Information transmission method and related device

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to the technical field of communications, and provides an information transmission method and a related device. The method comprises: obtaining a physical random access channel mask (PRACH mask) index; selecting a PRACH occasion on the basis of the PRACH mask index; and performing PRACH transmission on the selected PRACH occasion, wherein the selecting a PRACH occasion comprises at least one of the following: selecting a PRACH occasion within a first-type PRACH occasion; selecting a PRACH occasion within a second-type PRACH occasion; and selecting a PRACH occasion within the first-type PRACH occasion and the second-type PRACH occasion.

Description

Information transmission methods and related equipment

[0001] Cross-references to related applications

[0002] This disclosure claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 2024110600903, filed on August 2, 2024, entitled "Information Transmission Method and Related Equipment", the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] This disclosure relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to an information transmission method, terminal, network device, communication system, communication equipment, computer-readable storage medium, and computer program product. Background Technology

[0004] To reduce the number of signals online for extended periods, NR (New Radio) systems package the PBCH (Physical Broadcast Channel) and synchronization signals into a single SSB (Synchronization Signal Block, SS / PBCH block, Synchronization Signal / PBCH Block) for the initial cell search process of the UE (User Equipment). The SSB comprises three parts: PSS (Primary Synchronization Signal), SSS (Secondary Synchronization Signal), and the PBCH. The SSB occupies 4 OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) symbols in the time domain and 20 PRBs (Physical Resource Blocks) in the frequency domain, totaling 240 subcarriers. Summary of the Invention

[0005] This disclosure provides an information transmission method, comprising: obtaining a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) mask index; selecting a PRACH timing based on the PRACH mask index; and performing PRACH transmission on the selected PRACH timing. The selection of a PRACH timing includes at least one of the following: selecting a PRACH timing within a first type of PRACH timing; selecting a PRACH timing within a second type of PRACH timing; and selecting a PRACH timing within both the first and second types of PRACH timing. In an exemplary embodiment, this method can be executed by a terminal, or it can be executed by a device (e.g., a chip) configured in the terminal.

[0006] This disclosure provides an information transmission method, comprising: transmitting a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) mask index to indicate the selection of a PRACH timing based on the PRACH mask index. The selection of a PRACH timing includes at least one of the following: selecting a PRACH timing within a first type of PRACH timing; selecting a PRACH timing within a second type of PRACH timing; and selecting a PRACH timing within both the first and second types of PRACH timing. In an exemplary embodiment, the method may be performed by a network device (e.g., a base station), or the method may be performed by a device (e.g., a chip) configured in the network device.

[0007] This disclosure provides a terminal, comprising: a receiving unit for obtaining a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) mask index; a processing unit for selecting a PRACH timing based on the PRACH mask index; and a transmitting unit for performing PRACH transmission on the selected PRACH timing. The selection of a PRACH timing includes at least one of the following: selecting a PRACH timing within a first type of PRACH timing; selecting a PRACH timing within a second type of PRACH timing; and selecting a PRACH timing within both the first and second types of PRACH timings.

[0008] This disclosure provides a network device comprising: a transceiver unit configured to transmit a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) mask index to indicate the selection of a PRACH timing based on the PRACH mask index. The selection of a PRACH timing includes at least one of the following: selecting a PRACH timing within a first type of PRACH timing; selecting a PRACH timing within a second type of PRACH timing; and selecting a PRACH timing within both the first and second types of PRACH timings.

[0009] This disclosure provides a communication system, which includes a network device as described in any embodiment of this disclosure and a terminal as described in any embodiment of this disclosure.

[0010] This disclosure provides a communication device. In one design, the communication device may include modules corresponding to the methods / operations / steps / actions described in any embodiment of this disclosure. These modules may be hardware circuits, software, or a combination of hardware circuits and software. In one design, the communication device includes: a receiving unit for obtaining a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) mask index; a processing unit for selecting a PRACH timing based on the PRACH mask index; and a transmitting unit for performing PRACH transmission on the selected PRACH timing. The selection of a PRACH timing includes at least one of the following: selecting a PRACH timing within a first type of PRACH timing; selecting a PRACH timing within a second type of PRACH timing; and selecting a PRACH timing within both the first and second types of PRACH timings. In another design, the communication device includes: a transceiver unit for transmitting a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) mask index to indicate the selection of a PRACH timing based on the PRACH mask index. The selection of PRACH timing includes at least one of the following: selecting a PRACH timing within a first type of PRACH timing; selecting a PRACH timing within a second type of PRACH timing; and selecting a PRACH timing within both the first and second types of PRACH timing.

[0011] This disclosure provides a communication device, including a processor. The processor can implement the methods in any embodiment of this disclosure. Optionally, the communication device further includes a memory, and the processor is coupled to the memory and can be used to execute a computer program in the memory to implement the methods in any embodiment of this disclosure. Optionally, the communication device further includes a communication interface, and the processor is coupled to the communication interface. In this disclosure, the communication interface can be a transceiver, pin, circuit, bus, module, or other type of communication interface, and is not limited thereto.

[0012] In one implementation, the communication device is a terminal. When the communication device is a terminal, the communication interface can be a transceiver or an input / output interface.

[0013] In another implementation, the communication device is a chip configured in the terminal. When the communication device is a chip configured in the terminal, the communication interface can be an input / output interface.

[0014] Optionally, the transceiver can be a transceiver circuit. Optionally, the input / output interface can be an input / output circuit.

[0015] In one implementation, the communication device is a network device. When the communication device is a network device, the communication interface can be a transceiver or an input / output interface.

[0016] In another implementation, the communication device is a chip configured in a network device. When the communication device is a chip configured in a network device, the communication interface can be an input / output interface.

[0017] This disclosure also provides a processor, including an input circuit, an output circuit, and a processing circuit. The processing circuit is used to receive signals through the input circuit and to transmit signals through the output circuit, causing the processor to execute the method in any embodiment of this disclosure.

[0018] In exemplary embodiments, the processor described above can be one or more chips, the input circuit can be an input pin, the output circuit can be an output pin, and the processing circuit can be a transistor, a gate circuit, a flip-flop, and various logic circuits, etc. The input signal received by the input circuit can be received and input by, for example, but not limited to, a receiver, and the signal output by the output circuit can be, for example, but not limited to, output to a transmitter and transmitted by the transmitter. Furthermore, the input circuit and the output circuit can be the same circuit, which is used as both the input circuit and the output circuit at different times. This disclosure does not limit the specific implementation of the processor and various circuits.

[0019] This disclosure also provides a communication system, including at least one communication device as described in this disclosure.

[0020] This disclosure provides a communication device, which includes: a processor; and a memory for storing executable instructions of the processor; wherein the processor is configured to execute an information transmission method according to any embodiment of this disclosure by executing the executable instructions.

[0021] This disclosure provides a computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor, implements the information transmission method of any embodiment of this disclosure.

[0022] This disclosure provides a computer program product, including a computer program that, when executed by a processor, implements the information transmission method of any embodiment of this disclosure. Attached Figure Description

[0023] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with this disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of this disclosure. It is obvious that the drawings described below are merely some embodiments of this disclosure, and those skilled in the art can obtain other drawings based on these drawings without any inventive effort.

[0024] Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0025] Figure 2 shows a flowchart of an information transmission method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0026] Figure 3 shows a schematic diagram of an information transmission method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0027] Figure 4 shows a schematic diagram of another information transmission method according to an embodiment of this disclosure.

[0028] Figure 5 shows a schematic diagram of another information transmission method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0029] Figure 6 shows a schematic diagram of another information transmission method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0030] Figure 7 shows a schematic diagram of another information transmission method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0031] Figure 8 shows a schematic diagram of another information transmission method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0032] Figure 9 shows a schematic diagram of another information transmission method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0033] Figure 10 shows a schematic diagram of another information transmission method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0034] Figure 11 shows a flowchart of another information transmission method according to an embodiment of this disclosure.

[0035] Figure 12 shows a structural block diagram of a terminal according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0036] Figure 13 shows a structural block diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0037] Figure 14 shows a structural block diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Detailed Implementation

[0038] Exemplary embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, these exemplary embodiments can be implemented in many forms and should not be construed as limited to the examples set forth herein; rather, they are provided so that this disclosure will be more comprehensive and complete, and will fully convey the concept of the exemplary embodiments to those skilled in the art. The described features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.

[0039] Furthermore, the accompanying drawings are merely illustrative of this disclosure, and the same reference numerals in the drawings denote the same or similar parts, thus repeated descriptions of them will be omitted. Some block diagrams shown in the drawings are functional entities and do not necessarily correspond to physically or logically independent entities. These functional entities may be implemented in software, in one or more hardware modules or integrated circuits, or in different network and / or processor devices and / or microcontroller devices.

[0040] In this disclosure, at least one item can be described as one item or multiple items, and multiple items can be two, three, four, or more items, without limitation. " / " can indicate that the related objects are in an "or" relationship; for example, A / B can mean A or B. "And / or" can be used to describe three relationships between related objects; for example, A and / or B can represent: A alone, A and B simultaneously, and B alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. To facilitate the description of the technical solutions of this application, terms such as "first," "second," "A," or "B" can be used to distinguish technical features with the same or similar functions. These terms do not limit the quantity or execution order. Furthermore, the terms "first," "second," "A," or "B" are not necessarily different. The words “exemplary” or “for example” are used to indicate examples, illustrations, or explanations. Any design described as “exemplary” or “for example” should not be construed as being superior or more advantageous than other design options. The use of words such as “exemplary” or “for example” is intended to present the relevant concepts in a concrete manner to facilitate understanding.

[0041] First, some of the terms used in the embodiments of this disclosure will be explained:

[0042] PRACH: Physical Random Access Channel, used for random access.

[0043] PRACH Mask / mask: Protocol term, indicating the resources that can be used for PRACH transmission, hereinafter referred to as the physical random access channel mask.

[0044] RO: PRACH occasion, PRACH timing, i.e., the timing of the Physical Random Access Channel.

[0045] SBFD: Sub-band Full Duplex; or Sub-band Non-overlapping Full Duplex. These two are equivalent in meaning.

[0046] DCI: Downlink Control Information.

[0047] The specific implementation methods of the embodiments of this disclosure will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0048] As shown in Figure 1, this disclosure relates to wireless communication technology. The communication system architecture includes a wireless access network and a core network. The wireless access network may include at least one wireless access network device (network device 20 in Figure 1) and at least one terminal (terminal 10 in Figure 1). Terminal 10 is wirelessly connected to the wireless access network device, and the wireless access network device is connected to the core network wirelessly or via a wired connection. The core network device and the wireless access network device can be independent physical devices, or the functions of the core network device and the logical functions of the wireless access network device can be integrated on the same physical device, or a single physical device can integrate some of the functions of the core network device and some of the functions of the wireless access network device. Terminals and wireless access network devices can be interconnected via wired or wireless connections. Figure 1 is only a schematic diagram; the communication system may also include other network devices, such as wireless relay devices and wireless backhaul devices, which are not shown in Figure 1.

[0049] Network device 20 can be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next-generation NodeB (gNB) in a 5G mobile communication system, a next-generation base station in a 6G mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a WiFi system; it can also be a module or unit that performs some of the functions of a base station, for example, it can be a central unit (CU) or a distributed unit (DU). Network device 20 can be a macro base station, a micro base station, an indoor station, a relay node, or a donor node, etc. The embodiments of this disclosure do not limit the specific technology or specific device form used by network device 20. For ease of description, a base station is used as an example of network device 20 in the following description.

[0050] Terminal 10 can also be referred to as a terminal device, user equipment (UE), mobile station, mobile terminal, etc. Terminals can be widely used in various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grids, smart furniture, smart offices, smart wearables, smart transportation, smart cities, etc. Terminals can be mobile phones, tablets, computers with wireless transceiver capabilities, wearable devices, vehicles, drones, helicopters, airplanes, ships, robots, robotic arms, smart home devices, etc. The embodiments disclosed herein do not limit the specific technologies or device forms used in the terminals.

[0051] Base stations and terminals can be fixed in location or mobile. They can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; they can also be deployed on water; and they can be deployed on aircraft, balloons, and satellites. The embodiments of this disclosure do not limit the application scenarios of the base stations and terminals.

[0052] The roles of base stations and terminals can be relative. For example, a helicopter or drone can be configured as a mobile base station. For terminals accessing the wireless access network via the helicopter or drone, the helicopter or drone is a base station; however, for the base station, the helicopter or drone is a terminal. That is, the base station and the helicopter or drone communicate via a wireless air interface protocol. Of course, the base station and the helicopter or drone can also communicate via an interface protocol between base stations. In this case, the helicopter or drone is also a base station relative to the base station. Therefore, both base stations and terminals can be collectively referred to as communication devices / communication equipment. The network device 20 in Figure 1 can be called a communication device / communication equipment with base station functionality, and the terminal 10 in Figure 1 can be called a communication device / communication equipment with terminal functionality.

[0053] Communication between base stations and terminals, between base stations, and between terminals can be conducted using licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or both simultaneously. Communication can be conducted using spectrum below 6 GHz, spectrum above 6 GHz, or both simultaneously. The embodiments of this disclosure do not limit the spectrum resources used for wireless communication.

[0054] In the embodiments of this disclosure, the functions of the base station can be executed by modules (such as chips) within the base station, or by a control subsystem that includes base station functions. This control subsystem, including base station functions, can be a control center in the aforementioned application scenarios such as smart grids, industrial control, intelligent transportation, and smart cities. Similarly, the functions of the terminal can be executed by modules (such as chips or modems) within the terminal, or by a device that includes terminal functions.

[0055] The technical solutions provided in this disclosure can be applied to wireless communication between communication devices. Wireless communication between communication devices can include: wireless communication between network devices and terminals, wireless communication between network devices, and wireless communication between terminals. In this disclosure, the term "wireless communication" can also be abbreviated as "communication," and the term "communication" can also be described as "data transmission," "information transmission," or "transmission."

[0056] Those skilled in the art will understand that the number of terminals and network devices shown in Figure 1 is merely illustrative, and any number of terminals and network devices can be used according to actual needs. This disclosure does not limit this.

[0057] Under the above system architecture, this disclosure provides an information transmission method, which can be executed by any communication device with information processing capabilities. In some embodiments, the information transmission method provided in this disclosure can be executed by a terminal in the above system architecture; in other embodiments, the information transmission method provided in this disclosure can be implemented by a network device in the above system architecture. In still other embodiments, the information transmission method provided in this disclosure can be implemented by the terminal and the network device in the above system architecture through interaction.

[0058] Figure 2 shows a flowchart of an information transmission method according to an embodiment of this disclosure. The method provided in the embodiment of Figure 2 can be executed by a communication device or electronic device, such as a terminal, but this disclosure is not limited thereto. As shown in Figure 2, the method provided in the embodiment of this disclosure may include the following steps.

[0059] In S210, the index of the physical random access channel mask (PRACH) is obtained.

[0060] This section introduces the PRACH mask. It defines the PRACH mask indication for a single PRACH transmission, including indications under different conditions, as detailed below:

[0061] 1. For Type-2 random access procedures with common configuration of PRACH occasions with Type-1 random access procedures, the PRACH mask index is indicated by msgA-SSB-SharedRO-MaskIndex.

[0062] 2. For a random access procedure associated with a feature combination indicated by FeatureCombinationPreambles, the PRACH mask index is indicated by ssb-SharedRO-MaskIndex.

[0063] 3. For a PRACH transmission by a UE triggered by a PDCCH order, the PRACH mask index field, if the value of the random access preamble index field is not zero, indicates the PRACH occasion for the PRACH transmission.

[0064] 4. For a PRACH transmission triggered by higher layers, if ssb-ResourceList is provided, the PRACH mask index is indicated by ra-ssb-OccasionMaskIndex.

[0065] The specific meaning of the PRACH mask is as follows: PRACH occasions are mapped consecutively per corresponding SS / PBCH block index. The indexing of the PRACH occasion indicated by the mask index value is reset per mapping cycle of consecutive PRACH occasions per SS / PBCH block index. The UE selects for a PRACH transmission the PRACH occasion indicated by the PRACH mask index value for the indicated SS / PBCH block index in the first available mapping cycle. In other words, PRACH occasions are mapped consecutively according to the corresponding SS / PBCH block index. The index of the PRACH occasion indicated by the mask index value is reset within each consecutive PRACH occasion mapping cycle of the SS / PBCH block index. In the first available mapping cycle, the UE selects the PRACH occasion indicated by the PRACH mask index value for the indicated SS / PBCH block index for PRACH transmission.

[0066] From the above content, we can know the following information:

[0067] 1. The PRACH mask indicates some ROs, and the UE transmits PRACH based on the ROs indicated by the PRACH mask index.

[0068] 2. The PRACH mask index is reset with the mapping cycle of a certain SSB index.

[0069] For example, specific PRACH mask index values ​​are given in Table 1 below:

[0070] Table 1: PRACH Mask Index values

[0071] In an exemplary embodiment, the PRACH mask index is determined according to one of the following:

[0072] The first parameter indicating when to share PRACH;

[0073] Downlink control information;

[0074] A second parameter indicating the timing of PRACH transmission.

[0075] In some embodiments, the PRACH mask index is determined based on one of the following: a first parameter indicating the timing of shared PRACH; downlink control information (DCI); and a second parameter indicating the timing of PRACH transmission. The first parameter indicating the timing of shared PRACH can be a higher-layer parameter carrying the PRACH mask index. This higher-layer parameter could be, for example, an RRC (Radio Resource Control) parameter. Sharing PRACH timing is another use of the PRACH mask, indicating that a PRACH timing is shared with a certain feature, and these shared timings are indicated by the PRACH mask index. The second parameter indicating the timing of PRACH transmission can be a higher-layer parameter indicating the timing of PRACH transmission.

[0076] In S220, the PRACH timing is selected according to the PRACH mask index.

[0077] In some embodiments, a mapping relationship between SSB and RO is given. According to this mapping relationship, one SSB can be mapped to a maximum of eight ROs, which corresponds to the PRACH mask index 1 to 8 in Table 1 above.

[0078] For example, as shown in Table 2 below, suppose one SSB#1 is mapped to four ROs:

[0079] Table 2

[0080] Therefore, if the PRACH mask index = 2, then according to Table 1 above, RO2 can be used for PRACH transmission. Similarly, if the PRACH mask index = 9, then all even-numbered ROs, namely RO2 and RO4, can be used for PRACH transmission. Since the PRACH mask index is reset for each SSB-RO mapping cycle, that is, the RO with the corresponding sequence number in each mapping cycle can be used for PRACH transmission. In some embodiments, according to the protocol, the UE selects the RO indicated by the PRACH mask index in the first available mapping cycle (i.e., the first available mapping period).

[0081] In S230, PRACH transmission is performed at the selected PRACH timing.

[0082] The selection of PRACH timing includes at least one of the following:

[0083] Select a PRACH timing within the first type of PRACH timing;

[0084] Select a PRACH timing within the second type of PRACH timing;

[0085] Choose a PRACH timing from the first type of PRACH timing and the second type of PRACH timing.

[0086] In this embodiment of the disclosure, the PRACH timing selected by the terminal for PRACH transmission may be selected from a first type of PRACH timing, or it may be selected from a second type of PRACH timing, or it may be selected from both a first type of PRACH timing and a second type of PRACH timing.

[0087] In mobile communication systems (such as 5G mobile communication), a subcarrier refers to the frequency resource used to transmit data. A subcarrier can be divided into multiple independent subcarrier frequency bands, each with a fixed bandwidth. A time slot refers to dividing a time slice into multiple short time periods, each of which is called a time slot. A time slot can be divided into multiple symbols for data transmission, and the duration of each symbol can be fixed.

[0088] To improve uplink coverage and throughput, data communication can be performed using Subband Full-Duplex (SBFD) technology. Specifically, a carrier component (CC) divides the frequency domain into multiple subbands (SBs) on a downlink (DL) symbol or a flexible (F) symbol. These multiple SBs include one UL subband and at least one DL subband. The base station can transmit DL signals in the DL subband and simultaneously receive UL signals in the UL subband. A symbol can be configured using TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon (TDD uplink / downlink common configuration) or TDD-UL-DL-ConfigDedicated, or indicated as a DL symbol or an F symbol by DCI2-0. A symbol that simultaneously contains both DL and UL subbands in the frequency domain is called an SBFD symbol. Similarly, a timeslot containing at least one SBFD symbol among its multiple symbols is called an SBFD timeslot. A DL timeslot can include one or more (e.g., 14) DL symbols. An SBFD time slot can contain one or more (e.g., 14) SBFD symbols. A UL time slot can contain one or more (e.g., 14) UL symbols.

[0089] In this embodiment of the disclosure, Subband Full-Duplex (SBFD) can be regarded as a phased technology in the evolution of full-duplex to simultaneous full-duplex on the same frequency, and it is preferentially implemented on the base station side.

[0090] More specifically, SBFD technology refers to the simultaneous transmission of uplink and downlink information within the same frequency band using non-overlapping frequency domain resources. For example, in single-carrier TDD (Time Division Duplexing) downlink time resources, non-overlapping uplink and downlink sub-bands (including uplink and downlink sub-bands) are divided in the frequency domain. This downlink time resource becomes an SBFD time resource. Uplink information can be transmitted in the uplink sub-band within the SBFD time resource, and downlink information can be transmitted in the downlink sub-band within the SBFD time resource. The base station can simultaneously transmit and receive within the SBFD time resource, while the terminal maintains a mode of only transmitting or receiving within the same time resource. This improves uplink coverage, increases uplink capacity, and reduces uplink transmission latency. When using SBFD technology, the bandwidth available for uplink transmission differs depending on the type of time resource used—for example, time resources where the base station can simultaneously receive uplink and transmit downlink (SBFD time resources) and time resources where the base station only receives uplink (uplink time resources).

[0091] In some embodiments, SBFD configures a continuous uplink bandwidth on a downlink time slot / symbol to improve uplink capacity and reduce feedback latency. Besides SBFD time slots / symbols, non-SBFD time slots / symbols can also be used. Non-SBFD time slots / symbols can include, for example, the following three types: "D" downlink time slot / symbol, "S" flexible time slot / symbol, and "U" uplink time slot / symbol. After introducing SBFD, a fourth type of time slot / symbol appears, simply called "SBFD" time slot / symbol. This symbol has both uplink and downlink characteristics, allowing uplink transmission on the configured uplink bandwidth and downlink transmission on the corresponding downlink bandwidth. For example, as shown in Figure 3, an SBFD time slot / symbol includes both uplink and downlink transmission resources, a D time slot / symbol only includes downlink transmission resources, and a U time slot / symbol only includes uplink transmission resources.

[0092] In random access, when the UE is in idle state, it can measure information such as the received signal strength of the SSB beam of the initial access cell and select the optimal SSB beam. In the direction of the optimal SSB beam, the UE transmits a PRACH signal in the RO (Redirecting Optical Array) for random access. Furthermore, in other states, the UE can also transmit a PRACH signal in the RO for random access. Random access includes contention-based random access (CBRA) and contention-free random access (CFRA). In CBRA, multiple UEs may use the same preamble, meaning the PRACH signals of two UEs may conflict, leading to random access failure. In SBFD symbols, the UE can transmit uplink signals in the UL SB (uplink subband). Therefore, configuring ROs in SBFD symbols increases the number of ROs compared to configuring ROs only in UL or F symbols.

[0093] In this embodiment of the disclosure, the SBFD-aware UE is a UE that can recognize the SBFD symbol (SBFD-aware UE), which can perform random access in the RO configured by the SBFD symbol, reduce access latency, and reduce the probability of PRACH signal collision between different UEs in the CBRA.

[0094] When SBFD symbols are configured on the network side, random access resources include two types: ROs on SBFD symbols and ROs on other symbols (e.g., non-SBFD symbols). The SSB and RO mappings on these two types of symbols use independent mapping methods. In this case, the SSB-RO mapping periods on the two types of symbols are not consistent. The user terminal selects the corresponding RO based on the SSB-RO mapping period and the PRACH mask index indicated by the network side. Currently, there is no defined PRACH mask indication method under SBFD in related technologies, which will lead to ambiguous user behavior, meaning the user terminal does not know how to select the RO for PRACH transmission.

[0095] The information transmission method provided in this disclosure provides a PRACH mask indication method based on SBFD, which enables the user terminal to correctly determine the RO based on the PRACH mask or PRACH mask index through network-side configuration during SBFD operation, thereby performing PRACH transmission.

[0096] In some embodiments, the user terminal selects a PRACH timing based on the PRACH mask index and performs PRACH transmission on the selected PRACH timing. Selecting a PRACH timing includes at least one of the following: selecting a PRACH timing within a first type of PRACH timing, or selecting a PRACH timing within a second type of PRACH timing, or selecting a PRACH timing within both the first and second types of PRACH timing.

[0097] In this embodiment of the disclosure, when multiple PRACH timings exist simultaneously, the PRACH timing is selected according to the PRACH mask index, and PRACH transmission is performed.

[0098] In an exemplary embodiment, when the PRACH timing is determined according to the first PRACH configuration parameter:

[0099] The first type of PRACH timing is a PRACH timing that is partially or entirely located on downlink (represented by "D" or "DL") symbols, which are configured as subband full-duplex (SBFD) symbols;

[0100] The second type of PRACH timing is any PRACH timing other than the first type of PRACH timing, and the other PRACH timing is located on an uplink (represented by "U" or "UL") symbol or a flexible (represented by "S" or "F") symbol.

[0101] In an exemplary embodiment, the first type of PRACH timing includes at least one of the following:

[0102] Located on the downlink symbol, and the downlink symbol is configured as a sub-band full-duplex symbol;

[0103] Across the downlink symbols and the flexible symbols, wherein the downlink symbols and the flexible symbols are configured as subband full-duplex symbols;

[0104] Across the downlink symbols and flexible symbols, wherein the downlink symbols are configured as subband full-duplex symbols;

[0105] It spans downlink and uplink symbols, and the downlink symbol is configured as a subband full-duplex symbol.

[0106] The first and second types of PRACH timings are introduced below.

[0107] In some embodiments, when the PRACH timing is determined by a set of PRACH configuration parameters (referred to as the first PRACH configuration parameters for distinction), the first type of PRACH timing is PRACH timing that is partially (e.g., as in the embodiments of Figures 5 and 6) or entirely (e.g., as in the embodiment of Figure 4) located on downlink symbols configured as SBFD symbols. The second type of PRACH timing is other PRACH timings besides the first type of PRACH. In some embodiments, other PRACH timings are located on uplink symbols or flexible symbols.

[0108] In an exemplary embodiment, an SBFD symbol refers to a symbol that simultaneously contains subcarriers for uplink transmission and subcarriers for downlink transmission.

[0109] In this embodiment of the disclosure, the first type of PRACH timing refers to PRACH timings on downlink symbols that are partially or entirely configured as SBFD symbols, not PRACH timings that are partially or entirely located on SBFD symbols. This avoids overlap between the first and second types of PRACH timings. Because SBFD symbols can be configured not only on downlink symbols but also on flexible symbols, if a RO is entirely located on a flexible symbol, it may be a second type of PRACH timing rather than a first type.

[0110] The PRACH configuration parameters (including the first PRACH configuration parameters and / or the second PRACH configuration parameters) in this embodiment can be used to configure PRACH, while the PRACH mask index is the next step after the PRACH is configured and the SSB-RO is mapped.

[0111] The behavior of the PRACH mask index may differ when there is one set of PRACH configuration parameters and two sets of PRACH configuration parameters (referred to as the first PRACH configuration parameters and the second PRACH configuration parameters, respectively). In this embodiment, one set of PRACH configuration parameters and two sets of PRACH configuration parameters mainly refer to whether the RO is configured using one set of PRACH configuration parameters or two sets of PRACH configuration parameters. If there is one set of PRACH configuration parameters, the legacy RO configuration is reused; if there are two sets of PRACH configuration parameters, the legacy RO configuration is combined with an additional RO configuration. The advantages of having both RO configuration methods are: using one set of PRACH configuration parameters saves resources; using two sets of PRACH configuration parameters provides greater flexibility; and the network side can use one or two sets of PRACH configuration parameters according to specific needs.

[0112] In some embodiments, the TDD uplink and downlink common configuration can configure the carrier component as a non-SBFD symbol, and the semi-static SBFD configuration can configure the non-SBFD symbol as an SBFD symbol.

[0113] In some embodiments, the network device configures the carrier component (CC) as a DL symbol via a first signaling instruction, and then configures it as an SBFD symbol via a second signaling instruction. In other embodiments, the network device configures the CC as an F or UL symbol via the first signaling instruction, and then configures it as an SBFD symbol via the second signaling instruction. The first signaling instruction and the second information perform semi-static configuration of the carrier component, improving configuration flexibility.

[0114] When the PRACH timing is determined by a set of PRACH configuration parameters, embodiments regarding the first and second types of PRACH timing are shown in Figures 4-7, where D, SBFD, U, and F represent downlink symbol / slot, SBFD symbol / slot, uplink symbol / slot, and flexible symbol / slot, respectively. The first type of PRACH timing includes at least one of the following: partially or entirely located on a downlink symbol configured as an SBFD symbol.

[0115] For example, as shown in Figure 4, the first type of PRACH timing is located on a downlink symbol, and the downlink symbol is configured as an SBDF symbol. The second type of PRACH timing is located on a flexible symbol and / or an uplink symbol.

[0116] For example, as shown in Figure 5, the first type of PRACH timing spans both downlink and flexible symbols, and both the downlink and flexible symbols are configured as SBFD symbols. The second type of PRACH timing is located on the uplink symbol.

[0117] For example, as shown in Figure 6, the first type of PRACH timing spans downlink symbols and flexible symbols, where the downlink symbols are configured as SBFD symbols and the flexible symbols are not configured as SBFD symbols. The second type of PRACH timing is located on uplink symbols.

[0118] For example, as shown in Figure 7, the first type of PRACH timing spans both downlink and uplink symbols (e.g., the first U from left to right in Figure 7), and the downlink symbol is configured as an SBFD symbol. The second type of PRACH timing is located on the uplink symbol (e.g., the second U from left to right in Figure 7).

[0119] In an exemplary embodiment, when the PRACH timing is determined based on the first PRACH configuration parameter and the second PRACH configuration parameter respectively:

[0120] The first type of PRACH timing is a PRACH timing determined according to the first PRACH configuration parameters. The first type of PRACH timing includes: PRACH timing partially or entirely located on a first type symbol, where the first type symbol refers to a sub-band full-duplex symbol; or, PRACH timing located on a first type symbol and a second type symbol, where the second type symbol refers to other symbols besides the first type symbol, and the second type symbol includes at least one of uplink symbols and flexible symbols.

[0121] The second type of PRACH timing is the PRACH timing determined according to the second PRACH configuration parameters, including all PRACH timings located on the third type of symbols, which include uplink symbols, flexible symbols, and flexible symbols configured as sub-band full-duplex symbols.

[0122] In an exemplary embodiment, the subband full-duplex symbol refers to a symbol that simultaneously contains a subcarrier for uplink transmission (i.e., uplink subband) and a subcarrier for downlink transmission (i.e., downlink subband).

[0123] In some embodiments, regarding the first and second types of PRACH timing, when the PRACH timing is determined by two sets of PRACH configuration parameters, the first type of PRACH timing is the PRACH timing determined by one set of PRACH configuration parameters. This includes PRACH timing partially (here, "partially" means that the first type of PRACH timing can span multiple symbols, but there is no restriction that it must be partially configured on the SBFD symbols of the downlink symbols) or entirely located on the first type of symbols (here, "downlink symbols configured as SBFD symbols" is not limited); or, it includes PRACH timing on both the first and second type of symbols. This includes the same RO being entirely located on SBFD symbols, or entirely located on uplink symbols or flexible symbols, and also includes the case where it is partially located on SBFD symbols and partially located on flexible symbols. The second type of PRACH timing is the PRACH timing determined by another set of PRACH configuration parameters, including all PRACH timings located on the third type of symbols. The third type of symbols includes at least one of the following: uplink symbols, flexible symbols, and flexible symbols configured as SBFD symbols (i.e., the flexible symbols can transmit both uplink and downlink information, as shown in Figure 8).

[0124] In this embodiment of the disclosure, the second type of symbol refers to other symbols besides the first type of symbol, including at least one of the following: uplink symbol, flexible symbol.

[0125] In this embodiment of the disclosure, the first type of symbol refers to an SBFD symbol. An SBFD symbol is a symbol that simultaneously contains subcarriers for uplink transmission and subcarriers for downlink transmission.

[0126] In this embodiment of the disclosure, "PRACH timing including first type symbols and second type symbols" means that some ROs can be located on SBFD symbols, while other ROs are located on uplink symbols or flexible symbols.

[0127] For example, as shown in Figure 8, assume that the first type of PRACH timing corresponds to the second set of PRACH configuration parameters (i.e., the first PRACH configuration parameters mentioned above), and the second type of PRACH timing corresponds to the first set of PRACH configurations (i.e., the second PRACH configuration parameters mentioned above). The first type of PRACH timing is located on a downlink symbol configured as an SBFD symbol, and / or on a flexible symbol configured as an SBFD symbol. In Figure 8, "SBFD / F" indicates that for the first set of PRACH configurations, this is an F symbol, and for the second set of PRACH configurations, this is an SBFD symbol.

[0128] In an exemplary embodiment, both the first type of PRACH timing and the second type of PRACH timing are valid PRACH timings. In this embodiment, both the first type of PRACH timing and the second type of PRACH timing in any of the above embodiments are valid PRACH timings, i.e., it does not distinguish whether one set of PRACH configuration parameters or two sets of PRACH configuration parameters are used. A valid RO refers to an RO that can be used to transmit PRACH signals. This embodiment can enable a single PRACH transmission to span both SBFD and non-SBFD symbols.

[0129] In some embodiments, the communication protocol may specify / instruct the network device to allow valid ROs containing both SBFD and non-SBFD symbols to send PRACH signals. In some embodiments, the terminal may determine, according to the communication protocol, that valid ROs containing both SBFD and non-SBFD symbols are allowed to send PRACH signals.

[0130] In some embodiments, the effective RO includes both SBFD and non-SBFD symbols, or the effective RO may include both SBFD and non-SBFD symbols. In other embodiments, the effective RO may include SBFD symbols but not non-SBFD symbols, or the effective RO may include non-SBFD symbols but not SBFD symbols.

[0131] In some embodiments, RO comprises SBFD symbols and non-SBFD symbols, including: RO is carried by I SBFD symbols and J non-SBFD symbols. Wherein, I and J are integers greater than or equal to 1.

[0132] In an exemplary embodiment, the first PRACH configuration parameter includes one or more of the following:

[0133] PRACH time-domain resource configuration parameters;

[0134] Frequency division multiplexing PRACH timing count;

[0135] The frequency domain starting position of the PRACH timing.

[0136] One or two sets of PRACH configuration parameters in the embodiments of this disclosure include one or more of the following: PRACH time domain resource configuration parameters, PRACH timing number for frequency division multiplexing, and frequency domain start position of PRACH timing.

[0137] In some embodiments, the network device sends one set of PRACH configuration parameters or two sets of PRACH configuration parameters to the terminal. The terminal determines the configuration of the PRACH timing (RO) associated with the SBFD symbol based on the received set of PRACH configuration parameters or two sets of PRACH configuration parameters.

[0138] In some embodiments, the configuration of the RO includes: the time-domain location of the RO and / or the frequency-domain location of the RO.

[0139] In some embodiments, the time-domain location may include at least one of the following: the time-domain resource range of the RO, the time-domain resource start position of the RO, and the time-domain resource end position of the RO.

[0140] In some embodiments, the frequency domain location may include at least one of the following: the frequency domain resource range of the RO, the frequency domain resource start position of the RO, and the frequency domain resource end position of the RO.

[0141] In some embodiments, the terminal is an SBFD-enabled terminal. SBFD-enabled terminals may include terminals capable of recognizing the SBFD symbol.

[0142] In some embodiments, the terminal supporting SBFD may be a first type of terminal.

[0143] In some embodiments, the first type of terminal can use UL subband resources (i.e., uplink transmission resources) with SBFD symbols for uplink transmission and / or use DL subband resources (i.e., downlink transmission resources) with SBFD symbols for downlink transmission.

[0144] In some embodiments, RO is used for a terminal to send a PRACH signal to an access network device to initiate random access.

[0145] In some embodiments, an SBFD symbol is a symbol that includes one UL subband and at least one DL subband in the frequency domain. In some embodiments, the symbol may include an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol.

[0146] In some embodiments, the RO associated with an SBFD symbol is determined based on the relationship between the frequency domain position and / or time domain position of the RO and the SBFD symbol.

[0147] In some embodiments, an RO associated with an SBFD symbol includes at least one of the following: the time domain location of the RO is within the SBFD symbol; the time domain location of the RO is partially within the SBFD symbol; the frequency domain range of the RO on the SBFD symbol is within the UL transmission frequency domain range of the SBFD symbol; or the frequency domain range of the RO on the SBFD symbol is partially within the UL transmission frequency domain range of the SBFD symbol.

[0148] In some embodiments, non-SBFD symbols include UL symbols, DL symbols, and F symbols.

[0149] In some embodiments, the RO in the UL subband is the RO associated with the SBFD symbol.

[0150] In some embodiments, the configuration of the RO can be a configuration index, wherein the configuration index can be used to determine the time domain of the RO.

[0151] In some embodiments, the PRACH configuration parameters are also used for at least one of the following: the mapping relationship between the RO and SSB indexes.

[0152] In some embodiments, the mapping relationship between RO and SSB indexes includes: the mapping relationship between RO and the number of SSB indexes.

[0153] In some embodiments, the mapping relationship between RO and SSB index number is used to indicate the SSB index number mapped to RO.

[0154] In an exemplary embodiment, the first type of PRACH timing and the second type of PRACH timing are numbered respectively; the first type of PRACH timing and the second type of PRACH timing are numbered respectively according to the associated synchronization signal block (SSB) index.

[0155] In an exemplary embodiment, the first type of PRACH timing and the second type of PRACH timing are numbered in the following order:

[0156] For the PRACH timing of frequency division multiplexing, in ascending order of frequency resource index, multiple valid ROs with the same time domain position are mapped to the SSB index in ascending order of frequency domain position of the valid ROs, and the SSB index is mapped in ascending order;

[0157] For PRACH timings that are time-multiplexed within a PRACH slot, the SSB index is mapped in ascending order of the time resource index, i.e., multiple valid ROs at different time domain locations, according to the order of the time domain locations of the valid ROs from front to back, and the SSB index is mapped in ascending order.

[0158] Sort by PRACH slot index in ascending order.

[0159] In this embodiment of the disclosure, regarding the mapping period between PRACH timings and SSBs: the first type of PRACH timings and the second type of PRACH timings are numbered respectively, and the PRACH timings are numbered according to their associated SSB indices, and the numbering order is as follows (the first to third below are executed sequentially):

[0160] First, for PRACH timing of frequency reuse, the frequency resource index is used in ascending order; for multiple ROs with the same time domain location, the RO numbers are assigned in ascending order of frequency domain location. For example, in Figure 9, RO#0 and RO#1 with the same time domain location are numbered in ascending order of frequency resource index; for RO#2 and RO#3 with the same time domain location, the frequency resource index is used in ascending order.

[0161] Second, for PRACH timings that are time-multiplexed within a PRACH time slot, they are ordered in ascending order by time resource index. For example, as shown in Figure 9, for RO#0 and RO#2 with the same frequency resources, they are ordered in ascending order by time resource index.

[0162] Third, sort by PRACH slot index in ascending order.

[0163] Here, "second" and "third" both refer to ROs at different time-domain locations, numbered in ascending order from left to right. "Second" refers to operations within the PRACH time slot, representing a smaller granularity; "third" refers to operations between PRACH time slots.

[0164] In an exemplary embodiment, the number (or index) of the first type of PRACH timing and the second type of PRACH timing is reset according to a mapping period, which is the number of consecutive PRACH timings mapped to the associated synchronization signal block index.

[0165] For example, as shown in Figure 9, regardless of whether it is the first type of PRACH timing or the second type of PRACH timing, the RO number is reset according to the mapping cycle. Here, it is assumed that the reset is performed according to RO#0 to RO#3, that is, SSB#1 is mapped with 4 ROs, then RO is reset to 0, SSB#2 is mapped with 4 ROs again, and then RO is reset again, and so on.

[0166] In an exemplary embodiment, the mapping period of the first type of PRACH timing is the same as or different from that of the second type of PRACH timing.

[0167] In an exemplary embodiment, when the PRACH timing is determined according to the first PRACH configuration parameter, the mapping period of the first type of PRACH timing and the second type of PRACH timing is the same; when the PRACH timing is determined according to the first PRACH configuration parameter and the second PRACH configuration parameter respectively, the mapping period of the first type of PRACH timing and the second type of PRACH timing is the same or different.

[0168] In some embodiments, the mapping periods of the first type of PRACH timing and the second type of PRACH timing may be the same or different. In an exemplary embodiment, when the PRACH timing is determined by a set of PRACH configuration parameters, the mapping periods of the first type of PRACH timing and the second type of PRACH timing are the same; when the PRACH timing is determined by two sets of PRACH configuration parameters, the mapping periods of the first type of PRACH timing and the second type of PRACH timing may be the same or different.

[0169] As shown in Figure 9, in one embodiment, the PRACH timing is determined by a set of PRACH configuration parameters, and it is assumed that the number of PRACH timings for frequency division multiplexing is 2, and one SSB is associated with 4 ROs. Figure 9 shows the PRACH timing numbering order in the case of two SSBs (e.g., SSB#1 and SSB#2).

[0170] As shown in Figure 10, one embodiment of the PRACH timing is determined by two sets of PRACH configuration parameters. For one PRACH configuration, a first type of PRACH timing is configured, where the number of frequency-division multiplexed PRACH timings is 2, and one SSB is associated with 2 ROs. For the other PRACH configuration, a second type of PRACH timing is configured, where the number of frequency-division multiplexed PRACH timings is 2, and one SSB is associated with 4 ROs. Figure 10 illustrates the PRACH timing numbering order in two (e.g., SSB#1 and SSB#2) SSB#2 cases. The frequency domain starting positions of the first and second types of PRACH timings in Figure 10 are different. In other embodiments, the number of frequency-division multiplexed PRACH timings in the first and second types of PRACH timings may be different.

[0171] In this embodiment of the disclosure, the first type of PRACH timing and the second type of PRACH timing are numbered according to the SSB index. This means that the numbering of the first type of PRACH timing and the numbering of the second type of PRACH timing are performed separately. Furthermore, the numbering according to the SSB index means that the PRACH timing mapped to different SSBs are numbered separately. For example, the PRACH timing number mapped to SSB#1 and the PRACH timing number mapped to SSB#2 are performed separately. The numbering is reset according to the mapping period. For example, if the number of consecutive PRACH timings mapped to SSB#1 is 4, then the numbering is reset to 4, resulting in RO#0, RO#1, RO#2, RO#3, RO#0, RO#1, RO#2, RO#3…

[0172] In an exemplary embodiment, the method provided in this disclosure further includes: receiving a network-side indication; and determining, based on the network-side indication, the PRACH timing indicated by the PRACH mask index as one of the following:

[0173] PRACH opportunities within the first type of PRACH opportunity;

[0174] PRACH opportunities within the second type of PRACH opportunity;

[0175] Type I PRACH timing and Type II PRACH timing within PRACH timing.

[0176] In an exemplary embodiment, the network-side indication is indicated by a third parameter or downlink control information.

[0177] In this embodiment of the disclosure, regarding the specific type of PRACH timing indicated, the user terminal can determine the PRACH timing indicated by the PRACH mask index as one of the following based on the network side instruction: a PRACH timing within the first type of PRACH timing, or a PRACH timing within the second type of PRACH timing, or a PRACH timing within both the first and second types of PRACH timing.

[0178] In an exemplary embodiment, the network-side indication includes indication by higher-layer parameters (i.e., the third parameter mentioned above) or by downlink control information (DCI).

[0179] In an exemplary embodiment, performing PRACH transmission at a selected PRACH timing includes: selecting a PRACH timing associated with an indicated synchronization signal block index within the first available mapping period, based on the PRACH mask index, to perform PRACH transmission.

[0180] In an exemplary embodiment, the first available mapping period is one of the following:

[0181] The mapping period for the first type of PRACH timing;

[0182] The mapping period for the second type of PRACH timing.

[0183] In this embodiment of the disclosure, regarding the location of user transmission, the user terminal performs PRACH transmission at the selected PRACH timing. Based on the PRACH mask index value, the user terminal selects the PRACH timing associated with the indicated SSB index within the first available mapping period for PRACH transmission. The first available mapping period can be one of the following: a mapping period for a first type of PRACH timing, or a mapping period for a second type of PRACH timing. That is, the first available mapping period can be the first available mapping period within the mapping period of a first type of PRACH timing, or it can be the first available mapping period within the mapping period of a second type of PRACH timing. This is because the RO selected by the UE may come from either a first type of PRACH timing or a second type of PRACH timing.

[0184] This disclosure provides a PRACH Mask indication method based on SBFD, which supports PRACH transmission on SBFD symbols. It mainly involves PRACH repetitive transmission and SBFD-related technologies. This method enables more rational configuration of random access resources for terminals, effectively improving resource utilization, avoiding resource waste, increasing system communication efficiency, and improving the success rate of random access.

[0185] Figure 11 illustrates a flowchart of another information transmission method according to an embodiment of this disclosure. The method provided in the embodiment of Figure 11 can be executed by a network device, such as a base station, but this disclosure is not limited thereto. As shown in Figure 11, the method provided in the embodiment of this disclosure may include the following steps.

[0186] In S1110, a physical random access channel mask index (PRACH mask index) is transmitted to indicate the timing of PRACH selection based on the PRACH mask index.

[0187] The selection of PRACH timing includes at least one of the following:

[0188] Select a PRACH timing within the first type of PRACH timing;

[0189] Select a PRACH timing within the second type of PRACH timing;

[0190] Choose a PRACH timing from the first type of PRACH timing and the second type of PRACH timing.

[0191] Other aspects of the embodiment shown in Figure 11 can be found in the other embodiments described above, and will not be repeated here.

[0192] Based on the same inventive concept, this disclosure also provides a terminal, as described in the following embodiments. Since the principle by which this terminal embodiment solves the problem is similar to that of the above-described method embodiments, the implementation of this terminal embodiment can refer to the implementation of the above-described method embodiments, and repeated details will not be elaborated further.

[0193] Figure 12 shows a structural block diagram of a terminal according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 12, the terminal 1200 provided in this embodiment of the present disclosure includes a receiving unit 1210, a processing unit 1220, and a sending unit 1230.

[0194] The receiving unit 1210 is used to obtain the physical random access channel mask index (PRACH).

[0195] The processing unit 1220 is used to select the PRACH timing according to the PRACH mask index.

[0196] The transmitting unit 1230 is used to perform PRACH transmission at the selected PRACH timing.

[0197] The selection of PRACH timing includes at least one of the following:

[0198] Select a PRACH timing within the first type of PRACH timing;

[0199] Select a PRACH timing within the second type of PRACH timing;

[0200] Choose a PRACH timing from the first type of PRACH timing and the second type of PRACH timing.

[0201] Other aspects of the embodiment shown in Figure 12 can be found in the other embodiments described above, and will not be repeated here.

[0202] Based on the same inventive concept, this disclosure also provides a network device, as described in the following embodiments. Since the principle by which this network device embodiment solves the problem is similar to that of the above-described method embodiments, the implementation of this network device embodiment can refer to the implementation of the above-described method embodiments, and repeated details will not be repeated.

[0203] Figure 13 shows a structural block diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 13, the network device 1300 provided in this embodiment of the present disclosure includes a transceiver unit 1310.

[0204] The transceiver unit 1310 is used to transmit the physical random access channel mask index (PRACH mask index) to indicate the timing of PRACH selection based on the PRACH mask index.

[0205] The selection of PRACH timing includes at least one of the following:

[0206] Select a PRACH timing within the first type of PRACH timing;

[0207] Select a PRACH timing within the second type of PRACH timing;

[0208] Choose a PRACH timing from the first type of PRACH timing and the second type of PRACH timing.

[0209] Other aspects of the embodiment shown in Figure 13 can be found in the other embodiments described above, and will not be repeated here.

[0210] It should be noted that the above-mentioned modules / units, as part of a device, can be executed in a computer system such as a set of computer-executable instructions.

[0211] Those skilled in the art will understand that various aspects of this disclosure can be implemented as a system, method, or program product. Therefore, various aspects of this disclosure can be specifically implemented in the following forms: a completely hardware implementation, a completely software implementation (including firmware, microcode, etc.), or a combination of hardware and software aspects, collectively referred to herein as a "circuit," "module," or "system."

[0212] The communication device 1000 according to this embodiment of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to FIG14. The communication device 1000 shown in FIG14 is merely an example and should not be construed as limiting the functionality and scope of use of the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0213] As shown in Figure 14, the communication device 1000 is presented in the form of a general-purpose computing device. The components of the communication device 1000 may include, but are not limited to: at least one processing unit 1010, at least one storage unit 1020, and a bus 1030 connecting different system components (including storage unit 1020 and processing unit 1010).

[0214] The storage unit 1020 stores program code that can be executed by the processing unit 1010, causing the processing unit 1010 to perform the steps described in the "Exemplary Methods" section above according to various exemplary embodiments of this disclosure.

[0215] In some embodiments, when the communication device 1000 is a terminal, the processing unit 1010 may execute the following steps of the above method embodiment: obtaining the Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) mask index; selecting a PRACH timing according to the PRACH mask index; and performing PRACH transmission on the selected PRACH timing. The selection of the PRACH timing includes at least one of the following: selecting a PRACH timing within a first type of PRACH timing; selecting a PRACH timing within a second type of PRACH timing; and selecting a PRACH timing within both the first and second types of PRACH timings.

[0216] In some embodiments, when the communication device 1000 is a network device, the processing unit 1010 may execute the following steps of the above method embodiment: transmitting a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) mask index to indicate the selection of a PRACH timing based on the PRACH mask index. The selection of a PRACH timing includes at least one of the following: selecting a PRACH timing within a first type of PRACH timing; selecting a PRACH timing within a second type of PRACH timing; and selecting a PRACH timing within both the first and second types of PRACH timings.

[0217] Storage unit 1020 may include readable media in the form of volatile storage units, such as random access memory (RAM) 10201 and / or cache memory 10202, and may further include read-only memory (ROM) 10203.

[0218] Storage unit 1020 may also include a program / utility 10204 having a set (at least one) program module 10205, such program module 10205 including but not limited to: operating system, one or more application programs, other program modules and program data, each or some combination of these examples may include an implementation of a network environment.

[0219] Bus 1030 can represent one or more of several types of bus structures, including a memory cell bus or memory cell controller, a peripheral bus, a graphics acceleration port, a processing unit, or a local bus using any of the multiple bus structures.

[0220] The communication device 1000 can also communicate with one or more external devices 1040 (e.g., keyboard, pointing device, Bluetooth device, etc.), one or more devices that enable a user to interact with the communication device 1000, and / or any device that enables the communication device 1000 to communicate with one or more other computing devices (e.g., router, modem, etc.). This communication can be performed via input / output (I / O) interface 1050. Furthermore, the communication device 1000 can also communicate with one or more networks (e.g., local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), and / or public networks, such as the Internet) via network adapter 1060. As shown, network adapter 1060 communicates with other modules of the communication device 1000 via bus 1030. It should be understood that, although not shown in the figures, other hardware and / or software modules can be used in conjunction with the communication device 1000, including but not limited to: microcode, device drivers, redundant processing units, external disk drive arrays, RAID systems, tape drives, and data backup storage systems.

[0221] In some embodiments, the term "information" may be used interchangeably with terms such as "message," "signal," "signaling," "report," "configuration," "indication," "instruction," "command," "channel," "parameter," "domain," "field," "symbol," "codebook," "codeword," "codepoint," "bit," "data," "program," and "chip."

[0222] In some embodiments, terms such as "physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH)" and "DL data" can be used interchangeably, as can terms such as "physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)" and "UL data".

[0223] In some embodiments, the terms “radio”, “wireless”, “radio access network (RAN)”, “access network (AN)”, and “RAN-based” can be used interchangeably.

[0224] In some embodiments, the terms “resource block (RB)”, “physical resource block (PRB)”, “sub-carrier group (SCG)”, “resource element group (REG)”, “PRB pair”, “RB pair”, “resource element (RE)”, and “sub-carrier” can be used interchangeably.

[0225] In some embodiments, the terms "send", "transmit", "report", "distribute", "transmit", "bidirectional transmission", "send and / or receive" are interchangeable. In some embodiments, "acquire", "get", "obtain", "receive", "transmit", "bidirectional transmission", "send and / or receive" can be interchangeable and can be interpreted as receiving from other entities, obtaining from protocols, obtaining from higher layers, obtaining through self-processing, autonomous implementation, etc.

[0226] In some embodiments, terms such as "certain," "preset," "default," "set," "indicated," "a certain," "any," and "first" can be used interchangeably. "Certain A," "preset A," "default A," "set A," "indicated A," "a certain A," "any A," and "first A" can be interpreted as A pre-defined in a protocol or the like, or as A obtained through setting, configuration, or instruction, or as specific A, a certain A, any A, or first A, but are not limited thereto.

[0227] From the above description of the embodiments, those skilled in the art will readily understand that the exemplary embodiments described herein can be implemented by software or by combining software with necessary hardware. Therefore, the technical solutions according to the embodiments of this disclosure can be embodied in the form of a software product, which can be stored in a non-volatile storage medium (such as a CD-ROM, USB flash drive, external hard drive, etc.) or on a network, including several instructions to cause a computing device (such as a personal computer, server, terminal device, or network device, etc.) to execute the methods according to the embodiments of this disclosure.

[0228] In particular, according to embodiments of this disclosure, the process described above with reference to the flowchart can be implemented as a computer program product, which includes a computer program that, when executed by a processor, implements the above-described information transmission method.

[0229] In exemplary embodiments of this disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium is also provided, which may be a readable signal medium or a readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage medium stores a program product capable of implementing the methods described above. In some possible implementations, various aspects of this disclosure may also be implemented as a program product including program code that, when run on a terminal / network device, causes the terminal / network device to perform the steps described in the "Exemplary Methods" section of this specification according to various exemplary embodiments of this disclosure.

[0230] More specific examples of computer-readable storage media in this disclosure may include, but are not limited to: electrical connections having one or more wires, portable computer disks, hard disks, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), optical fiber, portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

[0231] In this disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium may include a data signal propagated in baseband or as part of a carrier wave, carrying readable program code. Such propagated data signals may take various forms, including but not limited to electromagnetic signals, optical signals, or any suitable combination thereof. A readable signal medium may also be any readable medium other than a readable storage medium, capable of transmitting, propagating, or transmitting a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

[0232] Optionally, the program code contained on the computer-readable storage medium may be transmitted using any suitable medium, including but not limited to wireless, wired, optical fiber, RF, etc., or any suitable combination thereof.

[0233] In practical implementation, program code for performing the operations of this disclosure can be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including object-oriented programming languages ​​such as Java and C++, and conventional procedural programming languages ​​such as C or similar languages. The program code can execute entirely on the user's computing device, partially on the user's device, as a standalone software package, partially on the user's computing device and partially on a remote computing device, or entirely on a remote computing device or server. In cases involving remote computing devices, the remote computing device can be connected to the user's computing device via any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or it can be connected to an external computing device (e.g., via the Internet using an Internet service provider).

[0234] Furthermore, although the steps of the method in this disclosure are described in a specific order in the accompanying drawings, this does not require or imply that the steps must be performed in that specific order, or that all the steps shown must be performed to achieve the desired result. Additional or alternative steps may be omitted, multiple steps may be combined into one step, and / or a step may be broken down into multiple steps.

[0235] From the above description of the embodiments, those skilled in the art will readily understand that the exemplary embodiments described herein can be implemented by software or by combining software with necessary hardware. Therefore, the technical solutions according to the embodiments of this disclosure can be embodied in the form of a software product, which can be stored in a non-volatile storage medium (such as a CD-ROM, USB flash drive, external hard drive, etc.) or on a network, including several instructions to cause a computing device (such as a personal computer, server, mobile terminal, or network device, etc.) to execute the methods according to the embodiments of this disclosure.

[0236] Other embodiments of this disclosure will readily occur to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. This disclosure is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of this disclosure that follow the general principles of this disclosure and include common knowledge or customary techniques in the art not disclosed herein. The specification and examples are to be considered exemplary only, and the true scope and spirit of this disclosure are indicated by the appended claims. Industrial applicability

[0237] This disclosure applies to the field of communication technology and provides a PRACH mask indication method based on SBFD, which enables user terminals to correctly determine RO based on PRACH mask or PRACH mask index through network-side configuration during SBFD operation, thereby enabling PRACH transmission.

Claims

1. An information transmission method, comprising: obtaining a physical random access channel mask (PRACH mask) index; determining a PRACH occasion according to the PRACH mask index; performing PRACH transmission on the PRACH occasion; wherein the PRACH occasion comprises at least one of: determining a PRACH occasion in a first type of PRACH occasion; determining a PRACH occasion in a second type of PRACH occasion; determining a PRACH occasion in the first type of PRACH occasion and the second type of PRACH occasion.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, when a PRACH occasion is determined according to a first PRACH configuration parameter: the first type of PRACH occasion is a PRACH occasion located partially or entirely on a downlink symbol, the downlink symbol being configured as a sub-band full duplex symbol; the second type of PRACH occasion is a PRACH occasion located on an uplink symbol or a flexible symbol.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein, the first type of PRACH occasion comprises at least one of: being located on the downlink symbol, the downlink symbol being configured as a sub-band full duplex symbol; spanning the downlink symbol and a flexible symbol, the downlink symbol and the flexible symbol being configured as sub-band full duplex symbols; spanning the downlink symbol and a flexible symbol, the downlink symbol being configured as a sub-band full duplex symbol; spanning a downlink symbol and an uplink symbol, the downlink symbol being configured as a sub-band full duplex symbol.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein, when a PRACH occasion is determined according to a first PRACH configuration parameter and a second PRACH configuration parameter respectively: the first type of PRACH occasion is a PRACH occasion determined according to the first PRACH configuration parameter, the first type of PRACH occasion comprising: a PRACH occasion located partially or entirely on a first type of symbol, the first type of symbol referring to a sub-band full duplex symbol; or a PRACH occasion located on a first type of symbol and a second type of symbol, the second type of symbol referring to a symbol other than the first type of symbol, the second type of symbol comprising at least one of an uplink symbol and a flexible symbol; the second type of PRACH occasion is a PRACH occasion determined according to the second PRACH configuration parameter, comprising a PRACH occasion located entirely on a third type of symbol, the third type of symbol comprising an uplink symbol, a flexible symbol, and a flexible symbol configured as a sub-band full duplex symbol.

5. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein, the sub-band full duplex symbol refers to a symbol having both a subcarrier for uplink transmission and a subcarrier for downlink transmission.

6. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein, the first PRACH configuration parameter comprises one or more of: a PRACH time domain resource configuration parameter; a number of frequency division multiplexed PRACH occasions; a frequency domain starting position of a PRACH occasion.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein, the PRACH mask index is determined according to one of: a first parameter indicating a shared PRACH occasion; downlink control information; a second parameter indicating a PRACH occasion for PRACH transmission.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein, the first type of PRACH occasion and the second type of PRACH occasion are respectively numbered; the first type of PRACH occasion and the second type of PRACH occasion are respectively numbered according to an associated synchronization signal block index.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein, The first type of PRACH occasions and the second type of PRACH occasions are sequentially numbered in the following order: For frequency division multiplexed PRACH occasions, in ascending order of frequency resource index; For time division multiplexed PRACH occasions within a PRACH slot, in ascending order of time resource index; In ascending order of PRACH slot index.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein, The numbering of the first type of PRACH occasions and the second type of PRACH occasions is reset according to a mapping period, and the mapping period is the number of consecutive PRACH occasions mapped with the associated synchronization signal block index.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein, Also includes: Receiving a network side indication; According to the network side indication, the PRACH mask index indicates the PRACH occasion as one of the following: PRACH occasions within the first type of PRACH occasions; PRACH occasions within the second type of PRACH occasions; PRACH occasions within the first type of PRACH occasions and the second type of PRACH occasions.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein, Perform PRACH transmission on the determined PRACH occasion, including: According to the PRACH mask index, determine the PRACH occasion associated with the indicated synchronization signal block index for PRACH transmission within the first available mapping period.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein, The first available mapping period is one of the following: The mapping period of the first type of PRACH occasions; The mapping period of the second type of PRACH occasions.

14. An information transmission method, comprising: Transmitting a physical random access channel mask (PRACH mask) index to indicate the determination of a PRACH occasion according to the PRACH mask index; Wherein the PRACH occasion includes at least one of the following: Determine the PRACH occasion within the first type of PRACH occasions; Determine the PRACH occasion within the second type of PRACH occasions; Determine the PRACH occasion within the first type of PRACH occasions and the second type of PRACH occasions.

15. A terminal, comprising: A receiving unit for obtaining a physical random access channel mask (PRACH mask) index; A processing unit for determining a PRACH occasion according to the PRACH mask index; A transmitting unit for performing PRACH transmission on the PRACH occasion; Wherein the PRACH occasion includes at least one of the following: Determine the PRACH occasion within the first type of PRACH occasions; Determine the PRACH occasion within the second type of PRACH occasions; Determine the PRACH occasion within the first type of PRACH occasions and the second type of PRACH occasions.

16. A network device, comprising: A transceiver for transmitting a physical random access channel mask (PRACH mask) index to indicate the determination of a PRACH occasion according to the PRACH mask index; Wherein the PRACH occasion includes at least one of the following: Determine the PRACH occasion within the first type of PRACH occasions; Determine the PRACH occasion within the second type of PRACH occasions; Determine the PRACH occasion within the first type of PRACH occasions and the second type of PRACH occasions.

17. A communication system comprising: a terminal as claimed in claim 15 and a network device as claimed in claim 16.

18. A communication device comprising: a processor; and a memory for storing executable instructions of the processor; wherein the processor is configured to perform the method of any one of claims 1-13, or the method of claim 14, via execution of the executable instructions.

19. A computer readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program which, when executed by a processor, implements the method of any one of claims 1-13, or the method of claim 14.

20. A computer program product comprising a computer program which, when executed by a processor, performs the method of any one of claims 1-13, or the method of claim 14.

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