Communication method and related apparatus

Abstract

A communication method and a related apparatus. In the method, on the basis of a reference signal reception timing difference between a first cell and a second cell, ephemeris information of a first satellite and ephemeris information of a second satellite, a terminal may calculate position information of the terminal. In this way, for terminals that lack a GNSS positioning capability or terminals that are currently unable to acquire the positions thereof by means of GNSS signals, positioning of the terminals can be realized. In addition, the first satellite and the second satellite in the present application are communication satellites, and compared with the signal strength of GNSS signals transmitted by GNSS satellites, the signal strength of positioning reference signals transmitted by the first and second satellites in the present application is stronger. Therefore, the positioning reference signals are less susceptible to environmental interference, thereby facilitating an improvement in the accuracy of terminal positioning.

Description

Communication method and related apparatus

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application No. 202410948325.6, filed on July 15, 2024, and entitled “Communication method and related apparatus”, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

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

[0003] In satellite communication, a terminal needs to know its own position to access a non-terrestrial network device (e.g., a satellite) for communication. Currently, the terminal position is mainly determined through a global navigation satellite system (GNSS), but the GNSS signal is easily affected by the environment, thus resulting in a large positioning error of the terminal. SUMMARY

[0004] The present application provides a communication method and related apparatus, which is beneficial to reduce the positioning error of the terminal.

[0005] The present application is described below from different aspects. It should be understood that the implementation and advantages of the different aspects below can be mutually referenced.

[0006] In a first aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be applied to a terminal side, such as a terminal or a communication module in the terminal, or a circuit or chip responsible for communication function in the terminal (such as a Modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a system on chip (SoC) chip or system in package (SIP) chip containing a modem core). Taking the case where the method is applied to a terminal, in the method, the terminal obtains a first timing offset between a first cell of a first non-terrestrial network device and a second cell of a second non-terrestrial network device, and then can determine the position information of the terminal according to the first timing offset, ephemeris information of the first non-terrestrial network device, and ephemeris information of the second non-terrestrial network device. The first timing offset is the difference between a first downlink reception timing of the first cell obtained by the terminal and a second downlink reception timing of the second cell obtained by the terminal.

[0007] In the present application, the terminal can calculate the position information of the terminal according to the reception timing offset of the reference signals of the first cell and the second cell, the ephemeris information of the first satellite and the ephemeris information of the second satellite, so that the terminal without GNSS positioning capability or the terminal currently unable to obtain its own position through GNSS signals can realize the positioning of the terminal. In addition, since the first satellite and the second satellite in the present application are communication satellites, the signal strength of the positioning reference signal transmitted by the first satellite and the second satellite in the present application is greater than the signal strength of the GNSS signal transmitted by the GNSS satellite, and therefore is less susceptible to environmental influences, which is conducive to improving the accuracy of terminal positioning.

[0008] In a possible implementation, the method further includes:

[0009] obtaining a second timing offset between the first cell and the second cell, the second timing offset being a difference between a first downlink transmission timing of the first cell and a second downlink transmission timing of the second cell;

[0010] The determining the position information of the terminal according to the first timing offset, the ephemeris information of the first non-terrestrial network device and the ephemeris information of the second non-terrestrial network device includes:

[0011] The determining the position information of the terminal according to the first timing offset, the second timing offset, the ephemeris information of the first non-terrestrial network device and the ephemeris information of the second non-terrestrial network device.

[0012] In this implementation, the terminal can calculate the position information of the terminal according to the reception timing offset of the reference signals of the first cell and the second cell, the transmission timing offset between the downlink transmission timings of the first cell and the second cell, the ephemeris information of the first satellite and the ephemeris information of the second satellite, which is conducive to further improving the accuracy of terminal positioning.

[0013] In a possible implementation, the obtaining the second timing offset between the first cell and the second cell includes:

[0014] receiving a broadcast message or a radio resource control (RRC) message, the second timing offset being included in the broadcast message or the RRC message.

[0015] In this implementation, the transmission timing offset (i.e., the second timing offset) between the downlink transmission timings of the first cell and the second cell is carried in the existing message, such as the broadcast message or the RRC message, which is conducive to saving signaling overhead.

[0016] In a possible implementation, the broadcast message or the RRC message further includes one or more of the following information:

[0017] frequency point information of a neighboring cell of a serving cell of the terminal, a cell identifier of the neighboring cell of the serving cell of the terminal, ephemeris information of the first non-terrestrial network device, ephemeris information of the second non-terrestrial network device, resource information of a positioning reference signal of the first cell, resource information of a positioning reference signal of the second cell, or a correspondence between different beams and different neighboring cells.

[0018] In this implementation, the information required for terminal positioning is carried in the broadcast message or the RRC message, which is beneficial to saving signaling overhead.

[0019] In a possible implementation, the method further includes receiving a measurement configuration, and the measurement configuration includes the resource information of the positioning reference signal of the second cell.

[0020] In this implementation, the resource information of the positioning reference signal of the second cell can also be carried in the measurement configuration, which is beneficial to saving signaling overhead.

[0021] In a possible implementation, the first non-terrestrial network device is a non-terrestrial network device corresponding to a serving cell of the terminal, and the second non-terrestrial network device is a non-terrestrial network device corresponding to a neighboring cell of the serving cell; or, the first non-terrestrial network device and the second non-terrestrial network device are both non-terrestrial network devices corresponding to neighboring cells of the serving cell of the terminal.

[0022] In a possible implementation, the obtaining of the first timing offset between the first cell of the first non-terrestrial network device and the second cell of the second non-terrestrial network device includes: receiving a positioning reference signal from the first cell, wherein a downlink reception timing of the positioning reference signal of the first cell is a first downlink reception timing; receiving a positioning reference signal from the second cell, wherein a downlink reception timing of the positioning reference signal of the second cell is a second downlink reception timing; and determining the first timing offset according to the first downlink reception timing and the second downlink reception timing.

[0023] In this implementation, the terminal obtains the downlink reception timing by measuring the positioning reference signals from the first cell and the second cell, and then determines the downlink reception timing offset according to the downlink reception timings of the first cell and the second cell, which is operable.

[0024] In a possible implementation, the first non-ground network device is a non-ground network device corresponding to a serving cell of the terminal, and the second non-ground network device is a non-ground network device corresponding to a neighboring cell of the serving cell; the receiving of the positioning reference signal from the second cell comprises: receiving the positioning reference signal from the second cell in a case where a signal quality of the first cell is greater than or equal to a signal quality threshold; or receiving the positioning reference signal from the second cell before a service time of the first cell arrives in a case where the first cell is a quasi-fixed cell; or receiving the positioning reference signal from the second cell after a synchronization reference signal from the second cell is received. In this implementation, protocol compatibility is facilitated.

[0025] In a possible implementation, before the receiving of the positioning reference signal from the second cell, the method further includes:

[0026] receiving a first beam from the first cell, the first beam corresponding to the second cell.

[0027] In this implementation, the terminal determines the second cell (i.e., the neighboring cell) corresponding to the first beam by receiving the first beam, and then determines the second cell according to a correspondence between different beams and different neighboring cells, so that the terminal only needs to receive the positioning reference signal from the second cell in the future, instead of receiving the positioning reference signal from all neighboring cells of the first cell, thereby facilitating reduction of measurement overhead of the terminal.

[0028] In a possible implementation, the method further includes:

[0029] reselecting or switching from the first cell of the first non-ground network device to a third cell of a third non-ground network device, the first cell being a serving cell of the terminal before cell reselection or cell switching;

[0030] obtaining a third timing offset between the third cell and a fourth cell of a fourth non-ground network device, the third timing offset being a difference between a third downlink reception timing of the third cell obtained by the terminal and a fourth downlink reception timing of the fourth cell obtained by the terminal;

[0031] determining the position information of the terminal according to the first timing offset, the third timing offset, ephemeris information of the first non-ground network device, ephemeris information of the second non-ground network device, ephemeris information of the third non-ground network device, and ephemeris information of the fourth non-ground network device.

[0032] In the implementation, when calculating the position information of the terminal, the terminal can combine the information of the current serving satellite and the plurality of neighboring satellites, and the information of the serving satellite and the plurality of neighboring satellites acquired before (i.e., before cell reselection or cell handover), to perform position calculation, so as to shorten the positioning time delay of the terminal.

[0033] In a possible implementation, the method further includes:

[0034] acquiring a fourth timing offset between the third cell and the fourth cell, the fourth timing offset being a difference between a third downlink transmission timing of the third cell and a fourth downlink transmission timing of the fourth cell;

[0035] The determining the position information of the terminal according to the first timing offset, the third timing offset, the ephemeris information of the first non-terrestrial network device, the ephemeris information of the second non-terrestrial network device, the ephemeris information of the third non-terrestrial network device, and the ephemeris information of the fourth non-terrestrial network device includes:

[0036] The determining the position information of the terminal according to the first timing offset, the third timing offset, the fourth timing offset, the ephemeris information of the first non-terrestrial network device, the ephemeris information of the second non-terrestrial network device, the ephemeris information of the third non-terrestrial network device, and the ephemeris information of the fourth non-terrestrial network device, or the determining the position information of the terminal according to the first timing offset, the second timing offset, the third timing offset, the fourth timing offset, the ephemeris information of the first non-terrestrial network device, the ephemeris information of the second non-terrestrial network device, the ephemeris information of the third non-terrestrial network device, and the ephemeris information of the fourth non-terrestrial network device.

[0037] In a possible implementation, the method further includes:

[0038] The method further includes:

[0039] In the implementation, after the terminal calculates the position information of the terminal, the terminal can further report the position information of the terminal to the network side (e.g., a base station), so that the base station selects a suitable neighboring cell for the terminal to perform measurement.

[0040] In a second aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be applied to a terminal side, for example, a terminal or a communication module in the terminal, or a circuit or chip (such as a Modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a SoC chip or SIP chip containing a modem core) responsible for communication functions in the terminal. Taking the case where the method is applied to a terminal, in the method, the terminal obtains a plurality of downlink reception timings of a first cell of a first non-ground network device, and determines position information of the terminal according to the plurality of downlink reception timings and ephemeris information of the first non-ground network device.

[0041] In a possible implementation, the determining of the position information of the terminal according to the plurality of downlink reception timings and the ephemeris information of the first non-ground network device comprises:

[0042] determining a plurality of downlink reception timing deviations according to the plurality of downlink reception timings;

[0043] determining the position information of the terminal according to the plurality of downlink reception timing deviations and the ephemeris information of the first non-ground network device.

[0044] In the present application, the terminal can determine a plurality of reception timing deviations according to a plurality of reception timings of positioning reference signals sent by a satellite at a plurality of times, and then calculate the position information of the terminal according to the plurality of reception timing deviations and the ephemeris information of the satellite, so that the terminal without GNSS positioning capability or the terminal currently unable to obtain its own position through GNSS signals can also realize the positioning of the terminal. In addition, since the first satellite in the present application is a communication satellite, the signal strength of the positioning reference signal sent by the first satellite is greater than that of the GNSS signal sent by the GNSS satellite, and therefore the positioning reference signal is less susceptible to environmental influences, which is conducive to improving the accuracy of terminal positioning.

[0045] In a possible implementation, the first non-ground network device is a non-ground network device corresponding to a serving cell of the terminal, or the first non-ground network device is a non-ground network device corresponding to a neighboring cell of the serving cell of the terminal.

[0046] In a possible implementation, the first non-ground network device is a non-ground network device corresponding to a neighboring cell of the serving cell of the terminal; and the obtaining of the plurality of downlink reception timings of the first cell of the first non-ground network device comprises:

[0047] receiving a plurality of positioning reference signals from the first cell in a case where the signal quality of the serving cell of the terminal is greater than or equal to a signal quality threshold; or

[0048] after receiving the synchronization reference signal from the first cell, receiving a plurality of positioning reference signals from the first cell;

[0049] wherein the plurality of positioning reference signals correspond to a plurality of downlink reception timings.

[0050] In a possible implementation, the method further includes:

[0051] receiving a broadcast message or a RRC message, wherein the broadcast message or the RRC message comprises one or more of the following information: resource information of the positioning reference signal of the first cell, or ephemeris information of the first non-terrestrial network device.

[0052] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: transmitting the location information of the terminal.

[0053] In a third aspect, the present application provides a communication apparatus, which comprises units or modules for performing the method in any of the first aspect to the second aspect, or the method in any possible implementation of any of the aspects.

[0054] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a communication apparatus, which comprises a processor and a transceiver. The processor and the transceiver are configured to perform the method in any of the first aspect to the second aspect, or the method in any possible implementation of any of the aspects.

[0055] Optionally, the communication apparatus further comprises a memory in which a computer program is stored; and the processor and the transceiver are configured to invoke the computer program stored in the memory, so that the communication apparatus performs the method in any of the first aspect to the second aspect, or the method in any possible implementation of any of the aspects.

[0056] In a possible design, the communication apparatus can be a chip or a device including a chip that implements the above method.

[0057] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a communication apparatus, which comprises a processor and an interface circuit. The interface circuit is configured to receive a signal from another communication apparatus outside the communication apparatus and transmit the signal to the processor, or transmit a signal from the processor to another communication apparatus outside the communication apparatus. The processor is configured to implement the method in any of the first aspect to the second aspect, or the method in any possible implementation of any of the aspects, by means of a logic circuit or an execution of code instructions.

[0058] In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a computer readable storage medium, which stores a computer program or instructions, when the computer program or instructions are executed by a computer, the method in any of the first aspect to the second aspect, or the method shown in any possible implementation of any of the aspects is implemented.

[0059] In a seventh aspect, the present application provides a computer program product, when a computer reads and executes the computer program product, the computer is caused to execute the method in any of the first aspect to the second aspect, or the method shown in any possible implementation of any of the aspects.

[0060] In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a chip system, which includes at least one processor and an interface, the processor is used to read and execute instructions stored in a memory, when the instructions are executed, the chip is caused to execute the method in any of the first aspect or the second aspect, or the method shown in any possible implementation of any of the aspects.

[0061] In a ninth aspect, the present application provides a communication system, which can include a terminal and a radio access network device. The terminal is used to execute the method shown in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect. The radio access network device is used to execute the method shown in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0062] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an architecture of a communication system to which embodiments of the present application are applied;

[0063] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a NTN-based RAN architecture to which embodiments of the present application are applied;

[0064] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a cell deployment scheme involved in satellite communication;

[0065] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a serving satellite and a neighboring satellite;

[0066] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an architecture of an NTN system;

[0067] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a flow of a communication method provided by embodiments of the present application;

[0068] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a first timing offset and a second timing offset provided by embodiments of the present application;

[0069] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of another flow of a communication method provided by embodiments of the present application;

[0070] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of another flow of a communication method provided by embodiments of the present application;

[0071] FIG. 10 is another flow diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0072] FIG. 11 is a structural diagram of a possible communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0073] FIG. 12 is a structural diagram of a possible communication device according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0074] The specific embodiments of the present application will be further described with reference to the drawings.

[0075] The terms "first" and "second" and the like in the description, claims and drawings of the present application are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily described in a particular order. Furthermore, the terms "include" and "have" and their derivatives, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, system, product or apparatus that comprises a list of steps or units are not necessarily limited to the listed steps or units, but can optionally include additional steps or units not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, product or apparatus.

[0076] Reference herein to "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment can be included in at least one embodiment of the application. The appearances of the phrase "in an embodiment" in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, nor are they necessarily mutually exclusive of one another. It is expressly understood that any of the embodiments described herein can be incorporated into any other embodiment.

[0077] In the present application, "at least one" means one or more, "multiple" means two or more, "at least two" means two or three or more, and "and / or" is used to describe the relationship between associated objects, indicating that there can be three relationships, for example, "A and / or B" can mean: only A, only B, and A and B exist at the same time, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally represents an "or" relationship between the associated objects. "At least one" or the like means any combination of these items, including single or multiple combinations. For example, at least one 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 singular or plural.

[0078] In this application, "sending information to (for example, a terminal)" can be understood as that the destination of the information is the terminal. It can include directly or indirectly sending information to the terminal. "Receiving information from (for example, a terminal)" or "receiving information from (for example, a terminal)" can be understood as that the source of the information is the terminal, and it can include directly or indirectly receiving information from the terminal. The information can be processed as necessary between the source and the destination of the information, for example, format change, etc., but the destination can understand the valid information from the source. Similar expressions in this application can be similarly understood, and will not be repeated here.

[0079] In order to better understand the embodiments of the present application, first, the system architecture related to the embodiments of the present application will be introduced as follows:

[0080] The technical solutions of the present application can be applied to a non-terrestrial network (NTN) or a scenario in which the NTN is integrated with a terrestrial network (TN). The NTN system can be, for example, a satellite communication system, a high altitude platform station (HAPS) communication system, a global navigation satellite system (GNSS), etc. The TN system can be, for example, a 4th generation (4G) communication system (for example, a long term evolution (LTE) system), a worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication system, a 5th generation (5G) communication system (for example, a new radio (NR) system), and a future mobile communication system, etc.

[0081] The communication system provided in the present application can include one or more network devices and one or more terminals.

[0082] The following is an exemplary explanation of the system architecture shown in FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 1, FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system to which embodiments of the present application are applied. As shown in FIG. 1, the communication system 1000 includes a radio access network (RAN) 100 and a core network (CN) 200. Exemplarily, the communication system 1000 can also include an Internet 300. The RAN 100 includes at least one network device (e.g., 110a and 110b in FIG. 1, collectively referred to as 110) and at least one terminal (e.g., 120a-120j in FIG. 1, collectively referred to as 120). The RAN 100 can further include other RAN nodes, such as a wireless relay device and / or a wireless backhaul device (not shown in FIG. 1), etc. The terminal 120 is connected to the network device 110 in a wireless manner. The network device 110 is connected to the core network 200 in a wireless or wired manner. The core network device in the core network 200 and the network device 110 in the RAN 100 can be different physical devices respectively, or can be the same physical device integrated with the logical functions of the core network and the logical functions of the radio access network.

[0083] It should be noted that the RAN 100 can be a 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) related cellular system, such as a 4G, 5G mobile communication system, or an evolved system after 5G. The RAN 100 can also be an open radio access network (O-RAN or ORAN), a cloud radio access network (CRAN), etc. The RAN 100 can also be a communication system in which two or more of the above systems are integrated. It should be noted that the number of network devices and terminals in FIG. 1 is only illustrative and should not be considered as a specific limitation of the present application. The terminal and network device involved in the system architecture will be described in detail below.

[0084] I. Terminal

[0085] The terminal can also be referred to as a terminal device, user equipment (UE), a mobile station (MS), a mobile terminal (MT), a mobile terminal, a mobile equipment (ME), an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a mobile station, a remote station, a remote terminal, a user terminal, a wireless communication device, a user agent, or a user device, etc., or a device used to provide voice or data connectivity to a user, and can also be an Internet of Things device. For example, the terminal includes a handheld device having wireless connection function, a vehicle-mounted device, etc. At present, the terminal can be: a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a notebook computer, a palm computer, a mobile Internet device (MID), a wearable device (for example, a smart watch, a smart bracelet, a pedometer, etc.), a vehicle-mounted device (for example, a car, a bicycle, an electric vehicle, an airplane, a ship, a train, a high-speed rail, etc.), a satellite terminal, a virtual reality (VR) device, an augmented reality (AR) device, a smart point of sale (POS) machine, a customer-premises equipment (CPE), a wireless terminal in industrial control, a smart home device (for example, a refrigerator, a television, an air conditioner, an electricity meter, etc.), a smart robot, a mechanical arm, a workshop device, a wireless terminal in unmanned driving, a wireless terminal in telemedicine, a wireless terminal in a smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in a smart city, or a wireless terminal in a smart home, a flight device (for example, a smart robot, a hot air balloon, a drone, an airplane), etc. The terminal can also be other devices with terminal functions, for example, the terminal can also be a device that plays a terminal function in D2D communication.

[0086] In addition, the terminal involved in the embodiments of the present application is a terminal supporting NTN access technology or having NTN capability.

[0087] The embodiments of the present application do not limit the device form of the terminal, and the device for realizing the function of the terminal can be a terminal; or can be a device capable of supporting the terminal to realize the function, such as a chip system. The device can be installed in the terminal or used in matching with the terminal. In the embodiments of the present application, the chip system can be composed of a chip, or can include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0088] II. Network device

[0089] The network device is a node in a radio access network (RAN), which can also be referred to as an access network device, and can also be referred to as a RAN node (or device). The network device is used to help the terminal to realize wireless access. The plurality of network devices 110 in the communication system 1000 can be nodes of the same type or nodes of different types. In some scenarios, the roles of the network devices 110 and the terminals 120 are relative, for example, the network element 120i in FIG. 1 can be a helicopter or a drone, which can be configured as a mobile base station. For a terminal 120j that accesses the RAN 100 through the network element 120i, the network element 120i is a base station; but for the base station 110a, the network element 120i is a terminal. The network devices 110 and the terminals 120 are sometimes collectively referred to as communication apparatuses, for example, the network elements 110a and 110b in FIG. 1 can be understood as communication apparatuses with base station functions, and the network elements 120a-120j can be understood as communication apparatuses with terminal functions.

[0090] In a possible scenario, the network device can be a device with base station functions, such as an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a transmitting and receiving point (TRP), a transmitting point (TP), a next generation NodeB (gNB), a next generation base station in a future mobile communication system, an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node.

[0091] In a possible scenario, the network device can also be a non-ground network device in an NTN, for example, a device deployed in a high-altitude platform, such as a satellite, etc. The network device can also be a macro base station (such as 110a in FIG. 1), a micro base station or an indoor station (such as 110b in FIG. 1), a relay node or a donor node, or a wireless controller in a CRAN scenario. The network device can also be a device with base station functions in device to device (D2D) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, drone communication, and machine communication. Exemplarily, the network device can also be a server, a wearable device, a vehicle or a vehicle-mounted device, etc. For example, the network device in the vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology can be a road side unit (RSU).

[0092] All or part of the functions of the network device in this application can also be implemented by software functions running on hardware, or by virtualized functions instantiated on a platform (such as a cloud platform). The network device in this application can also be a logical node, a logical module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the network device.

[0093] In another possible scenario, multiple network devices cooperate to assist terminals to implement wireless access, and different network devices respectively implement part of the functions of a base station. For example, the network device can include a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU), etc. The CU and the DU can be separately arranged, or can be included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in a radio frequency device or a radio frequency unit, such as a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna processing unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH). It can be understood that the network device can be a CU node, or a DU node, or a device including a CU node and a DU node. In addition, the CU can be divided into network devices in the access network RAN, or the CU can be divided into network devices in the core network CN, which is not limited here.

[0094] In different systems, the CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU or RU can also have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in the ORAN system, the CU can also be referred to as O-CU (open CU), the DU can also be referred to as O-DU, the CU-CP can also be referred to as O-CU-CP, the CU-UP can also be referred to as O-CU-UP, and the RU can also be referred to as O-RU. For the convenience of description, the CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU and RU are taken as examples for description in this application. Any one of the CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU and RU in this application can be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0095] Optionally, one or more network function entities (or core network elements, logical network elements, network elements, or entities, etc.) can be included in the CN 200. For example, an access and mobility management function (AMF), a location management function (LMF), an application function (AF), etc. The present application does not limit this.

[0096] In the embodiments of the present application, the form of the network device is not limited, and the device for implementing the function of the network device can be a network device or a device capable of supporting the network device to implement the function, such as a chip system. The device can be installed in the network device or used with the network device.

[0097] In order to facilitate understanding of the content of the present scheme, the following will explain and describe some terms involved in the embodiments of the present application, so as to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art. This part is only for the convenience of understanding, and cannot be regarded as a specific limitation of the present application.

[0098] I. NTN

[0099] NTN, which is a general term for networks involving flying objects, includes satellite communication networks, high-altitude platform systems (HAPS), and air-to-ground networks.

[0100] HAPS is carried on an airborne platform, mainly including aircraft, balloons and airships. The high-altitude platform station is used as a mobile communication base station to provide mobile services using the same frequency band as the ground mobile network. That is, by deploying base stations or part of the base station functions on non-terrestrial network devices (such as ships, high-altitude platforms, drones or satellites) to provide seamless communication coverage for terminals, the reliability of the communication system is improved. It should be noted that for the sake of convenience, only the satellite in the NTN is taken as an example in the following description, which should not be regarded as a specific limitation of the present application.

[0101] Satellite communication networks rely on spaceborne platforms, mainly including low earth orbiting (LEO) satellites, medium earth orbiting (MEO) satellites, and geostationary earth orbiting (GEO) satellites. According to the relationship between the satellite and the base station, it can be divided into the following architectures.

[0102] Exemplarily, please refer to FIG. 2, which is a schematic diagram of an NTN-based RAN architecture to which the embodiments of the present application are applicable. As shown in FIG. 2, the NTN-based RAN architecture can include a terminal, a RAN (or referred to as an NG-RAN), a core network device, and a data network (or the Internet).

[0103] In FIG. 2(a), a transparent satellite architecture is shown. The transparent satellite architecture can also be referred to as a transmissive satellite architecture. The RAN can include a remote radio unit (RRU) and a base station. The RRU can include a satellite and an NTN gateway. The terminal communicates with the base station through a user-universal terrestrial radio access network (Uu) interface, and the satellite can implement transparent payload transmission between the user and the base station. The satellite and the NTN gateway can be considered as a remote radio unit of the base station, and implement transparent forwarding of signals, i.e., the satellite supports functions such as radio frequency filtering, frequency conversion, and amplification, and the signal waveform does not change. The forwarding of the satellite is transparent to the terminal, i.e., the satellite mainly acts as a layer 1 (L1) relay device, which is used to regenerate the physical layer signal (i.e., the processing of radio frequency filtering, frequency conversion, and amplification), and does not have other higher protocol layers. The base station and the core network device can communicate through a next generation (NG) interface, and interact with the non-access stratum (NAS) signaling of the core network and the service data of the terminal through the NG interface.

[0104] As shown in FIG. 2(b) and FIG. 2(c), both are regenerative satellite architectures. As shown in FIG. 2(b), a regenerative satellite without inter-satellite link architecture is shown. The RAN includes a satellite and an NTN gateway, and the satellite acts as a base station and has the processing function of the base station. The satellite and the NTN gateway communicate through a satellite radio interface (SRI). The terminal communicates with the base station through a Uu interface, and the base station and the core network device can communicate through an NG interface, and interact with the NAS signaling of the core network and the service data of the terminal through the NG interface.

[0105] (c) of FIG. 2 is a regenerative satellite with inter-satellite link architecture. The RAN includes satellites and NTN gateways, and the satellites act as base stations with the processing functions of a base station. The satellites communicate with the NTN gateways through an SRI. The satellites can communicate with each other through an Xn interface over an inter-satellite link (ISL). The terminals communicate with the base stations through a Uu interface, and the base stations and the core network device can communicate through an NG interface to exchange NAS signaling of the core network and service data of the terminals.

[0106] (d) of FIG. 2 is a regenerative satellite architecture with the DU processing function of a base station, and the satellites act as DUs with the DU processing function. The CU and the DU can jointly complete the functions of a base station. The CU and the DU communicate through an F1 interface, and the DU and the NTN gateway communicate through an F1 interface over an SRI. The terminals communicate with the DUs through a Uu interface, and the CU and the core network device can communicate through an NG interface to exchange NAS signaling of the core network and service data of the terminals.

[0107] Exemplarily, in another satellite architecture with integrated access and backhaul (IAB) functions, the satellites act as IAB nodes. The IAB nodes are used to provide backhaul services for nodes (such as terminals) that access wirelessly. The backhaul service refers to a data and / or signaling backhaul service provided through a wireless backhaul link.

[0108] Hereinafter, the present application is mainly described by taking the transparent satellite architecture and the regenerative satellite architecture as examples.

[0109] II. Ephemeris information

[0110] Each satellite has ephemeris information, which can also be referred to as satellite ephemeris. The ephemeris information of a satellite can include information related to the operation of the satellite, for example, can include one or more of the following information: a table of trajectories and / or orbital parameters (such as altitude, speed, inclination, orientation), an inclination of an orbital plane of the satellite, a right ascension of the ascending node, a semi-major axis of an orbital ellipse, an eccentricity of the orbital ellipse, an argument of perigee, and a time of passage of the satellite at perigee. It should be noted that other non-satellite flying objects in the non-terrestrial network can also have ephemeris information, which is used to indicate the flight trajectory information of the non-terrestrial network device.

[0111] III. Quasi-geostationary cells

[0112] In satellite communication, the coverage physical area of a satellite is changing due to the high speed of the satellite. There are two ways for the coverage of a satellite. One way is the deployment scheme shown in (a) of FIG. 3, in which a satellite covers a certain physical area at a time period, and when the satellite can no longer provide coverage for the physical area due to the movement of the satellite, other satellites provide service for the physical area. The cell in the deployment scheme shown in (a) of FIG. 3 can be referred to as a quasi-earth fixed cell. The other way is the deployment scheme shown in (b) of FIG. 3, in which the coverage range of a satellite changes with the movement of the satellite. The cell in this deployment can be referred to as an earth moving cell.

[0113] IV. Serving satellite and neighboring satellite

[0114] As shown in FIG. 4, the satellite corresponding to the cell providing service for the terminal (i.e., the serving cell) is the serving satellite (e.g., satellite 1 in FIG. 4), and the satellite corresponding to the neighboring cell (referred to as the neighbor cell) of the serving cell is the neighboring satellite (e.g., satellite 2 in FIG. 4). In addition, the base station corresponding to the serving cell is the serving base station, which can generally provide service for the terminal in the serving cell through the serving satellite.

[0115] Optionally, the satellite corresponding to the neighboring cell of the serving cell can also be the serving satellite, that is, there can be multiple cells under one satellite, one of which is the serving cell and the others are neighboring cells, and thus the satellite can also be referred to as the serving satellite. In this application, the satellite corresponding to the serving cell and the satellite corresponding to the neighboring cell are different satellites.

[0116] V. Beam

[0117] A beam is divided into an analog beam and a digital beam. An analog beam is generated by multiple phase shifters of an analog filter. The phases of the multiple phase shifters are configured, and the superposition of the multiple phases generates a signal with different signal gains in different directions, thereby forming a beam in space. In the process of forming a digital beam, no phase shifter is involved, but a digital weighting is performed on the multiple signals sent to the antenna in the baseband, thereby forming a digital beam. When a network device sends a reference signal to a terminal, the reference signal is sent in the form of a beam. For example, different synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) of a cell correspond to different beams, or the cell sends SSBs through beams.

[0118] VI. Feeding link and uplink reference point

[0119] As shown in FIG. 5, the link between the satellite and the terminal is generally referred to as a service link, and the link between the satellite and the NTN gateway is generally referred to as a feeder link. For a transparent satellite architecture, the uplink reference point is located on the feeder link. The feeder link delay is the propagation delay between the satellite and the NTN gateway. The feeder link delay includes two parts, which are the delay between the uplink reference point on the feeder link and the satellite and the delay between the uplink reference point on the feeder link and the NTN gateway. It should be noted that the delay between the uplink reference point and the satellite can not be a fixed value, but a value related to time. The network side will send the terminal the correlation between the delay between the uplink reference point and the satellite and time.

[0120] Currently, in satellite communication, the terminal needs to know its own position to access the satellite for communication. At present, the terminal position is mainly determined through GNSS, but the GNSS signal is easily affected by the environment, so the positioning error of the terminal is large.

[0121] Based on this, the present application proposes a communication method, which is beneficial to improve the accuracy of terminal positioning.

[0122] Hereinafter, the first non-terrestrial network device is taken as the first satellite, and the second non-terrestrial network device is taken as the second satellite as an example for description. The first satellite and the second satellite involved in this embodiment are communication satellites, which are different from the satellites (GNSS satellites) in the GNSS system. Generally speaking, the orbit of the communication satellite is lower than that of the GNSS satellite, and therefore, compared with the signal strength of the GNSS signal sent by the GNSS satellite, the signal strength of the positioning reference signal sent by the first satellite / second satellite in the present application is greater, and therefore, it is less susceptible to environmental influences, which is beneficial to improve the accuracy of terminal positioning.

[0123] The terminal involved in the present application is a terminal that needs to know its own position to access the satellite for communication. The first cell involved in the present application can be understood as a cell under the first satellite or a cell under the base station corresponding to the first satellite, and the second cell can be understood as a cell under the second satellite or a cell under the base station corresponding to the second satellite. Under the transparent satellite architecture, the base station corresponding to the first satellite is deployed on the ground, or the base station corresponding to the first satellite is a ground base station. Similarly, the base station corresponding to the second satellite is deployed on the ground, or the base station corresponding to the second satellite is a ground base station. The base station corresponding to the satellite can send the positioning reference signal to the terminal through the satellite, and similarly, the terminal can send the position information of the terminal to the base station corresponding to the satellite through the satellite.

[0124] The communication method and the communication device provided in the present application are described in detail as follows:

[0125] Please refer to FIG. 6, which is a flowchart of the communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. The execution subject of the method shown in FIG. 6 can be a satellite (for example, the first satellite and the second satellite) and a terminal, or a chip in the satellite and a chip in the terminal. For the convenience of description, the present application mainly takes the satellite and the terminal as the execution subject for description. It should be understood that FIG. 6 is a schematic flowchart of the method embodiment of the present application, which shows the detailed communication steps or operations of the method, but these steps or operations are only examples, and the method embodiment of the present application can also perform other operations or variations of the various operations in FIG. 6. In addition, the various steps in FIG. 6 can be performed in different order from that presented in FIG. 6, and it is possible that not all the operations in FIG. 6 are to be performed. Among them:

[0126] S601, the terminal acquires a first timing offset between a first cell of a first satellite and a second cell of a second satellite.

[0127] The first timing offset is the difference between the first downlink reception timing of the first cell acquired by the terminal and the second downlink reception timing of the second cell acquired by the terminal, or described as the first timing offset is the difference between the first downlink reception timing when the terminal receives the positioning reference signal from the first cell and the second downlink reception timing when the terminal receives the positioning reference signal from the second cell. It should be noted that the first downlink reception timing can be understood as the time at which the terminal acquires the starting time of the i-th frame from the first cell (or understood as the first downlink reception timing is the time at which the terminal acquires the starting time of the i-th frame corresponding to the positioning reference signal from the first cell), and the second downlink reception timing can be understood as the time at which the terminal acquires the starting time of the j-th frame from the second cell (or understood as the second downlink reception timing is the time at which the terminal acquires the starting time of the j-th frame corresponding to the positioning reference signal from the second cell), where the j-th frame is the frame closest to the i-th frame in time. Both the i-th frame and the j-th frame refer to a radio frame, which can be optionally replaced by a subframe or the like in the present embodiment and is not limited. As shown in (a) of FIG. 7, the relationship between the first timing offset, the first downlink reception timing and the second downlink reception timing in the case where the first satellite and the second satellite are timing-synchronized (or referred to as the first cell and the second cell are timing-synchronized). As shown in (b) of FIG. 7, the relationship between the first timing offset, the first downlink reception timing and the second downlink reception timing in the case where the first satellite and the second satellite are not timing-synchronized (or referred to as the first cell and the second cell are not timing-synchronized).

[0128] It can be understood that in an implementation scenario, the first satellite in this embodiment can be a satellite corresponding to a serving cell of the terminal (referred to as a serving satellite), the first cell is a cell under the serving satellite of the terminal, that is, a service cell, and the second satellite can be a satellite corresponding to a neighboring cell of the service cell of the terminal (referred to as a neighboring satellite), and the second cell is a cell under the neighboring satellite, that is, a neighboring cell. In another implementation scenario, the first satellite and the second satellite are satellites corresponding to neighboring cells of the service cell of the terminal. Here, the service cell of the terminal can be a ground network cell, for example, and the first cell and the second cell are non-ground network cells, which are neighboring cells of the ground network cell. Unless otherwise specified, the following mainly understands the first satellite as the serving satellite, the first cell as the service cell, the second satellite as the neighboring satellite, and the second cell as the neighboring cell. The number of second satellites can be one or more, and the number of second cells (that is, neighboring cells) under the second satellite can also be one or more. For example, multiple second cells can be different cells under the same second satellite, and for another example, multiple second cells can also be different cells under different second satellites. Unless otherwise specified, the following mainly understands the second cell as a neighboring cell of the service cell.

[0129] In a possible design, the terminal obtains the first timing offset between the first cell of the first satellite and the first cell of the second satellite. It can be understood that the terminal receives a positioning reference signal from the first cell and receives a positioning reference signal from the second cell, where the downlink reception timing of the positioning reference signal of the first cell is the first downlink reception timing, and the downlink reception timing of the positioning reference signal of the second cell is the second downlink reception timing. Therefore, the terminal can determine the first timing offset according to the first downlink reception timing and the second downlink reception timing, for example, can determine the difference between the first downlink reception timing and the second downlink reception timing as the first timing offset. As shown in step S801 in FIG. 8, one possible implementation of the terminal obtaining the first timing offset is shown. Alternatively, the first timing offset can also be predefined, which is not limited in this application.

[0130] The resource information occupied by the positioning reference signal of the first cell (referred to as the resource information of the positioning reference signal of the first cell) and / or the resource information occupied by the positioning reference signal of the second cell (referred to as the resource information occupied by the positioning reference signal of the second cell) can be predefined or configured by the network. The resource information can be one or more of time domain resources, frequency domain resources, code domain resources, and the like. For example, when the first satellite is a satellite corresponding to a serving cell of the terminal and the second satellite is a satellite corresponding to a neighboring cell of the serving cell, the resource information of the positioning reference signal of the second cell can be carried in the measurement configuration or the system message. For another example, when the first satellite and the second satellite are both satellites corresponding to neighboring cells of the serving cell of the terminal, the resource information of the positioning reference signal of the first cell and the resource information of the positioning reference signal of the second cell can both be carried in the measurement configuration or the system message.

[0131] It can be understood that, in the case where the first satellite is a satellite corresponding to a serving cell of the terminal and the second satellite is a satellite corresponding to a neighboring cell of the serving cell, that is, in the case where the first cell is the serving cell and the second cell is the neighboring cell, the first implementation of the terminal receiving the positioning reference signal from the second cell can be that, in the case where the signal quality of the first cell is greater than or equal to a signal quality threshold, the terminal receives the positioning reference signal from the second cell, that is, the terminal needs to ignore the signal quality restriction condition in the cell reselection when measuring the positioning reference signal of the neighboring cell, for example, the terminal needs to ignore the restriction condition that, in the current cell reselection, when the signal quality (for example, the reference signal received power (RSRP) or the reference signal received quality (RSRQ) of the synchronization reference signal of the serving cell) of the serving cell is greater than a certain signal quality threshold, the terminal does not start the measurement of the neighboring cell, that is, the measurement of the neighboring cell needs to be started regardless of whether the signal quality of the current serving cell is greater than the signal quality threshold.

[0132] Alternatively, the second implementation of the terminal receiving the positioning reference signal from the second cell can be that, in the case where the first cell is a quasi-fixed cell, the terminal receives the positioning reference signal from the second cell before the service time of the first cell arrives. Here, receiving the positioning reference signal from the second cell before the service time of the first cell arrives can mean that the positioning reference signal from the second cell can be received at any time before the service time of the first cell arrives, rather than being able to be received only within a certain time window before the service time of the first cell arrives as in the prior art.

[0133] Optionally, the third implementation of the terminal receiving the positioning reference signal from the second cell can be that, in the case that the synchronization reference signal and the positioning reference signal are different reference signals, the terminal receives the positioning reference signal from the second cell after receiving the synchronization reference signal from the second cell. Optionally, the synchronization reference signal and the positioning reference signal in the embodiment can also be the same reference signal, that is, one reference signal can be used for both synchronization and positioning.

[0134] It should be noted that the above first implementation to the third implementation can be executed respectively or can be combined, for example, the first implementation and the third implementation can be combined, that is, in the case that the signal quality of the first cell is greater than or equal to the signal quality threshold value, the terminal receives the positioning reference signal from the second cell after receiving the synchronization reference signal from the second cell. Optionally, the above first implementation to the third implementation can also be decoupled from the embodiment of the application, that is, when the terminal uses a manner other than the application to position the terminal position, the signal receiving manner corresponding to the first implementation to the third implementation can also be used for reference signal receiving.

[0135] Optionally, in addition to obtaining the first timing offset, the terminal can also obtain a second timing offset between the first cell and the second cell, where the second timing offset is the difference between the first downlink transmission timing of the first cell and the second downlink transmission timing of the second cell. It should be noted that the first downlink transmission timing can be understood as the time of the starting moment of the mth frame sent by the first cell (or understood as the first downlink transmission timing being the time of the starting moment of the mth frame corresponding to the positioning reference signal sent by the first cell to reach the first reference point), and the second downlink transmission timing can be understood as the time of the starting moment of the nth frame sent by the second cell (or understood as the second downlink transmission timing being the time of the starting moment of the nth frame corresponding to the positioning reference signal sent by the second cell to reach the second reference point), where the nth frame is the frame closest to the mth frame in time. The above mth frame and nth frame both refer to a radio frame, and optionally, the frame described in the embodiment can be replaced by a subframe, etc., without limitation. The values of i and m can be the same or different. The values of j and n can be the same or different.

[0136] As shown in FIG. 7 is an example of the relationship between the second timing offset, the first downlink transmission timing and the second downlink transmission timing with the same value of i and m, and the same value of j and n. Specifically, as shown in (a) of FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of the relationship between the second timing offset, the first downlink transmission timing and the second downlink transmission timing in the case that the first cell and the second cell are timing synchronized. As shown in (b) of FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of the relationship between the second timing offset, the first downlink transmission timing and the second downlink transmission timing in the case that the first cell and the second cell are timing unsynchronized. It can be understood that when the first cell and the second cell are timing synchronized (i.e. the starting time of the same radio frame number is the same), the first downlink transmission timing and the second downlink transmission timing are the same, i.e. the second timing offset is 0.

[0137] Optionally, the reference point of the downlink transmission timing (i.e. the aforementioned first reference point and the second reference point) can be a base station (e.g. in the transparent satellite architecture, the base station can refer to the ground base station as shown in (a) of FIG. 2, and e.g. in the regenerative satellite architecture, the base station can refer to the satellite as shown in (b) of FIG. 2). For example, the first reference point can be the base station corresponding to the first satellite, the second reference point can be the base station corresponding to the second satellite, or the first reference point and the second reference point are both the base station corresponding to the first satellite. As shown in (a) of FIG. 7 and (b) of FIG. 7 are both examples with the first reference point being the base station corresponding to the first satellite and the second reference point being the base station corresponding to the second satellite.

[0138] Optionally, the reference point of the downlink transmission timing can also be an uplink reference point on the feeder link between the satellite and the NTN gateway, e.g. the first reference point is an uplink reference point on the feeder link between the first satellite and the NTN gateway of the first satellite, the second reference point is an uplink reference point on the feeder link between the second satellite and the NTN gateway of the second satellite, or the first reference point and the second reference point are both uplink reference points on the feeder link between the first satellite and the NTN gateway of the first satellite.

[0139] Optionally, the reference point of the downlink transmission timing can also be a satellite, e.g. the first reference point can be the first satellite, the second reference point can be the second satellite, or the first reference point and the second reference point are both the first satellite.

[0140] In a possible solution design, the second timing offset can be specifically carried in a broadcast message (e.g. for terminals in idle state) or an RRC message (e.g. for terminals in connected state). For example, for a terminal camping on a non-terrestrial network cell, the terminal can receive a broadcast message or an RRC message from a serving cell of a serving satellite; for example, for a terminal camping on a terrestrial network cell, the terminal can receive a broadcast message or an RRC message from a serving cell of a serving ground base station, which is specifically determined according to an actual application scenario, and the disclosure does not make a limitation in this regard. As shown in step S802 in FIG. 8, a possible implementation of the terminal acquiring the second timing offset is shown. Alternatively, the second timing offset can also be predefined, and the disclosure does not make a limitation in this regard.

[0141] Optionally, the broadcast message or the RRC message further comprises one or more of the following information: ① frequency point information of the neighboring cell of the serving cell of the terminal, where the neighboring cell of the serving cell of the terminal can be all the neighboring cells of the serving cell, or can be part of the neighboring cells of the serving cell, for example, the neighboring cell corresponding to the first beam of the serving cell; ② cell identifier of the neighboring cell of the serving cell of the terminal, similar to ①, the neighboring cell of the serving cell of the terminal can be all the neighboring cells of the serving cell, or can be part of the neighboring cells of the serving cell, for example, the neighboring cell (for example, the second cell) corresponding to the first beam of the serving cell; ③ ephemeris information of the first satellite; ④ ephemeris information of the second satellite; ⑤ resource information of the positioning reference signal of the first cell; ⑥ resource information of the positioning reference signal of the second cell, optionally, the resource information of the positioning reference signal of all the neighboring cells including the second cell; ⑦ correspondence between different beams and different neighboring cells of the serving cell (for example, the correspondence between the beam identifier and the neighboring cell identifier), where the beam is the beam sent by the serving cell, and different beams can correspond to different neighboring cells, or different beams are used to represent different physical regions, and different physical regions correspond to different neighboring cells. For the terminal, when the terminal receives a certain beam (for example, the first beam) from the serving cell, the terminal can determine the neighboring cell (for example, the second cell) corresponding to the first beam according to the correspondence between the different beams and the different neighboring cells, so that when determining the first timing offset, the terminal only needs to receive the positioning reference signal from the second cell, and does not need to receive the positioning reference signal from all the neighboring cells of the serving cell, which is beneficial to reduce the measurement overhead of the terminal. Optionally, when the broadcast message or the RRC message does not contain any of the above 7 pieces of information, the one or more information not contained in the broadcast message or the RRC message can also be predefined, which is not limited in the present application. For example, the RRC message can be a message carrying a measurement configuration. Optionally, the measurement configuration can indicate that the terminal does not need to report the terminal position calculated by the terminal (or the measurement configuration does not need the terminal to report the measurement result), or indicates that the terminal reports the terminal position calculated by the terminal after calculating the position of the terminal. Optionally, in the case where the measurement configuration indicates that the terminal reports the terminal position calculated by the terminal after calculating the position of the terminal, the measurement configuration can further comprise information indicating that the terminal periodically reports the terminal position calculated by the terminal, or information indicating that the terminal reports the terminal position calculated by the terminal based on a triggering event (event). For example, when the terminal moves to a distance exceeding a certain distance threshold value from the last reported terminal position of the terminal, the terminal reports the currently calculated terminal position.

[0142] Optionally, as the satellite moves or the terminal moves, the best cell providing service to the terminal can change, and thus the terminal needs to perform cell reselection or cell handover to access a new cell to continue to obtain service. Specifically, after the terminal reselects or hands over from a first cell of a first satellite to a third cell of a third satellite, the terminal can obtain a third timing offset between the third cell and a fourth cell of a fourth satellite. The third timing offset is a difference between a third downlink reception timing of the third cell obtained by the terminal and a fourth downlink reception timing of the fourth cell obtained by the terminal. The obtaining of the third timing offset can refer to the foregoing description of the obtaining of the first timing offset, and details are not described herein. Understandably, the first cell is a serving cell of the terminal before cell reselection or cell handover, and the third cell is a serving cell of the terminal after cell reselection or cell handover. Optionally, the terminal can also obtain a fourth timing offset between the third cell and the fourth cell. The fourth timing offset is a difference between a third downlink transmission timing of the third cell and a fourth downlink transmission timing of the fourth cell. The obtaining of the fourth timing offset can refer to the foregoing description of the obtaining of the second timing offset, and details are not described herein.

[0143] S602, the terminal determines the position information of the terminal according to the first timing offset, the ephemeris information of the first satellite, and the ephemeris information of the second satellite.

[0144] To calculate the position of the terminal, the terminal generally needs to first obtain a propagation time delay difference (or a propagation time delay offset) between a propagation time delay of the terminal to a serving satellite and a propagation time delay of the terminal to a neighboring satellite, and then calculate the position of the terminal according to the propagation time delay difference and in combination with the ephemeris information of the first satellite and the ephemeris information of the second satellite. Specifically, to calculate the position information of the terminal, at least three propagation time delay differences between a propagation time delay of the terminal to the first satellite and a propagation time delay of the terminal to at least one second satellite need to be obtained, and then the terminal can finally determine the position of the terminal. Understandably, for the propagation time delay difference between the propagation time delay of the terminal to the first satellite and the propagation time delay of the terminal to one second satellite, the determined position of the terminal is not a specific position coordinate value, but a function. It should be noted that the present application does not limit that the terminal needs to first obtain the propagation time delay difference between the propagation time delay of the terminal to a serving satellite and the propagation time delay of the terminal to a neighboring satellite, and then calculate the position of the terminal. The specific implementation is not limited.

[0145] In one calculation method, when the timing of the first satellite and the second satellite is synchronized (i.e., the second timing deviation is 0), or when the terminal does not obtain the second timing deviation (for example, the network side does not send the second timing deviation, so the terminal side naturally cannot obtain the second timing deviation), or when the terminal does not know whether the timing of the first satellite and the second satellite is synchronized, the terminal can determine the terminal's location information based on the first timing deviation, the ephemeris information of the first satellite, and the ephemeris information of the second satellite.

[0146] In another calculation method, when the timing of the first satellite and the second satellite is out of sync (i.e., the second timing deviation is not 0), or when the terminal obtains the second timing deviation and the second timing deviation is not 0, the terminal can determine its location information based on the first timing deviation, the second timing deviation, the ephemeris information of the first satellite, and the ephemeris information of the second satellite, as shown in step S803 of Figure 8. Optionally, the terminal's serving cell can indicate to the terminal via broadcast messages or RRC messages whether the timing of the first satellite and the second satellite is synchronized or the value of the second timing deviation.

[0147] In one possible design, when the number of adjacent satellites (i.e., second satellites) is at least three, the terminal can calculate at least three propagation delay differences between the propagation delay from the terminal to the first satellite and the propagation delay from the terminal to each of the at least three second satellites. The following explanation primarily uses satellite 1 as the first satellite and satellites 2, 3, and 4 as the at least three second satellites. It should be understood that for each second satellite, the steps described in S601 above need to be performed to obtain the corresponding first timing deviation. For example, the terminal can calculate its position using the following formula:

[0148] Among them, (X) sat1 Y sat1 Z sat1 (X) represents the location of satellite 1 at the time of the terminal measurement. sat2 Y sat2 Z sat2 (X) represents the position of satellite 2 when the terminal measures the first timing deviation between satellite 1 and satellite 2. sat3 Y sat3 Z sat3 (X) represents the position of satellite 3 when the terminal measures the first timing deviation between satellite 1 and satellite 3. sat4 Y sat4 Z sat4 (X) represents the position of satellite 4 when the terminal measures the first timing deviation between satellite 1 and satellite 4. UE Y UE Z UE(X) represents the location of the terminal to be calculated. The terminal can obtain its location (X) based on the ephemeris information of satellites 1, 2, 3, and 4. sat1 Y sat1 Z sat1 ), (X sat2 Y sat2 Z sat2 ), (X sat3 Y sat3 Z sat3 ) and (X sat4 Y sat4 Z sat4 The value of ). Delay sat1-UE Delay sat2-UE Delay sat3-UE and Delay sat4-UE These represent the propagation delays from the terminal to satellites 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. C is the speed of light.

[0149] It should be noted that when the time of the first timing deviation measured by the terminal between satellite 1 and satellite 2 is different from the time of the first timing deviation measured by the terminal between satellite 1 and satellite 3, and also different from the time of the first timing deviation measured by the terminal between satellite 1 and satellite 4, the values ​​of (X) in the above formulas will differ. sat1 Y sat1 Z sat1 The value of ) varies, and Delay sat1-UE The values ​​for are also different. Specifically:

[0150] The (X) involved in formula (1) sat1 Y sat1 Z sat1 The position (X) of satellite 1 when the terminal measures the first timing deviation between satellite 1 and satellite 2 is... sat1_2 Y sat1_2 Z sat1_2 ).

[0151] The (X) involved in formula (2) sat1 Y sat1 Z sat1 The position (X) of satellite 1 when the terminal measures the first timing deviation between satellite 1 and satellite 3 is given. sat1_3 Y sat1_3 Z sat1_3 ).

[0152] The (X) involved in formula (3) sat1 Y sat1 Z sat1 The position (X) of satellite 1 when the terminal measures the first timing deviation between satellite 1 and satellite 4 is given. sat1_4 Y sat1_4 Zsat1_4 ).

[0153] Similarly, the Delay involved in formula (1) sat1-UE The propagation delay from the terminal to satellite 1 when measuring the first timing deviation between satellite 1 and satellite 2. sat1_2-UE .

[0154] The Delay involved in formula (2) sat1-UE The propagation delay from the terminal to satellite 1 when measuring the first timing deviation between satellite 1 and satellite 3. sat1_3-UE .

[0155] The Delay involved in formula (3) sat1-UE When measuring the first timing deviation between satellite 1 and satellite 4 at the terminal, the propagation delay from the terminal to satellite 1 is... sat1_4-UE .

[0156] Similarly, Delay sat2-UE The propagation delay from the terminal to satellite 2 when the terminal measures the first timing deviation between satellite 1 and satellite 2.

[0157] Delay sat3-UE The propagation delay from the terminal to satellite 3 when the terminal measures the first timing deviation between satellite 1 and satellite 3.

[0158] Delay sat4-UE The propagation delay from the terminal to satellite 4 when the terminal measures the first timing deviation between satellite 1 and satellite 4.

[0159] For a transparent satellite architecture, taking satellite 1 and satellite 2 as an example, since the first timing deviation between satellite 1 and satellite 2 includes the propagation delay difference between the feed link delay of satellite 1 and the feed link delay of satellite 2, the terminal needs to calculate the propagation delay difference between the terminal and satellite 1 and satellite 2 based on the first timing deviation and the propagation delay difference between the feed link delays of satellite 1 and satellite 2. Specifically, this can be divided into the following two cases:

[0160] 1. When satellite 1 and satellite 2 are synchronized, Delay sat1-UE -Delay sat2-UE =T1-(Delay1-Delay2).

[0161] 2. When satellite 1 and satellite 2 are out of sync, and the reference point for the second timing deviation is the uplink reference point, Delay sat1-UE -Delay sat2-UE =T1-T2-(Delay3–Delay4).

[0162] Among them, the aforementioned Delay sat1-UE -Delay sat2-UE T1 is the propagation delay difference between the propagation delay from the terminal to satellite 1 and the propagation delay from the terminal to satellite 2. T2 is the first timing deviation, T1 is the second timing deviation, T2 is the feed link delay of satellite 1, T3 is the delay from the uplink reference point in the feed link of satellite 1 to satellite 1, and T4 is the delay from the uplink reference point in the feed link of satellite 2 to satellite 2.

[0163] It should be noted that when the uplink reference point is a ground base station or gateway station, the delay from the uplink reference point to Satellite 1 in the feeder link of Satellite 1 is equal to the feeder link delay of Satellite 1, and the delay from the uplink reference point to Satellite 2 in the feeder link of Satellite 2 is equal to the feeder link delay of Satellite 2. When the uplink reference point is a satellite, the delay from the uplink reference point to Satellite 1 in the feeder link of Satellite 1 is 0, and the delay from the uplink reference point to Satellite 2 in the feeder link of Satellite 2 is 0.

[0164] For the regenerating satellite architecture, taking satellite 1 and satellite 2 as an example, since the first timing deviation between satellite 1 and satellite 2 does not include the propagation delay difference between the feed link delay of satellite 1 and the feed link delay of satellite 2, the terminal can calculate the propagation delay difference between the terminal to satellite 1 and the terminal to satellite 2 based on the first timing deviation. Specifically, this is divided into the following two cases:

[0165] 1. When satellite 1 and satellite 2 are synchronized, Delay sat1-UE -Delay sat2-UE =T1.

[0166] 2. When the timing of satellite 1 and satellite 2 is not synchronized, Delay sat1-UE -Delay sat2-UE =T1-T2.

[0167] Among them, the aforementioned Delay sat1-UE -Delay sat2-UE T1 is the propagation delay difference between the propagation delay from the terminal to satellite 1 and the propagation delay from the terminal to satellite 2, and T2 is the first timing deviation.

[0168] In another possible design, when there is only one adjacent satellite (i.e., the second satellite), or when the terminal does not obtain the second timing deviation from the network side, the terminal can obtain the positions of the first and second satellites and the first timing deviation at least two time points to calculate the terminal's position. It should be understood that in this design, the terminal can treat the second timing deviation as an unknown variable, and calculate the second timing deviation and the terminal's position through multiple measurements; that is, the terminal does not obtain the specific value of the second timing deviation. The following explanation mainly uses satellite 1 as the first satellite, satellite 2 as the second satellite, and at least two time points, t1 and t2, as an example. For example, the terminal can calculate its position using the following formula:

[0169] Among them, (X) sat1_t1 Y sat1_t1 Z sat1_t1 ), (X sat2_t1 Y sat2_t1 Z sat2_t1 (X) represents the positions of satellite 1 and satellite 2 as measured by the terminal at time t1. sat1_t2 Y sat1_t2 Z sat1_t2 ), (X sat2_t2 Y sat2_t2 Z sat2_t2 t1 and t2 represent the positions of satellite 1 and satellite 2, respectively, when measured by the terminal at time t2. Delaysat1-UE_t1 and Delaysat2-UE_t1 represent the propagation delays from the terminal to satellite 1 and satellite 2, respectively, when measured by the terminal at time t1. Delaysat1-UE_t2 and Delaysat2-UE_t2 represent the propagation delays from the terminal to satellite 1 and satellite 2, respectively, when measured by the terminal at time t2. C is the speed of light.

[0170] For a transparent satellite architecture, taking time t1 as an example, Delaysat1-UE_t1-Delaysat2-UE_t1=T1 _ t1-T2-(Delay 1_t1 –Delay 2_t1 Where Delaysat1-UE_t1-Delaysat2-UE_t1 is the difference in propagation delay between the terminal and satellite 1, measured at time t1, and the propagation delay between the terminal and satellite 2. _ t1 is the first timing deviation corresponding to time t1, T2 is the second timing deviation, and Delay 1_t1 Delay represents the feeder link delay of satellite 1 at time t1. 2_t1This represents the delay of the feeder link for satellite 2 at time t1. Taking time t2 as another example, Where Delaysat1-Ue_t2-Delaysat2-UE_t2 is the propagation delay difference between the propagation delay from the terminal to satellite 1 and the propagation delay from the terminal to satellite 2, measured by the terminal at time t2. _ t2 is the first timing deviation corresponding to time t2, T2 is the second timing deviation, and Delay 1_t2 Delay represents the feed link delay of satellite 1 at time t2. 2_t2 This represents the delay of the feed link for satellite 2 at time t2.

[0171] For the regenerating satellite architecture, taking time t1 as an example, when satellite 1 and satellite 2 synchronize their timings, Delaysat1 - UE_t1 - Delaysat2 - UE_t1 = T1 _ t1; When satellite 1 and satellite 2 are out of sync, Delaysat1-UE_t1-Delaysat2-UE_t1=T1 _ t1-T2. Where Delaysat1-UE_t1-Delaysat2-UE_t1 is the difference in propagation delay between the terminal and satellite 1, measured at time t1, and T1. _ t1 represents the first timing deviation at time t1, and T2 represents the second timing deviation. Taking time t2 as an example again, when satellite 1 and satellite 2 are synchronized, When satellite 1 and satellite 2 are out of sync, Wherein, Delaysat1-UE_t2-Delaysat2-UE_t2 is the difference in propagation delay between the terminal and satellite 1, measured by the terminal at time t2, and T1. _ t2 is the first timing deviation corresponding to time t2, and T2 is the second timing deviation.

[0172] Generally speaking, the value of T2 is the same at time t1 and time t2.

[0173] Optionally, when the terminal performs cell reselection or cell handover, the terminal's serving satellites and neighboring satellites may change. For example, if the first and second satellites are the serving satellites and neighboring satellites before cell reselection or cell handover, and the third and fourth satellites are the serving satellites and neighboring satellites after cell reselection or cell handover, the terminal can determine its location information by combining the first timing offset, the third timing offset, the fourth timing offset, the ephemeris information of the first satellite, the ephemeris information of the second satellite, the ephemeris information of the third satellite, and the ephemeris information of the fourth satellite. Alternatively, the terminal can determine its location information by combining the first timing offset, the second timing offset, the third timing offset, the fourth timing offset, the ephemeris information of the first satellite, the ephemeris information of the second satellite, the ephemeris information of the third satellite, and the ephemeris information of the fourth satellite. In other words, when calculating its own location information, the terminal can use the information of the currently serving satellite and multiple neighboring satellites (e.g., the information of the serving satellite and multiple neighboring satellites obtained after cell reselection or cell handover), or the information of the serving satellite and multiple neighboring satellites obtained before (i.e., before cell reselection or cell handover), or it can combine the information of the currently serving satellite and multiple neighboring satellites with the information of the previously obtained serving satellite and multiple neighboring satellites. For example, taking the serving satellite before cell reselection or cell handover (i.e., the first satellite) as satellite 1, the neighboring satellite (i.e., the second satellite) as satellite 2, the serving satellite after cell reselection or cell handover (i.e., the third satellite) as satellite 3, and the neighboring satellites (i.e., the fourth satellite) as satellites 4 and 5, the terminal can calculate its location using the following formula:

[0174] Among them, (X) sat1 Y sat1 Z sat1 (X) represents the position of satellite 1 when the terminal measures the first timing deviation between satellite 1 and satellite 2. sat2 Y sat2 Z sat2 (X) represents the position of satellite 2 when the terminal measures the first timing deviation between satellite 1 and satellite 2. sat3 Y sat3 Z sat3 (X) represents the location of satellite 3 at the time of the terminal measurement. sat4 Y sat4 Z sat4 (X) represents the position of satellite 4 when the terminal measures the first timing deviation between satellite 3 and satellite 4. sat5 Y sat5 Z sat5(X) represents the position of satellite 5 when the terminal measures the first timing deviation between satellite 3 and satellite 5. UE Y UE Z UE (X) represents the location of the terminal to be calculated. The terminal's location can be obtained based on the ephemeris information of satellites 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. sat1 Y sat1 Z sat1 ), (X sat2 Y sat2 Z sat2 ), (X sat3 Y sat3 Z sat3 ), (X sat4 Y sat4 Z sat4 ) and (X sat5 Y sat5 Z sat5 The value of ). Delay sat1-UE Delay sat2-UE Delay sat3-UE Delay sat4-UE and Delay sat5-UE These represent the propagation delays from the terminal to satellites 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, respectively. C is the speed of light.

[0175] It should be noted that when the time at which the terminal measures the first timing deviation between satellite 3 and satellite 4 is different from the time at which the terminal measures the first timing deviation between satellite 3 and satellite 5, the (X) in each of the above formulas will be different. sat3 Y sat3 Z sat3 The value of ) varies, and Delay sat3-UE The values ​​can be different. Specifically:

[0176] The (X) involved in formula (6) sat3 Y sat3 Z sat3 The position (X) of satellite 3 when the terminal measures the first timing deviation between satellite 3 and satellite 4 is given. sat3_4 Y sat3_4 Z sat3_4 ).

[0177] The (X) involved in formula (7) sat3 Y sat3 Z sat3 The position (X) of satellite 3 when the terminal measures the first timing deviation between satellite 3 and satellite 5 is given. sat3_5 Y sat3_5 Z sat3_5 ).

[0178] Similarly, the Delay involved in formula (6) sat3-UE The propagation delay from the terminal to satellite 3 when measuring the first timing deviation between satellite 3 and satellite 4. sat3_4-UE .

[0179] The Delay involved in formula (7) sat3-UE The propagation delay from the terminal to satellite 3 when the terminal measures the first timing deviation between satellite 3 and satellite 5. sat3_5 - UE .

[0180] For a transparent satellite architecture, taking satellite 1 and satellite 2 as an example, when satellite 1 and satellite 2 are synchronized, the delay... sat1-UE -Delay sat2-UE =T1 - (Delay1 - Delay2). When satellite 1 and satellite 2 are out of sync, and the reference point for the second timing deviation is the uplink reference point, Delay... sat1-UE -Delay sat2-UE =T1-T2-(Delay3–Delay4).

[0181] Among them, the aforementioned Delay sat1-UE -Delay sat2-UE Let T1 be the propagation delay difference between the terminal's propagation delay to satellite 1 and the terminal's propagation delay to satellite 2, T2 be the first timing deviation, T1 be the second timing deviation, T2 be the feeder link delay of satellite 1, T3 be the delay between the uplink reference point in the feeder link of satellite 1 and satellite 1, and T4 be the delay between the uplink reference point in the feeder link of satellite 2 and satellite 2. It should be noted that when the uplink reference point is a ground base station or gateway station, the delay from the uplink reference point in the feeder link of satellite 1 to satellite 1 is equal to the feeder link delay of satellite 1, and the delay from the uplink reference point in the feeder link of satellite 2 to satellite 2 is equal to the feeder link delay of satellite 2.

[0182] For a regenerating satellite architecture, taking satellite 1 and satellite 2 as an example, when satellite 1 and satellite 2 are synchronized, the delay... sat1-UE -Delay sat2-UE =T1. When satellite 1 and satellite 2 are out of sync, Delay sat1-UE -Delay sat2-UE =T1-T2.

[0183] Among them, the aforementioned Delay sat1-UE -Delay sat2-UET1 is the propagation delay difference between the propagation delay from the terminal to satellite 1 and the propagation delay from the terminal to satellite 2, and T2 is the first timing deviation.

[0184] Optionally, after the terminal calculates its own location information, it can report the calculated location information to the network side (e.g., a base station) when entering or in connected mode. This allows the base station to select suitable neighboring cells for measurement or configure a suitable SSB-based measurement timing configuration (SMTC) for the terminal. Optionally, the terminal can also report to the network side whether it supports GNSS-based positioning or indicate whether the reported location information is calculated by the terminal using positioning reference signals.

[0185] Optionally, after the terminal learns its own location information, if the terminal needs to access the satellite network, the terminal can further calculate the timing advance (TA) based on the terminal's location information, so that the uplink transmission arrival time of the terminal to the satellite is basically aligned with the uplink transmission arrival time of other terminals, thereby avoiding intra-cell interference.

[0186] In this embodiment, the terminal can calculate its location information based on the timing deviation of the received reference signals from the first and second cells, and the ephemeris information of the first and second satellites. This enables terminals without GNSS positioning capabilities or those currently unable to obtain their location via GNSS signals to achieve location positioning. Consequently, the terminal can access the communication satellite network. Furthermore, since the first and second satellites in this application are communication satellites, the positioning reference signals transmitted by them have a stronger signal strength than those transmitted by GNSS satellites. Therefore, they are less susceptible to environmental influences, which helps improve the accuracy of terminal positioning.

[0187] Please refer to Figure 9, which is another schematic flowchart of the communication method provided in an embodiment of this application. The method execution entities shown in Figure 9 can be a satellite (e.g., a first satellite) and a terminal, or a chip in the satellite and a chip in the terminal. For ease of description, this application mainly uses a satellite and a terminal as the execution entities. It should be understood that Figure 9 is a schematic flowchart of an embodiment of the method of this application, showing detailed communication steps or operations of the method. However, these steps or operations are only examples, and the embodiments of this application can also perform other operations or variations of the various operations in Figure 9. Furthermore, the steps in Figure 9 can be performed in a different order than that presented in Figure 9, and it is possible that not all operations in Figure 9 need to be performed. Wherein:

[0188] S901, The terminal acquires multiple downlink reception timings for the first cell of the first satellite.

[0189] In some feasible implementations, the multiple downlink reception timings of the first cell can be multiple downlink reception timings corresponding to reference signals transmitted by the first cell at multiple times, or multiple downlink reception timings corresponding to the terminal receiving multiple positioning reference signals from the first cell. That is, the first cell can transmit positioning reference signals to the terminal at multiple times, and correspondingly, the terminal can receive multiple downlink reception timings from the first cell and determine the corresponding multiple downlink reception timings.

[0190] Understandably, in one implementation scenario, the first satellite in this embodiment can be the satellite corresponding to the serving cell of the terminal (hereinafter referred to as the serving satellite), and the first cell is a cell under the serving satellite of the terminal, i.e., the serving cell. In another implementation scenario, the first satellite can be the satellite corresponding to a neighboring cell of the serving cell of the terminal (hereinafter referred to as the neighboring satellite), and the first cell is a cell under the neighboring satellite, i.e., the neighboring cell. Here, the serving cell of the terminal can be, for example, a terrestrial network cell, and the first cell is a non-terrestrial network cell, which is a neighboring cell of the terrestrial network cell.

[0191] For example, as shown in step S1001 of FIG10, taking multiple times as time 1, time 2, time 3 and time 4 as an example, the terminal can receive the positioning reference signal sent by the first satellite through the first cell at time 1, time 2, time 3 and time 4 respectively. Then, by measuring the received positioning reference signal, the terminal can obtain the corresponding downlink receiving timing 1, downlink receiving timing 2, downlink receiving timing 3 and downlink receiving timing 4.

[0192] As another example, the downlink reception timings of the first cell of the first satellite can also be predefined.

[0193] Optionally, when the first cell is a neighboring cell of the terminal's serving cell, the terminal receives multiple positioning reference signals from the first cell if the signal quality of the serving cell is greater than or equal to a signal quality threshold. In other words, when measuring the positioning reference signals of neighboring cells, the terminal needs to ignore signal quality restrictions related to cell reselection. For example, it needs to ignore the current cell reselection. If the signal quality of the serving cell (e.g., the RSRP or RSRQ of the serving cell's synchronization reference signal) is greater than a certain signal quality threshold, the terminal does not initiate neighboring cell measurement. That is, in this application, regardless of whether the signal quality of the current serving cell is greater than the signal quality threshold, neighboring cell measurement needs to be initiated.

[0194] Optionally, when the first cell is a neighboring cell of the terminal's serving cell, and the serving cell is a quasi-fixed cell, the terminal receives multiple positioning reference signals from the first cell before the serving cell's service time arrives. Here, receiving positioning reference signals from the first cell before the serving cell's service time arrives can mean that the positioning reference signals from the first cell can be received at any time before the serving cell's service time arrives, rather than, as in the prior art, only being able to receive positioning reference signals from the first cell within a certain time window before the serving cell's service time arrives.

[0195] Optionally, when the first cell is a neighboring cell of the terminal's serving cell, and the synchronization reference signal and the positioning reference signal are different reference signals, the terminal receives the synchronization reference signal from the first cell, and then receives multiple positioning reference signals from the first cell. Optionally, in this embodiment, the synchronization reference signal and the positioning reference signal can also be the same reference signal, that is, one reference signal can be used for both synchronization and positioning.

[0196] Optionally, one or more pieces of information, such as resource information of multiple positioning reference signals of the first cell or ephemeris information of the first satellite, can be carried in the broadcast message or RRC message. The resource information can be, for example, one or more of time-domain resources, frequency-domain resources, or code-domain resources.

[0197] S902. The terminal determines its location information based on multiple downlink reception timings and the ephemeris information of the first satellite.

[0198] In some feasible implementations, the terminal can calculate multiple downlink receiving timing deviations based on the acquired multiple downlink receiving timings, and then determine the terminal's location information based on the multiple downlink receiving timing deviations and the ephemeris information of the first satellite. For example, as shown in step S1002 of Figure 10, taking downlink receiving timings as downlink receiving timing 1, downlink receiving timing 2, downlink receiving timing 3, and downlink receiving timing 4 as an example, the terminal can calculate the difference between downlink receiving timing 1 and downlink receiving timing 2 as downlink receiving timing deviation 1, the difference between downlink receiving timing 1 and downlink receiving timing 3 as downlink receiving timing deviation 2, and the difference between downlink receiving timing 1 and downlink receiving timing 4 as downlink receiving timing deviation 3, to obtain multiple downlink receiving timing deviations. As another example, the terminal can calculate the difference between downlink receiving timing 1 and downlink receiving timing 2 as downlink receiving timing deviation 1, the difference between downlink receiving timing 2 and downlink receiving timing 3 as downlink receiving timing deviation 2, and the difference between downlink receiving timing 3 and downlink receiving timing 4 as downlink receiving timing deviation 3, to obtain multiple downlink receiving timing deviations.

[0199] For example, as shown in S1003 of Figure 10, taking time 1, time 2, time 3, and time 4 as examples, the terminal's position information can be calculated based on multiple (e.g., 3) downlink reception timing offsets and the ephemeris information of the first satellite (e.g., satellite 1) using the following formula:

[0200] Where (X) sat1_t1 Y sat1_t1 Z sat1_t1 ), (X sat1_t2 Y sat1_t2 Z sat1_t2 ), (X sat1_t3 Y sat1_t3 Z sat1_t3 ), (X sat1_t4 Y sat1_t4 Z sat1_t4 ), representing the positions of the first satellite measured by the terminal at times t1, t2, t3, and t4, respectively. (X) UE Y UE Z UE (X) represents the location of the terminal to be calculated. The terminal's location can be obtained from the ephemeris information of satellite 1. sat1_t1 Y sat1_t1 Z sat1_t1 ), (X sat1_t2 Y sat1_t2 Z sat1_t2 ), (X sat1_t3 Y sat1_t3 Z sat1_t3 ), (X sat1_t4Y sat1_t4 Z sat1_t4 The value of ) is given. Delaysat1-UE_t1 is the propagation delay from the terminal to satellite 1 at time t1, Delaysat1-UE_t2 is the propagation delay from the terminal to satellite 1 at time t2, Delaysat1-UE_t3 is the propagation delay from the terminal to satellite 1 at time t3, and Delaysat1-UE_t4 is the propagation delay from the terminal to satellite 1 at time t4. C is the speed of light.

[0201] For a transparent satellite architecture, taking time t1 and time t2 as examples, Delaysat1-UE_t1-Delaysat1-UE_t2=T1-(Delay1-Delay2), where Delaysat1-UE_t1-Delaysat1-UE_t2 is the propagation delay difference between the terminal to satellite 1 at time t1 and the terminal to satellite 1 at time t2, T1 is the first timing deviation between time t1 and time t2, Delay1 is the feeder link delay of satellite 1 at time t1, and Delay2 is the feeder link delay of satellite 1 at time t2.

[0202] For the regenerating satellite architecture, taking time t1 and t2 as examples, Delaysat1-UE_t1-Delaysat1-UE_t2 = T1, where Delaysat1-UE_t1-Delaysat1-UE_t2 is the propagation delay difference between the terminal to satellite 1 at time t1 and the terminal to satellite 1 at time t2, and T1 is the first timing deviation between time t1 and time t2.

[0203] Optionally, when the first cell is the serving cell of the terminal, since the terminal's location information is generally obtained based on the reception timing offsets at multiple times (e.g., four times), if the terminal needs to perform cell handover or cell reselection (i.e., the terminal's serving cell changes) before fully obtaining these reception timing offsets during the calculation of the terminal's location, the terminal can determine its location information based on the reception timing offsets at multiple times obtained in the new serving cell and the reception timing offsets at multiple times obtained in the old serving cell. For example, taking satellite 1 as the serving satellite before cell reselection or cell handover, and satellite 2 as the serving satellite after cell reselection or cell handover, the terminal can calculate its location using the following formula:

[0204] Where (X) sat1_t1 Y sat1_t1 Z sat1_t1 ), (X sat1_t2 Y sat1_t2Z sat1_t2 ) and (X sat1_t3 Y sat1_t3 Z sat1_t3 ) represent the positions of satellite 1 at the time of measurement by the terminal at t1, t2, and t3, respectively. sat2_t4 Y sat2_t4 Z sat2_t4 ) and (X sat2_t5 Y sat2_t5 Z sat2_t5 ) represents the position of satellite 2 when the terminal measures at t3 and t4, respectively; Delaysat1-UE_t1, Delaysat1-UE_t2, and Delaysat1-UE_t3 represent the propagation delay from the terminal to satellite 1 when the terminal measures at t1, t2, and t3, respectively; and Delaysat2-UE_t4 and Delaysat2-UE_t5 represent the propagation delay from the terminal to satellite 2 when the terminal measures at t4 and t5, respectively.

[0205] For a transparent satellite architecture, taking time t1 and time t2 as examples, (Delaysat1-UE_t1-Delaysat1-UE_t2=T1-(Delay1-Delay2), where Delaysat1-UE_T1-Delaysat1-UE_t2 is the propagation delay difference between the terminal to satellite 1 at time t1 and the terminal to satellite 1 at time t2, T1 is the first timing deviation between time t1 and time t2, Delay1 is the feeder link delay of satellite 1 at time t1, and Delay2 is the feeder link delay of satellite 1 at time t2.

[0206] For the regenerating satellite architecture, taking time t1 and t2 as examples, (Delaysat1-UE_t1-Delaysat1-UE_t2=T1, where Delaysat1-UE_t1-Delaysat1-UE_t2 is the propagation delay difference between the terminal to satellite 1 at time t1 and the terminal to satellite 1 at time t2, and T1 is the first timing deviation between time t1 and time t2.

[0207] Optionally, after the terminal calculates its own location information, it can report the calculated location information to the network side (e.g., a base station) when it enters connected mode or while in connected mode. This allows the base station to select suitable neighboring cells for measurement or configure appropriate SSB-based measurement timing configuration (SMTC) for the terminal. Optionally, the terminal can also report to the network side whether it supports GNSS-based positioning capabilities or indicate whether the reported location information is calculated by the terminal using positioning reference signals, so that the network side can configure appropriate measurement settings for the terminal.

[0208] Optionally, after the terminal learns its own location information, if the terminal needs to access the satellite network, the terminal can further calculate the timing advance (TA) based on the terminal's location information, so that the uplink transmission arrival time of the terminal to the satellite is basically aligned with the uplink transmission arrival time of other terminals, thereby avoiding intra-cell interference.

[0209] In this embodiment, the terminal can determine multiple reception timing deviations based on multiple reception timings corresponding to positioning reference signals transmitted by a satellite at multiple times. Then, based on these multiple reception timing deviations and the satellite's ephemeris information, the terminal's position information can be calculated. This also enables terminals without GNSS positioning capabilities or those currently unable to obtain their position via GNSS signals to achieve location positioning. Furthermore, the terminal can access a communication satellite network. Additionally, since the first satellite in this application is a communication satellite, the signal strength of the positioning reference signal transmitted by the first satellite is greater than that of the GNSS signal transmitted by a GNSS satellite, making it less susceptible to environmental influences and thus improving the accuracy of terminal positioning.

[0210] It should be noted that the embodiments shown in Figure 5 and Figure 9 can be executed individually or in combination, and this application does not limit this. For example, the terminal determines its location information based on the first timing deviation between the first satellite and the second satellite, and the multiple downlink reception timings of the first satellite.

[0211] The communication device provided in this application will now be described in detail with reference to Figures 11 and 12.

[0212] It is understood that, in order to achieve the functions in the above embodiments, the communication device includes hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to each function. Those skilled in the art should readily recognize that, based on the units and method steps described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed in this application, this application can be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed by hardware or by computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application scenario and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0213] Figures 11 and 12 are schematic diagrams illustrating the possible communication devices provided in embodiments of this application. These communication devices can be used to implement the functions of the terminal in the above method embodiments, and thus also achieve the beneficial effects of the above method embodiments. In the embodiments of this application, the communication device may be one of the terminals 120a-120j shown in Figure 1. Optionally, it may also be a module (such as a chip) applied to the terminal.

[0214] As shown in Figure 11, the communication device 1100 includes a processing unit 1110 and a transceiver unit 1120. The communication device 1100 is used to implement the functions of the terminal in the method embodiments shown in Figures 6 and 9.

[0215] In one implementation, when the communication device 1100 is used to implement the functions of the terminal in the method embodiment shown in FIG6:

[0216] The transceiver unit 1120 is used to obtain a first timing deviation between a first cell of a first non-terrestrial network device and a second cell of a second non-terrestrial network device. The first timing deviation is the difference between the first downlink receiving timing of the first cell obtained by the terminal and the second downlink receiving timing of the second cell obtained by the terminal.

[0217] Processing unit 1110 is used to determine the location information of the terminal based on the first timing deviation, the ephemeris information of the first non-terrestrial network device, and the ephemeris information of the second non-terrestrial network device.

[0218] In another implementation, when the communication device 1100 is used to implement the functions of the terminal in the method embodiment shown in FIG9:

[0219] The transceiver unit 1120 is used to acquire multiple downlink receive timings of the first cell of the first non-terrestrial network device;

[0220] Processing unit 1110 is used to determine multiple downlink reception timing deviations based on the multiple downlink reception timings;

[0221] Processing unit 1110 is used to determine the location information of the terminal based on the multiple downlink reception timing deviations and the ephemeris information of the first non-terrestrial network device.

[0222] For a more detailed description of the above-mentioned processing unit 1110 and transceiver unit 1120, please refer to the relevant descriptions in the method embodiments shown in Figures 6 and 9.

[0223] As shown in Figure 12, the communication device 1200 includes a processor 1210 and an interface circuit 1220. The processor 1210 and the interface circuit 1220 are coupled to each other. It is understood that the interface circuit 1220 can be a transceiver or an input / output interface. Optionally, the communication device 1200 may further include a memory 1230 for storing instructions executed by the processor 1210, or storing input data required by the processor 1210 to execute instructions, or storing data generated after the processor 1210 executes instructions.

[0224] When the communication device 1200 is used to implement the methods shown in FIG6 and FIG9, the processor 1210 is used to implement the functions of the processing unit 1110, and the interface circuit 1220 is used to implement the functions of the transceiver unit 1120.

[0225] When the aforementioned communication device is a chip applied to a terminal, the terminal chip implements the functions of the terminal in the above method embodiments. The terminal chip receives information transmitted to the terminal by a satellite or base station through other modules in the terminal (such as an RF module or antenna); or, the terminal chip sends information to other modules in the terminal (such as an RF module or antenna), which is information sent by the terminal to a satellite or base station.

[0226] When the aforementioned communication device is a module applied to access network equipment (e.g., a satellite or base station), the access network equipment module implements the functions of the access network equipment in the above method embodiments. The access network equipment module receives information from other modules (such as radio frequency modules or antennas) in the access network equipment, which is information sent by the terminal to the access network equipment; or, the access network equipment module sends information to other modules (such as radio frequency modules or antennas) in the access network equipment, which is information sent by the access network equipment to the terminal. Here, the access network equipment module can be the baseband chip of the access network equipment, or a CU, DU, or other module, or a device under an open radio access network (O-RAN) architecture, such as an open CU, open DU, etc.

[0227] It is understood that the processor in the embodiments of this application can be a central processing unit (CPU), or other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. A general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0228] The method steps in the embodiments of this application can be implemented in hardware or in software instructions executable by a processor. The software instructions can consist of corresponding software modules, which can be stored in random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, erasable programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, registers, hard disks, portable hard disks, CD-ROMs, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to a processor, enabling the processor to read information from and write information to the storage medium. The storage medium can also be a component of the processor. The processor and storage medium can reside in an ASIC. Alternatively, the ASIC can reside in an access network device or terminal. The processor and storage medium can also exist as discrete components in the access network device or terminal.

[0229] In the above embodiments, implementation can be achieved entirely or partially through software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented entirely or partially in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of this application are performed entirely or partially. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, a network device, a user equipment, or other programmable device. The computer program or instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transferred from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer program or instructions can be transferred from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired or wireless means. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The available medium can be a magnetic medium, such as a floppy disk, hard disk, or magnetic tape; it can also be an optical medium, such as a digital video optical disc; or it can be a semiconductor medium, such as a solid-state drive. The computer-readable storage medium may be a volatile or non-volatile storage medium, or may include both types of storage media.

[0230] In the various embodiments of this application, unless otherwise specified or in case of logical conflict, the terminology and / or descriptions of different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced by each other. The technical features of different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationship.

[0231] It is understood that the various numerical designations used in the embodiments of this application are merely for descriptive convenience and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application. The order of the process numbers described above does not imply the order of execution; the execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic.

Claims

A communication method characterized by comprising: The method comprises: obtaining a first timing offset between a first cell of a first non-ground network device and a second cell of a second non-ground network device, the first timing offset being a difference between a first downlink reception timing of the first cell obtained by a terminal and a second downlink reception timing of the second cell obtained by the terminal; determining position information of the terminal according to the first timing offset, ephemeris information of the first non-ground network device and ephemeris information of the second non-ground network device. The method of claim 1, wherein The method further comprises: obtaining a second timing offset between the first cell and the second cell, the second timing offset being a difference between a first downlink transmission timing of the first cell and a second downlink transmission timing of the second cell; The determining position information of the terminal according to the first timing offset, the ephemeris information of the first non-ground network device and the ephemeris information of the second non-ground network device comprises: determining position information of the terminal according to the first timing offset, the second timing offset, the ephemeris information of the first non-ground network device and the ephemeris information of the second non-ground network device. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The obtaining the second timing offset between the first cell and the second cell comprises: receiving a broadcast message or a radio resource control (RRC) message, the second timing offset being included in the broadcast message or the RRC message. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The broadcast message or the RRC message further includes one or more of the following information: frequency point information of a neighboring cell of a serving cell of the terminal, a cell identifier of the neighboring cell of the serving cell of the terminal, ephemeris information of the first non-ground network device, ephemeris information of the second non-ground network device, resource information of a positioning reference signal of the first cell, resource information of a positioning reference signal of the second cell, or a correspondence between different beams and different neighboring cells. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The method further comprises: receiving a measurement configuration, the resource information of the positioning reference signal of the second cell being included in the measurement configuration. The method according to any one of claims 1-5, wherein: the first non-ground network device is a non-ground network device corresponding to a serving cell of the terminal, and the second non-ground network device is a non-ground network device corresponding to a neighboring cell of the serving cell; or the first non-ground network device and the second non-ground network device are both non-ground network devices corresponding to neighboring cells of a serving cell of the terminal. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that The obtaining the first timing offset between the first cell of the first non-ground network device and the second cell of the second non-ground network device comprises: receiving a positioning reference signal from the first cell, a downlink reception timing of the positioning reference signal of the first cell being a first downlink reception timing; receiving a positioning reference signal from the second cell, a downlink reception timing of the positioning reference signal of the second cell being a second downlink reception timing; determining the first timing offset according to the first downlink reception timing and the second downlink reception timing. The method of claim 7, wherein The first cell is a serving cell of the terminal, and the second cell is a neighboring cell of the serving cell; the receiving the positioning reference signal from the second cell comprises: In a case where a signal quality of the first cell is greater than or equal to a signal quality threshold value, receiving the positioning reference signal from the second cell; or, In a case where the first cell is a quasi-fixed cell, receiving the positioning reference signal from the second cell before a service time of the first cell arrives; or, After receiving a synchronization reference signal from the second cell, receiving the positioning reference signal from the second cell. The method according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that Before the receiving the positioning reference signal from the second cell, the method further comprises: Receiving a first beam from the first cell, the first beam corresponding to the second cell. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that The method further comprises: Re-selecting or switching from the first cell of the first non-terrestrial network device to a third cell of a third non-terrestrial network device, the first cell being a serving cell of the terminal before cell re-selection or cell switching; Obtaining a third timing offset between the third cell and a fourth cell of a fourth non-terrestrial network device, the third timing offset being a difference between a third downlink reception timing of the third cell obtained by the terminal and a fourth downlink reception timing of the fourth cell obtained by the terminal; Determining position information of the terminal according to the first timing offset, the third timing offset, ephemeris information of the first non-terrestrial network device, ephemeris information of the second non-terrestrial network device, ephemeris information of the third non-terrestrial network device, and ephemeris information of the fourth non-terrestrial network device. The method of claim 10, wherein The method further comprises: Obtaining a fourth timing offset between the third cell and the fourth cell, the fourth timing offset being a difference between a third downlink transmission timing of the third cell and a fourth downlink transmission timing of the fourth cell; The determining position information of the terminal according to the first timing offset, the third timing offset, ephemeris information of the first non-terrestrial network device, ephemeris information of the second non-terrestrial network device, ephemeris information of the third non-terrestrial network device, and ephemeris information of the fourth non-terrestrial network device comprises: Determining position information of the terminal according to the first timing offset, the third timing offset, the fourth timing offset, ephemeris information of the first non-terrestrial network device, ephemeris information of the second non-terrestrial network device, ephemeris information of the third non-terrestrial network device, and ephemeris information of the fourth non-terrestrial network device. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that The method further comprises: Transmitting the position information of the terminal. A communication method characterized by comprising: Comprises: Obtaining a plurality of downlink reception timings of a first cell of a first non-terrestrial network device; Determining position information of a terminal according to the plurality of downlink reception timings and ephemeris information of the first non-terrestrial network device. The method of claim 13, wherein The determining position information of the terminal according to the plurality of downlink reception timings and ephemeris information of the first non-terrestrial network device comprises: Determining a plurality of downlink reception timing offsets according to the plurality of downlink reception timings; The position information of the terminal is determined according to the plurality of downlink reception timing biases and ephemeris information of the first non-terrestrial network device. The method according to claim 13 or 14, characterized in that The first non-terrestrial network device is a non-terrestrial network device corresponding to a serving cell of the terminal, or the first non-terrestrial network device is a non-terrestrial network device corresponding to a neighboring cell of the serving cell of the terminal. The method of claim 15, wherein The first cell is a neighboring cell of the serving cell of the terminal; and the obtaining of the plurality of downlink reception timings of the first cell of the first non-terrestrial network device comprises: In a case where the signal quality of the serving cell of the terminal is greater than or equal to a signal quality threshold, receiving the plurality of positioning reference signals from the first cell; or After receiving the synchronization reference signal from the first cell, receiving the plurality of positioning reference signals from the first cell. The plurality of positioning reference signals correspond to the plurality of downlink reception timings. The method according to any one of claims 13-16, characterized in that The method further comprises: receiving a broadcast message or a radio resource control (RRC) message, wherein the broadcast message or the RRC message comprises one or more of the following information: resource information of a positioning reference signal of the first cell, or ephemeris information of the first non-terrestrial network device. The method according to any one of claims 13-17, characterized in that The method further comprises: transmitting the position information of the terminal. A communication device, characterized by The apparatus comprises units or modules for performing the method of any one of claims 1-12, or the apparatus comprises units or modules for performing the method of any one of claims 13-18. A communication device, characterized by The apparatus comprises a processor and an interface circuit, the interface circuit is configured to receive a signal from another communication apparatus outside the communication apparatus and transmit the signal to the processor or transmit a signal from the processor to another communication apparatus outside the communication apparatus, and the processor is configured to implement the method of any one of claims 1-12 or the method of any one of claims 13-18 by means of a logic circuit or an execution code instruction. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized by, The storage medium stores a computer program or instructions, and when the computer program or instructions are executed by a communication apparatus, the method of any one of claims 1-12 is implemented, or the method of any one of claims 13-18 is implemented. A computer program product, characterized in that The computer program code is configured to implement the method of any one of claims 1-12 or the method of any one of claims 13-18 when the computer program code is run on a computer.

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