can implement the network device function. This device can be installed in the network device. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technology or specific device form used in the network device.

[0081] Terminal device 120 includes devices that provide voice and / or data connectivity to users. For example, terminal device 120 is a device with wireless transceiver capabilities that can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld, wearable, or vehicle-mounted; it can also be deployed on water (such as on ships); and it can be deployed in the air (such as on airplanes, balloons, and satellites). Terminal device 120 can be a mobile phone, tablet, computer with wireless transceiver capabilities, virtual reality (VR) terminal, augmented reality (AR) terminal, wireless terminal in industrial control, vehicle-mounted terminal, wireless terminal in self-driving, wireless terminal in remote medical care, wireless terminal in smart grid, wireless terminal in transportation safety, wireless terminal in smart city, wireless terminal in smart home, wearable terminal, etc. The embodiments of this application do not limit the application scenarios. Terminal equipment 120 may also be referred to as a terminal, user equipment (UE), mobile station (MS), mobile terminal (MT), access terminal, vehicle-mounted terminal, industrial control terminal, UE unit, UE station, mobile station, mobile terminal, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, UE terminal, wireless communication equipment, UE agent, or UE device, etc. Terminal equipment 120 can be fixed or mobile.

[0082] It is understood that, in the embodiments of this application, all or part of the functions of the terminal device 120 can also be implemented through software functions running on hardware, or through virtualization functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform). The terminal device 120 in this application can be a 5G terminal or a 6G terminal; this application does not limit this. In the embodiments of this application, the apparatus for implementing the functions of the terminal device 120 can be the terminal device 120 itself, or it can be an apparatus capable of supporting the terminal device 120 in implementing the functions, such as a chip system or a combination of devices or components capable of implementing the functions of the terminal device 120. This apparatus can be installed in the terminal device 120.

[0083] It should be noted that Figure 1 is only a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system. The communication system 100 may also include other devices, such as wireless relay devices, wireless backhaul devices, core network devices, etc., which are not shown in Figure 1. The embodiments of this application do not limit the number of various devices included in the communication system.

[0084] This application's embodiments can be applied to downlink signal transmission, uplink signal transmission, and sidelink communication (such as device-to-device (D2D) signal transmission). For downlink signal transmission, the transmitting device is a network device, and the corresponding receiving device is a terminal device. For uplink signal transmission, the transmitting device is a terminal device, and the corresponding receiving device is a network device. For D2D signal transmission, both the transmitting and receiving devices are terminal devices. The direction of signal transmission is not limited in this application's embodiments.

[0085] Network device 110 and terminal device 120 can communicate using licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or both simultaneously. They can also communicate using spectrum below 6 gigahertz (GHz), spectrum above 6 GHz, or both simultaneously. The embodiments of this application do not limit the spectrum resources used between network device 110 and terminal device 120.

[0086] In the embodiments of this application, the time-domain symbol can be an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol or a discrete Fourier transform-spread-OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) symbol. Unless otherwise specified, the symbols in the embodiments of this application refer to time-domain symbols.

[0087] It is understood that in the embodiments of this application, the physical downlink share channel (PDSCH), physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), and physical uplink share channel (PUSCH) are only examples of downlink data channel, downlink control channel, and uplink data channel, respectively. In different systems and different scenarios, the data channel and control channel may have different names, and the embodiments of this application do not limit this.

[0088] This application relates to a random access process, meaning that in the communication system illustrated in Figure 1, the terminal device 120 needs to establish a connection with the network device 110 via random access technology before normal communication can occur. For ease of understanding, the random access technology is described below. It should be understood that this description is not intended to limit the embodiments of this application.

[0089] Random access is divided into contention-based random access and non-contention-based random access. Contention-based random access typically consists of four steps, each corresponding to a message: message 1 (Msg1), message 2 (Msg2), message 3 (Msg3), and message 4 (Msg4), each carrying different signaling or information. Furthermore, to reduce the access time of the four-step contention-based random access, a two-step random access method is proposed. The two-step random access method includes message A and message B, where message A includes a preamble and the first data information (e.g., similar to messages 1 and 3 in the four-step random access), and message B includes contention resolution and uplink scheduling (e.g., similar to messages 2 and 4 in the four-step random access).

[0090] The following description uses a four-step random access procedure as an example. Referring to Figure 2, Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a random access process provided in an embodiment of this application, illustrating a random access process that mainly includes the following steps:

[0091] S201. The network device sends a synchronization signal and a master information block (MIB).

[0092] The synchronization signals are divided into the primary synchronization signal (PSS) and the secondary synchronization signal (SSS), which together determine the cell identity (CI). The MIB is carried on the physical broadcast channel (PBCH). This MIB, along with an additional 8 bits of PBCH payload information, is used to determine the system frame number, the subcarrier spacing used for System Information Block Type 1 (SIB1) signaling, the location and size information of the control resource set 0 (Coreset0) scheduling SIB1 signaling, and information about the synchronization signal / PBCH block (SSB). The PBCH, PSS, and SSS together form a synchronization signal block (SSB), which is periodically transmitted by network equipment. Generally, the SSB occupies 20 resource blocks (RBs) in the frequency domain and 4 orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols in the time domain. OFDM symbols can also be simply referred to as symbols. Among them, the PSS and SSS occupy symbols 0 and 2 in the time domain, and the PBCH occupies symbols 1, 2, and 3.

[0093] After the terminal device is powered on or needs to reconnect to the network, it scans the synchronization signal of the network device to perform downlink time and frequency synchronization.

[0094] S202. Network devices send system information, and the signal carrying the system information is also called a system information block (SIB). For example, a network device sends SIB1, which carries random access configuration information, the search space corresponding to the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) in message 2 or message 4, and other information.

[0095] The terminal device can determine the time-domain and frequency-domain positions of the control resource set Coreset0 based on the MIB-related information in the PBCH in S201, and then obtain SIB1 through Coreset0.

[0096] S203. The terminal device sends a preamble to the network device, namely the aforementioned message 1.

[0097] Specifically, the terminal device can determine the preamble and the location of the random access channel occasion (RO) based on the random access configuration information carried in SIB1. The terminal device can choose to send the preamble on the RO corresponding to the SSB. The preamble, also known as a preamble code, random access preamble (RACH preamble), or random access sequence (RACH sequence), is used by the terminal device to initiate connection requests, handover requests, synchronization requests, or scheduling requests to the network device. The preamble transmission process can also be understood as physical random access channel (PRACH) access.

[0098] For example, in a 5G NR system, the preamble of a terminal device is mainly divided into two types: short sequences and long sequences. The length of a short sequence can be, for example, 139 bits, and the length of a long sequence can be, for example, 839 bits. The subcarrier spacing (SCS) corresponding to the short sequence can be 15kHz, 30kHz, 60kHz, 120kHz, 480kHz, 960kHz, etc., or the subcarrier spacing corresponding to the short sequence can also be 15kHz*2. μ The SCS is represented as μ = 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, etc. The SCS values ​​for long SCS sequences are 1.25 kHz and 5 kHz.

[0099] Referring to Figure 3, which is a schematic diagram of the preamble time-domain structure provided in an embodiment of this application, Figure 3 schematically illustrates the relative lengths of preambles in different formats in the time domain.

[0100] As shown in Figure 3, there are four formats for the long sequence leader: format 0, format 1, format 2, and format 3. The time resource T at the very beginning position is the cyclic prefix CP. CP The four formats contain time resources T of 1, 2, 4, and 4 preceding sequences in the time domain at their middle positions, respectively. SEQFinally, it includes a guard interval (GP). In the time domain, the four formats correspond to durations of 1ms, 3ms, 4.3ms, and 1ms, respectively. There are nine formats for the short sequence preamble: A1, A2, A3, B1, B2, B3, B4, C0, and C2. As an example, the time length (or time domain length) for each format is in OFDM symbols. The number of OFDM symbols included in the time domain length of the nine formats are 2, 4, 6, 2, 4, 6, 12, 1, and 4, respectively.

[0101] A preamble format corresponds to a random access opportunity (RO). An RO represents the resources occupied by transmitting the preamble (including time-domain resources (such as time-domain position and / or time length) and frequency-domain resources). In other words, an RO can be used to carry a preamble, and the format of the preamble is the preamble format corresponding to that RO. It can be understood that if a terminal device transmits a preamble on an RO, the format of the preamble carried by that RO is the preamble format corresponding to that RO. For example, if a terminal device transmits a preamble on an RO corresponding to the aforementioned format A1, then the format of the preamble carried by that RO is A1. Furthermore, different preamble format types correspond to different time length units, and the configuration of ROs also differs. For example, for long sequence formats, the unit can be defined as milliseconds, and ROs can be configured in a subframe unit within a system frame to carry long sequence format preambles. For example, for short sequence formats, the unit can be defined as OFDM symbols, and ROs need to be configured by comprehensively considering four units: system frame, subframe, time slot, and OFDM symbol, to carry short sequence format preambles.

[0102] S204. The network device sends message 2 to the terminal device.

[0103] Message 2, also known as a random access response (RAR) message, is the network device's response to the received message 1. Specifically, the network device sends the PDCCH and the physical downlink share channel (PDSCH) carrying message 2 to the terminal device. The downlink control information (DCI) message in the PDCCH is scrambled with the random access-radio network temporary identity (RA-RNTI). The terminal device calculates the RA-RNTI based on the RO position of the previously transmitted preamble. If the terminal device can recover the PDCCH from the calculated RA-RNTI, it can determine that its random access has been responded to, and then the terminal device can continue to receive message 2 in subsequent PDSCH messages.

[0104] S205. The terminal device sends message 3 to the network device. Message 3 is used to request the establishment of a radio resource control (RRC) connection. Here, message 3 can also be called the first uplink scheduled transmission. It can be a transmission scheduled by UL grant in message 2, or a retransmission scheduled by DCI scrambling with temporary cell-radio network temporary identity (TC-RNTI).

[0105] S206. The network device sends message 4 to the terminal device. Message 4 is used to indicate that the terminal device has successfully connected, that is, the contention for random access has been successful.

[0106] In this application, RO can also be referred to as PRACH resource, which may include information such as the time of random access and the frequency of random access.

[0107] For terminal equipment, the random access time included in PRACH resources can be an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol, micro-slot, time slot, subframe, or a time period with a length of one or more basic time units. It can represent the time required to send a predefined random access preamble, and the random access frequency represents the frequency band required to send a predefined random access preamble.

[0108] In some embodiments, a PRACH resource can be identified by two dimensions: the time of random access and the frequency of random access. That is, a PRACH resource is defined by the time of random access and the frequency of random access.

[0109] In other embodiments, the time and frequency of a random access can define multiple PRACH resources, which is not limited in this application.

[0110] For network devices, PRACH resources are areas designated in the time and frequency domains that can be used to receive random access preambles. In NR, because SSBs are associated with different beams, terminal devices need to select a specific beam and use that beam to transmit PRACH. To allow network devices to know the specific beam selected by the terminal device, 3GPP defines a specific mapping between SSBs and ROs (i.e., PRACH resources). By detecting the RO of the PRACH transmitted by the terminal device, the network device can determine the specific SSB beam selected by the terminal device.

[0111] The mapping between SSB and RO can be mainly defined by the following three parameters in SIB1:

[0112] ·totalNumberOfRA-Preambles

[0113] ·ssb-perRACH-OccasionAndCB-PreamblesPerSSB

[0114] ·msg1-FDM

[0115] `totalNumberOfRA-Preambles` indicates the total number of random access preambles corresponding to a single RO; in other words, this parameter indicates the total number of preambles used for random access within an RO. In some implementations, this parameter can take the value of any positive integer from 1 to 63.

[0116] The parameter ssb-perRACH-OccasionAndCB-PreamblesPerSSB can be used to indicate the number of SSBs associated with each RO; in other words, this parameter indicates the relationship between SSBs and ROs. In some implementations, for example, the parameter can take any value of 1 / 8, 1 / 4, 1 / 2, 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16.

[0117] msg1-FDM can be used to indicate the number of multiplexed ROs in the frequency domain; in other words, this parameter can indicate the number of ROs in the frequency domain at the same location in the time domain. In some implementations, this parameter can take any value of, for example, 1, 2, 4, or 8.

[0118] It is understood that the values ​​of the above parameters are merely examples and not limitations on this application.

[0119] Referring to Figures 4A to 4D, which are examples of SSB-RO mapping provided in embodiments of this application. In Figures 4A to 4D, based on the RRC parameter configuration, there are 8 SSBs in each SSB cycle, and the frequency domain reuse parameter (i.e., msg1-FDM) is 4. Figure 4A shows an example of SSB corresponding to 4 ROs (i.e., ssb-perRACH-OccasionAndCB-PreamblesPerSSB = 1 / 4), Figure 4B shows an example of SSB corresponding to 2 ROs (i.e., ssb-perRACH-OccasionAndCB-PreamblesPerSSB = 1 / 2), Figure 4C shows an example of SSB corresponding to 1 RO (i.e., ssb-perRACH-OccasionAndCB-PreamblesPerSSB = 1), and Figure 4D shows an example of SSB corresponding to 1 / 2 ROs (i.e., ssb-perRACH-OccasionAndCB-PreamblesPerSSB = 2).

[0120] The adjustment cycle for ROs (i.e., PRACH resources) configured via SIB is relatively long and inflexible. This application further provides a communication processing method for adjusting PRACH resources. In the communication processing method for adjusting PRACH resources provided in the embodiments of this application, by first configuring the initial PRACH resources with semi-static signaling, and then indicating the change of the target PRACH resources relative to the initial PRACH resources with dynamic signaling, the PRACH resources can be flexibly adjusted. This can dynamically adapt to changes in the number of randomly accessed devices, which is beneficial to improving system energy saving.

[0121] It should be noted, of course, that the communication processing method provided in the embodiments of this application can be applied to any suitable scenario, and this application does not limit it.

[0122] Referring to Figure 5, which is a flowchart illustrating a communication processing method according to an embodiment of this application, the executing entity of this communication processing method can be the terminal device and network device mentioned above. Alternatively, the executing entity of the method shown in Figure 5 can be a chip in the terminal device and a chip in the network device; this embodiment of the application does not impose any limitations. Figure 5 illustrates the method using a terminal device and a network device as examples of executing entities.

[0123] S501, the network device sends semi-static signaling to the terminal device; correspondingly, the terminal device receives the semi-static signaling from the network device.

[0124] This semi-static signaling is used to configure the initial PRACH resources.

[0125] In some embodiments, semi-static signaling may be system message signaling.

[0126] In some embodiments, semi-static signaling may be MIB signaling.

[0127] In some embodiments, the semi-static signaling can be SIB signaling, and more specifically, the semi-static signaling can be any suitable signaling among SIB1 to SIB20.

[0128] In some embodiments, semi-static signaling may be RRC signaling.

[0129] In some embodiments, semi-static signaling may include PRACH configuration information for configuring initial PRACH resources.

[0130] PRACH configuration information can be understood as random access configuration information as described in S202.

[0131] The PRACH configuration information can be used to indicate at least one of the following parameters: preamble format, reference slot number, subcarrier spacing corresponding to the reference slot, number of PRACH slots within the reference slot, start symbol of the first RO within the PRACH slot, number of ROs within the PRACH slot, and duration of the RO. The parameters are explained below.

[0132] Preamble format primarily indicates the format of long sequence preambles and short sequence preambles, including 0, 1, 2, 3, A1, A2, A3, B1, B2, B3, B4, C0, or C2.

[0133] The reference slot number, or reference slot index, refers to the position of the reference slot where the RO is located within a system frame. The number of reference slots where the RO is located can be one or more.

[0134] The subcarrier spacing corresponding to the reference time slot refers to the subcarrier spacing corresponding to the time slot used as a reference. This subcarrier spacing can be, for example, 15kHz or 60kHz.

[0135] Number of PRACH slots within a reference slot: A reference slot can include one or more ordinary slots. Here, a PRACH slot refers to an ordinary slot within the reference slot that contains the RO (Reference Access Module). The subcarrier spacing corresponding to a PRACH slot is greater than or equal to the subcarrier spacing corresponding to the reference slot. For example, if the subcarrier spacing of the reference slot is 60kHz, the subcarrier spacing of the PRACH slot can be 120kHz, 480kHz, or 960kHz. For example, corresponding to the random access procedure illustrated in Figure 2 above, the subcarrier spacing corresponding to the PRACH slot can be determined by the subcarrier spacing used by the SIB1 signaling. The subcarrier spacing corresponding to the PRACH slot can also be understood as the random access subcarrier spacing or the initial access subcarrier spacing.

[0136] Here are some examples of the number of PRACH slots within a reference slot: For instance, if the subcarrier spacing corresponding to a PRACH slot is 60kHz, and the subcarrier spacing corresponding to a reference slot is also 60kHz, then a reference slot includes one ordinary slot, and this reference slot can contain at most one PRACH slot. If the subcarrier spacing corresponding to a PRACH slot is greater than 60kHz, for example, it could be 120kHz, 480kHz, or 960kHz, and the subcarrier spacing corresponding to a reference slot is 60kHz, then a reference slot can include two or more ordinary slots, and this reference slot can include one or more PRACH slots.

[0137] The starting symbol of the first RO in a PRACH time slot is the index of the first OFDM symbol occupied by the first RO in that time slot.

[0138] The number of time-domain PRACH occasions within a PRACH slot can be one or more. This application mainly describes the case of multiple ROs.

[0139] The duration of a preamble (RO) is measured in OFDM symbols, taking the short sequence format as an example. An RO duration can occupy one or more OFDM symbols; the number of OFDM symbols occupied by an RO depends on the preamble format.

[0140] In one alternative implementation, the aforementioned parameters can be stored in a predefined table, where the first information can be an index in the table used to indicate the aforementioned parameters. That is, the first information can be index information, which indicates one or more of the aforementioned parameters.

[0141] Furthermore, both the terminal device and the network device can obtain or configure the predefined table. After receiving the first information, the terminal device can query the predefined table to determine the parameters indicated by the first information.

[0142] In some embodiments, the PRACH configuration information may be the Physical Random Access Channel Configuration Index (PRACH Config Index) in Tables 6.3.3.2-2 to 6.3.3.2-4 of Section 6.3.3.2 of 3GPP protocol TS38.211. Based on the PRACH configuration index in these tables, the OFDM symbols occupied by the RO, i.e., the time-domain resources of the RO, can be determined in the manner described in Section 5.3.2 of TS38.211. In other words, the PRACH configuration index can indicate PRACH resources. These tables and the corresponding methods for determining OFDM symbols are incorporated herein by reference.

[0143] Referring to Figure 6, which is a schematic diagram of a PRACH resource provided in an embodiment of this application, the PRACH resource used for sending preamble PRACH can be configured using the PRACH configuration index described above.

[0144] Figure 6 illustrates an example of PRACH resources corresponding to a specific preamble bandwidth for a given preamble type. As shown in Figure 6, the preamble can be sent in a configurable subset of PRACH time slot resources that repeats in each PRACH resource cycle.

[0145] These PRACH time slot resource subsets may have multiple ROs in the frequency domain, for example, they can be determined by the aforementioned msg1-FDM parameters.

[0146] For a given preamble type and corresponding preamble bandwidth, the total available RACH time-frequency resources of a cell can be generally expressed as follows:

[0147] • Configurable PRACH resource period, for example, ranging from 10ms to a maximum of 160ms (based on parameters or tables in the existing protocol);

[0148] • The set of configurable PRACH slots within the PRACH resource lifecycle;

[0149] • Configurable frequency domain resources within the PRACH time slot.

[0150] It is understood that Figure 6 is merely an example of PRACH resource configuration and does not constitute a limitation of this application.

[0151] It should be noted that as technology evolves, the parameters or the form of the aforementioned table may change. For example, if parameters are added or removed from the table, the parameter names in the table may also change. In this embodiment of the application, the PRACH configuration information is not limited to the table in the above example. When the table parameters or the form of the table change, the PRACH configuration information can be obtained accordingly based on the table after the parameter change or the form change, or the network device can directly send one or more of the above parameters through signaling.

[0152] In some embodiments, the PRACH configuration information in semi-static signaling may be, for example, the first PRACH configuration index in the PRACH configuration index in Tables 6.3.3.2-2 to 6.3.3.2-4 of Section 6.3.3.2 of Protocol TS38.211. That is, semi-static signaling may include the first PRACH configuration index, which indicates the initial PRACH resource.

[0153] The terminal device can determine the first PRACH resource indicated by the first PRACH configuration index based on the first PRACH configuration index included in the semi-static signaling, through the aforementioned parameter configuration and OFDM symbol determination method. Furthermore, the terminal device can determine this first PRACH resource as the initial PRACH resource.

[0154] Based on this, the terminal device can determine the initial PRACH resources based on semi-static signaling.

[0155] Referring to Figure 7, Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of an initial PRACH resource provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0156] As shown in Figure 7, based on a specific first PRACH configuration index, the initial PRACH resource indicated can be a RO in the frequency domain and a PRACH resource period of 80ms in the time domain. The terminal device can determine the initial PRACH resource shown in Figure 7 based on the specific first PRACH configuration index included in the semi-static signaling.

[0157] It is understood that the initial PRACH resource shown in Figure 7 is merely an example of PRACH resource configuration and does not constitute a limitation of this application.

[0158] In some embodiments, the semi-static signaling may further include first frequency domain resource indication information, which indicates that one or more additional frequency domain resources are added to the frequency domain resources of the first PRACH resource. In this case, the first PRACH configuration index and the first frequency domain resource indication information jointly indicate the initial PRACH resource.

[0159] For example, a terminal device receives semi-static signaling from a network device. This semi-static signaling may include a first PRACH configuration index and first frequency domain resource indication information. The terminal device can determine the first PRACH resource indicated by the first PRACH configuration index. Then, based on the first frequency domain resource indication information, the terminal device can determine additional PRACH resources associated with the first PRACH resource on one or more additional frequency domain resources indicated by the first frequency domain resource indication information. These additional PRACH resources correspond to the first PRACH resource in the time domain. Finally, the terminal device can determine the first PRACH resource and the aforementioned additional PRACH resources together as the initial PRACH resource.

[0160] Referring to Figure 8, which is a schematic diagram of an initial PRACH resource provided in an embodiment of this application, Figure 8 shows an example of an initial PRACH resource when the semi-static signaling includes a first PRACH configuration index and first frequency domain resource indication information.

[0161] In Figure 8, the first PRACH configuration index is the same as that in Figure 7. The first frequency domain resource indication information indicates that an additional frequency domain resource is added on top of the frequency domain resource of the first PRACH resource. Therefore, the initial PRACH resource in Figure 8 has the same time domain resource as the initial PRACH resource in Figure 7, with a PRACH resource period of 80ms and two ROs in the frequency domain.

[0162] In some embodiments, semi-static signaling may further include a second PRACH configuration index, that is, semi-static signaling may include a first PRACH configuration index and a second PRACH configuration index, wherein the second PRACH configuration index is different from the first PRACH configuration index, and in this case, the second PRACH configuration index indicates the initial PRACH resource.

[0163] In other words, the terminal device can determine the second PRACH resource based on the second PRACH configuration index in the semi-static signaling, and then designate the second PRACH resource as the initial PRACH resource.

[0164] Optionally, in semi-static signaling, the first PRACH configuration index and the second PRACH configuration index can be distinguished by field names. For example, the field name identifying the first PRACH configuration index can be the same as the traditional field name, while the field name identifying the second PRACH configuration index can be different from the traditional field name.

[0165] Optionally, in semi-static signaling, the first PRACH configuration index and the second PRACH configuration index can be distinguished by indicating priority. For example, the priority of the second PRACH configuration index can be set to be higher than that of the first PRACH configuration index.

[0166] Optionally, the first PRACH configuration index and the second PRACH configuration index may be included in the semi-static signaling only if the terminal device supports multiple PRACH configuration indexes, or only for terminal devices that have the capability to support multiple PRACH configuration indexes, in order to save signaling overhead.

[0167] In some embodiments, semi-static signaling may include a first PRACH configuration index and a second PRACH configuration index, wherein the second PRACH configuration index is different from the first PRACH configuration index, and the initial PRACH resources are the remaining resources in the resources indicated by the second PRACH configuration index after excluding resources that overlap with the resources indicated by the first PRACH configuration index.

[0168] In other words, the terminal device can determine the second PRACH resource based on the second PRACH configuration index in the semi-static signaling, determine the first PRACH resource based on the first PRACH configuration index, and exclude resources that overlap with the first PRACH resource from the second PRACH resource, and finally determine the initial PRACH resource.

[0169] Optionally, in semi-static signaling, the first PRACH configuration index and the second PRACH configuration index can be distinguished by field names. For example, the field name identifying the first PRACH configuration index can be the same as the traditional field name, while the field name identifying the second PRACH configuration index can be different from the traditional field name.

[0170] Optionally, in semi-static signaling, the first PRACH configuration index and the second PRACH configuration index can be distinguished by indicating priority. For example, the priority of the second PRACH configuration index can be set to be higher than that of the first PRACH configuration index.

[0171] Optionally, the first PRACH configuration index and the second PRACH configuration index may be included in the semi-static signaling only if the terminal device supports multiple PRACH configuration indexes, or only for terminal devices that have the capability to support multiple PRACH configuration indexes, in order to save signaling overhead.

[0172] Referring to Figures 9A and 9B, which are schematic diagrams of the initial PRACH resources provided in the embodiments of this application.

[0173] Figure 9A illustrates an example of the initial PRACH resource in a semi-static signaling configuration that includes both a first PRACH configuration index and a second PRACH configuration index. The first PRACH configuration index in Figure 9A is the same as the first PRACH configuration index in Figure 7. The second PRACH configuration index differs from the first PRACH configuration index in that the PRACH resource period indicated by the second PRACH configuration index is 40ms. As shown in Figure 9A, the initial PRACH resource is the second PRACH resource indicated by the second PRACH configuration index.

[0174] Figure 9B illustrates an example of initial PRACH resources in a semi-static signaling configuration that includes both a first PRACH configuration index and a second PRACH configuration index. The first PRACH configuration index in Figure 9A is the same as the first PRACH configuration index in Figure 7. The second PRACH configuration index differs from the first PRACH configuration index in that the PRACH resource period indicated by the second PRACH configuration index is 40ms. As shown in Figure 9B, the initial PRACH resources are the remaining resources after excluding those overlapping with the first PRACH resources indicated by the first PRACH configuration index from the second PRACH resources indicated by the second PRACH configuration index.

[0175] S502, the network device sends dynamic signaling to the terminal device; correspondingly, the terminal device receives dynamic information from the network device.

[0176] The dynamic signaling is used to indicate the change of the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource.

[0177] In some embodiments, dynamic signaling may be DCI signaling.

[0178] In some embodiments, dynamic signaling may include first indication information and / or second indication information, wherein the first indication information is used to indicate the change in frequency domain resources of the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource, and the second indication information is used to indicate the change in time domain resources of the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource.

[0179] Referring to Figure 10, which is a schematic diagram of dynamic signaling provided in an embodiment of this application, the dynamic signaling may include first indication information with N1 bits and / or second indication information with N2 bits.

[0180] The change in frequency domain resources of the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource can be indicated by setting the N1 bits in the first indication information. More specifically, the number of ROs that can be multiplexed in the frequency domain of the PRACH resource can be dynamically adjusted through the first information.

[0181] Taking N1=2 as an example: 00 can represent an increase of 1 frequency domain opportunity relative to the initial PRACH resource; 01 can represent an increase of 2 frequency domain opportunities relative to the initial PRACH resource; 10 can represent a decrease of 1 frequency domain opportunity relative to the initial PRACH resource; 11 can represent a decrease of 2 frequency domain opportunities relative to the initial PRACH resource. Alternatively, 00 can represent a doubling of the frequency domain opportunity for the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource; 01 can represent a quadrupling of the frequency domain opportunity for the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource; 00 can represent a reduction of half the frequency domain opportunity for the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource; 00 can represent a reduction of one-quarter of the frequency domain opportunity for the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource.

[0182] It can be observed that even without adjusting the msg1-FDM parameters, the number of ROs that can be reused in the frequency domain for PRACH resources can be dynamically adjusted.

[0183] The change in the time-domain resources of the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource can be indicated by setting the N2 bits in the second indication information. More specifically, the change in the PRACH resource period in the time domain can be dynamically adjusted through the second information.

[0184] Taking N2=2 as an example: 00 can indicate that the PRACH resource period of the target PRACH resource is increased to twice the initial PRACH resource period (e.g., the period changes from 40ms to 80ms); 01 can indicate that the PRACH resource period of the target PRACH resource is increased to four times the initial PRACH resource period (e.g., the period changes from 40ms to 160ms); 10 can indicate that the PRACH resource period of the target PRACH resource is decreased to half the initial PRACH resource period (e.g., the period changes from 160ms to 80ms); 11 can indicate that the PRACH resource period of the target PRACH resource is decreased to quarter the initial PRACH resource period (e.g., the period changes from 160ms to 40ms).

[0185] It can be observed that even without adjusting the PRACH configuration parameters, the PRACH resource lifecycle can be dynamically adjusted.

[0186] It is understood that when the target PRACH resource changes only in the frequency domain relative to the initial PRACH resource, the dynamic signaling may only include the first indication information; when the target PRACH resource changes only in the time domain relative to the initial PRACH resource, the dynamic signaling may only include the second indication information; when the target PRACH resource changes in both the frequency and time domains relative to the initial PRACH resource, the dynamic signaling may include both the first and second indication information. Furthermore, N1 and N2 may be the same or different; the above settings for N1 and N2 bits are merely examples and not limitations of this application.

[0187] In some embodiments, dynamic signaling may include first indication information and second indication information, wherein the first indication information is used to indicate that the frequency domain resources or time domain resources of the target PRACH resource have changed relative to the initial PRACH resource, and the second indication information is used to indicate the amount of change corresponding to the change in frequency domain resources or time domain resources.

[0188] Referring to Figure 11, which is a schematic diagram of dynamic signaling provided in an embodiment of this application, the dynamic signaling may include a first indication information with 1 bit and a second indication information with M bits.

[0189] By setting 1 bit in the first indication information, it can be indicated whether the target PRACH resource has changed in the frequency domain or the time domain relative to the initial PRACH resource.

[0190] For example, the first information can be set to 1 to indicate that the target PRACH resource is a frequency domain resource that has changed relative to the initial PRACH resource. More specifically, it can be set to 1 to indicate that the number of ROs that can be multiplexed in the frequency domain has changed. In this case, the setting of the M bits of the second information can refer to the setting of the N1 bits in Figure 10 to indicate the amount of change in the number of ROs multiplexed in the frequency domain resource, which will not be elaborated here.

[0191] It can be observed that even without adjusting the msg1-FDM parameters, the number of ROs that can be reused in the frequency domain for PRACH resources can be dynamically adjusted.

[0192] For example, the first information can be set to 00 to indicate that the target PRACH resource has changed in the time domain relative to the initial PRACH resource. More specifically, it can be set to 0 to indicate that the PRACH resource period has changed in the time domain. In this case, the setting of the M bits of the second information can refer to the setting of the N2 bits in Figure 10 to indicate the amount of change in the PRACH resource period in the time domain, which will not be elaborated here.

[0193] It can be observed that even without adjusting the PRACH configuration parameters, the PRACH resource lifecycle can be dynamically adjusted.

[0194] It is understood that the above settings regarding 1 bit and M bits are merely examples and not limitations of this application.

[0195] In some embodiments, dynamic signaling indicates changes in target PRACH resources relative to initial PRACH resources, including: dynamic signaling indicates an increase or decrease in time-domain resources of the target PRACH resources relative to the initial PRACH resources.

[0196] Dynamic signaling can use N1 bits to indicate the addition or reduction of UL time-domain resources. Taking N1=2 as an example: 00 can indicate that the target PRACH resource, relative to the original PRACH resource, adds the first available UL time-domain resource on the left adjacent to the RO; 01 can indicate that the target PRACH resource, relative to the original PRACH resource, adds the first available UL time-domain resource on the right adjacent to the RO; 10 can indicate that the target PRACH resource, based on the original PRACH resource, reduces the first available UL time-domain resource; 11 can indicate that the target PRACH resource, based on the original PRACH resource, reduces the first two available UL time-domain resources.

[0197] It is understood that the above-described N1 bit configuration is merely an example and not a limitation of this application. Furthermore, the UL time-domain resource can be an uplink subframe, time slot, symbol, or any suitable time-domain resource.

[0198] In some embodiments, dynamic signaling indicates a change in the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource, including: dynamic signaling indicating whether the resource in the initial PRACH resource is available.

[0199] Dynamic signaling can be indicated by enabling or disabling each RO in the initial PRACH resource, thereby enabling dynamic adjustment of the PRACH resource by indicating which ROs can be enabled and which need to be disabled.

[0200] In some embodiments, dynamic signaling may indicate whether the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources of the initial PRACH resource are available after being filtered by modulo operation based on the index of the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources.

[0201] Referring to Figures 12A to 12C, which are schematic diagrams of the index of the initial PRACH resource provided in the embodiments of this application. In this application, the index marker Occ is an abbreviation for Occasion.

[0202] Figure 12A shows an example of the index of the initial PRACH resource with respect to the frequency domain resource. As shown in Figure 12A, the index of the initial PRACH resource in the frequency domain can be Occ-F0 to Occ-F3.

[0203] Figure 12B shows an example of the index of the initial PRACH resource with respect to the time-domain resource. As shown in Figure 12B, the index of the initial PRACH resource in the time domain can be Occ-T0 to Occ-T7.

[0204] Figure 12C shows an example of the initial PRACH resource indexes for frequency and time domain resources. As shown in Figure 12C, the initial PRACH resource indexes in the frequency and time domains can be Occ-0 to Occ-31, following the order of frequency domain first and then time domain (in other implementations, the order can be time domain first and then frequency domain).

[0205] Dynamic signaling can use N1 bits to indicate whether the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources of the initial PRACH resources are available after filtering by modulo operation based on the index of the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources.

[0206] Taking N1=2 as an example: 00 can indicate that after taking the index number modulo 2, the PRACH resource with a modulo value of 0 or 1 is a usable or unusable resource; 01 can indicate that after taking the index number modulo 3, the PRACH resource with a modulo value of 0 is a usable or unusable resource; 10 can indicate that after taking the index number modulo 3, the PRACH resource with a modulo value of 1 is a usable or unusable resource; 11 can indicate that after taking the index number modulo 3, the PRACH resource with a modulo value of 2 is a usable or unusable resource.

[0207] It is understood that the above-described N1-bit configuration is merely an example and not a limitation of this application.

[0208] Furthermore, regarding time-domain resource indexing, in addition to configuring the index in units of RO as shown in Figure 12B, alternatively, time-domain resource indexing can be configured at a larger granularity. For example, it can be configured in units of time slots, PRACH resource periods, associated periods, or any suitable time-domain resource. Then, using the method described above, dynamic signaling can be used to indicate whether the frequency-domain and / or time-domain resources of the initial PRACH resource are available after modulo operation based on the index of the frequency-domain and / or time-domain resources, thereby realizing the dynamic adjustment of PRACH resources.

[0209] In some embodiments, dynamic signaling indicates whether resources in the initial PRACH resource are available, including: dynamic signaling indicates whether the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources of the initial PRACH resource are available after filtering by division based on the index of the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources.

[0210] Dynamic signaling can indicate whether the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources of the initial PRACH resource are available after filtering by division with respect to a specific value based on the index of the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources.

[0211] More specifically, dynamic signaling can indicate whether the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources of the initial PRACH resource are available or unavailable after the index of the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources are divided with respect to a specific value and the result of the operation meets the set conditions.

[0212] For example, the set condition could be that the result of dividing the index with respect to a specific value is an integer, or that the result is rounded down to the set value.

[0213] In some embodiments, dynamic signaling indicates whether resources in the initial PRACH resource are available, including: dynamic signaling indicates whether the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources of the initial PRACH resource are available after being filtered by hash operation based on the index of the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources.

[0214] Dynamic signaling can indicate whether the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources of the initial PRACH resource are available or unavailable after the index of the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources are hashed and the result of the hash operation meets the set conditions.

[0215] For example, the set condition could be that the result of the hash operation on the index is an integer, or that the result is a set value.

[0216] It is understood that dynamic signaling can indicate whether the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources of the initial PRACH resource are available after being filtered according to the index of the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources using any suitable operation method, and is not necessarily limited to the modulo operation, division operation, and hash operation described above.

[0217] In some embodiments, dynamic signaling can indicate whether the corresponding PRACH resource in the initial PRACH resource is available through a bitmap or codepoint value.

[0218] Optionally, dynamic signaling can indicate whether the PRACH resource on the corresponding frequency domain resource in the initial PRACH resource is available through a bitmap or code point value.

[0219] For example, referring to Figure 12A, the initial PRACH resources can be divided into 4 groups in the frequency domain, corresponding to indices Occ-F0 to Occ-F3 respectively. Therefore, a 4-bit bitmap or a 2-bit code point value can be used to indicate whether the PRACH resources in the corresponding frequency domain are available or unavailable.

[0220] For example, when using a 4-bit bitmap to indicate PRACH resources on the corresponding frequency domain resources, the low-order bits (or high-order bits) of the bitmap can be matched with the PRACH resources of frequency domain indices Occ-F0 to Occ-F3 respectively. A 1 in the bitmap can indicate that the PRACH resource of the corresponding index is available (or unavailable), and a 0 in the bitmap can indicate that the PRACH resource of the corresponding index is unavailable (or available).

[0221] For example, when using 2-bit code point values ​​to indicate PRACH resources on the corresponding frequency domain resources, 00, 01, 10, and 11 can be used to indicate whether the PRACH resources corresponding to frequency domain indices Occ-F0 to Occ-F3 are available or unavailable.

[0222] Optionally, dynamic signaling can indicate whether the PRACH resource on the corresponding time-domain resource in the initial PRACH resource is available through a bitmap or code point value.

[0223] For example, referring to Figure 12B, the initial PRACH resources can be divided into 8 groups in the time domain, corresponding to indices Occ-T0 to Occ-T7 respectively. Therefore, an 8-bit bitmap or a 3-bit code point value can be used to indicate whether the PRACH resources in the corresponding time domain are available or unavailable.

[0224] For example, when using an 8-bit bitmap to indicate PRACH resources in the corresponding time domain, the low-order bits (or high-order bits) of the bitmap can be matched with the PRACH resources in the frequency domain indices Occ-T0 to Occ-T7 respectively. A 1 in the bitmap can indicate that the PRACH resource of the corresponding index is available (or unavailable), and a 0 in the bitmap can indicate that the PRACH resource of the corresponding index is unavailable (or available).

[0225] For example, when using 3-bit code point values ​​to indicate PRACH resources on the corresponding time domain resources, 000, 001, 010, 011, 100, 101, 110, and 111 can be used to indicate whether the PRACH resources corresponding to time domain indices Occ-T0 to Occ-T7 are available or unavailable.

[0226] Optionally, dynamic signaling can indicate whether the PRACH resources in the corresponding frequency domain and time domain resources in the initial PRACH resources are available through bitmaps or code point values.

[0227] For example, referring to Figure 12C, the initial PRACH resource can be divided into 32 ROs in both the frequency and time domains, corresponding to indices Occ-0 to Occ-31. Therefore, a 32-bit bitmap or a 5-bit code point value can be used to indicate whether the corresponding PRACH resource is available or unavailable. The correspondence between the bitmap and code point value and the RO is similar to the aforementioned correspondence method and will not be repeated here.

[0228] It is understandable that, regarding the partitioning and configuration of resource indexes in the time domain, in addition to partitioning and configuring resource indexes in units of RO as shown in Figure 12B, alternatively, the partitioning and configuration of resource indexes in the time domain can be performed at a larger granularity. For example, the partitioning and configuration of resource indexes in the time domain can be performed in units of time slots, PRACH resource periods, associated periods, or any suitable time domain resources. Then, using the method described above, the availability of PRACH resources in the corresponding time domain resources in the initial PRACH resources can be indicated by the bitmap or code point values ​​in the dynamic signaling, thereby realizing the dynamic adjustment of PRACH resources.

[0229] Optionally, dynamic signaling can indicate whether PRACH resources on the corresponding frequency domain resources and / or the corresponding time domain resources are available in the initial PRACH resources by using a bitmap and a 1-bit enable indicator.

[0230] The indication method for PRACH resources on the corresponding frequency domain resources and / or corresponding time domain resources in the bitmap and initial PRACH resources is the same as described above, and will not be repeated here; the 1-bit enable indication can be assigned a value of 1 or 0 to indicate whether the corresponding PRACH resource is available or unavailable (or unavailable or available).

[0231] In some embodiments, dynamic signaling can be used to indicate the amount of change in the PRACH resource corresponding to each SSB index in the initial PRACH resource.

[0232] Dynamic signaling can use N1 bits to indicate the amount of change in the PRACH resource corresponding to each SSB index in the initial PRACH resource.

[0233] Optionally, dynamic signaling can be configured by setting N1 bits to indicate the frequency domain changes of the PRACH resource corresponding to each SSB index in the initial PRACH resource.

[0234] Taking N1=2 as an example: 00 can indicate that the frequency domain timing of the PRACH resource corresponding to each SSB index in the initial PRACH resource is increased to 2 times; 01 can indicate that the frequency domain timing of the PRACH resource corresponding to each SSB index in the initial PRACH resource is increased to 4 times; 00 can indicate that the frequency domain timing of the PRACH resource corresponding to each SSB index in the initial PRACH resource is reduced to 1 / 2; 00 can indicate that the frequency domain timing of the PRACH resource corresponding to each SSB index in the initial PRACH resource is reduced to 1 / 4.

[0235] Optionally, dynamic signaling can be configured by setting N1 bits to indicate the time-domain changes of the PRACH resource corresponding to each SSB index in the initial PRACH resource.

[0236] Taking N1=2 as an example: 00 can indicate that the PRACH resource period corresponding to each SSB index in the initial PRACH resource is increased to 2 times in the time domain; 01 can indicate that the PRACH resource period corresponding to each SSB index in the initial PRACH resource is increased to 4 times in the time domain; 00 can indicate that the PRACH resource period corresponding to each SSB index in the initial PRACH resource is reduced to 1 / 2 in the time domain; 00 can indicate that the PRACH resource period corresponding to each SSB index in the initial PRACH resource is reduced to 1 / 4 in the time domain.

[0237] Optionally, dynamic signaling can also set N2 bits to indicate the changed resource unit. In other words, dynamic signaling can set N2 bits to indicate the granularity of the initial PRACH resource change.

[0238] Taking N2=2 as an example: 00 can indicate that the changed resource unit is the leader; 01 can indicate that the changed resource unit is the timing; 10 can indicate that the changed resource unit is the associated period; 11 can indicate that the changed resource unit is the PRACH period, etc.

[0239] It is understood that the above settings for N1 bits and N2 bits are merely examples and not limitations of this application.

[0240] In some embodiments, the semi-static signaling may further include third indication information, which may indicate that the initial PRACH resources are divided into multiple PRACH resource subsets based on frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources; dynamic signaling may indicate whether each PRACH resource subset in the multiple PRACH resource subsets is available.

[0241] The third indication information in the semi-static signaling can indicate that the initial PRACH resources are divided into multiple PRACH resource subsets based on the frequency domain resources, for example, as shown in Figure 12A, in the frequency domain.

[0242] Alternatively, the third indication information in the semi-static signaling can indicate that the initial PRACH resource is divided into multiple PRACH resource subsets based on the time-domain resource, for example, as shown in Figure 12B, by dividing multiple subsets in the time domain.

[0243] Alternatively, the third indication information in the semi-static signaling can instruct the initial PRACH resources to be divided into multiple PRACH resource subsets based on frequency domain and time domain resources. For example, similar to Figure 12C, after sorting the ROs by index, multiple subsets can be divided in any suitable manner. Optionally, subsets can be divided based on the code domain with respect to the preamble.

[0244] It is understood that the indices contained in the subset can be consecutive or non-consecutive, and the number of elements contained in the subset can be the same or different; this application does not impose any restrictions.

[0245] In cases where static signaling can further indicate the division of the initial PRACH resources into multiple PRACH resource subsets based on frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources through third indication information, dynamic signaling can indicate the availability or unavailability of the corresponding subsets through modulo operations, bitmaps, code point values, etc. The indication methods such as modulo operations, bitmaps, and code point values ​​are similar to those described above and will not be repeated here.

[0246] In some embodiments, after the initial PRACH resource is dynamically adjusted, the mapping between the SSB and the target PRACH resource can be remapped according to existing mapping rules.

[0247] Based on the communication processing method of this application, by first configuring the initial PRACH resources with semi-static signaling and then indicating the change of the target PRACH resources relative to the initial PRACH resources with dynamic signaling, the PRACH resources can be flexibly adjusted, dynamically adapting to changes in the number of randomly accessed devices, effectively utilizing resources, and helping to improve the system's energy-saving gains.

[0248] Figure 13 is a flowchart illustrating a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application. The method execution entity shown in Figure 13 can be a terminal device, or the entity can be a chip within the terminal device. Wherein:

[0249] S1301, Receive semi-static signaling from the network device. The semi-static signaling is used to configure the initial PRACH resources.

[0250] In some embodiments, semi-static signaling may be system message signaling.

[0251] In some embodiments, semi-static signaling may be MIB signaling.

[0252] In some embodiments, the semi-static signaling can be SIB signaling, and more specifically, the semi-static signaling can be any suitable signaling among SIB1 to SIB20.

[0253] In some embodiments, semi-static signaling may be RRC signaling.

[0254] In some embodiments, semi-static signaling may include PRACH configuration information for configuring initial PRACH resources.

[0255] PRACH configuration information can be understood as random access configuration information as described in S202.

[0256] The PRACH configuration information can be used to indicate at least one of the following parameters: preamble format, reference slot number, subcarrier spacing corresponding to the reference slot, number of PRACH slots within the reference slot, start symbol of the first RO within the PRACH slot, number of ROs within the PRACH slot, and duration of the RO. The parameters are explained below.

[0257] Preamble format primarily indicates the format of long sequence preambles and short sequence preambles, including 0, 1, 2, 3, A1, A2, A3, B1, B2, B3, B4, C0, or C2.

[0258] The reference slot number, or reference slot index, refers to the position of the reference slot where the RO is located within a system frame. The number of reference slots where the RO is located can be one or more.

[0259] The subcarrier spacing corresponding to the reference time slot refers to the subcarrier spacing corresponding to the time slot used as a reference. This subcarrier spacing can be, for example, 15kHz or 60kHz.

[0260] Number of PRACH slots within a reference slot: A reference slot can include one or more ordinary slots. Here, a PRACH slot refers to an ordinary slot within the reference slot that contains the RO (Reference Access Module). The subcarrier spacing corresponding to a PRACH slot is greater than or equal to the subcarrier spacing corresponding to the reference slot. For example, if the subcarrier spacing of the reference slot is 60kHz, the subcarrier spacing of the PRACH slot can be 120kHz, 480kHz, or 960kHz. For example, corresponding to the random access procedure illustrated in Figure 2 above, the subcarrier spacing corresponding to the PRACH slot can be determined by the subcarrier spacing used by the SIB1 signaling. The subcarrier spacing corresponding to the PRACH slot can also be understood as the random access subcarrier spacing or the initial access subcarrier spacing.

[0261] Here are some examples of the number of PRACH slots within a reference slot: For instance, if the subcarrier spacing corresponding to a PRACH slot is 60kHz, and the subcarrier spacing corresponding to a reference slot is also 60kHz, then a reference slot includes one ordinary slot, and this reference slot can contain at most one PRACH slot. If the subcarrier spacing corresponding to a PRACH slot is greater than 60kHz, for example, it could be 120kHz, 480kHz, or 960kHz, and the subcarrier spacing corresponding to a reference slot is 60kHz, then a reference slot can include two or more ordinary slots, and this reference slot can include one or more PRACH slots.

[0262] The starting symbol of the first RO in a PRACH time slot is the index of the first OFDM symbol occupied by the first RO in that time slot.

[0263] The number of time-domain PRACH occasions within a PRACH slot can be one or more. This application mainly describes the case of multiple ROs.

[0264] The duration of a preamble (RO) is measured in OFDM symbols, taking the short sequence format as an example. An RO duration can occupy one or more OFDM symbols; the number of OFDM symbols occupied by an RO depends on the preamble format.

[0265] In one alternative implementation, the aforementioned parameters can be stored in a predefined table, where the first information can be an index in the table used to indicate the aforementioned parameters. That is, the first information can be index information, which indicates one or more of the aforementioned parameters.

[0266] Furthermore, both the terminal device and the network device can obtain or configure the predefined table. After receiving the first information, the terminal device can query the predefined table to determine the parameters indicated by the first information.

[0267] In some embodiments, the PRACH configuration information may be the Physical Random Access Channel Configuration Index (PRACH Config Index) in Tables 6.3.3.2-2 to 6.3.3.2-4 of Section 6.3.3.2 of 3GPP protocol TS38.211. Based on the PRACH configuration index in these tables, the OFDM symbols occupied by the RO, i.e., the time-domain resources of the RO, can be determined in the manner described in Section 5.3.2 of TS38.211. In other words, the PRACH configuration index can indicate PRACH resources. These tables and the corresponding methods for determining OFDM symbols are incorporated herein by reference.

[0268] Referring to Figure 6, which is a schematic diagram of a PRACH resource provided in an embodiment of this application, the PRACH resource used for sending preamble PRACH can be configured using the PRACH configuration index described above.

[0269] Figure 6 illustrates an example of PRACH resources corresponding to a specific preamble bandwidth for a given preamble type. As shown in Figure 6, the preamble can be sent in a configurable subset of PRACH time slot resources that repeats in each PRACH resource cycle.

[0270] These PRACH time slot resource subsets may have multiple ROs in the frequency domain, for example, they can be determined by the aforementioned msg1-FDM parameters.

[0271] For a given preamble type and corresponding preamble bandwidth, the total available RACH time-frequency resources of a cell can be generally expressed as follows:

[0272] • Configurable PRACH resource period, for example, ranging from 10ms to a maximum of 160ms (based on parameters or tables in the existing protocol);

[0273] • The set of configurable PRACH time slots (i.e., the time-domain resources of RO) within the PRACH resource cycle;

[0274] • The number of frequency domain resources that can be configured within the PRACH time slot (i.e., the frequency domain resources of ROs) and the number of ROs in the frequency domain.

[0275] It is understood that Figure 6 is merely an example of a PRACH resource configuration corresponding to a specific PRACH configuration index and does not constitute a limitation of this application.

[0276] It should be noted that as technology evolves, the parameters or the form of the aforementioned table may change. For example, if parameters are added or removed from the table, the parameter names in the table may also change. In this embodiment of the application, the PRACH configuration information is not limited to the table in the above example. When the table parameters or the form of the table change, the PRACH configuration information can be obtained accordingly based on the table after the parameter change or the form change, or the network device can directly send one or more of the above parameters through signaling.

[0277] In some embodiments, the PRACH configuration information in semi-static signaling may be, for example, the first PRACH configuration index in the PRACH configuration index in Tables 6.3.3.2-2 to 6.3.3.2-4 of Section 6.3.3.2 of Protocol TS38.211. That is, semi-static signaling may include the first PRACH configuration index, which indicates the initial PRACH resource.

[0278] The terminal device can determine the first PRACH resource indicated by the first PRACH configuration index based on the first PRACH configuration index included in the semi-static signaling, through the aforementioned parameter configuration and OFDM symbol determination method. Furthermore, the terminal device can determine this first PRACH resource as the initial PRACH resource.

[0279] Based on this, the terminal device can determine the initial PRACH resources based on semi-static signaling.

[0280] Referring to Figure 7, Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of an initial PRACH resource provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0281] As shown in Figure 7, based on a specific first PRACH configuration index, the initial PRACH resource indicated can be a RO in the frequency domain and a PRACH resource period of 80ms in the time domain. The terminal device can determine the initial PRACH resource shown in Figure 7 based on the specific first PRACH configuration index included in the semi-static signaling.

[0282] It is understood that the initial PRACH resource shown in Figure 7 is merely an example of PRACH resource configuration and does not constitute a limitation of this application.

[0283] In some embodiments, the semi-static signaling may further include first frequency domain resource indication information, which indicates that one or more additional frequency domain resources are added to the frequency domain resources of the first PRACH resource. In this case, the first PRACH configuration index and the first frequency domain resource indication information jointly indicate the initial PRACH resource.

[0284] For example, a terminal device receives semi-static signaling from a network device. This semi-static signaling may include a first PRACH configuration index and first frequency domain resource indication information. The terminal device can determine the first PRACH resource indicated by the first PRACH configuration index. Then, based on the first frequency domain resource indication information, the terminal device can determine additional PRACH resources associated with the first PRACH resource on one or more additional frequency domain resources indicated by the first frequency domain resource indication information. These additional PRACH resources correspond to the first PRACH resource in the time domain. Finally, the terminal device can determine the first PRACH resource and the aforementioned additional PRACH resources together as the initial PRACH resource.

[0285] Referring to Figure 8, which is a schematic diagram of an initial PRACH resource provided in an embodiment of this application, Figure 8 shows an example of an initial PRACH resource when the semi-static signaling includes a first PRACH configuration index and first frequency domain resource indication information.

[0286] In Figure 8, the first PRACH configuration index is the same as that in Figure 7. The first frequency domain resource indication information indicates that an additional frequency domain resource is added on top of the frequency domain resource of the first PRACH resource. Therefore, the initial PRACH resource in Figure 8 has the same time domain resource as the initial PRACH resource in Figure 7, with a PRACH resource period of 80ms and two ROs in the frequency domain.

[0287] In some embodiments, semi-static signaling may further include a second PRACH configuration index, that is, semi-static signaling may include a first PRACH configuration index and a second PRACH configuration index, wherein the second PRACH configuration index is different from the first PRACH configuration index, and in this case, the second PRACH configuration index indicates the initial PRACH resource.

[0288] In other words, the terminal device can determine the second PRACH resource based on the second PRACH configuration index in the semi-static signaling, and then designate the second PRACH resource as the initial PRACH resource.

[0289] Optionally, in semi-static signaling, the first PRACH configuration index and the second PRACH configuration index can be distinguished by field names. For example, the field name identifying the first PRACH configuration index can be the same as the traditional field name, while the field name identifying the second PRACH configuration index can be different from the traditional field name.

[0290] Optionally, in semi-static signaling, the first PRACH configuration index and the second PRACH configuration index can be distinguished by indicating priority. For example, the priority of the second PRACH configuration index can be set to be higher than that of the first PRACH configuration index.

[0291] Optionally, the first PRACH configuration index and the second PRACH configuration index may be included in the semi-static signaling only if the terminal device supports multiple PRACH configuration indexes, or only for terminal devices that have the capability to support multiple PRACH configuration indexes, in order to save signaling overhead.

[0292] In some embodiments, semi-static signaling may include a first PRACH configuration index and a second PRACH configuration index, wherein the second PRACH configuration index is different from the first PRACH configuration index, and the initial PRACH resources are the remaining resources in the resources indicated by the second PRACH configuration index after excluding resources that overlap with the resources indicated by the first PRACH configuration index.

[0293] In other words, the terminal device can determine the second PRACH resource based on the second PRACH configuration index in the semi-static signaling, determine the first PRACH resource based on the first PRACH configuration index, and exclude resources that overlap with the first PRACH resource from the second PRACH resource, and finally determine the initial PRACH resource.

[0294] Optionally, in semi-static signaling, the first PRACH configuration index and the second PRACH configuration index can be distinguished by field names. For example, the field name identifying the first PRACH configuration index can be the same as the traditional field name, while the field name identifying the second PRACH configuration index can be different from the traditional field name.

[0295] Optionally, in semi-static signaling, the first PRACH configuration index and the second PRACH configuration index can be distinguished by indicating priority. For example, the priority of the second PRACH configuration index can be set to be higher than that of the first PRACH configuration index.

[0296] Optionally, the first PRACH configuration index and the second PRACH configuration index may be included in the semi-static signaling only if the terminal device supports multiple PRACH configuration indexes, or only for terminal devices that have the capability to support multiple PRACH configuration indexes, in order to save signaling overhead.

[0297] Referring to Figures 9A and 9B, which are schematic diagrams of the initial PRACH resources provided in the embodiments of this application.

[0298] Figure 9A illustrates an example of the initial PRACH resource in a semi-static signaling configuration that includes both a first PRACH configuration index and a second PRACH configuration index. The first PRACH configuration index in Figure 9A is the same as the first PRACH configuration index in Figure 7. The second PRACH configuration index differs from the first PRACH configuration index in that the PRACH resource period indicated by the second PRACH configuration index is 40ms. As shown in Figure 9A, the initial PRACH resource is the second PRACH resource indicated by the second PRACH configuration index.

[0299] Figure 9B illustrates an example of initial PRACH resources in a semi-static signaling configuration that includes both a first PRACH configuration index and a second PRACH configuration index. The first PRACH configuration index in Figure 9A is the same as the first PRACH configuration index in Figure 7. The second PRACH configuration index differs from the first PRACH configuration index in that the PRACH resource period indicated by the second PRACH configuration index is 40ms. As shown in Figure 9B, the initial PRACH resources are the remaining resources after excluding those overlapping with the first PRACH resources indicated by the first PRACH configuration index from the second PRACH resources indicated by the second PRACH configuration index.

[0300] S1302, Receive dynamic signaling from the network device, the dynamic signaling indicating the change of the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource.

[0301] In some embodiments, dynamic signaling may be DCI signaling.

[0302] In some embodiments, dynamic signaling may include first indication information and / or second indication information. The first indication information is used to indicate the change in frequency domain resources of the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource, and the second indication information is used to indicate the change in time domain resources of the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource. Referring to Figure 10, which is a schematic diagram of dynamic signaling provided in an embodiment of this application, as shown in Figure 10, dynamic signaling may include first indication information having N1 bits and / or second indication information having N2 bits.

[0303] The change in frequency domain resources of the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource can be indicated by setting the N1 bits in the first indication information. More specifically, the number of ROs that can be multiplexed in the frequency domain of the PRACH resource can be dynamically adjusted through the first information.

[0304] Taking N1=2 as an example: 00 can represent an increase of 1 frequency domain opportunity relative to the initial PRACH resource; 01 can represent an increase of 2 frequency domain opportunities relative to the initial PRACH resource; 10 can represent a decrease of 1 frequency domain opportunity relative to the initial PRACH resource; 11 can represent a decrease of 2 frequency domain opportunities relative to the initial PRACH resource. Alternatively, 00 can represent a doubling of the frequency domain opportunity for the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource; 01 can represent a quadrupling of the frequency domain opportunity for the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource; 00 can represent a reduction of half the frequency domain opportunity for the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource; 00 can represent a reduction of one-quarter of the frequency domain opportunity for the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource.

[0305] It can be observed that even without adjusting the msg1-FDM parameters, the number of ROs that can be reused in the frequency domain for PRACH resources can be dynamically adjusted.

[0306] The change in the time-domain resources of the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource can be indicated by setting the N2 bits in the second indication information. More specifically, the change in the PRACH resource period in the time domain can be dynamically adjusted through the second information.

[0307] Taking N2=2 as an example: 00 can indicate that the PRACH resource period of the target PRACH resource is increased to twice the initial PRACH resource period (e.g., the period changes from 40ms to 80ms); 01 can indicate that the PRACH resource period of the target PRACH resource is increased to four times the initial PRACH resource period (e.g., the period changes from 40ms to 160ms); 10 can indicate that the PRACH resource period of the target PRACH resource is decreased to half the initial PRACH resource period (e.g., the period changes from 160ms to 80ms); 11 can indicate that the PRACH resource period of the target PRACH resource is decreased to quarter the initial PRACH resource period (e.g., the period changes from 160ms to 40ms).

[0308] It can be observed that even without adjusting the PRACH configuration parameters, the PRACH resource lifecycle can be dynamically adjusted.

[0309] It is understood that when the target PRACH resource changes only in the frequency domain relative to the initial PRACH resource, the dynamic signaling may only include the first indication information; when the target PRACH resource changes only in the time domain relative to the initial PRACH resource, the dynamic signaling may only include the second indication information; when the target PRACH resource changes in both the frequency and time domains relative to the initial PRACH resource, the dynamic signaling may include both the first and second indication information. Furthermore, the above-described settings for N1 bits and N2 bits are merely examples and not limitations of this application.

[0310] In some embodiments, dynamic signaling may include first indication information and second indication information, wherein the first indication information is used to indicate that the frequency domain resources or time domain resources of the target PRACH resource have changed relative to the initial PRACH resource, and the second indication information is used to indicate the amount of change corresponding to the change in frequency domain resources or time domain resources.

[0311] Referring to Figure 11, which is a schematic diagram of dynamic signaling provided in an embodiment of this application, as shown in Figure 11, dynamic signaling may include a first indication information with 1 bit and a second indication information with M bits.

[0312] By setting 1 bit in the first indication information, it can be indicated whether the target PRACH resource has changed in the frequency domain or the time domain relative to the initial PRACH resource.

[0313] For example, the first information can be set to 1 to indicate that the target PRACH resource is a frequency domain resource that has changed relative to the initial PRACH resource. More specifically, it can be set to 1 to indicate that the number of ROs that can be multiplexed in the frequency domain has changed. In this case, the setting of the M bits of the second information can refer to the setting of the N1 bits in Figure 10 to indicate the amount of change in the number of ROs multiplexed in the frequency domain resource, which will not be elaborated here.

[0314] It can be observed that even without adjusting the msg1-FDM parameters, the number of ROs that can be reused in the frequency domain for PRACH resources can be dynamically adjusted.

[0315] For example, the first information can be set to 00 to indicate that the target PRACH resource has changed in the time domain relative to the initial PRACH resource. More specifically, it can be set to 0 to indicate that the PRACH resource period has changed in the time domain. In this case, the setting of the M bits of the second information can refer to the setting of the N2 bits in Figure 10 to indicate the amount of change in the PRACH resource period in the time domain, which will not be elaborated here.

[0316] It can be observed that even without adjusting the PRACH configuration parameters, the PRACH resource lifecycle can be dynamically adjusted.

[0317] It is understood that the above settings regarding 1 bit and M bits are merely examples and not limitations of this application.

[0318] In some embodiments, dynamic signaling indicates changes in target PRACH resources relative to initial PRACH resources, including: dynamic signaling indicates an increase or decrease in time-domain resources of the target PRACH resources relative to the initial PRACH resources.

[0319] Dynamic signaling can use N1 bits to indicate the addition or reduction of UL time-domain resources. Taking N1=2 as an example: 00 can indicate that the target PRACH resource, relative to the original PRACH resource, adds the first available UL time-domain resource on the left adjacent to the RO; 01 can indicate that the target PRACH resource, relative to the original PRACH resource, adds the first available UL time-domain resource on the right adjacent to the RO; 10 can indicate that the target PRACH resource, based on the original PRACH resource, reduces the first available UL time-domain resource; 11 can indicate that the target PRACH resource, based on the original PRACH resource, reduces the first two available UL time-domain resources.

[0320] It is understood that the above-described N1 bit configuration is merely an example and not a limitation of this application. Furthermore, the UL time-domain resource can be an uplink subframe, time slot, symbol, or any suitable time-domain resource.

[0321] In some embodiments, dynamic signaling indicates a change in the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource, including: dynamic signaling indicating whether the resource in the initial PRACH resource is available.

[0322] Dynamic signaling can be indicated by enabling or disabling each RO in the initial PRACH resource, thereby enabling dynamic adjustment of the PRACH resource by indicating which ROs can be enabled and which need to be disabled.

[0323] In some embodiments, dynamic signaling may indicate whether the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources of the initial PRACH resource are available after being filtered by modulo operation based on the index of the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources.

[0324] Referring to Figures 12A to 12C, which are schematic diagrams of the index of the initial PRACH resource provided in the embodiments of this application. In this application, the index marker Occ is an abbreviation for Occasion.

[0325] Figure 12A shows an example of the index of the initial PRACH resource with respect to the frequency domain resource. As shown in Figure 12A, the index of the initial PRACH resource in the frequency domain can be Occ-F0 to Occ-F3.

[0326] Figure 12B shows an example of the index of the initial PRACH resource with respect to the time-domain resource. As shown in Figure 12B, the index of the initial PRACH resource in the time domain can be Occ-T0 to Occ-T7.

[0327] Figure 12C shows an example of the initial PRACH resource indexes for frequency and time domain resources. As shown in Figure 12C, the initial PRACH resource indexes in the frequency and time domains can be Occ-0 to Occ-31, following the order of frequency domain first and then time domain (in other implementations, the order can be time domain first and then frequency domain).

[0328] Dynamic signaling can use N1 bits to indicate whether the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources of the initial PRACH resources are available after filtering by modulo operation based on the index of the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources.

[0329] Taking N1=2 as an example: 00 can indicate that after taking the index number modulo 2, the PRACH resource with a modulo value of 0 or 1 is a usable or unusable resource; 01 can indicate that after taking the index number modulo 3, the PRACH resource with a modulo value of 0 is a usable or unusable resource; 10 can indicate that after taking the index number modulo 3, the PRACH resource with a modulo value of 1 is a usable or unusable resource; 11 can indicate that after taking the index number modulo 3, the PRACH resource with a modulo value of 2 is a usable or unusable resource.

[0330] It is understood that the above-described N1-bit configuration is merely an example and not a limitation of this application.

[0331] Furthermore, regarding time-domain resource indexing, in addition to configuring the index in units of RO as shown in Figure 12B, alternatively, time-domain resource indexing can be configured at a larger granularity. For example, it can be configured in units of time slots, PRACH resource periods, associated periods, or any suitable time-domain resource. Then, using the method described above, dynamic signaling can be used to indicate whether the frequency-domain and / or time-domain resources of the initial PRACH resource are available after modulo operation based on the index of the frequency-domain and / or time-domain resources, thereby realizing the dynamic adjustment of PRACH resources.

[0332] In some embodiments, dynamic signaling indicates whether resources in the initial PRACH resource are available, including: dynamic signaling indicates whether the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources of the initial PRACH resource are available after filtering by division based on the index of the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources.

[0333] Dynamic signaling can indicate whether the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources of the initial PRACH resource are available after filtering by division with respect to a specific value based on the index of the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources.

[0334] More specifically, dynamic signaling can indicate whether the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources of the initial PRACH resource are available or unavailable after the index of the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources are divided with respect to a specific value and the result of the operation meets the set conditions.

[0335] For example, the set condition could be that the result of dividing the index with respect to a specific value is an integer, or that the result is rounded down to the set value.

[0336] In some embodiments, dynamic signaling indicates whether resources in the initial PRACH resource are available, including: dynamic signaling indicates whether the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources of the initial PRACH resource are available after being filtered by hash operation based on the index of the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources.

[0337] Dynamic signaling can indicate whether the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources of the initial PRACH resource are available or unavailable after the index of the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources are hashed and the result of the hash operation meets the set conditions.

[0338] For example, the set condition could be that the result of the hash operation on the index is an integer, or that the result is a set value.

[0339] It is understood that dynamic signaling can indicate whether the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources of the initial PRACH resource are available after being filtered according to the index of the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources using any suitable operation method, and is not necessarily limited to the modulo operation, division operation, and hash operation described above.

[0340] In some embodiments, dynamic signaling can indicate whether the corresponding PRACH resource in the initial PRACH resource is available through a bitmap or codepoint value.

[0341] Optionally, dynamic signaling can indicate whether the PRACH resource on the corresponding frequency domain resource in the initial PRACH resource is available through a bitmap or code point value.

[0342] For example, referring to Figure 12A, the initial PRACH resources can be divided into 4 groups in the frequency domain, corresponding to indices Occ-F0 to Occ-F3 respectively. Therefore, a 4-bit bitmap or a 2-bit code point value can be used to indicate whether the PRACH resources in the corresponding frequency domain are available or unavailable.

[0343] For example, when using a 4-bit bitmap to indicate PRACH resources on the corresponding frequency domain resources, the low-order bits (or high-order bits) of the bitmap can be matched with the PRACH resources of frequency domain indices Occ-F0 to Occ-F3 respectively. A 1 in the bitmap can indicate that the PRACH resource of the corresponding index is available (or unavailable), and a 0 in the bitmap can indicate that the PRACH resource of the corresponding index is unavailable (or available).

[0344] For example, when using 2-bit code point values ​​to indicate PRACH resources on the corresponding frequency domain resources, 00, 01, 10, and 11 can be used to indicate whether the PRACH resources corresponding to frequency domain indices Occ-F0 to Occ-F3 are available or unavailable.

[0345] Optionally, dynamic signaling can indicate whether the PRACH resource on the corresponding time-domain resource in the initial PRACH resource is available through a bitmap or code point value.

[0346] For example, referring to Figure 12B, the initial PRACH resources can be divided into 8 groups in the time domain, corresponding to indices Occ-T0 to Occ-T7 respectively. Therefore, an 8-bit bitmap or a 3-bit code point value can be used to indicate whether the PRACH resources in the corresponding time domain are available or unavailable.

[0347] For example, when using an 8-bit bitmap to indicate PRACH resources in the corresponding time domain, the low-order bits (or high-order bits) of the bitmap can be matched with the PRACH resources in the frequency domain indices Occ-T0 to Occ-T7 respectively. A 1 in the bitmap can indicate that the PRACH resource of the corresponding index is available (or unavailable), and a 0 in the bitmap can indicate that the PRACH resource of the corresponding index is unavailable (or available).

[0348] For example, when using 3-bit code point values ​​to indicate PRACH resources on the corresponding time domain resources, 000, 001, 010, 011, 100, 101, 110, and 111 can be used to indicate whether the PRACH resources corresponding to time domain indices Occ-T0 to Occ-T7 are available or unavailable.

[0349] Optionally, dynamic signaling can indicate whether the PRACH resources in the corresponding frequency domain and time domain resources in the initial PRACH resources are available through bitmaps or code point values.

[0350] For example, referring to Figure 12C, the initial PRACH resource can be divided into 32 ROs in both the frequency and time domains, corresponding to indices Occ-0 to Occ-31. Therefore, a 32-bit bitmap or a 5-bit code point value can be used to indicate whether the corresponding PRACH resource is available or unavailable. The correspondence between the bitmap and code point value and the RO is similar to the aforementioned correspondence method and will not be repeated here.

[0351] It is understandable that, regarding the partitioning and configuration of resource indexes in the time domain, in addition to partitioning and configuring resource indexes in units of RO as shown in Figure 12B, alternatively, the partitioning and configuration of resource indexes in the time domain can be performed at a larger granularity. For example, the partitioning and configuration of resource indexes in the time domain can be performed in units of time slots, PRACH resource periods, associated periods, or any suitable time domain resources. Then, using the method described above, the availability of PRACH resources in the corresponding time domain resources in the initial PRACH resources can be indicated by the bitmap or code point values ​​in the dynamic signaling, thereby realizing the dynamic adjustment of PRACH resources.

[0352] Optionally, dynamic signaling can indicate whether PRACH resources on the corresponding frequency domain resources and / or the corresponding time domain resources are available in the initial PRACH resources by using a bitmap and a 1-bit enable indicator.

[0353] The indication method for PRACH resources on the corresponding frequency domain resources and / or corresponding time domain resources in the bitmap and initial PRACH resources is the same as described above, and will not be repeated here; the 1-bit enable indication can be assigned a value of 1 or 0 to indicate whether the corresponding PRACH resource is available or unavailable (or unavailable or available).

[0354] In some embodiments, dynamic signaling can be used to indicate the amount of change in the PRACH resource corresponding to each SSB index in the initial PRACH resource.

[0355] Dynamic signaling can use N1 bits to indicate the amount of change in the PRACH resource corresponding to each SSB index in the initial PRACH resource.

[0356] Optionally, dynamic signaling can be configured by setting N1 bits to indicate the frequency domain changes of the PRACH resource corresponding to each SSB index in the initial PRACH resource.

[0357] Taking N1=2 as an example: 00 can indicate that the frequency domain timing of the PRACH resource corresponding to each SSB index in the initial PRACH resource is increased to 2 times; 01 can indicate that the frequency domain timing of the PRACH resource corresponding to each SSB index in the initial PRACH resource is increased to 4 times; 00 can indicate that the frequency domain timing of the PRACH resource corresponding to each SSB index in the initial PRACH resource is reduced to 1 / 2; 00 can indicate that the frequency domain timing of the PRACH resource corresponding to each SSB index in the initial PRACH resource is reduced to 1 / 4.

[0358] Optionally, dynamic signaling can be configured by setting N1 bits to indicate the time-domain changes of the PRACH resource corresponding to each SSB index in the initial PRACH resource.

[0359] Taking N1=2 as an example: 00 can indicate that the PRACH resource period corresponding to each SSB index in the initial PRACH resource is increased to 2 times in the time domain; 01 can indicate that the PRACH resource period corresponding to each SSB index in the initial PRACH resource is increased to 4 times in the time domain; 00 can indicate that the PRACH resource period corresponding to each SSB index in the initial PRACH resource is reduced to 1 / 2 in the time domain; 00 can indicate that the PRACH resource period corresponding to each SSB index in the initial PRACH resource is reduced to 1 / 4 in the time domain.

[0360] Optionally, dynamic signaling can also set N2 bits to indicate the changed resource unit. In other words, dynamic signaling can set N2 bits to indicate the granularity of the initial PRACH resource change.

[0361] Taking N2=2 as an example: 00 can indicate that the changed resource unit is the leader; 01 can indicate that the changed resource unit is the timing; 10 can indicate that the changed resource unit is the associated period; 11 can indicate that the changed resource unit is the PRACH period, etc.

[0362] It is understood that the above settings for N1 bits and N2 bits are merely examples and not limitations of this application.

[0363] In some embodiments, the semi-static signaling may further include third indication information, which may indicate that the initial PRACH resources are divided into multiple PRACH resource subsets based on frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources; dynamic signaling may indicate whether each PRACH resource subset in the multiple PRACH resource subsets is available.

[0364] The third indication information in the semi-static signaling can indicate that the initial PRACH resources are divided into multiple PRACH resource subsets based on the frequency domain resources, for example, as shown in Figure 12A, in the frequency domain.

[0365] Alternatively, the third indication information in the semi-static signaling can indicate that the initial PRACH resource is divided into multiple PRACH resource subsets based on the time-domain resource, for example, as shown in Figure 12B, by dividing multiple subsets in the time domain.

[0366] Alternatively, the third indication information in the semi-static signaling can instruct the initial PRACH resources to be divided into multiple PRACH resource subsets based on frequency domain and time domain resources. For example, similar to Figure 12C, after sorting the ROs by index, multiple subsets can be divided in any suitable manner. Optionally, subsets can be divided based on the code domain with respect to the preamble.

[0367] It is understood that the indices contained in the subset can be consecutive or non-consecutive, and the number of elements contained in the subset can be the same or different; this application does not impose any restrictions.

[0368] In cases where static signaling can further indicate the division of the initial PRACH resources into multiple PRACH resource subsets based on frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources through third indication information, dynamic signaling can indicate the availability or unavailability of the corresponding subsets through modulo operations, bitmaps, code point values, etc. The indication methods such as modulo operations, bitmaps, and code point values ​​are similar to those described above and will not be repeated here.

[0369] In some embodiments, after the initial PRACH resource is dynamically adjusted, the mapping between the SSB and the target PRACH resource can be remapped according to existing mapping rules.

[0370] Based on the communication processing method of this application, by first configuring the initial PRACH resources with semi-static signaling and then indicating the change of the target PRACH resources relative to the initial PRACH resources with dynamic signaling, the PRACH resources can be flexibly adjusted, dynamically adapting to changes in the number of randomly accessed devices, effectively utilizing resources, and helping to improve the system's energy-saving gains.

[0371] Figure 14 is a schematic flowchart of a communication processing method provided in an embodiment of this application. The method execution entity shown in Figure 14 can be a network device, or the entity can be a chip within the network device. Wherein:

[0372] 1401. Send semi-static signaling to the terminal device. The semi-static signaling is used to configure the initial PRACH resources.

[0373] In some embodiments, semi-static signaling may be system message signaling.

[0374] In some embodiments, semi-static signaling may be MIB signaling.

[0375] In some embodiments, the semi-static signaling can be SIB signaling, and more specifically, the semi-static signaling can be any suitable signaling among SIB1 to SIB20.

[0376] In some embodiments, semi-static signaling may be RRC signaling.

[0377] In some embodiments, semi-static signaling may include PRACH configuration information for configuring initial PRACH resources.

[0378] PRACH configuration information can be understood as random access configuration information as described in S202.

[0379] The PRACH configuration information can be used to indicate at least one of the following parameters: preamble format, reference slot number, subcarrier spacing corresponding to the reference slot, number of PRACH slots within the reference slot, start symbol of the first RO within the PRACH slot, number of ROs within the PRACH slot, and duration of the RO. The parameters are explained below.

[0380] Preamble format primarily indicates the format of long sequence preambles and short sequence preambles, including 0, 1, 2, 3, A1, A2, A3, B1, B2, B3, B4, C0, or C2.

[0381] The reference slot number, or reference slot index, refers to the position of the reference slot where the RO is located within a system frame. The number of reference slots where the RO is located can be one or more.

[0382] The subcarrier spacing corresponding to the reference time slot refers to the subcarrier spacing corresponding to the time slot used as a reference. This subcarrier spacing can be, for example, 15kHz or 60kHz.

[0383] Number of PRACH slots within a reference slot: A reference slot can include one or more ordinary slots. Here, a PRACH slot refers to an ordinary slot within the reference slot that contains the RO (Reference Access Module). The subcarrier spacing corresponding to a PRACH slot is greater than or equal to the subcarrier spacing corresponding to the reference slot. For example, if the subcarrier spacing of the reference slot is 60kHz, the subcarrier spacing of the PRACH slot can be 120kHz, 480kHz, or 960kHz. For example, corresponding to the random access procedure illustrated in Figure 2 above, the subcarrier spacing corresponding to the PRACH slot can be determined by the subcarrier spacing used by the SIB1 signaling. The subcarrier spacing corresponding to the PRACH slot can also be understood as the random access subcarrier spacing or the initial access subcarrier spacing.

[0384] Here are some examples of the number of PRACH slots within a reference slot: For instance, if the subcarrier spacing corresponding to a PRACH slot is 60kHz, and the subcarrier spacing corresponding to a reference slot is also 60kHz, then a reference slot includes one ordinary slot, and this reference slot can contain at most one PRACH slot. If the subcarrier spacing corresponding to a PRACH slot is greater than 60kHz, for example, it could be 120kHz, 480kHz, or 960kHz, and the subcarrier spacing corresponding to a reference slot is 60kHz, then a reference slot can include two or more ordinary slots, and this reference slot can include one or more PRACH slots.

[0385] The starting symbol of the first RO in a PRACH time slot is the index of the first OFDM symbol occupied by the first RO in that time slot.

[0386] The number of time-domain PRACH occasions within a PRACH slot can be one or more. This application mainly describes the case of multiple ROs.

[0387] The duration of a preamble (RO) is measured in OFDM symbols, taking the short sequence format as an example. An RO duration can occupy one or more OFDM symbols; the number of OFDM symbols occupied by an RO depends on the preamble format.

[0388] In one alternative implementation, the aforementioned parameters can be stored in a predefined table, where the first information can be an index in the table used to indicate the aforementioned parameters. That is, the first information can be index information, which indicates one or more of the aforementioned parameters.

[0389] Furthermore, both the terminal device and the network device can obtain or configure the predefined table. After receiving the first information, the terminal device can query the predefined table to determine the parameters indicated by the first information.

[0390] In some embodiments, the PRACH configuration information may be the Physical Random Access Channel Configuration Index (PRACH Config Index) in Tables 6.3.3.2-2 to 6.3.3.2-4 of Section 6.3.3.2 of 3GPP protocol TS38.211. Based on the PRACH configuration index in these tables, the OFDM symbols occupied by the RO, i.e., the time-domain resources of the RO, can be determined in the manner described in Section 5.3.2 of TS38.211. In other words, the PRACH configuration index can indicate PRACH resources. These tables and the corresponding methods for determining OFDM symbols are incorporated herein by reference.

[0391] Referring to Figure 6, which is a schematic diagram of a PRACH resource provided in an embodiment of this application, the PRACH resource used for sending preamble PRACH can be configured using the PRACH configuration index described above.

[0392] Figure 6 illustrates an example of PRACH resources corresponding to a specific preamble bandwidth for a given preamble type. As shown in Figure 6, the preamble can be sent in a configurable subset of PRACH time slot resources that repeats in each PRACH resource cycle.

[0393] These PRACH time slot resource subsets may have multiple ROs in the frequency domain, for example, they can be determined by the aforementioned msg1-FDM parameters.

[0394] For a given preamble type and corresponding preamble bandwidth, the total available RACH time-frequency resources of a cell can be generally expressed as follows:

[0395] • Configurable PRACH resource period, for example, ranging from 10ms to a maximum of 160ms (based on parameters or tables in the existing protocol);

[0396] • The set of configurable PRACH time slots (i.e., the time-domain resources of RO) within the PRACH resource cycle;

[0397] • The number of frequency domain resources that can be configured within the PRACH time slot (i.e., the frequency domain resources of ROs) and the number of ROs in the frequency domain.

[0398] It is understood that Figure 6 is merely an example of a PRACH resource configuration corresponding to a specific PRACH configuration index and does not constitute a limitation of this application.

[0399] It should be noted that as technology evolves, the parameters or the form of the aforementioned table may change. For example, if parameters are added or removed from the table, the parameter names in the table may also change. In this embodiment of the application, the PRACH configuration information is not limited to the table in the above example. When the table parameters or the form of the table change, the PRACH configuration information can be obtained accordingly based on the table after the parameter change or the form change, or the network device can directly send one or more of the above parameters through signaling.

[0400] In some embodiments, the PRACH configuration information in semi-static signaling may be, for example, the first PRACH configuration index in the PRACH configuration index in Tables 6.3.3.2-2 to 6.3.3.2-4 of Section 6.3.3.2 of Protocol TS38.211. That is, semi-static signaling may include the first PRACH configuration index, which indicates the initial PRACH resource.

[0401] The terminal device can determine the first PRACH resource indicated by the first PRACH configuration index based on the first PRACH configuration index included in the semi-static signaling, through the aforementioned parameter configuration and OFDM symbol determination method. Furthermore, the terminal device can determine this first PRACH resource as the initial PRACH resource.

[0402] Based on this, the terminal device can determine the initial PRACH resources based on semi-static signaling.

[0403] Referring to Figure 7, Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of an initial PRACH resource provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0404] As shown in Figure 7, based on a specific first PRACH configuration index, the initial PRACH resource indicated can be a RO in the frequency domain and a PRACH resource period of 80ms in the time domain. The terminal device can determine the initial PRACH resource shown in Figure 7 based on the specific first PRACH configuration index included in the semi-static signaling.

[0405] It is understood that the initial PRACH resource shown in Figure 7 is merely an example of PRACH resource configuration and does not constitute a limitation of this application.

[0406] In some embodiments, the semi-static signaling may further include first frequency domain resource indication information, which indicates that one or more additional frequency domain resources are added to the frequency domain resources of the first PRACH resource. In this case, the first PRACH configuration index and the first frequency domain resource indication information jointly indicate the initial PRACH resource.

[0407] For example, a terminal device receives semi-static signaling from a network device. This semi-static signaling may include a first PRACH configuration index and first frequency domain resource indication information. The terminal device can determine the first PRACH resource indicated by the first PRACH configuration index. Then, based on the first frequency domain resource indication information, the terminal device can determine additional PRACH resources associated with the first PRACH resource on one or more additional frequency domain resources indicated by the first frequency domain resource indication information. These additional PRACH resources correspond to the first PRACH resource in the time domain. Finally, the terminal device can determine the first PRACH resource and the aforementioned additional PRACH resources together as the initial PRACH resource.

[0408] Referring to Figure 8, which is a schematic diagram of an initial PRACH resource provided in an embodiment of this application, Figure 8 shows an example of an initial PRACH resource when the semi-static signaling includes a first PRACH configuration index and first frequency domain resource indication information.

[0409] In Figure 8, the first PRACH configuration index is the same as that in Figure 7. The first frequency domain resource indication information indicates that an additional frequency domain resource is added on top of the frequency domain resource of the first PRACH resource. Therefore, the initial PRACH resource in Figure 8 has the same time domain resource as the initial PRACH resource in Figure 7, with a PRACH resource period of 80ms and two ROs in the frequency domain.

[0410] In some embodiments, semi-static signaling may further include a second PRACH configuration index, that is, semi-static signaling may include a first PRACH configuration index and a second PRACH configuration index, wherein the second PRACH configuration index is different from the first PRACH configuration index, and in this case, the second PRACH configuration index indicates the initial PRACH resource.

[0411] In other words, the terminal device can determine the second PRACH resource based on the second PRACH configuration index in the semi-static signaling, and then designate the second PRACH resource as the initial PRACH resource.

[0412] Optionally, in semi-static signaling, the first PRACH configuration index and the second PRACH configuration index can be distinguished by field names. For example, the field name identifying the first PRACH configuration index can be the same as the traditional field name, while the field name identifying the second PRACH configuration index can be different from the traditional field name.

[0413] Optionally, in semi-static signaling, the first PRACH configuration index and the second PRACH configuration index can be distinguished by indicating priority. For example, the priority of the second PRACH configuration index can be set to be higher than that of the first PRACH configuration index.

[0414] Optionally, the first PRACH configuration index and the second PRACH configuration index may be included in the semi-static signaling only if the terminal device supports multiple PRACH configuration indexes, or only for terminal devices that have the capability to support multiple PRACH configuration indexes, in order to save signaling overhead.

[0415] In some embodiments, semi-static signaling may include a first PRACH configuration index and a second PRACH configuration index, wherein the second PRACH configuration index is different from the first PRACH configuration index, and the initial PRACH resources are the remaining resources in the resources indicated by the second PRACH configuration index after excluding resources that overlap with the resources indicated by the first PRACH configuration index.

[0416] In other words, the terminal device can determine the second PRACH resource based on the second PRACH configuration index in the semi-static signaling, determine the first PRACH resource based on the first PRACH configuration index, and exclude resources that overlap with the first PRACH resource from the second PRACH resource, and finally determine the initial PRACH resource.

[0417] Optionally, in semi-static signaling, the first PRACH configuration index and the second PRACH configuration index can be distinguished by field names. For example, the field name identifying the first PRACH configuration index can be the same as the traditional field name, while the field name identifying the second PRACH configuration index can be different from the traditional field name.

[0418] Optionally, in semi-static signaling, the first PRACH configuration index and the second PRACH configuration index can be distinguished by indicating priority. For example, the priority of the second PRACH configuration index can be set to be higher than that of the first PRACH configuration index.

[0419] Optionally, the first PRACH configuration index and the second PRACH configuration index may be included in the semi-static signaling only if the terminal device supports multiple PRACH configuration indexes, or only for terminal devices that have the capability to support multiple PRACH configuration indexes, in order to save signaling overhead.

[0420] Referring to Figures 9A and 9B, which are schematic diagrams of the initial PRACH resources provided in the embodiments of this application.

[0421] Figure 9A illustrates an example of the initial PRACH resource in a semi-static signaling configuration that includes both a first PRACH configuration index and a second PRACH configuration index. The first PRACH configuration index in Figure 9A is the same as the first PRACH configuration index in Figure 7. The second PRACH configuration index differs from the first PRACH configuration index in that the PRACH resource period indicated by the second PRACH configuration index is 40ms. As shown in Figure 9A, the initial PRACH resource is the second PRACH resource indicated by the second PRACH configuration index.

[0422] Figure 9B illustrates an example of initial PRACH resources in a semi-static signaling configuration that includes both a first PRACH configuration index and a second PRACH configuration index. The first PRACH configuration index in Figure 9A is the same as the first PRACH configuration index in Figure 7. The second PRACH configuration index differs from the first PRACH configuration index in that the PRACH resource period indicated by the second PRACH configuration index is 40ms. As shown in Figure 9B, the initial PRACH resources are the remaining resources after excluding those overlapping with the first PRACH resources indicated by the first PRACH configuration index from the second PRACH resources indicated by the second PRACH configuration index.

[0423] 1402. Send dynamic signaling to the terminal device. The dynamic signaling indicates the change of the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource.

[0424] In some embodiments, dynamic signaling may be DCI signaling.

[0425] In some embodiments, dynamic signaling may include first indication information and / or second indication information. The first indication information is used to indicate the change in frequency domain resources of the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource, and the second indication information is used to indicate the change in time domain resources of the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource. Referring to Figure 10, which is a schematic diagram of dynamic signaling provided in an embodiment of this application, as shown in Figure 10, dynamic signaling may include first indication information having N1 bits and / or second indication information having N2 bits.

[0426] The change in frequency domain resources of the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource can be indicated by setting the N1 bits in the first indication information. More specifically, the number of ROs that can be multiplexed in the frequency domain of the PRACH resource can be dynamically adjusted through the first information.

[0427] Taking N1=2 as an example: 00 can represent an increase of 1 frequency domain opportunity relative to the initial PRACH resource; 01 can represent an increase of 2 frequency domain opportunities relative to the initial PRACH resource; 10 can represent a decrease of 1 frequency domain opportunity relative to the initial PRACH resource; 11 can represent a decrease of 2 frequency domain opportunities relative to the initial PRACH resource. Alternatively, 00 can represent a doubling of the frequency domain opportunity for the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource; 01 can represent a quadrupling of the frequency domain opportunity for the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource; 00 can represent a reduction of half the frequency domain opportunity for the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource; 00 can represent a reduction of one-quarter of the frequency domain opportunity for the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource.

[0428] It can be observed that even without adjusting the msg1-FDM parameters, the number of ROs that can be reused in the frequency domain for PRACH resources can be dynamically adjusted.

[0429] The change in the time-domain resources of the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource can be indicated by setting the N2 bits in the second indication information. More specifically, the change in the PRACH resource period in the time domain can be dynamically adjusted through the second information.

[0430] Taking N2=2 as an example: 00 can indicate that the PRACH resource period of the target PRACH resource is increased to twice the initial PRACH resource period (e.g., the period changes from 40ms to 80ms); 01 can indicate that the PRACH resource period of the target PRACH resource is increased to four times the initial PRACH resource period (e.g., the period changes from 40ms to 160ms); 10 can indicate that the PRACH resource period of the target PRACH resource is decreased to half the initial PRACH resource period (e.g., the period changes from 160ms to 80ms); 11 can indicate that the PRACH resource period of the target PRACH resource is decreased to quarter the initial PRACH resource period (e.g., the period changes from 160ms to 40ms).

[0431] It can be observed that even without adjusting the PRACH configuration parameters, the PRACH resource lifecycle can be dynamically adjusted.

[0432] It is understood that when the target PRACH resource changes only in the frequency domain relative to the initial PRACH resource, the dynamic signaling may only include the first indication information; when the target PRACH resource changes only in the time domain relative to the initial PRACH resource, the dynamic signaling may only include the second indication information; when the target PRACH resource changes in both the frequency and time domains relative to the initial PRACH resource, the dynamic signaling may include both the first and second indication information. Furthermore, the above-described settings for N1 bits and N2 bits are merely examples and not limitations of this application.

[0433] In some embodiments, dynamic signaling may include first indication information and second indication information, wherein the first indication information is used to indicate that the frequency domain resources or time domain resources of the target PRACH resource have changed relative to the initial PRACH resource, and the second indication information is used to indicate the amount of change corresponding to the change in frequency domain resources or time domain resources.

[0434] Referring to Figure 11, which is a schematic diagram of dynamic signaling provided in an embodiment of this application, as shown in Figure 11, dynamic signaling may include a first indication information with 1 bit and a second indication information with M bits.

[0435] By setting 1 bit in the first indication information, it can be indicated whether the target PRACH resource has changed in the frequency domain or the time domain relative to the initial PRACH resource.

[0436] For example, the first information can be set to 1 to indicate that the target PRACH resource is a frequency domain resource that has changed relative to the initial PRACH resource. More specifically, it can be set to 1 to indicate that the number of ROs that can be multiplexed in the frequency domain has changed. In this case, the setting of the M bits of the second information can refer to the setting of the N1 bits in Figure 10 to indicate the amount of change in the number of ROs multiplexed in the frequency domain resource, which will not be elaborated here.

[0437] It can be observed that even without adjusting the msg1-FDM parameters, the number of ROs that can be reused in the frequency domain for PRACH resources can be dynamically adjusted.

[0438] For example, the first information can be set to 00 to indicate that the target PRACH resource has changed in the time domain relative to the initial PRACH resource. More specifically, it can be set to 0 to indicate that the PRACH resource period has changed in the time domain. In this case, the setting of the M bits of the second information can refer to the setting of the N2 bits in Figure 10 to indicate the amount of change in the PRACH resource period in the time domain, which will not be elaborated here.

[0439] It can be observed that even without adjusting the PRACH configuration parameters, the PRACH resource lifecycle can be dynamically adjusted.

[0440] It is understood that the above settings regarding 1 bit and M bits are merely examples and not limitations of this application.

[0441] In some embodiments, dynamic signaling indicates changes in target PRACH resources relative to initial PRACH resources, including: dynamic signaling indicates an increase or decrease in time-domain resources of the target PRACH resources relative to the initial PRACH resources.

[0442] Dynamic signaling can use N1 bits to indicate the addition or reduction of UL time-domain resources. Taking N1=2 as an example: 00 can indicate that the target PRACH resource, relative to the original PRACH resource, adds the first available UL time-domain resource on the left adjacent to the RO; 01 can indicate that the target PRACH resource, relative to the original PRACH resource, adds the first available UL time-domain resource on the right adjacent to the RO; 10 can indicate that the target PRACH resource, based on the original PRACH resource, reduces the first available UL time-domain resource; 11 can indicate that the target PRACH resource, based on the original PRACH resource, reduces the first two available UL time-domain resources.

[0443] It is understood that the above-described N1 bit configuration is merely an example and not a limitation of this application. Furthermore, the UL time-domain resource can be an uplink subframe, time slot, symbol, or any suitable time-domain resource.

[0444] In some embodiments, dynamic signaling indicates a change in the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource, including: dynamic signaling indicating whether the resource in the initial PRACH resource is available.

[0445] Dynamic signaling can be indicated by enabling or disabling each RO in the initial PRACH resource, thereby enabling dynamic adjustment of the PRACH resource by indicating which ROs can be enabled and which need to be disabled.

[0446] In some embodiments, dynamic signaling may indicate whether the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources of the initial PRACH resource are available after being filtered by modulo operation based on the index of the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources.

[0447] Referring to Figures 12A to 12C, which are schematic diagrams of the index of the initial PRACH resource provided in the embodiments of this application. In this application, the index marker Occ is an abbreviation for Occasion.

[0448] Figure 12A shows an example of the index of the initial PRACH resource with respect to the frequency domain resource. As shown in Figure 12A, the index of the initial PRACH resource in the frequency domain can be Occ-F0 to Occ-F3.

[0449] Figure 12B shows an example of the index of the initial PRACH resource with respect to the time-domain resource. As shown in Figure 12B, the index of the initial PRACH resource in the time domain can be Occ-T0 to Occ-T7.

[0450] Figure 12C shows an example of the initial PRACH resource indexes for frequency and time domain resources. As shown in Figure 12C, the initial PRACH resource indexes in the frequency and time domains can be Occ-0 to Occ-31, following the order of frequency domain first and then time domain (in other implementations, the order can be time domain first and then frequency domain).

[0451] Dynamic signaling can use N1 bits to indicate whether the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources of the initial PRACH resources are available after filtering by modulo operation based on the index of the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources.

[0452] Taking N1=2 as an example: 00 can indicate that after taking the index number modulo 2, the PRACH resource with a modulo value of 0 or 1 is a usable or unusable resource; 01 can indicate that after taking the index number modulo 3, the PRACH resource with a modulo value of 0 is a usable or unusable resource; 10 can indicate that after taking the index number modulo 3, the PRACH resource with a modulo value of 1 is a usable or unusable resource; 11 can indicate that after taking the index number modulo 3, the PRACH resource with a modulo value of 2 is a usable or unusable resource.

[0453] It is understood that the above-described N1-bit configuration is merely an example and not a limitation of this application.

[0454] Furthermore, regarding time-domain resource indexing, in addition to configuring the index in units of RO as shown in Figure 12B, alternatively, time-domain resource indexing can be configured at a larger granularity. For example, it can be configured in units of time slots, PRACH resource periods, associated periods, or any suitable time-domain resource. Then, using the method described above, dynamic signaling can be used to indicate whether the frequency-domain and / or time-domain resources of the initial PRACH resource are available after modulo operation based on the index of the frequency-domain and / or time-domain resources, thereby realizing the dynamic adjustment of PRACH resources.

[0455] In some embodiments, dynamic signaling indicates whether resources in the initial PRACH resource are available, including: dynamic signaling indicates whether the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources of the initial PRACH resource are available after filtering by division based on the index of the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources.

[0456] Dynamic signaling can indicate whether the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources of the initial PRACH resource are available after filtering by division with respect to a specific value based on the index of the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources.

[0457] More specifically, dynamic signaling can indicate whether the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources of the initial PRACH resource are available or unavailable after the index of the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources are divided with respect to a specific value and the result of the operation meets the set conditions.

[0458] For example, the set condition could be that the result of dividing the index with respect to a specific value is an integer, or that the result is rounded down to the set value.

[0459] In some embodiments, dynamic signaling indicates whether resources in the initial PRACH resource are available, including: dynamic signaling indicates whether the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources of the initial PRACH resource are available after being filtered by hash operation based on the index of the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources.

[0460] Dynamic signaling can indicate whether the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources of the initial PRACH resource are available or unavailable after the index of the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources are hashed and the result of the hash operation meets the set conditions.

[0461] For example, the set condition could be that the result of the hash operation on the index is an integer, or that the result is a set value.

[0462] It is understood that dynamic signaling can indicate whether the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources of the initial PRACH resource are available after being filtered according to the index of the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources using any suitable operation method, and is not necessarily limited to the modulo operation, division operation, and hash operation described above.

[0463] In some embodiments, dynamic signaling can indicate whether the corresponding PRACH resource in the initial PRACH resource is available through a bitmap or codepoint value.

[0464] Optionally, dynamic signaling can indicate whether the PRACH resource on the corresponding frequency domain resource in the initial PRACH resource is available through a bitmap or code point value.

[0465] For example, referring to Figure 12A, the initial PRACH resources can be divided into 4 groups in the frequency domain, corresponding to indices Occ-F0 to Occ-F3 respectively. Therefore, a 4-bit bitmap or a 2-bit code point value can be used to indicate whether the PRACH resources in the corresponding frequency domain are available or unavailable.

[0466] For example, when using a 4-bit bitmap to indicate PRACH resources on the corresponding frequency domain resources, the low-order bits (or high-order bits) of the bitmap can be matched with the PRACH resources of frequency domain indices Occ-F0 to Occ-F3 respectively. A 1 in the bitmap can indicate that the PRACH resource of the corresponding index is available (or unavailable), and a 0 in the bitmap can indicate that the PRACH resource of the corresponding index is unavailable (or available).

[0467] For example, when using 2-bit code point values ​​to indicate PRACH resources on the corresponding frequency domain resources, 00, 01, 10, and 11 can be used to indicate whether the PRACH resources corresponding to frequency domain indices Occ-F0 to Occ-F3 are available or unavailable.

[0468] Optionally, dynamic signaling can indicate whether the PRACH resource on the corresponding time-domain resource in the initial PRACH resource is available through a bitmap or code point value.

[0469] For example, referring to Figure 12B, the initial PRACH resources can be divided into 8 groups in the time domain, corresponding to indices Occ-T0 to Occ-T7 respectively. Therefore, an 8-bit bitmap or a 3-bit code point value can be used to indicate whether the PRACH resources in the corresponding time domain are available or unavailable.

[0470] For example, when using an 8-bit bitmap to indicate PRACH resources in the corresponding time domain, the low-order bits (or high-order bits) of the bitmap can be matched with the PRACH resources in the frequency domain indices Occ-T0 to Occ-T7 respectively. A 1 in the bitmap can indicate that the PRACH resource of the corresponding index is available (or unavailable), and a 0 in the bitmap can indicate that the PRACH resource of the corresponding index is unavailable (or available).

[0471] For example, when using 3-bit code point values ​​to indicate PRACH resources on the corresponding time domain resources, 000, 001, 010, 011, 100, 101, 110, and 111 can be used to indicate whether the PRACH resources corresponding to time domain indices Occ-T0 to Occ-T7 are available or unavailable.

[0472] Optionally, dynamic signaling can indicate whether the PRACH resources in the corresponding frequency domain and time domain resources in the initial PRACH resources are available through bitmaps or code point values.

[0473] For example, referring to Figure 12C, the initial PRACH resource can be divided into 32 ROs in both the frequency and time domains, corresponding to indices Occ-0 to Occ-31. Therefore, a 32-bit bitmap or a 5-bit code point value can be used to indicate whether the corresponding PRACH resource is available or unavailable. The correspondence between the bitmap and code point value and the RO is similar to the aforementioned correspondence method and will not be repeated here.

[0474] It is understandable that, regarding the partitioning and configuration of resource indexes in the time domain, in addition to partitioning and configuring resource indexes in units of RO as shown in Figure 12B, alternatively, the partitioning and configuration of resource indexes in the time domain can be performed at a larger granularity. For example, the partitioning and configuration of resource indexes in the time domain can be performed in units of time slots, PRACH resource periods, associated periods, or any suitable time domain resources. Then, using the method described above, the availability of PRACH resources in the corresponding time domain resources in the initial PRACH resources can be indicated by the bitmap or code point values ​​in the dynamic signaling, thereby realizing the dynamic adjustment of PRACH resources.

[0475] Optionally, dynamic signaling can indicate whether PRACH resources on the corresponding frequency domain resources and / or the corresponding time domain resources are available in the initial PRACH resources by using a bitmap and a 1-bit enable indicator.

[0476] The indication method for PRACH resources on the corresponding frequency domain resources and / or corresponding time domain resources in the bitmap and initial PRACH resources is the same as described above, and will not be repeated here; the 1-bit enable indication can be assigned a value of 1 or 0 to indicate whether the corresponding PRACH resource is available or unavailable (or unavailable or available).

[0477] In some embodiments, dynamic signaling can be used to indicate the amount of change in the PRACH resource corresponding to each SSB index in the initial PRACH resource.

[0478] Dynamic signaling can use N1 bits to indicate the amount of change in the PRACH resource corresponding to each SSB index in the initial PRACH resource.

[0479] Optionally, dynamic signaling can be configured by setting N1 bits to indicate the frequency domain changes of the PRACH resource corresponding to each SSB index in the initial PRACH resource.

[0480] Taking N1=2 as an example: 00 can indicate that the frequency domain timing of the PRACH resource corresponding to each SSB index in the initial PRACH resource is increased to 2 times; 01 can indicate that the frequency domain timing of the PRACH resource corresponding to each SSB index in the initial PRACH resource is increased to 4 times; 00 can indicate that the frequency domain timing of the PRACH resource corresponding to each SSB index in the initial PRACH resource is reduced to 1 / 2; 00 can indicate that the frequency domain timing of the PRACH resource corresponding to each SSB index in the initial PRACH resource is reduced to 1 / 4.

[0481] Optionally, dynamic signaling can be configured by setting N1 bits to indicate the time-domain changes of the PRACH resource corresponding to each SSB index in the initial PRACH resource.

[0482] Taking N1=2 as an example: 00 can indicate that the PRACH resource period corresponding to each SSB index in the initial PRACH resource is increased to 2 times in the time domain; 01 can indicate that the PRACH resource period corresponding to each SSB index in the initial PRACH resource is increased to 4 times in the time domain; 00 can indicate that the PRACH resource period corresponding to each SSB index in the initial PRACH resource is reduced to 1 / 2 in the time domain; 00 can indicate that the PRACH resource period corresponding to each SSB index in the initial PRACH resource is reduced to 1 / 4 in the time domain.

[0483] Optionally, dynamic signaling can also set N2 bits to indicate the changed resource unit. In other words, dynamic signaling can set N2 bits to indicate the granularity of the initial PRACH resource change.

[0484] Taking N2=2 as an example: 00 can indicate that the changed resource unit is the leader; 01 can indicate that the changed resource unit is the timing; 10 can indicate that the changed resource unit is the associated period; 11 can indicate that the changed resource unit is the PRACH period, etc.

[0485] It is understood that the above settings for N1 bits and N2 bits are merely examples and not limitations of this application.

[0486] In some embodiments, the semi-static signaling may further include third indication information, which may indicate that the initial PRACH resources are divided into multiple PRACH resource subsets based on frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources; dynamic signaling may indicate whether each PRACH resource subset in the multiple PRACH resource subsets is available.

[0487] The third indication information in the semi-static signaling can indicate that the initial PRACH resources are divided into multiple PRACH resource subsets based on the frequency domain resources, for example, as shown in Figure 12A, in the frequency domain.

[0488] Alternatively, the third indication information in the semi-static signaling can indicate that the initial PRACH resource is divided into multiple PRACH resource subsets based on the time-domain resource, for example, as shown in Figure 12B, by dividing multiple subsets in the time domain.

[0489] Alternatively, the third indication information in the semi-static signaling can instruct the initial PRACH resources to be divided into multiple PRACH resource subsets based on frequency domain and time domain resources. For example, similar to Figure 12C, after sorting the ROs by index, multiple subsets can be divided in any suitable manner. Optionally, subsets can be divided based on the code domain with respect to the preamble.

[0490] It is understood that the indices contained in the subset can be consecutive or non-consecutive, and the number of elements contained in the subset can be the same or different; this application does not impose any restrictions.

[0491] In cases where static signaling can further indicate the division of the initial PRACH resources into multiple PRACH resource subsets based on frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources through third indication information, dynamic signaling can indicate the availability or unavailability of the corresponding subsets through modulo operations, bitmaps, code point values, etc. The indication methods such as modulo operations, bitmaps, and code point values ​​are similar to those described above and will not be repeated here.

[0492] In some embodiments, after the initial PRACH resource is dynamically adjusted, the mapping between the SSB and the target PRACH resource can be remapped according to existing mapping rules.

[0493] Based on the communication processing method of this application, by first configuring the initial PRACH resources with semi-static signaling and then indicating the change of the target PRACH resources relative to the initial PRACH resources with dynamic signaling, the PRACH resources can be flexibly adjusted, dynamically adapting to changes in the number of randomly accessed devices, effectively utilizing resources, and helping to improve the system's energy-saving gains.

[0494] Figure 15 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device according to an embodiment of this application. The communication device 1500 shown in Figure 15 can be a terminal device, a device in a terminal device, or a device that can be used in conjunction with a terminal device; or the communication device shown in Figure 15 can be a network device, a device in a network device, or a device that can be used in conjunction with a network device.

[0495] The communication device 1500 shown in Figure 15 may include a communication unit 1501 and a processing unit 1502. Specifically, the processing unit 1502 is used to process data, which may be data received by the communication unit 1501, and the processed data may also be sent by the communication unit 1501.

[0496] Specifically, the processing unit 1502 is used to perform the data processing function of the terminal device or network device in the aforementioned method embodiments. For other possible implementations of the communication device, please refer to the relevant descriptions of the functions of the terminal device or network device in the method embodiments corresponding to Figures 13 and 14 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0497] Figure 16 is a schematic diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. The communication device 1600 can be a terminal device or network device as described in the above method embodiments, or it can be a chip, chip system, or processor that supports the terminal device or network device in implementing the above methods. This communication device can be used to implement the methods described in the above method embodiments; for details, please refer to the descriptions in the above method embodiments.

[0498] The communication device 1600 may include one or more processors 1601. The processor 1601 may be a general-purpose processor or a dedicated processor, such as a baseband processor or a central processing unit (CPU). The baseband processor can be used to process communication protocols and communication data, while the CPU can be used to control the communication device (e.g., base station, baseband chip, terminal, terminal chip, DU or CU, etc.), execute software programs, and process data from the software programs.

[0499] Optionally, the communication device 1600 may include one or more memories 1602, which may store instructions 1604. These instructions can be executed on the processor 1601, causing the communication device 1600 to perform the methods described in the above method embodiments. Optionally, the memories 1602 may also store data. The processor 1601 and the memories 1602 may be configured separately or integrated together.

[0500] Optionally, the communication device 1600 may further include a transceiver 1605 and an antenna 1606. The transceiver 1605, also known as a transceiver unit, transceiver, or transceiver circuit, is used to implement transmission and reception functions. The transceiver 1605 may include a receiver and a transmitter. The receiver, also known as a receiver circuit, is used to implement a receiving function; the transmitter, also known as a transmitter or transmitting circuit, is used to implement a transmitting function. The processing unit 1502 shown in Figure 15 may be a processor 1601. The communication unit 1501 may be the transceiver 1605.

[0501] In another possible design, the processor 1601 may include a transceiver for implementing receive and transmit functions. For example, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit, an interface, or an interface circuit. The transceiver circuit, interface, or interface circuit for implementing receive and transmit functions may be separate or integrated. The aforementioned transceiver circuit, interface, or interface circuit may be used for reading and writing code / data, or for transmitting or relaying signals.

[0502] In another possible design, the processor 1601 may optionally store instructions 1603, which, when executed on the processor 1601, cause the communication device 1600 to perform the methods described in the above method embodiments. Instructions 1603 may be embedded in the processor 1601; in this case, the processor 1601 may be implemented in hardware.

[0503] The communication device described in the above embodiments can be a terminal device or a network device, but the scope of the communication device described in the embodiments of this application is not limited thereto, and the structure of the communication device is not limited to FIG16. The communication device can be a standalone device or part of a larger device. For example, the communication device can be:

[0504] (1) Independent integrated circuit IC, or chip, or chip system or subsystem;

[0505] (2) A collection of one or more ICs, optionally including a storage component for storing data and instructions;

[0506] (3) ASIC, such as modem (MSM);

[0507] (4) Modules that can be embedded in other devices;

[0508] (5) Receivers, terminals, smart terminals, cellular phones, wireless devices, handheld devices, mobile units, vehicle-mounted devices, network devices, cloud devices, artificial intelligence devices, etc.

[0509] (6) Others, etc.

[0510] For communication devices that can be chips or chip systems, please refer to the schematic diagram of the chip structure shown in Figure 17. The chip 1700 shown in Figure 17 includes a processor 1701 and an interface 1702. Optionally, it may also include a memory 1703. The number of processors 1701 can be one or more, and the number of interfaces 1702 can be multiple.

[0511] For cases where the chip is used to implement the terminal device or network device in the embodiments of this application:

[0512] Interface 1702 is used to receive or output signals;

[0513] Processor 1701 is used to perform data processing operations on terminal devices or network devices.

[0514] It is understood that some optional features in the embodiments of this application can be implemented independently in certain scenarios without relying on other features, such as the current solution on which they are based, to solve the corresponding technical problems and achieve the corresponding effects. Alternatively, they can be combined with other features as needed in certain scenarios. Accordingly, the communication device given in the embodiments of this application can also implement these features or functions, which will not be elaborated here.

[0515] It should be understood that the processor in the embodiments of this application can be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. In implementation, the steps of the above method embodiments can be completed by integrated logic circuits in the processor's hardware or by instructions in software form. The processor described above can be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, or discrete hardware components.

[0516] It is understood that the memory in the embodiments of this application can be volatile memory or non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memory. The non-volatile memory can be read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or flash memory. The volatile memory can be random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example, but not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous linked dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory used in the systems and methods described herein is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0517] This application also provides a computer-readable medium storing a computer program or instructions that, when executed by a communication device, implement the functions of any of the above method embodiments.

[0518] This application also provides a computer program product including instructions, which, when read and executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform the functions of any of the above method embodiments.

[0519] This application provides a communication system, which includes a terminal device and a network device; wherein the terminal device is used to execute the method executed by the terminal device in the above embodiments, and the network device is used to execute the method executed by the network device in the above embodiments.

[0520] In the above embodiments, implementation can be achieved, in whole or in part, through software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented, in whole or in part, as a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of this application are generated. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another via wired (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) means. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium accessible to a computer or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The available media may be magnetic media (e.g., floppy disks, hard disks, magnetic tapes), optical media (e.g., high-density digital video discs (DVDs)), or semiconductor media (e.g., solid-state disks (SSDs)).

[0521] It should be noted that, for the sake of simplicity, the foregoing method embodiments are all described as a series of actions. However, those skilled in the art should understand that this application is not limited to the described order of actions, as some operations can be performed in other orders or simultaneously according to this application. Furthermore, those skilled in the art should also understand that the embodiments described in the specification are preferred embodiments, and the actions and modules involved are not necessarily essential to this application.

[0522] The descriptions of the various embodiments provided in this application can be referenced mutually. Each embodiment has its own emphasis, and parts not described in detail in a certain embodiment can be referred to the relevant descriptions of other embodiments. For the sake of convenience and brevity, for example, the functions and operations of the various devices and equipment provided in the embodiments of this application can be referred to the relevant descriptions of the method embodiments of this application. The method embodiments and the device embodiments can also be referenced, combined or cited from each other.

[0523] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of this application, and are not intended to limit them. Although this application has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that modifications can still be made to the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments, or equivalent substitutions can be made to some or all of the technical features therein. Such modifications or substitutions do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application.

Claims

1. A communication processing method, characterized in that, The method includes: Receive semi-static signaling from the network device, the semi-static signaling being used to configure the initial physical random access channel (PRACH) resources; Receive dynamic signaling from the network device, the dynamic signaling indicating a change in the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The semi-static signaling is used to configure the initial PRACH resources, including: The semi-static signaling includes a first PRACH configuration index, which indicates the initial PRACH resource.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, The semi-static signaling also includes first frequency domain resource indication information, wherein the first PRACH configuration index indicates the initial PRACH resource, including: The first PRACH configuration index and the first frequency domain resource indication information indicate the initial PRACH resource.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The semi-static signaling is used to configure the initial PRACH resources, including: The semi-static signaling includes a first PRACH configuration index and a second PRACH configuration index, the second PRACH configuration index being different from the first PRACH configuration index, and the second PRACH configuration index indicating the initial PRACH resource.

5. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The semi-static signaling is used to configure the initial PRACH resources, including: The semi-static signaling includes a first PRACH configuration index and a second PRACH configuration index. The second PRACH configuration index is different from the first PRACH configuration index. The initial PRACH resource is the remaining resource after excluding the resource that overlaps with the resource indicated by the first PRACH configuration index from the resources indicated by the second PRACH configuration index.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1-5, characterized in that, The dynamic signaling includes first indication information and / or second indication information, wherein the first indication information is used to indicate the change in frequency domain resources of the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource, and the second indication information is used to indicate the change in time domain resources of the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1-5, characterized in that, The dynamic signaling includes a first indication information and a second indication information. The first indication information is used to indicate that the frequency domain resources or time domain resources of the initial PRACH resources have changed, and the second indication information is used to indicate the amount of change corresponding to the change in the frequency domain resources or time domain resources.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1-5, characterized in that, The dynamic signaling indicates changes in the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource, including: The dynamic signaling indicates the time-domain resources by which the target PRACH resource increases or decreases relative to the initial PRACH resource.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1-5, characterized in that, The dynamic signaling indicates changes in the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource, including: The dynamic signaling indicates whether the resources in the initial PRACH resource are available.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that, The dynamic signaling indicates whether the resources in the initial PRACH resources are available, including: The dynamic signaling indicates whether the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources of the initial PRACH resource are available after being filtered by modulo operation based on the index of the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources.

11. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that, The dynamic signaling indicates whether the resources in the initial PRACH resources are available, including: The dynamic signaling indicates whether the corresponding PRACH resource in the initial PRACH resource is available through a bitmap or code point value.

12. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that, The dynamic signaling indicates whether the resources in the initial PRACH resources are available, including: The dynamic signaling is used to indicate the amount of change in the PRACH resource corresponding to each synchronization signal block index in the initial PRACH resource.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1-5, characterized in that, The semi-static signaling also includes third indication information, which is used to indicate that the initial PRACH resources are divided into multiple PRACH resource subsets based on frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources; The dynamic signaling indicates the change of the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource, including: the dynamic signaling is used to indicate whether each PRACH resource subset in the plurality of PRACH resource subsets is available.

14. A communication processing method, characterized in that, The method includes: Send semi-static signaling to the terminal device, the semi-static signaling being used to configure the initial physical random access channel (PRACH) resources; A dynamic signaling message is sent to the terminal device, the dynamic signaling message indicating the change of the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource.

15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that, The semi-static signaling is used to configure the initial PRACH resources, including: The semi-static signaling includes a first PRACH configuration index, which indicates the initial PRACH resource.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that, The semi-static signaling also includes first frequency domain resource indication information, wherein the first PRACH configuration index indicates the initial PRACH resource, including: The first PRACH configuration index and the first frequency domain resource indication information indicate the initial PRACH resource.

17. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that, The semi-static signaling is used to configure the initial PRACH resources, including: The semi-static signaling includes a first PRACH configuration index and a second PRACH configuration index, the second PRACH configuration index being different from the first PRACH configuration index, and the second PRACH configuration index indicating the initial PRACH resource.

18. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that, The semi-static signaling is used to configure the initial PRACH resources, including: The semi-static signaling includes a first PRACH configuration index and a second PRACH configuration index. The second PRACH configuration index is different from the first PRACH configuration index. The initial PRACH resource is the remaining resource after excluding the resource that overlaps with the resource indicated by the first PRACH configuration index from the resources indicated by the second PRACH configuration index.

19. The method according to any one of claims 14-18, characterized in that, The dynamic signaling includes first indication information and / or second indication information, wherein the first indication information is used to indicate the change in frequency domain resources of the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource, and the second indication information is used to indicate the change in time domain resources of the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource.

20. The method according to any one of claims 14-18, characterized in that, The dynamic signaling includes a first indication information and a second indication information. The first indication information is used to indicate that the frequency domain resources or time domain resources of the initial PRACH resources have changed, and the second indication information is used to indicate the amount of change corresponding to the change in the frequency domain resources or time domain resources.

21. The method according to any one of claims 14-18, characterized in that, The dynamic signaling indicates changes in the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource, including: The dynamic signaling indicates the time-domain resources by which the target PRACH resource increases or decreases relative to the initial PRACH resource.

22. The method according to any one of claims 15-19, characterized in that, The dynamic signaling indicates changes in the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource, including: The dynamic signaling indicates whether the resources in the initial PRACH resource are available.

23. The method according to claim 22, characterized in that, The dynamic signaling indicates whether the resources in the initial PRACH resources are available, including: The dynamic signaling indicates whether the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources of the initial PRACH resource are available after being filtered by modulo operation based on the index of the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources.

24. The method according to claim 22, characterized in that, The dynamic signaling indicates whether the resources in the initial PRACH resources are available, including: The dynamic signaling indicates whether the corresponding PRACH resource in the initial PRACH resource is available through a bitmap or code point value.

25. The method according to claim 22, characterized in that, The dynamic signaling indicates whether the resources in the initial PRACH resources are available, including: The dynamic signaling is used to indicate the amount of change in the PRACH resource corresponding to each synchronization signal block index in the initial PRACH resource.

26. The method according to any one of claims 14-18, characterized in that, The semi-static signaling also includes third indication information, which is used to indicate that the initial PRACH resources are divided into multiple PRACH resource subsets based on frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources; The dynamic signaling indicates the change of the target PRACH resource relative to the initial PRACH resource, including: the dynamic signaling is used to indicate whether each PRACH resource subset in the plurality of PRACH resource subsets is available.

27. A communication device, characterized in that, It includes units for performing the method as described in any one of claims 1-13, or units for performing the method as described in any one of claims 14-26.

28. A communication device, characterized in that, It includes a processor and a memory, the processor and the memory being coupled, the processor being configured to implement the method as described in any one of claims 1-13, or the processor being configured to implement the method as described in any one of claims 14-26.

29. A chip, characterized in that, The device includes a processor and an interface, the processor and the interface being coupled; the interface is used to receive or output signals, and the processor is used to execute code instructions to cause the method of any one of claims 1-13 to be executed, or to cause the method of any one of claims 14-26 to be executed.

30. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium stores computer-executable instructions, which, when invoked by the computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1-13, or the method of any one of claims 14-26.

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