Communication method, communication apparatus, and computer-readable storage medium

Abstract

The present application relates to the technical field of communications. Provided are a communication method, a communication apparatus, and a computer-readable storage medium. The method comprises: receiving first information, which is used for indicating a first offset; determining a first value, which is a value corresponding to a first beam position, wherein the first beam position is one of a plurality of beam positions covered by a signal from a satellite, and the plurality of beam positions correspond to at least two different values; on the basis of the first value and the first offset, determining a target offset, wherein the target offset is a time offset of a first device receiving the signal from the satellite within a first period, the first period is one of at least one period of discontinuous transmission of a cell, the first offset is less than or equal to the length of the first period, and the first device is a device at the first beam position. The method can reduce ineffective power consumption of a UE, thereby optimizing resource utilization efficiency.

Description

Communication method, communication apparatus, and computer-readable storage medium

[0001] The present application claims priority to the Chinese patent application No. 202410970525.1, filed on July 18, 2024, and entitled "Communication method, communication apparatus, and computer-readable storage medium", 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, a communication apparatus, and a computer-readable storage medium. BACKGROUND

[0003] With the rapid development of information technology, satellite communication plays an irreplaceable role in many fields such as space communication, aviation communication, and marine communication. Compared with traditional ground communication systems, satellite communication has the characteristics of long communication distance, large coverage area, and flexible networking, and in particular, satellites can be used as both fixed terminals and access network devices (such as base stations) to provide efficient and stable wireless access services for various mobile terminals.

[0004] In a satellite communication system, the beam hopping technology enables the satellite to provide efficient communication services to different areas on the ground by quickly switching beams. However, due to the limited number of beams that can be activated by the satellite at the same time, the number of wave positions that can be served by the satellite at a time is also limited. For example, in a beam hopping application scenario, when a network device (such as a ground station) configures the same communication time for all user equipment (UE) served by a satellite, all UEs of the wave positions will attempt to communicate with the satellite at the same time. However, since the beams of the satellite are quickly switched and cannot cover all wave positions at the same time, the UEs (such as satellite phones, satellite Internet devices, etc.) under a wave position can only receive the signals sent by the satellite and enjoy the services provided by the satellite when the wave position is within the coverage of the beams of the satellite. If the wave position is not within the coverage of the beams of the satellite, even if the UE in the wave position is in a normal receiving state, it will also result in communication failure due to the inability to be covered by the beams of the satellite. In addition, this situation also causes unnecessary power consumption of the UE in the process of waiting for the signal. SUMMARY

[0005] The embodiments of the present application provide a communication method, a communication apparatus, and a computer-readable storage medium, which can reduce the invalid power consumption of the UE and optimize the resource utilization efficiency. The embodiments of the present application provide the following technical solutions:

[0006] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be performed by a first device (e.g., a UE), a module (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a chip system) applied in the first device, or a logic node, a logic module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the first device. The method includes:

[0007] receiving first information, the first information being used to indicate a first offset; determining a first value, the first value being a value corresponding to a first wave position, the first wave position being one of a plurality of wave positions covered by a signal of a satellite, the plurality of wave positions corresponding to at least two different values; and determining a target offset according to the first value and the first offset, the target offset being a time offset of the first device for receiving the signal of the satellite in a first period, the first period being one of at least one period of discontinuous transmission of a cell, the first offset being less than or equal to a length of the first period, and the first device being one of the devices in the first wave position.

[0008] In the above method, the existing network device (e.g., a ground station) can configure a unified communication time (e.g., a receiving time and a closing time) for all the devices (e.g., the first device) in a wave position served by a satellite. This means that, regardless of whether the satellite beam actually scans the wave position, the devices in the wave position will start receiving signals or stop receiving signals at the set time. In the present application, however, it is considered that, in some application scenarios, the plurality of wave positions can be divided into different wave position groups, and each wave position group can correspond to different values. This means that the plurality of wave positions can correspond to at least two different values. This differentiated setting allows the devices in different wave position groups to calculate different target offsets based on the first offset. Different target offsets allow the devices in different wave position groups to stagger in time when receiving the signal of the satellite, thereby avoiding the simultaneous activation of all the devices in the wave position. This approach can avoid the invalid power consumption of the devices not covered by the satellite beam during the continuous waiting for receiving signals, thereby optimizing the resource utilization efficiency.

[0009] In a possible implementation, the first value is determined according to the identifier of the first wave position and the number of active beams of the satellite.

[0010] In a possible implementation, the first value is the integer part of the ratio of the identifier of the first wave position to the number of active beams of the satellite.

[0011] To ensure that the satellite can cover all the scheduled ground wave positions without omission in a complete scanning cycle (such as the first cycle), the present application sets a first value, which is obtained by rounding up the ratio of the first wave position identifier to the number of active satellite beams. This rounding up method aims to ensure that each wave position (or wave position group) obtains at least one beam allocation, so as to avoid the problem of service interruption or incomplete coverage due to insufficient beam resource allocation. In short, even in the case of beam allocation edge, the rounding up operation can ensure that the satellite can efficiently and uninterruptedly provide stable and reliable services for all wave positions in its coverage area, optimizing the service efficiency and quality in the entire scanning cycle.

[0012] In a possible implementation, the target offset is positively related to the product of the first value and the first offset.

[0013] In a possible implementation, determining the target offset according to the first value and the first offset comprises: determining the target offset according to the first value, the first offset and a second offset, the target offset being positively or negatively related to the second offset, the second offset being a time offset of the first device receiving the signal of the satellite in discontinuous transmission of the cell.

[0014] In a possible implementation, the time of receiving the signal of the satellite in the first cycle is a first period, and the length of the first period is positively related to the amount of traffic of the first device in the first cycle.

[0015] In some areas with large amount of traffic, the length of the first period can be appropriately extended to ensure sufficient time to process a large amount of traffic requests and data transmission; while in some areas with small amount of traffic, the length of the first period can be shortened to give more network resources to other devices in need; such adjustment of the length of the first period in different traffic scenarios can optimize resource utilization.

[0016] In a possible implementation, the method further comprises: receiving second information, the second information being used to indicate the length of the first period, the length of the first period being one of a plurality of lengths, the plurality of lengths being preconfigured lengths different from each other.

[0017] In some scenarios, a network device (e.g., a satellite) can adapt to the traffic size (or traffic intensity) of different areas by dynamically adjusting the length of the first period. For example, the traffic of a certain area (e.g., the first wave position) of the satellite service dynamically changes; in order to ensure the effective use of network resources (e.g., time-frequency resources), the network device can pre-configure multiple lengths for the first device. When the network device detects that the traffic of the first wave position is large, a longer length can be indicated to the first device from the multiple lengths; in this way, the first device can obtain more network resources to meet the demand of high traffic; on the contrary, when the network device detects that the traffic of the first wave position is small, a shorter length can be indicated to the first device from the multiple lengths to save time domain resources. In summary, the network device can adapt to the actual traffic changes by pre-configuring multiple lengths and dynamically indicating the length according to the traffic size, optimize the use efficiency of network resources, and improve the user experience.

[0018] In a possible implementation, the length of the first period is negatively related to the traffic of the first device in the first period.

[0019] In some scenarios, when the traffic of the first wave position is large, the service frequency of the satellite to the first wave position can be increased by shortening the length of the first period, which indirectly extends the service time of the satellite to the first wave position, so as to ensure that the devices (e.g., the first device) of the first wave position have enough time to process a large amount of service requests and data transmission; when the traffic is small, the service frequency of the satellite to the first wave position can be reduced by lengthening the length of the first period, which indirectly shortens the service time of the satellite to the first wave position, so as to ensure the effective use of network resources.

[0020] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving third information, the third information being used to indicate the length of the first period, the length of the first period being one of multiple period lengths, and the multiple period lengths being pre-configured period lengths that are different from each other.

[0021] In some scenarios, a network device (e.g., a satellite) can adapt to the size (or intensity) of traffic in different areas by dynamically adjusting the length of the first period. For example, the amount of traffic in a certain area (e.g., the first wave position) covered by the satellite can dynamically change. To ensure efficient use of network resources (e.g., time-frequency resources), the network device can pre-configure the first device with multiple period lengths. When the network device detects that the amount of traffic in the first wave position is large, it can instruct the first device to use a shorter period length (e.g., the length of the first period) from the multiple period lengths, to increase the service frequency of the satellite to the first device and indirectly extend the service time of the satellite to the first device. For example, the network device sends the period length (e.g., the length of the first period) to the first device through third information, and the first device receives the period length through the third information. The first device can obtain more network resources (e.g., time domain resources, etc.) using the period length, thereby meeting the demand for high traffic. Conversely, when the network device detects that the amount of traffic in the first wave position is small, it can instruct the first device to use a longer period length from the multiple period lengths, to reduce the service frequency of the satellite to the first device and indirectly shorten the service time of the satellite to the first device, to ensure efficient use of network resources.

[0022] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, which is applied to a network device. The method can be executed by the network device, or by a module (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a chip system) applied to the network device, or by a logic node, a logic module, or software that can realize all or part of the functions of the network device. The method comprises:

[0023] determining first information, the first information being used to indicate a first offset, the first offset being used to determine a target offset, the target offset being a time offset of the first device receiving a signal of a satellite in a first period, the first period being one of at least one period of discontinuous transmission of a cell, the first offset being less than or equal to a length of the first period, the first device being one of devices in a first wave position, the first wave position being one of multiple wave positions covered by the signal of the satellite, the devices in at least two of the multiple wave positions corresponding to different target offsets; and sending the first information.

[0024] In the above method, the existing network equipment (such as a ground station) can configure a unified communication time (such as a receiving time and a closing time) for all the wave positions of a certain satellite service (such as the first equipment), which means that the equipment under a certain wave position will start receiving signals or stop receiving signals at the set time, regardless of whether the satellite beam actually scans the wave position. In the present application, considering that the number of wave positions covered by the satellite is limited in some application scenarios, the equipment of multiple wave positions (for example, the first equipment of the first wave position and the equipment of the second wave position) can calculate different target offsets based on the first offset, for example, the equipment of at least two wave positions in the multiple wave positions can correspond to different target offsets. Different target offsets make the equipment of different wave positions staggered in time when receiving signals from the satellite, thereby avoiding the situation that all the equipment of the wave positions is activated at the same time. This method can avoid the invalid power consumption of the equipment not covered by the satellite beam during the process of continuously waiting to receive signals, thereby optimizing the resource utilization efficiency.

[0025] In a possible implementation, the time for receiving the signal from the satellite in the first period is a first time period, and the length of the first time period is positively correlated with the amount of traffic of the first equipment in the first period.

[0026] In some areas with a large amount of traffic, the length of the first time period can be appropriately extended to ensure sufficient time to process a large amount of traffic requests and data transmission. In some areas with a small amount of traffic, the length of the first time period can be shortened to provide more network resources to other equipment in need. This adjustment of the length of the first time period in different traffic scenarios can optimize the resource utilization rate.

[0027] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: sending second information, the second information being used to indicate the length of the first time period, the length of the first time period being one of a plurality of lengths, and the plurality of lengths being preconfigured lengths that are different from each other.

[0028] In some cases, the amount of traffic (i.e., the traffic intensity) of the first wave position of the satellite service is dynamically changing. In order to ensure that the length of the first time period can adapt to the amount of traffic of the first wave position, the network equipment can preconfigure a plurality of lengths for the first equipment. When the network equipment detects that the amount of traffic of the first wave position is large, a longer length (such as the length of the first time period) can be selected from the plurality of lengths and indicated to the first equipment, so that the first equipment can obtain more network resources (such as time-frequency resources, etc.). Conversely, when the network equipment detects that the amount of traffic of the first wave position is small, a shorter length (such as the length of the first time period) can be selected from the plurality of lengths and indicated to the first equipment, so as to ensure the effective use of network resources.

[0029] In a possible implementation, the length of the first period is negatively related to the amount of traffic of the first device in the first period.

[0030] In some scenarios, when the amount of traffic of the first wave position is large, the service frequency of the satellite to the first wave position can be increased by shortening the length of the first period, indirectly prolonging the service time of the satellite to the first wave position, so as to ensure that the device (such as the first device) of the first wave position has enough time to process a large amount of service requests and data transmission; and when the amount of traffic is small, the service frequency of the satellite to the first wave position can be reduced by lengthening the length of the first period, indirectly shortening the service time of the satellite to the first wave position, so as to ensure the effective use of network resources.

[0031] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: sending third information, the third information being used to indicate the length of the first period, the length of the first period being one of a plurality of period lengths, the plurality of period lengths being a plurality of preconfigured different period lengths.

[0032] In some scenarios, the network device (such as a satellite) can dynamically adjust the length of the first period to adapt to the amount of traffic (or the degree of traffic concentration) in different areas. For example, the amount of traffic in a certain area (such as the first wave position) covered by the satellite dynamically changes; in order to ensure the effective use of network resources (such as time-frequency resources), the network device can preconfigure a plurality of period lengths for the first device. When the network device detects that the amount of traffic of the first wave position is large, a shorter period length (such as the length of the first period) can be indicated to the first device from the plurality of period lengths, so as to increase the service frequency of the satellite to the first device, indirectly prolonging the service time of the satellite to the first device; for example, the period length (such as the length of the first period) is sent to the first device through the third information, and the first device receives the period length through the third information; the first device uses the period length to obtain more network resources (such as time domain resources, etc.), thereby meeting the demand of high traffic amount; on the contrary, when the network device detects that the amount of traffic of the first wave position is small, a longer period length can be indicated to the first device from the plurality of period lengths, so as to reduce the service frequency of the satellite to the first device, indirectly shortening the service time of the satellite to the first device, so as to ensure the effective use of network resources.

[0033] In a third aspect, a communication apparatus, which can be a first device, a module (for example, a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.) applied in the first device, or a logical node, a logical module, or software capable of realizing all or part of the functions of the first device, is provided. The beneficial effects of this part can be referred to the description of the first aspect and will not be repeated here. The communication apparatus has functions of realizing the behaviors in the method examples of the first aspect. The functions can be realized by hardware or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions.

[0034] In a possible implementation, the communication apparatus includes a transceiver module and a processing module, where the transceiver module is configured to receive first information, the first information being used to indicate a first offset; the processing module is configured to determine a first value, the first value being a value corresponding to a first wave position, the first wave position being one of a plurality of wave positions covered by a satellite signal, the plurality of wave positions corresponding to at least two different values; and the processing module is further configured to determine a target offset according to the first value and the first offset, the target offset being a time offset of the first device receiving the satellite signal in a first period, the first period being one of at least one discontinuous transmission period of a cell, the first offset being less than or equal to a length of the first period, and the first device being one of the devices in the first wave position. The transceiver module and the processing module can perform the corresponding functions in the method examples of the first aspect, and specific details are described in the method examples, which will not be repeated here.

[0035] In an optional implementation, the processing module is specifically configured to determine the first value according to the identifier of the first wave position and the number of active beams of the satellite.

[0036] In an optional implementation, the first value is an upper limit result of a ratio of the identifier of the first wave position to the number of active beams of the satellite.

[0037] In an optional implementation, the target offset is positively related to a product of the first value and the first offset.

[0038] In an optional implementation, the processing module is further configured to determine the target offset according to the first value, the first offset, and a second offset, the target offset being positively or negatively related to the second offset, and the second offset being a time offset of the first device receiving the satellite signal under discontinuous transmission of the cell.

[0039] In an optional implementation, the time of receiving the satellite signal in the first period is a first time period, and a length of the first time period is positively related to a traffic volume of the first device in the first period.

[0040] In an optional implementation, the transceiver is further configured to receive second information, the second information being used to indicate a time length of the first period, the time length of the first period being one of a plurality of time lengths, the plurality of time lengths being a plurality of preconfigured time lengths that are different from each other.

[0041] In an optional implementation, the time length of the first period is negatively related to a traffic volume of the first device in the first period.

[0042] In an optional implementation, the transceiver is further configured to receive third information, the third information being used to indicate a time length of the first period, the time length of the first period being one of a plurality of period time lengths, the plurality of period time lengths being a plurality of preconfigured period time lengths that are different from each other.

[0043] In a fourth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided. The communication apparatus can be a network device (e.g., a ground station or a satellite), a module (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a chip system) applied in the network device, or a logic node, a logic module, or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the network device. The beneficial effects of the present aspect can be found in the description of the second aspect and will not be repeated here. The communication apparatus has the functions of implementing the behaviors in the method examples of the second aspect. The functions can be implemented by hardware or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the functions.

[0044] In a possible implementation, the communication apparatus includes a transceiver and a processing module. The processing module is configured to determine first information, the first information being used to indicate a first offset, the first offset being used to determine a target offset, the target offset being a time offset of the first device receiving a signal of a satellite in a first period, the first period being one of at least one period of discontinuous transmission of a cell, the first offset being less than or equal to a time length of the first period, the first device being one of a plurality of devices in a first wave position, the first wave position being one of a plurality of wave positions covered by the signal of the satellite, and devices in at least two of the plurality of wave positions corresponding to different target offsets. The transceiver is further configured to send the first information. The transceiver and the processing module can perform the corresponding functions in the method examples of the second aspect, and the details are described in the method examples and will not be repeated here.

[0045] In an optional implementation, the time of receiving the signal of the satellite in the first period is a first time period, and the time length of the first time period is positively related to a traffic volume of the first device in the first period.

[0046] In an optional implementation, the transceiver is further configured to receive second information, the second information being used to indicate a time length of the first period, the time length of the first period being one of a plurality of time lengths, the plurality of time lengths being a plurality of preconfigured time lengths that are different from each other.

[0047] In an optional implementation, the duration of the first period is negatively related to the amount of traffic of the first device in the first period.

[0048] In an optional implementation, the transceiving module is further configured to send third information, the third information being used to indicate the duration of the first period, the duration of the first period being one of a plurality of period durations, the plurality of period durations being a plurality of preconfigured different period durations.

[0049] In a fifth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided. The communication apparatus can be a first device (e.g., a terminal device), a module (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a chip system) applied in the first device, or a logic node, a logic module, or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the first device. The communication apparatus includes at least one processor and optionally a memory. The memory is configured to store a computer program or instructions, and the at least one processor is configured to execute the computer program or instructions stored in the memory. When the at least one processor executes the computer program or instructions stored in the memory, the communication apparatus performs the method performed by the first device in the method embodiments.

[0050] In a sixth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided. The communication apparatus can be a network device (e.g., a ground station or a satellite), a module (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a chip system) applied in the network device, or a logic node, a logic module, or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the network device. The communication apparatus includes at least one processor and optionally a memory. The memory is configured to store a computer program or instructions, and the at least one processor is configured to execute the computer program or instructions stored in the memory. When the at least one processor executes the computer program or instructions stored in the memory, the communication apparatus performs the method performed by the network device in the method embodiments.

[0051] In a seventh aspect, a computer program product is provided. The computer program product includes computer program code. When the computer program code is executed, the method performed by the first device (e.g., a terminal device) in the aspects described above is performed.

[0052] In an eighth aspect, a computer program product is provided. The computer program product includes computer program code. When the computer program code is executed, the method performed by the network device in the aspects described above is performed.

[0053] In a ninth aspect, the present application provides a chip system, which includes at least one processor for implementing the functions of the first device in the method of the above aspects. In a possible design, the chip system further includes a memory for storing program instructions and / or data. The chip system can be composed of a chip, or can include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0054] In a tenth aspect, the present application provides a chip system, which includes at least one processor for implementing the functions of the first device in the method of the above aspects. In a possible design, the chip system further includes a memory for storing program instructions and / or data. The chip system can be composed of a chip, or can include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0055] In an eleventh aspect, the present application provides a computer readable storage medium, which includes a computer program or instructions, and when the computer program or instructions are run, the method performed by the first device in the above aspects is implemented.

[0056] In a twelfth aspect, the present application provides a computer readable storage medium, which includes a computer program or instructions, and when the computer program or instructions are run, the method performed by the network device in the above aspects is implemented.

[0057] In a thirteenth aspect, the embodiments of the present application provide a communication system, which includes the communication apparatus of the third aspect and the communication apparatus of the fourth aspect.

[0058] In a fourteenth aspect, the embodiments of the present application provide a communication system, which includes the communication apparatus of the fifth aspect and the communication apparatus of the sixth aspect.

[0059] Any of the apparatuses or computer storage media or computer program products or chips or communication systems provided above are used to execute the corresponding methods provided above, and thus the beneficial effects achieved can refer to the beneficial effects of the corresponding solutions in the corresponding methods provided above, which will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0060] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an architecture of a communication system 1000 provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0061] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a RAN node provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0062] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an architecture of a 5G satellite communication system provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0063] FIGS. 4A and 4B are schematic diagrams of a hop beam scanning scenario provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0064] FIG. 5 is an interaction diagram of a communication method 500 according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0065] FIG. 6 is a diagram of a cell DTX scenario according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0066] FIGS. 7A-7C are diagrams of an SSB index multiplexing scenario according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0067] FIGS. 8A-8C are diagrams of a cell DTX configuration in a beam hopping scenario according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0068] FIG. 9 is an interaction diagram of a communication apparatus 900 according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0069] FIG. 10 is a structural diagram of a communication apparatus 1000 according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0070] FIG. 11 is a structural diagram of a communication apparatus 1100 according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0071] FIG. 12 is a structural diagram of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0072] FIG. 13 is a structural diagram of a base station according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0073] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0074] In the description of the present application, "at least one of" or similar expressions refer to any combination of the items, including any combination of single item or multiple items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can represent a, b, c, a and b, a and c, b and c, a and b and c, where a, b, and c can be single or multiple. In addition, in order to clearly describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application, the same items or similar items with basically the same function and role are distinguished by "first", "second", etc. in the embodiments of the present application. Those skilled in the art can understand that "first", "second", etc. do not limit the quantity and execution order, and "first", "second", etc. do not necessarily mean different.

[0075] It should be understood that in the present application, "in the case of", "if", "when", "if", and similar descriptions can be used interchangeably. In addition, " / " appearing in the text means "or".

[0076] It should be noted that in this application, the words such as "exemplarily" or "such as" are used to represent examples, illustrations or descriptions. Any embodiment or design scheme described as "exemplarily" or "such as" in this application should not be interpreted as a more preferred implementation than other embodiments or design schemes. The use of words such as "exemplarily" or "such as" in this application is intended to present the relevant concept in a specific way.

[0077] In order to facilitate the understanding of this application, some technical terms related to this application are explained below.

[0078] (1) Beam

[0079] According to the description of the 38.108 protocol, beam refers to the main lobe of the radiation pattern of the antenna array.

[0080] (2) Beam coverage

[0081] Beam coverage refers to the projection range of the beam on the ground. The base station side adjusts the weight of the antenna, so that the beam sent by the base station can be directed in different directions, and has different coverage. In the case of a satellite as a base station, the beam coverage will change with the movement of the satellite and the adjustment of the weight.

[0082] (3) Non terrestrial network (NTN)

[0083] NTN refers to a network using radio frequency resources on a satellite platform, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), or a high-altitude communication platform (HAPS) for communication services; wherein the satellite platform includes but is not limited to the geostationary orbit (GEO), medium earth orbit (MEO) and low earth orbit (LEO). Compared with the ground cellular network, the NTN network has the characteristics of wider coverage, higher path loss, larger delay, faster speed, lower cost, etc. As a supplement and extension of the ground network, the NTN network can realize the purpose of seamless coverage in a wide area, which cannot be realized by wired telephone network and ground mobile communication network, thereby effectively solving the problem of Internet access in areas where communication infrastructure is scarce.

[0084] (4) Single-satellite multi-beam coverage scenario

[0085] The single-satellite multi-beam coverage scenario is to realize the coverage of multiple ground areas through the multi-beam antenna carried on a single satellite. For example, a single satellite (referred to as a single satellite) can cover dozens or even thousands of wave positions; in a beam hopping satellite system, a single satellite is equipped with only a small number of beams (such as dozens of beams), and the beams serve all the wave positions under the single satellite in a time-sharing manner.

[0086] (5) Beam hopping technology

[0087] The beam hopping technology is a technology for optimizing the allocation of power and bandwidth resources on the satellite from the time domain; the technology can realize the coverage of a traditional multi-beam system through a small number of beam hopping; the core of the technology lies in the application of time slicing technology, so that the satellite can activate specific beams to work in different time slices, rather than radiate comprehensively at the same time. In view of the different business needs of each coverage area in a multi-beam satellite system, the beam hopping technology can flexibly optimize the resource allocation on the time axis, divide the bandwidth resources of the satellite into multiple time slots, and allocate them to each beam according to the actual needs, to meet the needs of different businesses.

[0088] (6) Synchronization signal and PBCH block (SSB)

[0089] The SSB is composed of three parts of primary synchronization signals (PSS), secondary synchronization signals (SSS) and PBCH. For example, under the 5G new radio (NR) network architecture, the SSB signal block is not only used to realize cell search, timing and frequency synchronization, location and mobility management and other functions, but also used to help user equipment (UE) detect the physical cell identifier (PCI); the PCI can enable the UE to effectively distinguish wireless signals from different cells, and then realize the synchronization of the downlink in time and frequency. In addition, the SSB is also used as a reference signal for access and measurement, to support the UE to access the network and perform signal quality measurement.

[0090] (7) Cell discontinuous transmission (DTX) / cell discontinuous reception (DRX)

[0091] cell DTX is a technology in the field of wireless communication, mainly used to save energy, reduce inter-cell interference and optimize network resources. It refers to the process in wireless communication, when the physical layer does not receive data transmission request from upper layer for a period of time, the network device will "close" the service channel for sending data and most of the transceiver circuit, so that the device enters an idle mode, to reduce unnecessary energy consumption and reduce interference to adjacent cells. For the user side, cell DTX refers to the closure of data transmission and reception by the cell for a certain period of time, in order to reduce energy consumption and improve network efficiency. For example, the network device can configure the on duration and off duration for the serving cell (or each wave position of satellite service), wherein the on duration can also be understood as the time for continuously receiving data, and the off duration can also be understood as the time for closing the reception of data; during the on duration, the network device will open the service channel for sending data and the transceiver circuit, at this time, the UE of the serving cell can receive the service data sent from the downlink; during the off duration, the network device will close the service channel for sending data and the transceiver circuit, at this time, the UE of the serving cell stops receiving service data.

[0092] cell DRX is a cell-level discontinuous reception technology, which allows the base station to close or reduce the activity of data transmission and reception for a certain period of time according to network load, service demand and energy saving strategy, so as to reduce the energy consumption of the base station and improve the overall energy efficiency of the network, while maintaining the necessary service support for users. The base station can configure and activate cell DRX through UE-specific radio resource control (RRC) signaling or dynamic L1 / L2 signaling. Each serving cell can be configured with multiple cell DRX patterns to adapt to different service demands and energy saving goals.

[0093] For the downlink (DL) coverage enhancement scheme, release 18 network energy saving technology can be used, for example, modification of DTX / DRX in RRC connected state to adapt to NR non-terrestrial network (NTN) (e.g., beam-based operation): support for configuring multiple cell DTX patterns for UE; support for dynamic common group signaling for cell DTX pattern change; cell DTX / DRX mechanism in RRC idle / inactive mode is also considered in R19 NTN DL control element (CE).

[0094] In the network energy saving (NES) topic of 3GPP R18 terrestrial network, the main role of this technology is to reduce the transmission of a part of downlink signals on the network side to achieve the purpose of energy saving. For example, the low earth orbit (LEO) 600 km set 1-2 FR1 parameters include specific parameter types, as shown in Table 1.

[0095] Table 1

[0096] In the discussion of NTN R19 satellite coverage enhancement topic, the restriction of total satellite payload power and the number of activated beams (Table 1) is specified. Based on this restriction, the satellite needs to provide time-division beam hopping services among the numerous beams it serves (such as 1058) with limited activated beams. That is, it stays in a certain beam for a period of time to send downlink common signals (such as SSB, system information block (SIB) 1, SIB19, etc.) and downlink data scheduling (such as physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), etc.), and closes the beam of the beam at the end of the residence time (i.e. the beam does not continue to provide downlink transmission in the beam).

[0097] The working principle of cell DTX is similar to that of satellite beams starting to provide services and closing services in a certain beam. Therefore, in the beam hopping application scenario, the time when the satellite beams provide services and the time when the satellite beams close services for each beam can be controlled by configuring cell DTX for each beam.

[0098] In the existing standard, the configuration format of cell DTX / DRX is as follows:

[0099] In the cell DTX / DRX configuration, the DTX and DRX can be configured separately or jointly, and the initialization activation signaling of the DTX / DRX can also be configured. The cellDTXDRX-CycleStartOffset-r18 parameter configures the starting offset of the DTX mode cycle (such as the starting time of the first DTX cycle), and the cellDTXDRX-onDurationTimer-r18 defines the duration of the on duration in each cycle. During the on duration, the base station (such as a satellite) can normally transmit downlink data (PDSCH, SSB, PDCCH, and paging (Paging) messages, etc.). During the off duration, the base station will reduce the transmission of part of the downlink signals (it is worth noting that although SSB may not be directly affected by the DTX mode under the current standard, it may be included in the constraint category in the future standard adjustment). As can be seen, the network device applies the configuration of the on duration and the off duration in the cell DTX mode to the beam hopping scenario, so that the beam hopping is in the "on" state during the duration of the on duration, and the beam hopping is in the "off" state during the duration of the off duration. The starting offset defines the starting offset time in the DTX mode cycle. For example, the network device configures the "on duration" and "off duration" for a device (such as a first device) in a specific wave position (such as a first wave position) in the first cycle (such as the first cycle). The starting offset is the starting time of the device entering the "on duration" state.

[0100] It should be noted that although the cell DTX configuration belongs to the UE-specific RRC signaling, the standard (TS38.800) stipulates that the network side can configure the same cell DTX / DRX mode for all connected UEs in the cell. For example, the same on duration, starting offset, cycle, and other parameters are configured for each UE. In order to reduce the activation time of the downlink transmission / uplink reception of the next generation base station (gNodeB), the UE can be configured to have a periodic cell DTX / DRX mode (such as an active period and an inactive period). The UEs configured with this mode in the cell will share the same cell DTX / DRX mode.

[0101] (8) Downlink control information (DCI) format DCI2-9

[0102] DCI2-9 is used to carry specific control information, such as the indication signaling of dynamic activation and deactivation of cell DTX mode. DCI2-9 can be used to indicate (or control) the activation and deactivation of cell DTX mode. A plurality of information blocks are included in the DCI2-9 format, each information block being associated with a secondary cell (Scell) to facilitate the network device to independently control the DTX mode of each secondary cell; each information block includes 2 bits for indicating the state (such as activation or deactivation) of the DTX mode of the secondary cell. For example, the first bit in each information block is used to indicate the activation state of the DTX mode of the corresponding secondary cell; if the bit = 0, it indicates that the DTX mode of the secondary cell is in the deactivation state, i.e., the cell will transmit data in the normal manner; if the bit = 1, it indicates that the DTX mode is activated, and the cell can not transmit data in some time period to save energy or resources. When the network device simultaneously configures cell DTX (discontinuous transmission) and cell discontinuous reception (DRX) in DCI2-9, data transmission and reception can be reduced in a larger time range, thereby further reducing network energy consumption and user equipment power consumption; wherein cell DRX can refer to the reduction or stop of the reception of downlink data by the cell in a certain time period to save the power consumption of the user equipment.

[0103] (9) Time domain resource allocation and common signal overhead

[0104] In a wireless communication system, the system needs to reasonably allocate resources in the time dimension to ensure the effective transmission of data between different users or different services. Time domain resource allocation generally refers to dividing time periods (such as time slots, frames, etc.) in the time axis and allocating them to different users or services for use. In addition to transmitting user data, wireless communication systems also need to transmit some common signals or control information, such as synchronization signals, reference signals, broadcast information, etc.; these signals do not directly transmit user data, but are essential for the normal operation of the system and the access of users. The proportion of time or resources occupied by these common signals is referred to as common signal overhead. An increase in time domain resource allocation and a decrease in common signal overhead can be understood as follows: when the system allocates more time domain resources to users or services, the time domain resources used to transmit common signals will relatively decrease, resulting in a decrease in common signal overhead; this can more efficiently utilize time resources to transmit user data and improve the overall performance of the system, such as increasing system capacity and improving data transmission rate.

[0105] The technical terms possibly involved in the present application are briefly introduced above, and the communication system applicable to the present application is introduced below.

[0106] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as a long term evolution (LTE) system, an LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) system, an LTE time division duplex (TDD), a universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS), a worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication system, a 5th generation (5G) mobile communication system or NR. The technical solutions provided by the present application can also be applied to future communication systems.

[0107] The network architecture and service scenarios described in the embodiments of the present application are for more clearly illustrating the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application. It can be known by those skilled in the art that, with the evolution of network architecture and the appearance of new service scenarios, the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application are also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0108] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an architecture of a communication system 1000 to which embodiments of the present application are applicable. As shown in FIG. 1, the communication system 1000 includes a radio access network (RAN) 100, wherein the RAN 100 includes at least one RAN node (e.g., 110a-110e, collectively referred to as 110 in FIG. 1), and can further include at least one terminal 120 (e.g., 120a-120d, collectively referred to as 120 in FIG. 1). The RAN 100 can further include other RAN nodes, such as wireless relay devices and / or wireless backhaul devices (not shown in FIG. 1). The terminal 120 (i.e., one example of a first device) is wirelessly connected to a RAN node 110 (e.g., RAN node 110b). Terminals and terminals, and RAN nodes and RAN nodes can be connected to each other by wire or wirelessly. The communication system 1000 can further include a core network (CN) 200. The RAN nodes 110 are connected to the core network 200 wirelessly or by wire. The core network devices in the core network 200 and the RAN nodes 110 in the RAN 100 can be independent and different physical devices, or can be the same physical device integrated with the logical functions of the core network devices and the logical functions of the RAN nodes. The communication system 1000 can further include an Internet 300.

[0109] The RAN 100 can be an evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) system, an NR system, or a future wireless access system defined in the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP). The RAN 100 can also include two or more different wireless access systems. The RAN 100 can also be an open RAN (O-RAN).

[0110] The RAN node, also referred to as a network device, a radio access network device, a RAN entity, or an access node, is configured to help the terminal to access the communication system wirelessly.

[0111] In one application scenario, the RAN node can be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next generation NodeB (gNB) in a 5th generation (5G) mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, an access node (AP) in a WiFi system, etc. The RAN node can also be a macro base station (such as 110a in FIG. 1), a micro base station or an indoor station (such as 110e in FIG. 1), or a relay node (such as 110b and 110c in FIG. 1).

[0112] In another application scenario, a terminal can access a wireless network through cooperation of a plurality of RAN nodes, and different RAN nodes implement part of functions of a base station. For example, the RAN node can be a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), or a radio unit (RU). The CU here implements functions of an RRC protocol and a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) of the base station, and can also implement a function of a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP). The DU implements functions of a radio link control (RLC) layer and a medium access control (MAC) layer of the base station, and can also implement part of a physical (PHY) layer or the entire PHY layer. For details of the protocol layers, refer to relevant technical specifications of 3GPP. The RU can be used to implement functions of transceiving radio frequency signals. The CU and the DU can be two independent RAN nodes, or can be integrated in the same RAN node, such as a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in a radio frequency device, such as a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH).

[0113] The CU can be further divided into two types of RAN nodes: a control plane CU (central unit control plane, CU-CP) and a user plane CU (central unit user plane, CU-UP). As shown in FIG. 2, the CU-CP is responsible for control plane functions, mainly including RRC and control plane PDCP (PDCP-C). The PDCP-C is mainly responsible for encryption and decryption of control plane data, integrity protection, and data transmission, etc. The CU-UP is responsible for user plane functions, mainly including SDAP and user plane PDCP (PDCP-U). Among them, the SDAP is mainly responsible for processing the data of the core network and mapping the flow to the bearer. The PDCP-U is mainly responsible for encryption and decryption of the data plane, integrity protection, header compression, sequence number maintenance, and data transmission, etc. The CU-CP and the CU-UP are connected through an E1 interface. The CU-CP is connected to the core network through a next generation (NG) interface. The CU-CP is connected to the DU through a control plane F1 interface (F1-C). The CU-UP is connected to the DU through a user plane F1 interface (F1-U). Of course, there is also a possible implementation that the PDCP-C is also in the CU-UP.

[0114] In different systems, the RAN node can have different names. For example, in an O-RAN system, the CU can be referred to as an open CU (O-CU), the DU can be referred to as an open DU (O-DU), and the RU can be referred to as an open RU (O-RU). The RAN node in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module. For example, the RAN node can be a server loaded with a corresponding software module. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form of the RAN node. For ease of description, a base station is taken as an example of the RAN node in the following description.

[0115] A terminal is a device with wireless transceiver function, which can send signals to a base station or receive signals from a base station. A terminal can also be referred to as a terminal device, a UE, a mobile station, a mobile terminal, etc. A terminal can be widely applied in various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D), vehicle to everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), internet of things (IOT), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), industrial control, automatic driving, remote medical treatment, smart power grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wear, smart transportation, smart city, etc. A terminal can be a mobile phone (such as 120a and 120b in FIG. 1), a tablet computer (such as 120c in FIG. 1), a printer with wireless transceiver function (such as 120d in FIG. 1), a wearable device, a vehicle, an airplane, a ship, a robot, a smart home device, etc. Embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form of the terminal.

[0116] A base station and a terminal can be in a fixed position or movable. A base station and a terminal can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; can also be deployed on water surface; can also be deployed on an airplane, a balloon and a man-made satellite. Embodiments of the present application do not limit the application scenarios of a base station and a terminal.

[0117] The roles of a base station and a terminal can be relative, for example, 110b in FIG. 1 (which can be a satellite) can be configured as a mobile base station, and for those terminals accessing to the wireless access network 100 through 110b, 110b is a base station; but for 110a, 110b can be a terminal, that is, 110a and 110b communicate with each other through a wireless air interface protocol. Of course, 110a and 110b can also communicate with each other through an interface protocol between base stations, at this time, relative to 110a, 110b is also a base station. Therefore, a base station and a terminal can be collectively referred to as a communication device, 110a-110e in FIG. 1 can be referred to as a communication device with base station function, and 120a-120d in FIG. 1 can be referred to as a communication device with terminal function.

[0118] In the embodiments of the present application, the satellite acts as a base station to send downlink information to the terminal, the downlink information is carried on a downlink channel, and the downlink information can also be referred to as a downlink signal; the terminal sends uplink information to the satellite, the uplink information is carried on an uplink channel, and the uplink information can also be referred to as an uplink signal. In order for the terminal to communicate with the satellite, the terminal needs to establish a wireless connection on a cell controlled by the satellite. The cell in which the terminal establishes a wireless connection is referred to as a serving cell of the terminal.

[0119] For example, in the NTN scenario, the satellite as a base station can directly communicate with the UE to provide wireless access services; generally, the satellite can serve at least one cell, and each cell includes at least one wave position covered by a satellite beam, and each wave position includes at least one UE (such as a mobile phone, a satellite phone, an Internet of Things device, etc.). In the area covered by the wave position, the UEs can communicate with the satellite to realize data transmission and wireless access.

[0120] It should be noted that "cell" is a wireless communication term used to describe a ground area controlled by a base station (such as a satellite), and the UEs in the area can communicate through the base station; "wave position" is a specific area covered by a satellite beam, and in satellite communication, the antenna system of the satellite can generally generate multiple beams, each beam can cover a specific ground area, i.e., a wave position. A cell can include at least one wave position covered by different beams of the satellite antenna.

[0121] The above describes in detail a software and hardware system structure of a communication system 1000 suitable for the present application, and then a 5G satellite communication system architecture suitable for the present application is introduced in combination with FIG. 3.

[0122] As shown in FIG. 3, a ground user terminal UE1 (or UE2) can access the satellite 310 (or satellite 320) through 5G new air interface; the satellites as 5G base stations can communicate with the UE1 (or UE2) to provide stable and reliable wireless access services; in addition, the satellite 310 (or satellite 320) can establish a connection with the ground core network 330 through a wireless link to realize uplink and downlink transmission of data; in addition, there is a wireless link between the satellite 310 and the satellite 320, and the two can realize the exchange of signaling and fast transmission of user data between base stations through the Xn interface; the following describes the various network elements in FIG. 3 and the interfaces therebetween:

[0123] The UE1 (or UE2) is a mobile device supporting 5G new air interface, such as a mobile phone, a pad, etc. The UE1 (or UE2) can access the satellite network through the 5G new air interface and initiate a call, access the Internet, etc.

[0124] Satellite 310 (or satellite 320) as a 5G base station, mainly provides wireless access services, schedules wireless resources to access UEs 1 (or UE 2), provides reliable wireless transmission protocols and data encryption protocols, etc.

[0125] 5G core network 330 refers to the devices in the CN that provide service support for user equipment (such as UE1 and / or UE2). The 5G core network 330 can provide user access control, mobility management, session management, user security authentication, billing, and other services. It is composed of multiple functional units, which can be divided into control plane and data plane functional entities. The access and mobility management unit (AMF) is responsible for user access management, security authentication, and mobility management. The user plane unit (UPF) is responsible for managing user plane data transmission, traffic statistics, and other functions.

[0126] For example, the core network 330 can be: access and mobility management function (AMF) entity, user plane function (UPF) entity, session management function (SMF) entity, and the like, which are not listed one by one here. Among them, the AMF entity can be responsible for access management and mobility management of user equipment; the UPF entity can be a functional entity of the user plane, mainly responsible for managing user plane data transmission, traffic statistics, and other functions; the SMF entity can be responsible for session management, such as user session establishment, etc.

[0127] It should be noted that the entity in this application can also be referred to as a network element or a functional entity, for example, the AMF entity can also be referred to as an AMF network element or an AMF functional entity, and for example, the SMF entity can also be referred to as an SMF network element or an SMF functional entity, etc.

[0128] The ground station 340 is used to forward the signaling and service data between the base station (such as satellite 310 and / or satellite 320) and the 5G core network 330.

[0129] 5G new radio: the wireless link between the user terminal (such as UE1 or UE2) and satellite 310 (or satellite 320).

[0130] Xn interface: an interface for exchanging data or instructions between satellite 310 and satellite 320, mainly used for signaling interaction such as handover.

[0131] NG interface: interface between satellite 310 (or satellite 320) and 5G core network 330, mainly used for interacting with non-standalone access (NAS) signaling of core network 330 and user service data.

[0132] Before introducing the communication method applicable to the present application, the problem to be solved by the present application is introduced in combination with a specific application scenario.

[0133] As shown in FIG. 4A, a schematic diagram of a beam hopping scanning scenario is shown; in the beam hopping application scenario, taking an example of satellite A activating 8 SSB beams at a time and each SSB beam serving one wave position, if the 8 cells served by satellite A have a total of 64 wave positions, then satellite A needs to perform 8 scans in a scanning period in a time-division manner to provide services for all wave positions of the 8 cells; for example, as shown in FIG. 4B, taking the activated beam 1 of satellite A as an example, the activated beam 1 stays in cell 1 in the dwell time 1, and is mainly responsible for providing SSB scanning, SIB1, SIB19 message broadcasting, and data transmission after access for the wave positions in cell 1; in the dwell time 2, the activated beam 1 leaves cell 1 and stays in cell 2, and so on. Finally, satellite A uses 8 activated beams and 8 dwell times to provide SSB scanning and broadcast message transmission services for the 64 wave positions covered by the cells. However, in this scenario, the network device (such as a satellite or a ground station) usually configures the same communication time for the UEs of all wave positions (such as 64 wave positions) covered by satellite A, so that the UEs of all wave positions will try to communicate with the satellite at the same time. However, since the satellite (such as satellite A) can activate a limited number of beams at a time (such as 8 SSB beams), the satellite cannot provide services for all wave positions at the same time. This will result in only part of the UEs (such as 8 UEs) of the wave positions (such as 8 wave positions) being able to successfully receive services, while the UEs of the remaining wave positions (such as the remaining 56 wave positions) are not within the coverage of the current beams (such as 8 SSB beams). If the UEs of the remaining wave positions still wait to receive signals from the satellite, unnecessary power consumption will be generated. Therefore, the present application proposes a communication method which can reduce the invalid power consumption of the UEs, thereby optimizing the resource utilization efficiency.

[0134] In this communication method, the communication time of the UE (i.e. an example of the first device) is optimized by introducing an offset (such as a first offset) to reduce the invalid power consumption of the UE; for example, the network device can indicate a specific offset (such as a first offset) to the UEs of each wave position, so that each UE can calculate the starting time (i.e. a target offset) of its actual communication with the satellite (such as satellite A) according to the offset, thereby avoiding the invalid power consumption generated by continuously waiting to receive signals in the case of not being covered by the satellite beam. It should be noted that since the UEs under the satellite beam will try to communicate only when the satellite beam covers the wave position, turning off the receiving function in the case of not being covered by the satellite beam can optimize the utilization efficiency of the satellite communication resources.

[0135] The communication method 500 proposed in the present application will be introduced below in combination with FIG. 5. As shown in FIG. 5, the communication method 500 can reduce the invalid power consumption of the UE and optimize the resource utilization efficiency. Before introducing the method 500, the scenario to which the method 500 is applicable and the execution subject of the method 500 will be briefly described.

[0136] The method 500 is applicable to the above-mentioned beam hopping application scenario. The first device (or network device) involved in the method 500 can also be a chip, a chip system, or a processor applied in the first device (or network device), or a logic node, a logic module, or software capable of realizing all or part of the functions of the first device (or network device).

[0137] For example, the network device can be the RAN node 110 in FIG. 1, or the satellite 310 (or the satellite 320) in FIG. 3, or the ground station 340 in FIG. 3; and the first device can be the terminal 120 in FIG. 1 or the UE1 (or the UE2) in FIG. 3.

[0138] The following embodiments take the first device (such as a UE) and the network device (such as a satellite or a ground station) as examples to describe the execution subject of the communication method 500. The method 500 includes the following steps:

[0139] Step 501: The network device determines first information, the first information being used to indicate a first offset, the first offset being used to determine a target offset, the target offset being a time offset of the first device receiving a signal of the satellite in a first period, the first period being one of at least one period of discontinuous transmission of a cell, the first offset being less than or equal to a time length of the first period, the first device being one of a plurality of devices in a first beam, the first beam being one of a plurality of beams covered by the signal of the satellite, and the devices in at least two beams of the plurality of beams corresponding to different target offsets.

[0140] The network device can be a satellite or a ground station, which is not limited in the present application; and the satellite and the ground station can communicate through a wireless link.

[0141] The first device can be a receiving station or various types of UEs, such as a mobile phone, a smart bracelet, a smart screen, a notebook computer, etc., which is not limited in the present application.

[0142] It should be noted that in some scenarios, the first information can indicate the first offset in two ways. One way is that the first information includes the first offset. Another way is that the first information includes indication information used to indicate the first offset. The indication information can be identification information (such as an identifier, etc.). The first device can determine the first offset according to the identification information (such as query or calculation, etc.). These two ways of indication can increase the flexibility and adaptability of data transmission, so as to select the most suitable way to represent the first offset in different application scenarios.

[0143] The first offset can be used to calculate an actual starting offset (actual starting time or actual starting time slot) of the first device receiving the signal of the satellite in the first period. The actual starting offset (actual starting time or actual starting time slot) is the target offset, which will be described below in step 503. In actual application, the first offset can be ±1 millisecond (ms), ±2 ms or ±5 ms, etc. according to specific application scenarios, which are not limited in the present application. Generally, the first offset is less than or equal to the length of the first period. When the first offset is less than the length of the first period, it means that the first device has an active period after offsetting the first offset in the first period, that is, there is a time window for receiving the signal of the satellite in the first period. When the first offset is equal to the length of the first period, it means that the first device has no active period after offsetting the first offset in the first period, that is, there is no time window for receiving the signal of the satellite in the first period, which can also be said that the first device is in a closed state in the whole first period.

[0144] It should be noted that in the cell DTX scenario, the network device can first configure the devices (such as the first device) in each beam (or cell) in the satellite service (or coverage) area with the same cell DTX mode (pattern) before sending the first information; the cell DTX mode is also referred to as a legacy cell DTX mode. In some embodiments, the network device can configure the devices in each beam with the same cell DTX mode through an RRC message; after the network device configures the devices in each beam (or cell) with the cell DTX mode, the devices in each beam (or cell) receive signals from the satellite during the on duration, and stop or reduce the transmission and reception of satellite signals during the off duration, for example, during the on duration, the devices in each beam are allowed to be in an "on" state to receive synchronization signals or data transmitted from the satellite; and during the off duration, the devices in each beam are allowed to be in an "off" state to stop or reduce the synchronization signals or data transmitted from the satellite to optimize the utilization of resources; such a cell DTX mode can save network resources and reduce device power consumption.

[0145] It should also be noted that in some scenarios, the devices in each beam being in an "on" state can also be alternatively described as the devices in each beam being in one of an "activated" state, a "receiving" state, an "active" state, or an "on" state, and the like, which are not limited in the present application; similarly, in some scenarios, the devices in each beam being in an "off state can also be alternatively described as the devices in each beam being in one of a "deactivated" state, a "stop receiving" state, a "non-active" state, or a "sleeping (or resting)" state, and the like, which are not limited in the present application.

[0146] In some embodiments, the cell DTX mode can be bound to the beam identifier, so as to implicitly (or indirectly) indicate to the devices in each beam the cell DTX mode currently used by the cell where the devices are located through the beam identifier. By binding the beam identifier and the cell DTX mode, the satellite can more flexibly control the transmission power of the satellite while ensuring the quality of data transmission; for example, when the user or data transmission demand corresponding to a certain beam is low, the satellite can automatically associate the beam with the cell DTX mode, so that the beam stops transmitting during a certain period of time (such as the off duration), thereby reducing unnecessary energy consumption. In addition, in some cases, the interference between beams can affect the communication quality. By binding the beam identifier and the cell DTX mode, the satellite can control the transmission time and direction of the beam to some extent, thereby reducing the interference between beams and improving the communication quality.

[0147] The first period is one of at least one period of cell discontinuous transmission, which can be understood as follows: in the cell DTX mode, the network device can configure the same active time (or active time) for the devices of each wave position of the satellite service; usually, the active time includes at least one period, and the first period is one of the at least one period; the first period includes an on duration and an off duration, wherein the on duration can refer to the time when the first device receives the signal (such as the SSB signal) of the satellite, and correspondingly, the on duration can also refer to the time when the satellite transmits the signal to the first device or provides wireless service; the off duration can refer to the time when the first device stops (or reduces) receiving the signal (such as the SSB signal) of the satellite, and correspondingly, the off duration can also refer to the time when the satellite stops (or reduces) transmitting the signal to the first device or providing wireless service. The on duration (or the off duration) can be determined by a start time (or a start slot) and a duration.

[0148] It should be noted that in some scenarios, the on duration can also be described as one of the active time, active period, start time, start time, active time, etc., which is not limited in the present application; the off duration can also be described as one of the non-active time, non-active period, silent time, stop time, or non-active time, which is not limited in the present application.

[0149] For example, as shown in FIG. 6, in the cell DTX scenario, the network device configures the same active time for the devices (such as UE1 and UE2) of the first wave position and the devices (such as UE3 and UE4) of the second wave position; the active time includes three periods, which are the first period, the second period and the third period, and each of the three periods includes an on duration (indicated by “on” in FIG. 6) and an off duration (indicated by “off” in FIG. 6), and UE1 to UE4 receive the signal (such as SSB) from the satellite in the on duration, and stop receiving or reduce receiving the signal from the satellite in the off duration.

[0150] The target offset corresponding to the devices of at least two of the plurality of beams is different. It can be understood that in the application scenario of the hopping beam, the number of beams covered by the satellite at the same time is limited, and the devices of the plurality of beams (such as the first device of the first beam, a device of the second beam, etc.) do not necessarily obtain the service provided by the satellite at the same time. At this time, the devices of the plurality of beams can calculate different target offsets based on the first offset, for example, the devices of at least two of the plurality of beams can calculate at least two different target offsets based on the first offset. The different target offsets can cause the devices of at least two of the plurality of beams to time stagger when receiving the signal of the satellite, thereby avoiding the case that all devices of the beams are activated at the same time.

[0151] It should be noted that the "target offset" here is a general concept. For example, the time offset of the devices of each beam in the plurality of beams for receiving the signal of the satellite within the first period according to the first offset can be called the target offset. Only the target offsets determined by the devices of different beams are not necessarily the same. For example, the plurality of beams includes a first beam and a second beam, wherein the first beam includes device 1 (which is an example of the first device), and the second beam includes device 2. The target offset determined by device 1 according to the first offset is X1, and the target offset determined by device 2 according to the first offset is X2. X1 and X2 can be the same or different. For example, when the first beam and the second beam are covered by the satellite at the same time, X1 and X2 can be the same. When the first beam and the second beam are not covered by the satellite at the same time, X1 and X2 can be different.

[0152] According to the description in the "NTN scenario" section above, from the perspective of a cell, the satellite can cover (or serve) at least one cell. A single cell can include at least one beam. Therefore, from the perspective of a beam, the satellite can cover (or serve) at least one beam, such as a first beam. A single beam can include at least one device, such as a first device. The network device can indicate at least one of the beam identifier (beam ID) of the beam where the device (such as the first device) is located, the number of activated beams, or the satellite parameter set (set 1-1, set 1-2, set 1-3) used to the devices of each beam covered (or served) by the satellite.

[0153] The beam identifier is a key identifier used to distinguish different beams in satellite communication. Each beam in the satellite coverage area has a unique beam identifier to ensure accurate transmission of signals.

[0154] It should be noted that in some scenarios, the beam identifier can also be described as one of a beam index, a beam number, a beam sequence, or a beam serial number, which is not limited in the present application.

[0155] In some embodiments, for an NR cell, each beam corresponds to a unique SSB index. After receiving the SSB, the first device identifies the SSB index by detecting the SSB, determines the beam identifier of the beam where it is currently located according to the SSB index, and finally determines the beam where it is currently located according to the beam identifier.

[0156] In another embodiment, when the satellite adopts a single-satellite single-cell strategy, the beam identifier can be understood as the PCI of the cell, and the first device can determine the beam where it is located through the PCI. For example, the single cell A covered by satellite A includes a beam X, and the beam identifier of the beam X can be represented by the PCI of cell A. If the first device is a device in the beam X, the first device can determine that it is located in the beam X according to the PCI of the cell A where it is located.

[0157] In yet some embodiments, since the SSB index of each NR cell is limited and the number of beams is too large, the satellite can use the SSB index multiplexing manner to distinguish different beams among multiple beams in the coverage area. The following illustrates the SSB index multiplexing manner by way of example. For example, the cell A covered by satellite A includes 16 beams, and the SSB index has 4, which are SSB 0, SSB 1, SSB 2 and SSB 3. Satellite A can distinguish different beams by the following SSB index multiplexing manners:

[0158] Manner 1) The SSB index is combined with at least one geographical location to distinguish different beams.

[0159] The geographical location can also be described as a geographical reference location, a geographical location reference point, a geographical location range, a physical location, or other equivalent descriptions, which are not limited in the present application.

[0160] As shown in FIG. 7A, satellite A divides 16 wave positions into 4 wave position groups, i.e., wave position group 1, wave position group 2, wave position group 3, and wave position group 4, according to the geographical positions where the 16 wave positions are located; each wave position group corresponds to a different geographical position, e.g., wave position group 1 corresponds to geographical position 1, …, and wave position group 4 corresponds to geographical position 4; satellite A forms 16 different combinations of 4 geographical positions and 4 SSB indexes, and each combination is used to uniquely identify a wave position; satellite A broadcasts the 4 geographical positions to each device (e.g., a first device) in the 16 wave positions; after receiving the 4 geographical positions, each device can compare its current geographical position with the 4 geographical positions one by one to determine which of the 4 geographical positions it is located in; as can be seen, the wave position groups can be distinguished by different geographical positions, and each wave position in each wave position group can be distinguished by an SSB index, so the 16 wave positions can be distinguished by the 4 geographical positions and the 4 SSB indexes; for example, the first device is in wave position 2 (which is an example of the first wave position) identified by SSB 1, and wave position 2 belongs to wave position group 1, which is located in geographical position 1; the first device can determine the wave position it is in according to geographical position 1 and SSB 1; similarly, the second device is in wave position 2 identified by SSB 1, and wave position 2 belongs to wave position group 2, which is located in geographical position 2; the second device can determine the wave position it is in according to geographical position 2 and SSB 1. The third device and the fourth device identify the wave position they are in in a similar manner to the first device (or the second device), which will not be described here.

[0161] Method 2) SSB index and random access opportunity (RO) window grouping binding to distinguish different wave positions.

[0162] As shown in FIG. 7B, satellite A divides 16 wave positions into 4 wave position groups, i.e., wave position group 1, wave position group 2, wave position group 3, and wave position group 4, according to 4 ROs; each wave position group corresponds to a different RO, e.g., wave position group 1 corresponds to RO1, …, and wave position group 4 corresponds to RO4; satellite A configures 4 ROs and 4 SSB indexes to form 16 different combinations, each of which is used to uniquely identify a wave position; satellite A configures 4 ROs to each device (e.g., a first device) of the 16 wave positions; after each device receives the 4 ROs, it can compare the ROs configured to itself with the above-mentioned 4 ROs one by one to determine which RO of the 4 ROs is the same as the RO configured to itself; as can be seen, the wave position groups can be distinguished by different ROs, and each wave position in each wave position group can be distinguished by an SSB index, so 16 wave positions can be distinguished by 4 ROs and 4 SSB indexes; for example, the first device is in wave position 1 (i.e., an example of the first wave position) with a wave position identifier of SSB 0, and wave position 1 belongs to wave position group 1, which corresponds to RO1; the first device can determine the wave position it is in according to RO1 and SSB 0; similarly, the second device is in wave position 1 with a wave position identifier of SSB 0, and wave position 1 belongs to wave position group 2, which corresponds to RO2; the second device can determine the wave position it is in according to RO2 and SSB 0. The third device and the fourth device determine the wave position they are in in a similar manner to the first device (or the second device), which will not be described here.

[0163] Method 3): SSB index and SSB burst grouping binding distinguish different wave positions.

[0164] The SSB burst can refer to a set of SSBs transmitted continuously or periodically in a short time; the SSB burst can be used to achieve downlink time-frequency synchronization and cell search of the UE.

[0165] As shown in FIG. 7C, satellite A divides 16 wave positions into 4 wave position groups, i.e., wave position group 1, wave position group 2, wave position group 3 and wave position group 4, according to 4 SSB bursts; each wave position group corresponds to a different SSB burst, such as wave position group 1 corresponding to SSB burst 1, …, and wave position group 4 corresponding to SSB burst 4; satellite A configures 4 SSB bursts and 4 SSB indexes to form 16 different combinations, each of which is used to uniquely identify a wave position; satellite A configures 4 SSB bursts to each device (such as the first device) of the 16 wave positions; after each device receives 4 SSB bursts, it can compare the SSB burst configured to itself with the 4 SSB bursts one by one to determine which of the 4 SSB bursts the SSB burst belongs to; as can be seen, each wave position group can be distinguished by different SSB bursts, and each wave position in each wave position group can be distinguished by SSB index, so 16 wave positions can be distinguished by 4 SSB bursts and 4 SSB indexes; for example, the first device is in wave position 4 with a wave position identifier of SSB 3 (i.e., an example of the first wave position), and wave position 4 belongs to wave position group 1, which corresponds to SSB burst 1, so the first device can determine the wave position it is in according to SSB burst 1 and SSB 3; similarly, the second device is in wave position 4 with a wave position identifier of SSB 3, and wave position 4 belongs to wave position group 2, which corresponds to SSB burst 2, so the second device can determine the wave position it is in according to SSB burst 2 and SSB 3. The third device and the fourth device identify the wave position they are in in a similar manner to the first device (or the second device), which will not be described here.

[0166] The above-mentioned active beam number can refer to the number of beams that a satellite can activate and put into use at the same time, or can refer to the number of beams that the satellite can simultaneously send for communication under a specific payload power limit condition; the active beam number can be 4, 8, 16 or 32, etc. For example, a satellite can have the ability to activate 16 beams at the same time; in a beam hopping application scenario, the satellite can realize time-division beam hopping scanning service between multiple wave positions through these limited 16 active beams, thereby ensuring that the devices in each wave position can timely obtain the services provided by the satellite.

[0167] It should be noted that although a satellite can support a large number of beams, not all beams can be activated at the same time; the satellite can dynamically adjust the number of beams that need to be activated at the same time according to real-time business needs and network load conditions, thereby achieving the optimal communication effect.

[0168] Each of the above-mentioned satellite parameter sets (set 1-1, set 1-2, set 1-3) is used to carry key information of different parameters; wherein, set 1-1, set 1-2 and set 1-3 carry the same type of parameters, the difference lies in the different values of some parameters (such as total payload downlink power level, beam power, etc.); taking the type of parameters carried by set 1-2 as an example, the type of parameters carried by set 1-2 includes maximum bandwidth per beam, SCS, beam size, satellite EIRP density / beam, total payload downlink power level, satellite transmission maximum gain, total number of beam coverage areas, and total number of simultaneously activated beams, etc.

[0169] For the carrying manner of the first information, in some embodiments, the first information can be carried in system messages or RRC signaling, wherein the system messages include master indication block (MIB) messages and SIB messages. For example, taking the first information including the first offset as an example, the format of the first information carried in the SIB or RRC signaling can be as follows: DtxStartoffset-NTN-r19::=Integer(0,…,cellDTXDRX-Cycle) cellDTXDRX-Config-r18::=SEQUENCE{ subMilliSeconds INTEGER(1..31), milliSeconds ENUMERATED{ms1,ms2,…,ms1200,ms1600,spare8,…,spare1}, cellDTXDRX-CycleStartoffset-r18 CHOICE{ms10 INTEGER(0..9),…}}

[0170] Wherein, DtxStartoffset-NTN-r19 is an example of the first offset; cellDTXDRX-Cycle is an example of the first period; cellDTXDRX-Config-r18 is used to configure the receiving time of the first device in the first period; cellDTXDRX-CycleStartoffset-r18 is used to configure the starting offset of the first period; the parameter DtxStartoffset-NTN-r19 is used for the first device to calculate the target offset of receiving the signal of the satellite in the first period on the basis of the cell DTX mode configuration; that is, DtxStartoffset-NTN-r19 has a correlation with the activation time of the cell DTX mode, and the specific manner in which the first device calculates each offset (such as offset 1) according to the first offset can be referred to FIG. 8B to FIG. 8C below, which will not be repeated here.

[0171] The value range of the DtxStartoffset-NTN-r19 can be: [0, …, cellDTXDRX-Cycle], that is, DtxStartoffset-NTN-r19 is less than or equal to the time length of cellDTXDRX-Cycle, wherein cellDTXDRX-Cycle (which is an example of the first period) can refer to the period of the cell DTX / DRX configuration in the cell DTX / DRX mode; the signaling format of this period in the SIB message or the RRC message is as follows: cellDTXDRX-Cycle Startoffset-r18 CHOICE{ ms10 INTEGER(0..9), ms20 INTEGER(0..19),}

[0172] When DtxStartoffset-NTN-r19 takes the maximum value (that is, takes cellDTXDRX-Cycle), it means that the first device is in the off state in the entire period (such as the first period), and accordingly, the network device turns off the beam serving the first wave position in the entire period.

[0173] Step 502: The network device sends the first information; accordingly, the first device receives the first information.

[0174] Wherein, the network device can send the first information through system messages or RRC signaling, and accordingly, the first device can receive the first information through system messages or RRC signaling.

[0175] Step 503: The first device determines a first value, the first value being a value corresponding to the first wave position, wherein the plurality of wave positions correspond to at least two different values.

[0176] The first value can be a first group identifier, which can refer to the group identifier of the wave position group in which the first wave position is located. The first value can be an integer, such as 1, 6, 8, etc. In some embodiments, the network device can set a value (such as the first value) for a wave position group as the group identifier of the wave position group. In other embodiments, the first device can determine the group identifier (i.e., the first value) of the wave position group in which it is located through certain calculations.

[0177] In some application scenarios, the plurality of wave positions corresponding to at least two different values can be understood as: the plurality of wave positions can be divided into at least two wave position groups, and each wave position group can use a different value as a group identifier, so that the plurality of wave positions can correspond to at least two different values. For example, in a hop-beam application scenario, a satellite can activate M1 (e.g., M1 = 4) beams at the same time, and these beams collectively cover N1 (e.g., N1 = 16) wave positions to achieve parallel service of the satellite to the N1 wave positions. The satellite can divide the N1 wave positions into two wave position groups, the first wave position group uses a first value (e.g., 12) as a group identifier, and the second wave position group uses a second value (e.g., 14) as a group identifier, the first value being different from the second value.

[0178] Step 504: The first device determines a target offset based on the first value and a first offset.

[0179] The first offset can be an integer, such as ±3 ms or ±5 ms, etc. In a hop-beam application scenario, the target offset can also be understood as the actual starting offset (or actual starting time or actual starting offset time) of the first device in the first period in the cell DTX mode.

[0180] After the first device receives the first information, it determines the first offset based on the first information; the first device calculates the target offset based on the first offset. For example, in the cell DTX mode, the network device configures the starting time (or starting offset) of the reception time of the first device in the first period as T0, and the first device adds (or subtracts) a first offset based on T0 to obtain the target offset, i.e., the actual starting offset in the first period is T0 ± the first offset. After the first device determines the target offset, it starts the reception function (i.e., turns on the reception function at the reception time) based on the target offset, and turns off the reception function in the off time to avoid wasting power consumption.

[0181] For another example, the first offset can be DtxStartoffset-NTN-r19, and the first value can be the first group identifier.

[0182] In some embodiments, the target offset is positively related to a product of the first value and the first offset; the first device can determine the target offset according to the product of the first value and the first offset; for example, the first value is 4, the first offset is 1 ms, and the first device calculates the product of the group identifier and the first offset as 4 ms (i.e., 4 x 1), that is, the target offset is 4 ms.

[0183] In summary, in some application scenarios, the plurality of wave positions can be divided into different wave position groups, and each wave position group can correspond to different values; this means that the plurality of wave positions can correspond to at least two different values. This differentiated setting allows devices in different wave position groups to calculate different target offsets based on the first offset; and different target offsets allow devices in different wave position groups to stagger in time when receiving signals from satellites, thereby avoiding the situation where all devices in the wave position activate at the same time; this approach can avoid the invalid power consumption of devices that are not covered by satellite beams during the process of continuously waiting to receive signals, thereby optimizing resource utilization efficiency.

[0184] In some embodiments, step 503 can also be implemented by step 5031:

[0185] Step 5031: The first device determines the first value according to the identifier of the first wave position and the number of active beams of the satellite.

[0186] Wherein, the identifier of the first wave position can be an integer, such as the values 4, 8, 200 or 512, and in actual applications, the identifier of the first wave position can be designed according to specific circumstances, which is not limited in the present application. The number of active beams can be 4, 8 or 16, etc., and specific reference can be made to the related explanations in the above step 501, which will not be repeated here.

[0187] In some embodiments, the first device can calculate the ratio of the identifier of the first wave position and the number of active beams to obtain the first value, for example, the identifier of the first wave position is 32 and the number of active beams is 8, then the first value is 4 (i.e., 32 divided by 8), wherein 4 can be used as the group identifier of the wave position group where the first wave position is located.

[0188] In other embodiments, the first value is the integer result of the ratio of the identifier of the first wave position and the number of active beams of the satellite. For example, the first device can determine the first value by the following formula:

[0189] Wherein, groupIndex represents the group identifier, the first value is an example of the group identifier, represents the wave position identifier, N activebeams represents the number of active beams, represents the integer result.

[0190] For example, the first wave position identifier is 38, and the number of activated beams is 8, and the first value is 5 (i.e., the upper limit of 38 divided by 8). The first value can be used as the group identifier of the wave position group in which the first wave position is located.

[0191] To ensure that the satellite can cover all the predetermined ground wave positions without omission in a complete scanning period (such as the first period), the first value is set, which is obtained by rounding up the ratio of the first wave position identifier to the number of activated beams of the satellite. This rounding up method aims to ensure that each wave position (or wave position group) obtains at least one beam allocation to avoid service interruption or incomplete coverage due to insufficient beam resource allocation. In short, even in the case of beam allocation edge, the rounding up operation can ensure that the satellite can efficiently and uninterruptedly provide stable and reliable services for all wave positions in its coverage area, optimizing the service efficiency and quality in the entire scanning period.

[0192] In some embodiments, the above step 504 can also be implemented by step 5041:

[0193] Step 5041: The first device determines a target offset according to the first value, the first offset, and the second offset. The target offset is positively or negatively related to the second offset, and the second offset is the time offset of the first device receiving the signal of the satellite under cell discontinuous transmission.

[0194] It should be noted that the second offset, which is the time offset of the first device receiving the signal of the satellite under cell discontinuous transmission, can be understood as: the second offset is the starting offset (or starting time offset or starting time) of the first device in a certain period (such as the first period) under cell DTX mode.

[0195] For example, in some embodiments, the first device can determine the target offset according to the following formula:

[0196] Wherein, startOffset-NTN represents the target offset, startOffset-NTN represents the starting offset (i.e., the second offset) of the first device in a certain period (such as the first period) under cell DTX mode. In other words, startOffset represents the starting offset of the first device in a certain period under the legacy cell DTX configuration; dtxStartOffset-NTN-r19 represents the first offset.

[0197] It should be noted that when the second offset is the time at the beginning of the first period, the second offset is positively correlated with the target offset; the target offset calculated by the first device according to formula (2) is greater than or equal to the second offset; when the second offset is the time at the end of the first period, the second offset is negatively correlated with the target offset; the target offset calculated by the first device according to formula (2) is less than the second offset.

[0198] For example, taking that satellite A can simultaneously emit 16 laser beams as an example, each beam can cover a wave position, and 16 beams can simultaneously provide services for 16 wave positions, and satellite A can provide wireless services for 1058 wave positions in a beam-hopping scanning manner; as shown in FIG. 8A, since 16 beams of satellite A can simultaneously serve 16 wave positions in a single scanning, therefore, 1058 wave positions can be divided into 67 groups; in this way, satellite A can complete a service for 1058 wave positions through 67 scans. As shown in FIG. 8B, in the cell DTX mode, satellite A can configure the same receiving time 601 and closing time 602 for devices of 1058 wave positions in each period (such as the first period), for example, the start offset of the receiving time 601 configured for devices of 67 wave position groups (i.e., wave position group 1 to wave position group 67) is all t0, that is, the devices of 67 wave position groups start receiving functions at the same time in the first period, that is, the devices of 67 wave position groups are all in a receiving state from t0 time in the first period to t0+T time; after t0+T time, each device closes the receiving function and enters a closing state; wherein T is the receiving duration of the receiving time 601, that is, indicated by “on” in FIG. 8B.

[0199] As shown in FIG. 8C, for devices (such as a first device) of each wave position (such as a first wave position) of 67 wave position groups, each device calculates its target offset in the first period according to formula (2) as T i , i takes 1, 2, 3, …, 67, and the duration is T, that is, “on” in FIG. 8C; wherein startOffset-NTN in formula (2) is offset n, wherein n=1, 2, 3, …, 67, offset n=group identifier×first offset+second offset; for example, the first offset is t (such as DtxStartoffset-NTN-r19 or ) described above), and the second offset is t0 (such as DtxStartoffset-NTN-r20 described above). ), offset 2 = 2xt + t0 = 2t + t0, offset 3 = 3xt + t0 = 3t + t0, …, offset 67 = 67xt + t0 = 67t + t0. Thus, by introducing the first offset, the devices of each wave position group enter the receiving state at different times in the first period, thereby avoiding unnecessary power consumption caused by all devices of the wave position groups entering the receiving state at the same time.

[0200] In some embodiments, the time for receiving the signal of the satellite in the first period is a first time period, and a length of the first time period is positively correlated with a traffic volume of the first device in the first period.

[0201] In some scenarios, the first period can be used as a time window for data transmission or signaling interaction, and there is a positive correlation between the length of the first time period and the traffic volume in the first period. Specifically, when the traffic volume increases, the length of the first time period also increases accordingly; when the traffic volume decreases, the length of the first time period also decreases accordingly. In other words, the size of the traffic volume affects the length of the first time period; if the traffic volume is larger, it means that more time or resources are needed to process the traffic, therefore, the length of the first time period will be correspondingly longer. Conversely, if the traffic volume is smaller, it means that the time or resources needed to process the traffic are relatively less, therefore, the length of the first time period will be correspondingly shorter. This relationship shows that the network device can dynamically adjust the length of the first time period according to the size of the traffic volume, thereby achieving efficient use of resources and efficient service provision.

[0202] In other embodiments, the first device receives second information, and the network device sends the second information, which is used to indicate the length of the first time period, and the length of the first time period is one of a plurality of lengths, and the plurality of lengths are preconfigured mutually different lengths.

[0203] The plurality of lengths are a plurality of time windows for the first device to receive the signal of the satellite in the first period; the second information can be carried in at least one of the following messages: a system message (such as a SIB message or a MIB message), an RRC message, a downlink control information (DCI), or a control element (CE) of a media access control (MAC) layer.

[0204] In some scenarios, the network device can preconfigure a plurality of lengths for the devices (such as the first device) of each wave position under the coverage of the satellite, so as to subsequently adjust the length of the first time period in real time according to the traffic volume of each wave position.

[0205] For example, when the network device configures cell DTX / DRX for multiple beams (or multiple cells) under satellite coverage (legacy cell DTX / DRX configuration), the network device can additionally configure multiple time durations; for example, in the traditional cell DTX / DRX configuration, one time duration (on duration timer) is usually configured, and in the present embodiment, the network device can configure four different time durations in the traditional cell DTX / DRX configuration. For example, the network device can configure four different time durations in the cell DTX / DRX configuration through system messages or RRC messages, etc.; the signaling format of the network device configuring multiple (e.g., four) time durations can be as follows:

[0206] Wherein, onDurationTimerList-r19 is the signaling format of the network device configuring multiple different time durations, and cellDTXDRX-onDurationTimer-r18 is the signaling format of the traditional cell DTX / DRX configuration.

[0207] When the network device detects that the traffic of the first beam currently changes, the network device can indicate the time duration of the first time period to the device (e.g., the first device) of the first beam through the second information, and the time duration of the first time period is one of the multiple time durations.

[0208] For another example, after the network device sends the second information to the first device of the first beam through the SIB message (or the RRC message), the first device receives the SIB message (or the RRC message) and detects whether the configuration of multiple time durations exists in the SIB message or the RRC message; if it exists, it means that the cell DTX mode configured by the SIB message (or the RRC message) is used for the indication of multiple time durations in the beam hopping application scenario, at this time, the first device can re-interpret the information block (information block) in the DCI instruction (e.g., DCI 2-9); taking DCI 2-9 as an example, the first device can re-interpret the 2-bit (bit) information block of DCI 2-9, for example, the 2-bit information in DCI 2-9 represents four different time durations (on duration timer), such as 00 representing time duration 1, 01 representing time duration 2, 10 representing time duration 3, and 11 representing time duration 4.

[0209] When the network device detects that the traffic of the current wave position (such as the first wave position) is large, the network device can flexibly indicate a longer time duration (such as the time duration of the first time period) to the device in the current wave position as the receiving time of the device in the current wave position through the DCI instruction, so as to ensure that the current wave position has more time domain resource allocation; on the contrary, when the traffic is small, the network device can flexibly indicate a shorter time duration (such as the time duration of the first time period) to the device in the current wave position as the receiving time of the device in the current wave position through the DCI instruction. By increasing the time domain resource allocation used by the user or the traffic, the overhead of the common signal can be reduced, so as to improve the resource utilization and the overall performance of the system.

[0210] It should be noted that the network device (such as a satellite or a ground station) configures multiple time durations for the devices (such as the first device) in different wave positions under the satellite coverage. Specifically, the network device can configure multiple time durations for the devices in each wave position in advance. These multiple time durations represent the time window of the network resources that can be used by each device (such as the first device), for example, in the time window, each device can perform communication activities such as data transmission, signal synchronization or signaling interaction.

[0211] After the network device configures multiple time durations for the devices in each wave position, the network device can dynamically adjust the use according to the actual traffic of each wave position. For example, when the network device detects that the traffic of a wave position (such as the first wave position) increases, the network device can indicate a longer time duration (such as the time duration of the first time period) to each device in the wave position from the multiple time durations to ensure smooth data transmission; on the contrary, when the traffic decreases, the network device can indicate a shorter time duration (such as the time duration of the first time period) from the multiple time durations to perform data transmission, so as to optimize the resource utilization.

[0212] This time configuration strategy also shows that the size of the time duration is positively related to the size of the traffic. When the traffic is larger, in order to ensure that more data transmission or communication requirements can be processed, the time resource (that is, the time duration) required by each device is more; on the contrary, when the traffic is small, the time resource required by each device is correspondingly reduced.

[0213] In summary, the network device (e.g., a satellite) can adapt to the traffic size (or traffic intensity) in different areas by dynamically adjusting the length of the first period. For example, the traffic in a certain area (e.g., the first wave position) of the satellite service dynamically changes. In order to ensure efficient use of network resources (e.g., time-frequency resources), the network device can pre-configure multiple lengths for the first device. When the network device detects that the traffic in the first wave position is large, a longer length can be indicated to the first device from the multiple lengths. In this way, the first device can obtain more network resources to meet the demand for high traffic. Conversely, when the network device detects that the traffic in the first wave position is small, a shorter length can be indicated to the first device from the multiple lengths to save time domain resources. In summary, by pre-configuring multiple lengths and dynamically indicating the length according to the traffic size, the network device can adapt to the actual traffic changes, optimize the use efficiency of network resources, and improve the user experience.

[0214] In some embodiments, the length of the first period is inversely related to the traffic volume of the first device in the first period.

[0215] In some embodiments, the length of the first period is inversely related to the traffic volume of the first device in the first period.

[0216] For example, in some sudden high traffic scenarios (e.g., sports events, opening ceremonies of certain activities, etc.), in order to ensure smooth communication without obstruction, the network device can adjust the length of the first period to adapt to the current traffic changes. For example, when the traffic in the first wave position is large, the length of the first period can be shortened to increase the service frequency of the satellite to the first wave position, indirectly extending the service time of the satellite to the first wave position, thereby ensuring that the device (e.g., the first device) in the first wave position has enough time to process a large amount of service requests and data transmission. When the traffic is small, the length of the first period can be extended to reduce the service frequency of the satellite to the first wave position, indirectly shortening the service time of the satellite to the first wave position, thereby ensuring efficient use of network resources.

[0217] In some embodiments, the first device receives third information, the network device sends the third information, and the third information is used to indicate a length of the first period, the length of the first period is one of a plurality of period lengths, and the plurality of period lengths are preconfigured period lengths that are different from each other.

[0218] The third information can be carried in at least one of the following messages: a system message (such as an SIB message or an MIB message), an RRC message, a DCI, or a MAC CE.

[0219] The manner in which the network device configures the plurality of period lengths can refer to the manner in which the network device configures the plurality of lengths described above. For example, the plurality of lengths can be replaced by the plurality of period lengths to obtain the manner in which the plurality of period lengths are configured, and details are not repeated here.

[0220] In some scenarios, the network device can preconfigure a plurality of period lengths for devices (such as the first device) in each wave position under satellite coverage, so as to subsequently adjust the length of the first period in real time according to the traffic volume of each wave position.

[0221] It should be noted that the network device (such as a satellite or a ground station) configuring a plurality of period lengths for devices (such as the first device) in different wave positions under satellite coverage is also a time resource configuration strategy. Specifically, the network device can preconfigure a plurality of period lengths for devices in each wave position. The plurality of period lengths represent a time window of network resources that can be used by each device (such as the first device), for example, within the time window, each device can perform communication activities such as data transmission, signal synchronization, or signaling interaction.

[0222] After the network device configures a plurality of period lengths for devices in each wave position, the network device can dynamically adjust the usage according to the actual traffic volume of each wave position. For example, when the network device detects that the traffic volume of a wave position (such as the first wave position) increases, the network device can indicate a shorter period length (such as the length of the first period) from the plurality of period lengths to devices in the wave position to increase the frequency of providing services to devices in each wave position, so as to ensure smooth data transmission; on the contrary, when the traffic volume decreases, the network device can indicate a longer period length (such as the length of the first period) from the plurality of period lengths for data transmission, so as to reduce the frequency of providing services to devices in each wave position, thereby optimizing resource utilization.

[0223] This time configuration strategy also shows that the length is negatively correlated with the size of the traffic volume. The greater the traffic volume, the more frequently each device needs to be serviced, and by increasing the service frequency, the length of the network device providing services to each device is increased to meet the demand for more data transmission or communication; on the contrary, the smaller the traffic volume, the less frequently each device needs to be serviced, and by reducing the service frequency, the length of the network device providing services to each device is shortened, thereby saving network resources.

[0224] In summary, the network device (such as a satellite) can adapt to the traffic size (or traffic intensity) of different areas by dynamically adjusting the length of the first period. For example, the traffic of a certain area (such as the first wave position) covered by the satellite dynamically changes. In order to ensure the effective use of network resources (such as time-frequency resources), the network device can pre-configure multiple period lengths for the first device. When the network device detects that the traffic of the first wave position is large, a shorter period length (such as the length of the first period) can be indicated to the first device from the multiple period lengths, so as to increase the service frequency of the satellite to the first device, and indirectly extend the service time of the satellite to the first device. For example, the period length (such as the length of the first period) is sent to the first device through the third information, and correspondingly, the first device receives the period length through the third information. The first device can obtain more network resources (such as time domain resources, etc.) by using the period length, thereby meeting the demand of high traffic. Conversely, when the network device detects that the traffic of the first wave position is small, a longer period length can be indicated to the first device from the multiple period lengths, so as to reduce the service frequency of the satellite to the first device, and indirectly shorten the service time of the satellite to the first device, so as to ensure the effective use of network resources.

[0225] The above describes the method examples provided by the embodiments of the present application in detail. It can be understood that the corresponding apparatus contains the corresponding hardware structure and / or software module for executing various functions in order to realize the above functions. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that the units and algorithm steps of various examples described in combination with the embodiments disclosed in the present application can be realized in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a certain function is realized in the form of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. The skilled person can use different methods to realize the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of the present application.

[0226] As shown in FIG. 9, the present application provides a structural schematic diagram of a communication apparatus 900. The communication apparatus 900 can be a first device (such as a terminal device), a module (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.) applied in the first device, or a logic node, a logic module, or software capable of realizing all or part of the functions of the first device.

[0227] The communication apparatus 900 includes a transceiver module 901, and optionally, the communication apparatus 900 further includes a processing module 902.

[0228] The transceiver module 901 can realize the corresponding communication function. The transceiver module 901 can also be referred to as a communication interface or a communication unit. The processing module 902 is used for executing processing operations.

[0229] Optionally, the communication apparatus 900 further includes a storage module, which can be used to store instructions and / or data. The processing module 902 can read the instructions and / or data in the storage module, so that the communication apparatus 900 implements the method embodiments shown in FIG. 5.

[0230] The communication apparatus 900 can be used to perform the actions performed by the first device in the above method embodiments. The transceiver module 901 is configured to perform the sending-related operations or the receiving-related operations of the first device in the above method embodiments, and the processing module 902 is configured to perform the processing-related operations of the first device in the above method embodiments.

[0231] Optionally, the transceiver module 901 can include a sending module and a receiving module. The sending module is configured to perform the sending operations of the first device in the method embodiments shown in FIG. 5, and the receiving module is configured to perform the receiving operations of the first device in the method embodiments shown in FIG. 5.

[0232] It should be noted that the communication apparatus 900 can include the sending module and not include the receiving module. Alternatively, the communication apparatus 900 can include the receiving module and not include the sending module. Specifically, whether the sending action and the receiving action are included in the above scheme performed by the communication apparatus 900 can be determined.

[0233] The communication apparatus 900 is configured to perform part or all of the steps performed by the first device in the embodiments shown in FIG. 5. For details, refer to the related description of the embodiments shown in FIG. 5. For example, the communication apparatus 900 can perform the following scheme:

[0234] In the communication apparatus 900, the transceiver module 901 is configured to receive first information, and the first information is used to indicate a first offset. The processing module 902 is configured to determine a first value, and the first value is a value corresponding to a first wave position, the first wave position being one of a plurality of wave positions covered by a satellite signal, and the plurality of wave positions corresponding to at least two different values. The processing module 902 is further configured to determine a target offset according to the first value and the first offset, and the target offset is a time offset of the first device receiving the satellite signal in a first period, the first period being one of at least one period of discontinuous transmission of a cell, the first offset being less than or equal to a time length of the first period, and the first device being one of the devices in the first wave position. For details of the specific implementation of the communication method by the communication apparatus 900 and the beneficial effects produced, refer to the related description of the method embodiments shown in FIG. 5.

[0235] In the communication apparatus 900, the transceiver 901 is further configured to determine a first value, wherein the first value is a value corresponding to the first wave position, and a plurality of wave positions correspond to at least two different values; and the processor 902 is further configured to determine the target offset according to the first value and the first offset. The beneficial effects of this part can be referred to the above embodiments.

[0236] In the communication apparatus 900, the processor 902 is further configured to determine the first value according to the identifier of the first wave position and the number of active beams of the satellite. The beneficial effects of this part can be referred to the above embodiments.

[0237] In the communication apparatus 900, the first value is an integer greater than or equal to the identifier of the first wave position and the number of active beams of the satellite. The beneficial effects of this part can be referred to the above embodiments.

[0238] In the communication apparatus 900, the target offset is positively related to the product of the first value and the first offset. The beneficial effects of this part can be referred to the above embodiments.

[0239] In the communication apparatus 900, the processor 902 is further configured to determine the target offset according to the first value, the first offset and a second offset, wherein the target offset is positively or negatively related to the second offset, and the second offset is a time offset of the first device receiving the signal of the satellite in the discontinuous transmission of the cell. The beneficial effects of this part can be referred to the above embodiments.

[0240] In the communication apparatus 900, the time of receiving the signal of the satellite in the first period is a first time period, and the length of the first time period is positively related to the amount of traffic of the first device in the first period. The beneficial effects of this part can be referred to the above embodiments.

[0241] In the communication apparatus 900, the transceiver 901 is further configured to receive second information, wherein the second information is used to indicate the length of the first time period, and the length of the first time period is one of a plurality of lengths, and the plurality of lengths are preconfigured lengths different from each other. The beneficial effects of this part can be referred to the above embodiments.

[0242] In the communication apparatus 900, the length of the first period is negatively related to the amount of traffic of the first device in the first period. The beneficial effects of this part can be referred to the above embodiments.

[0243] In the communication apparatus 900, the transceiver 901 is further configured to receive third information, wherein the third information is used to indicate the length of the first period, and the length of the first period is one of a plurality of period lengths, and the plurality of period lengths are preconfigured period lengths different from each other. The beneficial effects of this part can be referred to the above embodiments.

[0244] It should be understood that the specific processes in which the modules perform the corresponding processes described above have been described in detail in the method embodiments described above, and for the sake of brevity, will not be repeated here.

[0245] The processing module 902 in the above embodiments can be implemented by at least one processor or processor-related circuit. The transceiver module 901 can be implemented by a transceiver or a transceiver-related circuit, wherein the transceiver includes a transmitter and / or a receiver, the transmitter is used to implement the sending function, and the receiver is used to implement the receiving function. The transceiver module 901 can also be collectively referred to as a transceiver module, a communication module or a communication interface. The storage module can be implemented by at least one memory.

[0246] As shown in FIG. 10, the present application provides another structural diagram of a communication apparatus 1000, which can be a network device (such as a satellite or a ground station), can be a module (such as a processor, a chip or a chip system, etc.) applied to the network device for execution, and can also be a logic node, a logic module or software capable of realizing all or part of the network device functions.

[0247] The communication apparatus 1000 includes a transceiver module 1001, wherein the transceiver module 1001 is used to perform the processes performed by the network device in the above embodiments; wherein the transceiver module 1001 can realize the corresponding communication function, and the transceiver module 1001 can also be referred to as a communication interface or a communication unit.

[0248] Optionally, the communication apparatus 1000 can also include a processing module 1002, which can be used to perform processing operations; the processing module can be implemented by at least one processor or processor-related circuit.

[0249] Optionally, the communication apparatus 1000 can also include a storage module, which can be used to store instructions and / or data, so that the communication apparatus 1000 realizes the method embodiments shown in FIG. 5.

[0250] The communication apparatus 1000 can be used to perform the actions performed by the network device in the above method embodiments. The transceiver module 1001 is used to perform the sending-related operations or the receiving-related operations on the network device side in the above method embodiments.

[0251] Optionally, the transceiver module 1001 can include a sending module and a receiving module. The sending module is used to perform the sending operations on the network device side in the method embodiments shown in FIG. 5. The receiving module is used to perform the receiving operations on the network device side in the method embodiments shown in FIG. 5.

[0252] It should be noted that the communication apparatus 1000 can include a sending module but not a receiving module. Alternatively, the communication apparatus 1000 can include a receiving module but not a sending module. Whether the communication apparatus 1000 includes a sending module or a receiving module can be determined according to whether the communication apparatus 1000 performs the sending action and the receiving action in the above-mentioned schemes.

[0253] The communication apparatus 1000 is configured to perform part or all of the steps of the embodiments shown in FIG. 5. Details can be referred to the related description of the embodiments shown in FIG. 5.

[0254] In the communication apparatus 1000, the processing module 1002 is configured to determine first information, the first information being used to indicate a first offset, the first offset being a time offset of a first device receiving a signal of a satellite in a first period, the first period being one of at least one period of discontinuous transmission of a cell, the first offset being less than or equal to a length of the first period, the first device being one of devices in a first wave position, the first wave position being one of a plurality of wave positions covered by the signal of the satellite, and target offsets of devices in at least two wave positions of the plurality of wave positions being different. The transceiver 1001 is configured to send the first information. The specific implementation of the communication apparatus 1000 performing the method of random access and the beneficial effects can be referred to the related description of the method embodiments shown in FIG. 5.

[0255] In the communication apparatus 1000, the time of the first device receiving the signal of the satellite in the first period is a first time period, and the length of the first time period is positively correlated with the amount of traffic of the first device in the first period. The beneficial effects of this part can be referred to the above-mentioned embodiments.

[0256] In the communication apparatus 1000, the transceiver 1001 is further configured to send second information, the second information being used to indicate the length of the first time period, and the length of the first time period being one of a plurality of lengths, the plurality of lengths being preconfigured lengths different from each other. The beneficial effects of this part can be referred to the above-mentioned embodiments.

[0257] In the communication apparatus 1000, the length of the first period is negatively correlated with the amount of traffic of the first device in the first period.

[0258] The beneficial effects of this part can be referred to the above-mentioned embodiments.

[0259] In the communication apparatus 1000, the transceiver 1001 is further configured to send third information, the third information being used to indicate the length of the first period, and the length of the first period being one of a plurality of period lengths, the plurality of period lengths being preconfigured period lengths different from each other. The beneficial effects of this part can be referred to the above-mentioned embodiments.

[0260] It should be understood that the specific processes in which the modules perform the corresponding processes described above have been described in detail in the method embodiments described above, and for the sake of brevity, will not be repeated here.

[0261] The transceiver module 1001 in the above embodiments can be implemented by a transceiver or a transceiver-related circuit, wherein the transceiver includes a transmitter and / or a receiver, the transmitter is configured to implement the sending function, and the receiver is configured to implement the receiving function. The transceiver module 1001 can also be collectively referred to as a transceiver module, a communication module, or a communication interface. The storage module can be implemented by at least one memory.

[0262] As shown in FIG. 11, the present application provides another structural schematic diagram of a communication apparatus 1100. In a possible implementation, the communication apparatus 1100 can be a network device (or a first device), a module (for example, a processor, a chip, or a chip system) applied to the network device (or the first device) for execution, and can also be a logic node, a logic module, or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the network device (or the first device).

[0263] In a possible implementation, the communication apparatus 1100 can be a chip or a chip system, wherein the chip system can be composed of a chip, or can include a chip and other discrete devices. When the communication apparatus 1100 is a chip, the chip includes a transceiver unit and a processing unit. The transceiver unit can be an input-output circuit or a communication interface; and the processing unit is a processor or a microprocessor integrated on the chip, or an integrated circuit or a logic circuit. Optionally, the device in the transceiver unit for implementing the receiving function can be regarded as a receiving unit corresponding to the input circuit of the chip; and the device in the transceiver unit for implementing the sending function can be regarded as a sending unit corresponding to the output circuit of the chip, that is, the transceiver unit includes the receiving unit and the sending unit.

[0264] In a possible implementation, the above communication apparatus 1100 can include a processor 1110 and an interface circuit 1120. The processor 1110 and the interface circuit 1120 communicate with each other. It can be understood that the interface circuit 1120 can be a transceiver or an input-output interface, wherein the transceiver includes a transmitter and / or a receiver, the transmitter is configured to implement the sending function, and the receiver is configured to implement the receiving function.

[0265] Optionally, the communication apparatus 1100 can further include a memory 1130, wherein the memory 1130 communicates with the processor 1110 and the interface circuit 1120 through internal connection paths. The memory 1130 is used to store computer programs and instructions, and the processor 1110 can execute the computer programs and instructions stored in the memory 1130.

[0266] In a possible implementation, the communication apparatus 1100 is configured to implement the respective procedures and operations of the network device (or the first device) in the above method.

[0267] It should be understood that the communication apparatus 1100 can be specifically the network device (or the first device) in the above method, or can be a chip or a chip system. Correspondingly, the interface circuit 1120 can be a transceiver circuit of the chip, which is not limited herein. Specifically, the communication apparatus 1100 can be configured to perform the respective operations and / or procedures of the network device (or the first device) in the above method embodiments. Optionally, the memory 1130 can include a read-only memory and a random access memory, and provide instructions and data for the processor. A part of the memory can also include a non-volatile random access memory. For example, the memory can also store device type information. The processor 1110 can be configured to execute the instructions stored in the memory, and when the processor 1110 executes the instructions stored in the memory, the processor 1110 is configured to perform the respective operations and / or procedures of the network device (or the first device) in the above method.

[0268] In the implementation process, the operations of the above method can be completed by the integrated logic circuit of hardware in the processor or the instructions in the form of software. The operations of the method disclosed in combination with the embodiments of the present application can be directly embodied as execution completed by a hardware processor, or executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor. The software module can be located in a mature storage medium in the field, such as a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory, an electrically erasable programmable memory, a register, etc. The storage medium is located in the memory, and the processor reads the information in the memory and combines the hardware to complete the operations of the above method. To avoid repetition, it will not be described in detail here.

[0269] In the present application, entity A sending information to entity B can be A directly sending to B, or A indirectly sending to B through other entities. Similarly, entity B receiving information from entity A can be entity B directly receiving information sent by entity A, or entity B indirectly receiving information sent by entity A through other entities. Here, entity A and B can be network devices (such as satellites or ground stations) or first devices (such as terminal devices), or can be modules inside the network devices or the first devices. The sending and receiving of information can be the information interaction between the network devices and the first devices, for example, the information interaction between the satellite and the UE; the sending and receiving of information can also be the information interaction between the ground station and the UE; the sending and receiving of information can also be the information interaction between different modules in one device, for example, the information interaction between the terminal chip and other modules of the terminal, or the information interaction between the base station chip and other modules in the base station.

[0270] FIG. 12 is a structural schematic diagram of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application. For ease of illustration, FIG. 12 only shows main components of the terminal device 1200. The terminal device 1200 can be applied to the system shown in FIG. 1 to implement the functions of the terminal device in the above method embodiments. As shown in the figure, the terminal device 1200 includes a processor, a memory, a control circuit, an antenna, and an input / output device. The processor is mainly used for processing communication protocols and communication data, controlling the whole terminal, executing software programs, processing data of the software programs, for example, for supporting the terminal device to perform the actions described in the above method embodiments. The memory is mainly used for storing software programs and data. The control circuit is mainly used for conversion between digital signals and radio frequency signals and processing of the radio frequency signals. The control circuit and the antenna together can also be called a transceiver, which is mainly used for transmitting and receiving radio frequency signals in the form of electromagnetic waves. The input / output device, for example, a touch screen, a display screen, a keyboard, etc., is mainly used for receiving data input by a user and outputting data to the user.

[0271] When the terminal device is powered on, the processor can read the software programs in the memory, interpret and execute instructions of the software programs, and process data of the software programs. When data needs to be transmitted wirelessly, the processor processes the data to be transmitted, outputs a digital signal to the radio frequency circuit, the radio frequency circuit processes the digital signal into a radio frequency signal, and the radio frequency signal is transmitted outward in the form of electromagnetic waves through the antenna. When data is transmitted to the terminal, the radio frequency circuit receives the radio frequency signal through the antenna, converts the radio frequency signal into a digital signal, and outputs the digital signal to the processor, and the processor converts the digital signal into data and processes the data.

[0272] Those skilled in the art can understand that, for ease of illustration, FIG. 12 only shows one memory and one processor. In an actual terminal device, there can be multiple processors and multiple memories. The memory can also be called a storage medium or a storage device, etc., which is not limited in the present application.

[0273] As an optional implementation, the processor can include a baseband processor and / or a central processor, the baseband processor is mainly used for processing communication protocols and communication data, and the central processor is mainly used for controlling the entire terminal device, executing a software program, and processing data of the software program. The processor in FIG. 12 can integrate the functions of the baseband processor and the central processor, and those skilled in the art can understand that the baseband processor and the central processor can also be independent processors interconnected by a bus or the like. Those skilled in the art can understand that the terminal device can include multiple baseband processors to adapt to different network modes, and the terminal device can include multiple central processors to enhance its processing capability, and various components of the terminal device can be connected through various buses. The baseband processor can also be referred to as a baseband processing circuit or a baseband processing chip. The central processor can also be referred to as a central processing circuit or a central processing chip. The function of processing communication protocols and communication data can be built into the processor, or stored in the memory in the form of a software program, and the processor executes the software program to realize the baseband processing function.

[0274] In the embodiments of the present application, the antenna with transceiving function and the control circuit can be regarded as a transceiving unit 1201 of the terminal device 1200, for example, for supporting the receiving function and the sending function of the terminal device implementation method embodiments. The processor with processing function is regarded as a processor 1202 of the terminal device 1200. The terminal device 1200 includes the transceiving unit 1201 and the processor 1202. The transceiving unit 1201 can also be referred to as a transceiver, a transceiver, a transceiving device, etc. Illustratively, the devices in the transceiving unit 1201 for realizing the receiving function can be regarded as a receiving unit, and the devices in the transceiving unit 1201 for realizing the sending function can be regarded as a sending unit, that is, the transceiving unit 1201 includes a receiving unit and a sending unit, the receiving unit can also be referred to as a receiver, an input port, a receiving circuit, etc., and the sending unit can be referred to as a transmitter, a transmitter, or a transmitting circuit, etc. Illustratively, the transceiving unit 1201 can not include an antenna, but only include a circuit part, so that the antenna is external to the transceiving unit.

[0275] The processor 1202 can be used to execute the instructions stored in the memory to control the transceiving unit 1201 to receive and / or send signals, and complete the functions of the terminal device in the above method embodiments. As an implementation, the functions of the transceiving unit 1201 can be considered to be realized by a transceiving circuit or a dedicated chip for transceiving. When transceiving various signals, the processor 1202 controls the transceiving unit 1201 to realize receiving. Therefore, the processor 1202 is a signal transceiving decider and initiates data transceiving operation, and the transceiving unit 1201 is a signal transceiving performer.

[0276] FIG. 13 is a structural diagram of a base station provided by an embodiment of the present application. For ease of illustration, FIG. 13 only shows main components of the base station 1300. The base station 1300 can be applied to the system shown in FIG. 1, and implement the functions of the base station in the above method embodiments. As shown in FIG. 13, the base station 1300 can include one or more DUs 1310, and one or more CUs 1320. The DU 1310 can include at least one antenna 1311, at least one radio frequency unit 1312, at least one processor 1313, and at least one memory 1314. The CU 1320 can communicate with the core network, and the CU 1320 can include at least one processor 1322 and at least one memory 1321.

[0277] The DU 1310 is mainly used for transceiving radio frequency signals and converting radio frequency signals and baseband signals, and implements part of baseband processing functions. The CU 1320 can include at least one processor 1322 and at least one memory 1321. The CU 1320 and the DU 1310 can communicate through an interface, where the control plane (CP) interface can be Fs-C, such as F1-C, and the user plane (UP) interface can be Fs-U, such as F1-U.

[0278] The CU 1320 is the control center of the base station 1300, and can also be referred to as a processing unit, and is mainly used to implement baseband processing functions, such as channel coding, multiplexing, modulation, spreading, and the like. For example, the CU 1320 can be used to control the base station 1300 to perform the operation processes of the base station in the above method embodiments. The DU 1310 and the CU 1320 can be physically arranged together, or can be physically arranged separately, that is, a distributed base station.

[0279] The baseband processing functions on the DU 1310 and the CU 1320 can be divided according to the protocol layers of the wireless network, for example, the functions of the PDCP layer and above protocol layers are arranged in the CU 1320, and the functions of the protocol layers below the PDCP are arranged in the DU 1310.

[0280] In an optional embodiment, the DU 1310 can be composed of one or more single boards, and the multiple single boards can jointly support a single access indicated wireless access network (such as an NR network), or can separately support wireless access networks of different access modes. The memory 1314 is used to store necessary instructions and data, and the processor 1313 is used to control the base station 1300 to perform necessary actions. The memory 1314 and the processor 1313 can serve one or more single boards. That is, the memory and the processor can be separately arranged on each single board. The memory and the processor can also be commonly arranged for multiple single boards. In addition, necessary circuits can also be arranged on each single board.

[0281] In an optional embodiment, the CU 1320 can be composed of one or more boards, and the multiple boards can jointly support a single-access-indicated wireless access network (e.g., an NR network) or separately support wireless access networks of different access modes. The memory 1321 is configured to store necessary instructions and data, and the processor 1322 is configured to control the base station 1300 to perform necessary actions, for example, to control the base station 1300 to perform the operation procedures of the base station in the above method embodiments. The memory 1321 and the processor 1322 can serve one or more boards. That is, the memory and the processor can be separately arranged on each board. The memory and the processor can also be arranged commonly for the multiple boards. In addition, necessary circuits can also be arranged on each board.

[0282] It should be understood that the base station 1300 shown in FIG. 13 is capable of implementing various processes of the method embodiments involving the base station. The operations and / or functions of various modules in the base station 1300 are respectively configured to implement the corresponding procedures in the above method embodiments. For details, refer to the descriptions in the above method embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0283] It should be understood that the base station 1300 shown in FIG. 13 is only one possible architecture of the base station, and does not constitute any limitation on the present application. The methods provided by the present application can be applied to base stations of other architectures. For example, a base station comprising a CU, a DU and an AAU, or a base station comprising a BBU and an RRU. The specific architecture of the base station is not limited in the present application.

[0284] It can be understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application can be a CPU, and can also be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), ASICs, FPGAs or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0285] The method steps in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in hardware, or in software instructions executable by a processor. The software instructions can be composed of corresponding software modules, which can be stored in a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory, an erasable programmable read-only memory, an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, a register, a hard disk, a mobile hard disk, a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), or any other form of storage medium well known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor, so that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. The storage medium can also be a component of the processor. The processor and the storage medium can be located in an ASIC. In addition, the ASIC can be located in a base station or a terminal. The processor and the storage medium can also exist as discrete components in the base station or the terminal.

[0286] In the above embodiments, all or part of the embodiments can be implemented by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented by software, all or part of the embodiments can be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer programs or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are performed. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, a network device, a user equipment, or other programmable apparatus. The computer programs or instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transferred from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium, for example, the computer programs or instructions can be transferred from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center through a wired or wireless manner. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. that integrates one or more available media. The available media can be a magnetic medium, such as a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape; an optical medium, such as a digital video disc; or a semiconductor medium, such as a solid-state disk. The computer-readable storage medium can be a volatile or non-volatile storage medium, or can include both volatile and non-volatile storage media.

[0287] The above examples are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, but not to limit it. Although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the technical solutions recorded in the foregoing embodiments can be modified, or some technical features can be replaced by equivalent ones, and these modifications or replacements do not make the essence of the corresponding technical solutions deviate from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. A communication method characterized by comprising: The method comprises: receiving first information, the first information being used for indicating a first offset; determining a first value, the first value being a value corresponding to a first wave position, the first wave position being one of a plurality of wave positions covered by a signal of a satellite, the plurality of wave positions corresponding to at least two different values; determining a target offset according to the first value and the first offset, the target offset being a time offset of a first device for receiving the signal of the satellite in a first period, the first period being one of at least one period of cell discontinuous transmission, the first offset being less than or equal to a length of the first period, the first device being one of devices in the first wave position.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, The determining of the first value comprises: determining the first value according to an identifier of the first wave position and a number of active beams of the satellite.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein, The first value is a ceiling result of a ratio of the identifier of the first wave position and the number of active beams of the satellite.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The target offset is positively related to a product of the first value and the first offset.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that, The determining of the target offset according to the first value and the first offset comprises: determining the target offset according to the first value, the first offset and a second offset, the target offset being positively or negatively related to the second offset, the second offset being a time offset of the first device for receiving the signal of the satellite under the cell discontinuous transmission.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that, A time for receiving the signal of the satellite in the first period is a first time period, a length of the first time period being positively related to a traffic amount of the first device in the first period.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein, The method further comprises: receiving second information, the second information being used for indicating the length of the first time period, the length of the first time period being one of a plurality of lengths, the plurality of lengths being preconfigured and different from each other.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that, The length of the first period is negatively related to the traffic amount of the first device in the first period.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein, The method further comprises: receiving third information, the third information being used for indicating the length of the first period, the length of the first period being one of a plurality of period lengths, the plurality of period lengths being preconfigured and different from each other.

10. A communication method characterized by comprising: The method comprises: determining first information, the first information being used for indicating a first offset, the first offset being used for determining a target offset, the target offset being a time offset of a first device for receiving a signal of a satellite in a first period, the first period being one of at least one period of cell discontinuous transmission, the first offset being less than or equal to a length of the first period, the first device being one of devices in a first wave position, the first wave position being one of a plurality of wave positions covered by the signal of the satellite, devices in at least two wave positions of the plurality of wave positions corresponding to different target offsets; sending the first information.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein, A time for receiving the signal of the satellite in the first period is a first time period, a length of the first time period being positively related to a traffic amount of the first device in the first period.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein, The method further comprises: The second information is used for indicating a time length of the first period, and the time length of the first period is one of a plurality of time lengths, and the plurality of time lengths are preconfigured time lengths which are different from each other.

13. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 12, characterized in that, The time length of the first period is negatively related to the amount of traffic of the first device in the first period.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein, The method further comprises: The third information is used for indicating a time length of the first period, and the time length of the first period is one of a plurality of period time lengths, and the plurality of period time lengths are preconfigured period time lengths which are different from each other.

15. A communications device, characterized by The communication device comprises at least one processor. The at least one processor is configured to execute a computer program or instructions in the memory, and when the computer program or instructions are executed by the at least one processor, the communication device implements the method in any one of claims 1 to 9, or the communication device implements the method in any one of claims 10 to 14.

16. A computer readable storage medium characterized by: The computer readable storage medium stores a computer program, and when the computer program is executed by at least one processor, the at least one processor executes the method in any one of claims 1 to 9, or the at least one processor executes the method in any one of claims 10 to 14.

17. A computer program product, characterised in that, The computer program product comprises computer program code, and when the computer program code is executed by at least one processor, the at least one processor executes the method in any one of claims 1 to 9, or the at least one processor executes the method in any one of claims 10 to 14.

Images