Communication method and communication apparatus

Abstract

The present application relates to the field of communications. Provided are a communication method and a communication apparatus. The method comprises: receiving first information, wherein the first information is used for determining a first occasion, and the first occasion is an occasion for acquiring a predicted value of a measurement result; and obtaining the predicted value of the measurement result at the first occasion. In the embodiments of the present application, an occasion for predicting a measurement result, i.e. a first occasion, is determined by means of indication information, e.g. first information, of a network device, which is conductive to applying a prediction mode (for example, a mode in which prediction is performed on the basis of AI technology) to mobility management, and is conductive to reducing cell measurement overheads. In addition, the first occasion is determined by means of the network device, which is conductive to reducing the processing complexity of a terminal device, and is therefore conductive to reducing the overheads of the terminal device.

Description

Communication method and communication apparatus

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese Patent Application No. 202411093048.1, filed on August 8, 2024, and entitled "Communication method and communication apparatus", the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

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

[0003] The related art proposes that artificial intelligence (AI) technology can be applied to a communication system to improve network performance and user experience through intelligent collection and data analysis. Mobility management is one of the key technologies involved in the communication process, and how to apply AI technology to mobility management is a problem to be solved. SUMMARY

[0004] The present application provides a communication method and a communication apparatus, which determines the timing of predicting the measurement result, helps to apply the measurement result based on AI technology to mobility management, and thus helps to improve system performance.

[0005] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, which includes: receiving first information, the first information being used to determine a first timing, the first timing being a timing of obtaining a predicted value of a measurement result; and obtaining, at the first timing, the predicted value of the measurement result.

[0006] Exemplarily, the communication method can be implemented by a terminal device, or by a component inside the terminal device, such as a processor, a circuit, a chip or a chip system.

[0007] Exemplarily, the communication method can be applied to various scenarios, such as a scenario in which a neighbor cell and a serving cell are in a different frequency system and / or a different system, a scenario in which the neighbor cell and the serving cell are not in a different frequency system and / or a different system, and the like. For ease of description, the scenario in which the neighbor cell and the serving cell are in a different frequency system and / or a different system is referred to as a different frequency and system scenario, and the scenario in which the neighbor cell and the serving cell are not in a different frequency system and / or a different system is referred to as a non-different frequency and system scenario.

[0008] Exemplarily, the measurement result can be a measurement result for mobility management, such as a radio resource management (RRM) measurement result. For example, the measurement result can be a measurement result of a serving cell and / or a measurement result of a neighbor cell. For another example, the measurement result can be a cell-level measurement result and / or a beam-level measurement result.

[0009] The predicted value of the measurement result can also be understood as obtaining the measurement result by prediction. The prediction mentioned here can be a prediction based on AI / machine learning (ML) technology, or a prediction based on statistical and probabilistic analysis technology. For example, prediction based on AI / ML technology can refer to prediction by a first model, where the first model is a model based on AI / ML technology.

[0010] In some embodiments, obtaining the measurement result by prediction can include directly predicting the measurement result, or indirectly predicting the measurement result, i.e., predicting one or more intermediate quantities involved in the process of obtaining the measurement result. For example, obtaining the cell-level measurement result of layer (L) 3 by prediction can include directly predicting the cell-level measurement result of L 3, and / or predicting the beam measurement result of L 1, and then obtaining the cell-level measurement result of L 3 based on the predicted value of the beam measurement result of L 1.

[0011] In the embodiments of the present application, the indication information of the network device, such as the first information, is used to determine the timing of predicting the measurement result, i.e., the first timing, which helps to apply the prediction method (such as the prediction method based on AI technology) to mobility management, thereby helping to reduce the measurement overhead. In addition, the first timing is determined by the network device, which helps to reduce the processing complexity of the terminal device, thereby helping to reduce the overhead of the terminal device.

[0012] In some embodiments, the method further includes: receiving a first measurement gap (MG) configuration and a first synchronization signal block-based measurement timing configuration (SMTC) configuration, and the second timing is a timing indicated by the first MG configuration; or receiving the first SMTC configuration, and the second timing is a timing indicated by the first SMTC configuration; wherein the first timing is part or all of the second timing.

[0013] Exemplarily, for the scenario of obtaining neighbor cell measurement results in inter-frequency inter-system, the second timing is the timing indicated by the first MG configuration. For the scenario of obtaining serving cell measurement results or the scenario of obtaining neighbor cell measurement results in non-inter-frequency inter-system, the second timing is the timing indicated by the first SMTC configuration.

[0014] In some embodiments, the first information indicates the first occasion; and / or the first information indicates a third occasion, the third occasion being an occasion in the second occasions for performing measurement, and the first occasion being an occasion in the second occasions for obtaining a measurement result prediction value. Optionally, the first occasion is an occasion in the second occasions other than the third occasion.

[0015] In some embodiments, the first information comprises a second MG configuration or a second SMTC configuration, and the second MG configuration or the second SMTC configuration indicates the first occasion or the third occasion.

[0016] For example, for an inter-frequency inter-system scenario, the first information can comprise a second MG configuration; and for a non-inter-frequency inter-system scenario, the first information can comprise a second SMTC configuration. The second MG configuration or the second SMTC configuration indicates the first occasion or the third occasion.

[0017] By multiplexing the measurement configuration such as the MG configuration and the SMTC configuration, the indication of the first occasion can be reduced, or in other words, the modification of the existing communication protocol can be reduced.

[0018] In some embodiments, the first information is used to indicate a first period, the first period being a repetition period of the first occasion or the third occasion; and the first period is an integer multiple of a second period, the second period being a repetition period of the second occasion.

[0019] By multiplexing other parameters in the first MG configuration or the first SMTC configuration, the information contained in the indication information for determining the first occasion can be reduced, thereby further saving the indication overhead.

[0020] For example, the first information can comprise a first multiple, and the ratio of the first period to the second period is the first multiple, thereby reducing the number of bits required for indicating the first period.

[0021] In some embodiments, the first information comprises first bit sequence information, each bit in the first bit sequence being associated with an occasion in the second occasions, wherein: if the bit is of a first value, the occasion associated with the bit is the first occasion; and / or if the bit is of a second value, the occasion associated with the bit is the third occasion.

[0022] Optionally, the positional relationship between the first occasion and the third occasion is periodically repeated, e.g., the positional relationship between the first occasion and the third occasion is the same in every 9 occasions. In this case, the first bit sequence can include 9 bits, and the indication of the positional relationship between the first occasion and the third occasion in each period by the first bit sequence helps to save the indication overhead.

[0023] It should be understood that the bit sequence can also be referred to as a bit bitmap, etc., which is not limited in the present application.

[0024] In some embodiments, the first information includes first identification information, the first identification information being used to indicate configuration information of the first occasion or configuration information of the third occasion, wherein the configuration information of the first occasion is used to determine the first occasion, and the configuration information of the third occasion is used to determine the third occasion.

[0025] It should be understood that the first identification information can also be replaced by index information, etc.

[0026] The indication of the first occasion or the third occasion by the first identification information helps to reduce the dynamic indication overhead.

[0027] For example, the network device can configure one or more sets of configuration information of candidate first occasions and / or one or more sets of configuration information of candidate third occasions, so as to indicate the configuration information of the used first occasion and / or the configuration information of the used third occasion by the first identification information, or in other words, to indicate the configuration information of the valid first occasion and / or the configuration information of the valid third occasion by the first identification, so as to help to save the dynamic indication overhead.

[0028] For another example, one or more sets of configuration information of candidate first occasions and / or one or more sets of configuration information of candidate third occasions can be predefined, so as to indicate the configuration information of the used first occasion and / or the configuration information of the used third occasion by the first identification information, which helps to save the dynamic indication overhead.

[0029] As an example, the above-mentioned predefinition can be a protocol predefinition.

[0030] As an example, the one or more sets of configuration information of candidate first occasions can be stored in association with one or more identification information, e.g., in the form of a table or an array. The one or more sets of configuration information of candidate third occasions can be stored in association with one or more identification information, e.g., in the form of a table or an array.

[0031] In some embodiments, the first information includes one or more of the following: period information; offset information; duration information; or timing advance information. This scheme is simple to implement.

[0032] In some embodiments, the method further includes: receiving second information, the second information being used to indicate that part or all of the measurement results are acquired by prediction; and wherein the acquiring, at the first time, the predicted value of the measurement results includes: if the second information is received, acquiring, at the first time, the predicted value of the measurement results.

[0033] In this way, the terminal device can determine the first time in advance, and when the network indicates to make a prediction (e.g., when the network device sends the second message), the terminal device can directly make a prediction on the measurement results at the first time, which helps to reduce the time delay of acquiring the predicted results.

[0034] In some embodiments, the method further includes: receiving third information, the third information being used to indicate a type of the prediction and / or an object of the prediction, wherein: the type of the prediction includes at least one of a time domain prediction, a spatial domain prediction, or a frequency domain prediction; and the object of the prediction includes a cell level measurement result and / or a beam level measurement result.

[0035] For example, acquiring the cell level measurement result and / or the beam level measurement result by prediction can include directly predicting the cell level measurement result and / or the beam level measurement result, or indirectly predicting the cell level measurement result and / or the beam level measurement result.

[0036] For example, the third information can indicate that the L3 cell level measurement result is predicted by one or more of the following ways: predicting an L1 beam level measurement result, and then generating the L3 cell level measurement result according to the predicted value of the L1 beam level measurement result; predicting the L3 cell level measurement result based on the L3 cell level measurement result; or predicting the L3 cell level measurement result based on the L1 beam level measurement result.

[0037] For another example, the third information can indicate that the L3 beam level measurement result is predicted by one or more of the following ways: predicting an L1 beam level measurement result, and then generating the L3 beam level measurement result according to the predicted value of the L1 beam level measurement result; predicting the L3 beam level measurement result based on the L3 beam level measurement result; or predicting the L3 beam level measurement result based on the L1 beam level measurement result.

[0038] It should be understood that the above measurement results can refer to measurement values directly obtained by actual measurement, or refer to results after filtering of the measurement values. Alternatively, the measurement values directly obtained by actual measurement can also be referred to as measurement results before filtering, and the results after filtering of the measurement values can be referred to as measurement results after filtering.

[0039] For example, the beam measurement result of L1 (corresponding to reference point A in FIG. 10) can also be referred to as a beam measurement result before L1 filtering; the beam filtering result of L1 (corresponding to reference point A1 in FIG. 10) can also be referred to as a beam measurement result after L1 filtering, or a beam measurement result before L3 beam filtering; the cell quality (corresponding to reference point B in FIG. 10) can be referred to as a cell measurement result before L3 filtering; and the beam filtering result of L3 (corresponding to reference point E in FIG. 10) can also be referred to as a beam measurement result after L3 beam filtering.

[0040] It should be understood that the beam measurement result and the beam level measurement result can be replaced with each other, and the cell measurement result and the cell level measurement result can be replaced with each other.

[0041] In some embodiments, the first information is determined by a first network device, or the first information is determined by a second network device; wherein the first network device is a network device corresponding to a neighbor cell of the terminal device, and the second network device is a network device corresponding to a serving cell.

[0042] Exemplarily, the first network device and the second network device can exchange the first information, which helps the first network device and the second network device to reach a consistent understanding of the first time. As an example, if the first information is determined by the second network device, the second network device can send the first information to the first network device and the terminal device; if the first information is determined by the first network device, the first network device can send the first information to the second network device, and the second network device sends the first information to the terminal device.

[0043] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, which includes: receiving first information from a first network device, or determining the first information, the first network device being a network device corresponding to a neighbor cell; and sending the first information to a terminal device, the first information being used to determine a first time, the first time being a time for obtaining a predicted value of a measurement result.

[0044] Exemplarily, the communication method can be implemented by a network device, or by a component inside the network device, such as a processor, a circuit, a chip or a chip system.

[0045] Exemplarily, the communication method can be implemented by a network device corresponding to a serving cell, i.e., a second network device.

[0046] Exemplarily, the communication method can be applicable to various scenarios, such as a scenario in which the neighbor cell and the serving cell are of different frequency systems and / or different systems, a scenario in which the neighbor cell and the serving cell are not of different frequency systems and / or different systems, and the like. For ease of description, hereinafter, the scenario in which the neighbor cell and the serving cell are of different frequency systems and / or different systems is referred to as a different frequency different system scenario, and the scenario in which the neighbor cell and the serving cell are not of different frequency systems and / or different systems is referred to as a non-different frequency non-different system scenario.

[0047] The predicted value of the measurement result can also be understood as obtaining the measurement result by a prediction manner. The prediction manner mentioned herein can be a prediction manner based on an AI / ML technology, or a prediction manner based on a statistical and probabilistic analysis technology. For example, the prediction based on the AI / ML technology can refer to prediction by a first model, where the first model is a model based on the AI / ML technology.

[0048] In the embodiments of the present application, the indication information of the network device, such as the first information, is used to determine the timing of predicting the measurement result, i.e., the first timing, which helps to apply the prediction manner (such as the prediction manner based on the AI technology) to the mobility management, thereby helping to reduce the cell measurement overhead. In addition, the first timing is determined by the network device, which helps to reduce the processing complexity of the terminal device, thereby helping to reduce the overhead of the terminal device.

[0049] In some embodiments, the method further includes: receiving a first measurement gap MG configuration and a first synchronization signal block-based measurement timing configuration SMTC configuration, and the second timing is a timing indicated by the first MG configuration; or receiving the first SMTC configuration, and the second timing is a timing indicated by the first SMTC configuration; wherein the first timing is part or all of the second timing.

[0050] Exemplarily, for the scenario of obtaining the neighbor cell measurement result in the different frequency different system, the second timing is the timing indicated by the first MG configuration. For the scenario of obtaining the serving cell measurement result or the scenario of obtaining the neighbor cell measurement result in the non-different frequency different system, the second timing is the timing indicated by the first SMTC configuration.

[0051] In some embodiments, the first information indicates the first timing; and / or the first information indicates a third timing, the third timing is a timing for performing measurement in the second timing, and the first timing is a timing for obtaining a predicted value of a measurement result in the second timing. Optionally, the first timing is a timing other than the third timing in the second timing.

[0052] In some embodiments, the first information comprises a second MG configuration or a second SMTC configuration, and the second MG configuration or the second SMTC configuration indicates the first occasion or the third occasion.

[0053] For example, for the scenario of inter-frequency inter-system, the first information can comprise a second MG configuration; for the scenario of non-inter-frequency inter-system, the first information can comprise a second SMTC configuration. The second MG configuration or the second SMTC configuration indicates the first occasion or the third occasion.

[0054] By multiplexing the configuration of the MG configuration and the SMTC configuration and other measurement configurations in the related art, the modification of the related art for indicating the first occasion can be reduced, or in other words, the degree of modification of the protocol can be reduced.

[0055] In some embodiments, the first information is used to indicate a first period, and the first period is a repetition period of the first occasion or the third occasion; wherein the first period is an integer multiple of a second period, and the second period is a repetition period of the second occasion.

[0056] By multiplexing other parameters in the first MG configuration or the first SMTC configuration, the information contained in the indication information for determining the first occasion can be reduced, thereby further saving the indication overhead.

[0057] For example, the first information can comprise a first multiple, and the ratio of the first period to the second period is the first multiple, which helps to reduce the number of bits required to indicate the first period.

[0058] In some embodiments, the first information comprises first bit sequence information, and each bit in the first bit sequence is associated with one of the second occasions, wherein: if the value of the bit is a first value, the second occasion associated with the bit is the first occasion; and / or if the value of the bit is a second value, the second occasion associated with the bit is the third occasion.

[0059] Optionally, the positional relationship between the first occasion and the third occasion is periodically repeated, such as the positional relationship between the first occasion and the third occasion in every 9 occasions being the same. In this case, the first bit sequence can comprise 9 bits, and the positional relationship between the first occasion and the third occasion in each period is indicated by the first bit sequence, which helps to save the indication overhead.

[0060] It should be understood that the bit sequence can also be referred to as a bit map, etc., which is not limited in the present application.

[0061] In some embodiments, the first information comprises first identification information, the first identification information being used to indicate configuration information of the first occasion or configuration information of the third occasion, wherein the configuration information of the first occasion is used to determine the first occasion, and the configuration information of the third occasion is used to determine the third occasion.

[0062] It should be understood that the first identification information can also be replaced by index information or the like.

[0063] By indicating the first occasion or the third occasion through the first identification information, it is helpful to reduce the dynamic indication overhead.

[0064] For example, the network device can configure one or more sets of configuration information of candidate first occasions and / or one or more sets of configuration information of candidate third occasions, so as to indicate the configuration information of the used first occasion and / or the configuration information of the third occasion through the first identification information, or in other words, to indicate the configuration information of the valid first occasion and / or the configuration information of the valid third occasion through the first identification, thereby helping to save the dynamic indication overhead.

[0065] For another example, one or more sets of configuration information of candidate first occasions and / or one or more sets of configuration information of candidate third occasions can be predefined, so as to indicate the configuration information of the used first occasion and / or the configuration information of the third occasion through the first identification information, thereby helping to save the dynamic indication overhead.

[0066] As an example, the above-mentioned predefinition can be a protocol predefinition.

[0067] As an example, the configuration information of one or more sets of candidate first occasions can be stored in association with one or more identification information, such as in the form of a table or an array. The configuration information of one or more sets of candidate third occasions can be stored in association with one or more identification information, such as in the form of a table or an array.

[0068] In some embodiments, the first information comprises one or more of the following: periodicity information; offset information; duration information; or timing advance information. This scheme is simple to implement.

[0069] In some embodiments, the method further comprises: sending, to the terminal device, second information, the second information being used to indicate that part or all of the measurement results are obtained through prediction.

[0070] In this way, the terminal device can determine the first occasion in advance, and when the network indicates to make a prediction (such as when the network device sends a second message), the terminal device can directly predict the measurement results at the first occasion, thereby helping to reduce the time delay of obtaining the predicted results.

[0071] In some embodiments, the method further comprises: sending, to the terminal device, third information, the third information being used for indicating a type of the prediction and / or an object of the prediction, wherein: the type of the prediction comprises at least one of a time domain prediction, a space domain prediction, or a frequency domain prediction; and the object of the prediction comprises a cell level measurement result and / or a beam level measurement result.

[0072] For example, the cell level measurement result and / or the beam level measurement result can be obtained by a direct prediction manner, or can be obtained by an indirect prediction manner.

[0073] For example, the third information can indicate that the L3 cell level measurement result is predicted by one or more of the following manners: predicting the L1 beam level measurement result, and then generating the L3 cell level measurement result according to the predicted value of the L1 beam level measurement result; predicting the L3 cell level measurement result based on the L3 cell level measurement result; or predicting the L3 cell level measurement result based on the L1 beam level measurement result.

[0074] For another example, the third information can indicate that the L3 beam level measurement result is predicted by one or more of the following manners: predicting the L1 beam level measurement result, and then generating the L3 beam level measurement result according to the predicted value of the L1 beam level measurement result; predicting the L3 beam level measurement result based on the L3 beam level measurement result; or predicting the L3 beam level measurement result based on the L1 beam level measurement result.

[0075] It should be understood that the above measurement result can refer to a measurement value directly obtained by actual measurement, or can refer to a result after filtering of the measurement value. Alternatively, the measurement value directly obtained by actual measurement can also be referred to as a measurement result before filtering, and the result after filtering of the measurement value can be referred to as a measurement result after filtering.

[0076] For example, the beam measurement result of L1 (corresponding to reference point A in FIG. 10) can also be referred to as a beam measurement result before L1 filtering; the beam filtering result of L1 (corresponding to reference point A1 in FIG. 10) can also be referred to as a beam measurement result after L1 filtering, or a beam measurement result before L3 beam filtering; the cell quality (corresponding to reference point B in FIG. 10) can be referred to as a cell measurement result before L3 filtering; and the beam filtering result of L3 (corresponding to reference point E in FIG. 10) can also be referred to as a beam measurement result after L3 beam filtering.

[0077] It should be understood that the beam measurement result and the beam level measurement result can be replaced with each other, and the cell measurement result and the cell level measurement result can be replaced with each other.

[0078] In a third aspect, a communication method is provided, including: receiving a measurement configuration, the measurement configuration including a third measurement gap (MG) configuration and a third synchronization signal block-based measurement timing configuration (SMTC) configuration, or the measurement configuration including a third SMTC configuration; determining a first occasion based on the measurement configuration if second information is received, wherein the second information is used to indicate that part or all of measurement results are obtained by prediction, and the first occasion is an occasion for obtaining the predicted value.

[0079] Exemplarily, the communication method can be implemented by a terminal device, or by a component inside the terminal device, such as a processor, a circuit, a chip or a chip system.

[0080] Exemplarily, the communication method can be applied to a scenario in which a neighbor cell and a serving cell are of different frequency systems and / or different systems.

[0081] The embodiments of the present application help reduce signaling overhead for indicating the first occasion by implicitly indicating the first occasion.

[0082] In some embodiments, the determining of the first occasion based on the measurement configuration includes: if the measurement configuration includes the third SMTC configuration, the first occasion is a fourth occasion, and the fourth occasion is an occasion indicated by the third SMTC configuration; and if the measurement configuration includes the third MG configuration and the third SMTC configuration, the first occasion is an occasion other than the occasion indicated by the third MG configuration among the fourth occasion.

[0083] Exemplarily, the terminal device can receive second indication information sent by a network device, and if the second indication information is received, the terminal device determines the first occasion according to the above method, i.e., determines the first occasion based on the measurement configuration. Further, when the second information is received, the terminal device obtains a predicted value of a measurement result at the first occasion.

[0084] In other words, the above step of “if the second information is received, determining the first occasion based on the measurement configuration” can be replaced by: if the second indication information is received, the terminal device determines the first occasion based on the measurement configuration. In this way, the terminal device can determine the first occasion in advance, and when the network indicates to make a prediction (e.g., when the network device sends the second message), the terminal device can directly make a prediction on the measurement result at the first occasion, which helps reduce the time delay for obtaining the predicted result.

[0085] In some embodiments, the occasion indicated by the third MG configuration is an occasion for performing measurement.

[0086] In some embodiments, the measurement result is a measurement result of a neighbor cell, and the neighbor cell and the serving cell are of different frequency systems or different systems.

[0087] In a fourth aspect, a communication method is provided. The method comprises: sending, to a terminal device, a measurement configuration, the measurement configuration comprising a third measurement gap (MG) configuration and a third synchronization signal block-based measurement timing configuration (SMTC) configuration, or the measurement configuration comprising a third SMTC configuration; and sending, to the terminal device, second information, the measurement configuration being used to determine a first occasion, wherein the second information is used to indicate that part or all of the measurement results are obtained by prediction, and the first occasion is an occasion for obtaining the predicted value.

[0088] Exemplarily, the communication method can be implemented by a network device, or by a component inside the network device, such as a processor, a circuit, a chip or a chip system.

[0089] Exemplarily, the communication method can be applied to a scenario in which a neighbor cell and a serving cell are in different frequency systems and / or different systems.

[0090] The embodiments of the present application help to reduce the signaling overhead of indicating the first occasion by implicitly indicating the first occasion.

[0091] In some embodiments, if the measurement configuration comprises the third SMTC configuration, the first occasion is a fourth occasion, and the fourth occasion is an occasion indicated by the third SMTC configuration; and if the measurement configuration comprises the third MG configuration and the third SMTC configuration, the first occasion is an occasion other than an occasion indicated by the third MG configuration in the fourth occasion.

[0092] Exemplarily, the network device can further send second indication information to the terminal device.

[0093] In some embodiments, the occasion indicated by the third MG configuration is an occasion for performing measurement.

[0094] In some embodiments, the measurement result is a measurement result of a neighbor cell, and the neighbor cell and the serving cell are in different frequency systems or different systems.

[0095] In a fifth aspect, a communication method is provided. The method comprises: determining a first occasion, the first occasion being an occasion for obtaining a predicted value of a measurement result; and sending, to a second network device, fourth information, the fourth information being used to indicate the first occasion.

[0096] Exemplarily, the communication method can be implemented by a terminal device, or by a component inside the terminal device, such as a processor, a circuit, a chip or a chip system.

[0097] Exemplarily, the communication method can be applicable to various scenarios, such as a scenario in which the neighbor cell and the serving cell are of different frequency systems and / or different systems, a scenario in which the neighbor cell and the serving cell are not of different frequency systems and / or different systems, and the like. For ease of description, hereinafter, the scenario in which the neighbor cell and the serving cell are of different frequency systems and / or different systems is referred to as a different frequency and system scenario, and the scenario in which the neighbor cell and the serving cell are not of different frequency systems and / or different systems is referred to as a non-different frequency and system scenario.

[0098] The embodiment of the present application helps to improve the flexibility of determining the first time by determining the first time by the terminal device.

[0099] In some embodiments, the first time is part or all of second time, wherein: the second time is a time indicated by a first measurement gap MG configuration; or the second time is a time indicated by a first synchronization signal block-based measurement timing configuration SMTC configuration.

[0100] In some embodiments, before the determination of the first time, the method further comprises: receiving fifth information, the fifth information being used to determine the first time, the fifth information comprising one or more of the following: a first threshold, the first threshold being a maximum number of allowed acquisition of the predicted value; a first ratio, the first ratio being a ratio of a number of the predicted value to a sum of the number of the predicted value and a number of a measured value, the measured value being a measurement result acquired by performing measurement; a fifth time, the fifth time being a time of acquiring a measurement result by performing measurement; or one or more first configuration information, each of the first configuration information being associated with one or more of the first time.

[0101] In some embodiments, the determination of the first time comprises: determining the first time based on a remaining resource of the terminal device, the remaining resource comprising at least one of a remaining memory, a remaining power, a remaining computing resource, or a remaining computing power resource.

[0102] For example, when the remaining memory, the remaining computing resource, or the remaining computing power resource is small, the number of the first time can be small, which helps to save resources. This is because the model used in the prediction process usually requires more resources. For another example, when the remaining power is small, the number of the first time can be large, which helps to save power. This is because the power consumption in the measurement process can be large.

[0103] It should be understood that the above method of determining the first time is only exemplarily given, and different determination methods can be used according to actual use scenarios.

[0104] In a sixth aspect, a communication method is provided, comprising: receiving fourth information, the fourth information being used to indicate a first time, the first time being a time of acquiring a predicted value of a measurement result.

[0105] Exemplarily, the communication method can be implemented by a network device, or by a component inside the network device, such as a processor, a circuit, a chip or a chip system.

[0106] Exemplarily, the communication method can be implemented by a second network device, i.e., a serving network device of the terminal device.

[0107] Exemplarily, the communication method can be applied to various scenarios, such as a scenario in which a neighbor cell and a serving cell are of different frequency systems and / or different systems, a scenario in which a neighbor cell and a serving cell are not of different frequency systems and / or different systems, and the like. For ease of description, the scenario in which a neighbor cell and a serving cell are of different frequency systems and / or different systems is referred to as a different frequency and system scenario, and the scenario in which a neighbor cell and a serving cell are not of different frequency systems and / or different systems is referred to as a non-different frequency and system scenario.

[0108] The embodiment of the present application helps to improve the flexibility of determining the first time by determining the first time by the terminal device.

[0109] In some embodiments, the method further includes: sending the fourth information to a first network device, the first network device being a network device corresponding to a neighbor cell of the terminal device.

[0110] That is, the first network device and the second network device can interact the fourth information, thereby helping to achieve consistent understanding of the first time by the network devices.

[0111] In some embodiments, the first time is part or all of a second time, wherein: the second time is a time indicated by a first measurement gap MG configuration; or the second time is a time indicated by a first synchronization signal block-based measurement timing configuration SMTC configuration.

[0112] In some embodiments, before the determination of the first time, the method further includes: sending fifth information to the terminal device, the fifth information being used to determine the first time, the fifth information including one or more of the following: a first threshold, the first threshold being a maximum number of allowed predicted values; a first ratio, the first ratio being a ratio of a number of predicted values to a sum of the number of predicted values and a number of actually measured values, the actually measured values being measurement results obtained by performing measurement; a fifth time, the fifth time being a time of obtaining measurement results by performing measurement; or one or more first configuration information, each of the first configuration information being associated with one or more candidate first times.

[0113] For example, when remaining memory, computing resources, or computing power are limited, the number of first-time events can be reduced to conserve resources. This is because the models used in the prediction process typically require significant resources. Similarly, when remaining battery power is low, the number of first-time events can be increased to save power. This is because the power consumption during measurement execution can be substantial.

[0114] It should be understood that the above method for determining the first timing is provided as an example only, and different methods can be adopted according to the actual use case.

[0115] A seventh aspect provides a communication method, the method comprising: receiving first information from a second network device, or determining the first information, the first information being used to determine a first timing, the first timing being a timing for acquiring a predicted value of a measurement result, wherein the second network device is a network device corresponding to a serving cell of a terminal device; determining a timing for transmitting a reference signal based on the first timing, the reference signal being used to perform the measurement, the timing for transmitting the reference signal not including the first timing.

[0116] For example, the communication method can be implemented by a network device or by components within the network device, such as a processor, circuit, chip, or chip system.

[0117] For example, the communication method can be implemented by a first network device, i.e., the network device corresponding to the neighboring cell.

[0118] Since the terminal device does not need to measure the reference signal at the first moment, the first network device can refrain from sending the reference signal at the first moment, thereby helping to reduce the overhead of sending the reference signal.

[0119] In some embodiments, the first network device may determine the effective time of the transmission timing of the reference signal based on the second information. Alternatively, if the first network device receives the second information (determined by the second network device) or sends the second information to the second network device (determined by the first network device), it may transmit the reference signal according to the transmission timing of the reference signal, i.e., it may not transmit the reference signal at the first timing.

[0120] Considering that multiple terminal devices within the coverage area of ​​the first network device perform measurements based on the reference signal, the terminal devices within the coverage area of ​​the first network device can adopt the same first timing configuration, which helps to avoid the impact on other terminal devices if the reference signal is not sent at the first timing.

[0121] Eighthly, a communication device is provided, comprising: a unit for performing each step in any possible implementation of any of the first to seventh aspects.

[0122] In a ninth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which comprises at least one processor coupled with a memory, the memory being configured to store a program or instructions, which, when executed by the processor, perform the method in any possible implementation of the method in the first aspect to the seventh aspect.

[0123] In a tenth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which comprises at least one processor and a memory, the processor and the memory being coupled, and the memory storing program instructions, which, when executed by the processor, perform the method in any possible implementation of the method in the first aspect to the seventh aspect.

[0124] In an eleventh aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which comprises at least one processor and an interface circuit for sending and / or receiving signals, so that the processor performs the method in any possible implementation of the method in the first aspect to the seventh aspect.

[0125] In a twelfth aspect, a computer program product is provided, which comprises a computer program, which, when executed by a processor, performs the method in any possible implementation of the method in the first aspect to the seventh aspect.

[0126] In a thirteenth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which stores a computer program, which, when executed, performs the method in any possible implementation of the method in the first aspect to the seventh aspect.

[0127] In a fourteenth aspect, a chip is provided, which comprises a processor configured to invoke and run a computer program from a memory, so that a communication device installed with the chip performs the method in any possible implementation of the method in the first aspect to the seventh aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0128] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an architecture of a communication system to which embodiments of the present application are applied;

[0129] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a deployment of an access network system according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0130] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a deployment of another access network system according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0131] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a structure of an open access network system according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0132] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a dual connectivity architecture according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0133] FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a process of issuing a measurement configuration according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0134] FIG. 7 is a diagram of a measurement object configuration according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0135] FIG. 8 is a diagram of a measurement identity configuration according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0136] FIG. 9 is a diagram of a measurement quantity configuration according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0137] FIG. 10 is a diagram of a structure of a measurement model according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0138] FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of a process of reporting a measurement report according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0139] FIG. 12 is a diagram of a structure of an AI / ML application framework according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0140] FIG. 13A is a diagram of a measurement occasion according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0141] FIG. 13B is a diagram of a measurement occasion according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0142] FIG. 13C is a diagram of a measurement occasion according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0143] FIG. 14A is a diagram of a measurement occasion according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0144] FIG. 14B is a diagram of a measurement occasion according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0145] FIG. 15 is a flow diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0146] FIG. 16A is a diagram of a scenario of a prediction type according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0147] FIG. 16B is a diagram of a scenario of a prediction type according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0148] FIG. 17 is a flow diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0149] FIG. 18A is a diagram of a first occasion according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0150] FIG. 18B is a diagram of a first occasion according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0151] FIG. 19 is a flow diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0152] FIG. 20 is a flow diagram illustrating another method of communication, according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0153] FIG. 21 is a flow diagram illustrating another method of communication, according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0154] FIG. 22 is a flow diagram illustrating another method of communication, according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0155] FIG. 23 is a flow diagram illustrating another method of communication, according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0156] FIG. 24 is a flow diagram illustrating another method of communication, according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0157] FIG. 25 is a flow diagram illustrating another method of communication, according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0158] FIG. 26 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device, according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0159] FIG. 27 is a schematic block diagram of another communication device, according to embodiments of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0160] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0161] In the description of the embodiments of the present disclosure, unless otherwise specified, " / " represents that the objects before and after the " / " are in an "or" relationship, for example, A / B can represent A or B; "and / or" in the embodiments of the present disclosure is only a description of the association relationship of the associated objects, which means that there can be three relationships, for example, A and / or B, which can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist together, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. In addition, in the description of the embodiments of the present disclosure, unless otherwise specified, "multiple" means two or more than two. "At least one of the following" or the like means 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-b, a-c, b-c, or a-b-c, where a, b, and c can be single or multiple. In addition, in order to clearly describe the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure, in the embodiments of the present disclosure, "first", "second", and the like are used to distinguish the same items or similar items with basically the same function and effect. Those skilled in the art can understand that "first", "second", and the like do not limit the quantity and execution order, and "first", "second", and the like do not necessarily mean different.

[0162] In each of the method embodiments of the embodiments of the present application, the size of the serial number does not mean the order of execution, and the order of execution should be determined according to its function and inherent logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0163] It can be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, "in the case of", "if", "when", "if" and the like can be used instead. And these descriptions all mean that the corresponding processing will be done under certain objective conditions, not limited by time, and also does not require judgment action when implemented, nor does it mean that there are other limitations.

[0164] It can be understood that some optional features in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented independently in some scenarios without relying on other features, such as the scheme currently based on, to solve the corresponding technical problems and achieve the corresponding effects. Also, in some scenarios, it can be combined with other features according to needs. Correspondingly, the apparatus given in the embodiments of the present application can also implement these features or functions, which will not be described here.

[0165] In the embodiments of the present application, except for special description, the same or similar parts of each embodiment can be mutually referred. In the embodiments of the present application, and each implementation / implementation method / implementation method in each embodiment, if there is no special description and logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions of different embodiments, and each implementation / implementation method / implementation method in each embodiment have consistency and can be mutually referred. The technical features of different embodiments, and each implementation / implementation method / implementation method in each embodiment can be combined to form new embodiments, implementations, implementation methods, or implementation methods according to their inherent logical relationship. The implementation of the present application described below does not constitute a limitation on the protection scope of the present application.

[0166] Communication system

[0167] The embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems. In order to facilitate understanding, the communication system 10 shown in FIG. 1 is taken as an example to describe the communication system to which the embodiments of the present application are applicable.

[0168] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an architecture of a communication system 10 to which embodiments of the present application are applied. As shown in FIG. 1, the communication system includes a radio access network (RAN) 100, which includes at least one RAN node (e.g., 110a and 110b, collectively referred to as 110 in FIG. 1), and at least one terminal (e.g., 120a-120j, collectively referred to as 120 in FIG. 1). The RAN 100 can also include other RAN nodes, such as wireless relay devices and / or wireless backhaul devices (not shown in FIG. 1). The terminals 120 are wirelessly connected to the RAN nodes 110. Terminals and terminals, and RAN nodes and RAN nodes, can be connected to each other by wire or wirelessly. The communication system 10 can also 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 10 can also include the Internet 300.

[0169] The RAN 100 can be an evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) system, a new radio (NR) system, and a future wireless access system defined in the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP). The RAN 100 can also be an open RAN (O-RAN or ORAN), a cloud radio access network (CRAN), or a wireless fidelity (WiFi) system. The RAN 100 can also be a communication system in which two or more of the above systems are fused.

[0170] The RAN node 110 (may also be referred to as an access network device, a RAN entity, or an access node, etc.) is configured to help the terminal to access the communication system in a wireless manner. In a possible scenario, the RAN node can be a base station, an evolved Node B (eNodeB), an access point (AP), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next generation Node B (gNB), a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a WiFi system, etc. The RAN node can be a macro base station (e.g., 110a in FIG. 1), a micro base station or an indoor station (e.g., 110b in FIG. 1), a relay node or a donor node, or a wireless controller in a CRAN scenario. Optionally, the RAN node can also be a server, a wearable device, a vehicle or a vehicle-mounted device, etc. For example, the access network device in a vehicle to everything (V2X) technology can be a road side unit (RSU).

[0171] In another possible scenario, a plurality of RAN nodes cooperate to assist the terminal to access wirelessly, and different RAN nodes implement part of the functions of a base station respectively. For example, the RAN node can be a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU), etc. The CU and the DU can be two independent RAN nodes, or can be integrated in the same RAN node, such as in a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in a radio frequency device or a radio frequency unit, such as a radio frequency remote unit (RRU), an active antenna processing unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH).

[0172] The CU node and the DU node split the protocol layers of the gNB, and part of the protocol layers are centrally controlled by the CU, and the remaining part or all of the protocol layers are distributed in the DU and controlled by the CU.

[0173] As an implementation manner, the CU is deployed with functions of a radio resource control (RRC) layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer and a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) in a protocol stack; and the DU is deployed with a radio link control (RLC) layer, a media access control (MAC) layer and a physical layer (PHY) in the protocol stack, as shown in FIG. 2. Thus, the CU has processing capability of the RRC layer, the PDCP layer and the SDAP layer. The DU has processing capability of the RLC layer, the MAC layer and the PHY. Referring to FIG. 2, the CU can communicate with the DU through an F1 interface, and one CU can centrally control multiple DUs.

[0174] As another implementation manner, the CU-CP is deployed with an RRC layer and a PDCP-control plane (which can be referred to as PDCP-C) in a protocol stack, the CU-UP is deployed with an SDAP layer and a PDCP-user plane (which can be referred to as PDCP-U) in the protocol stack, and the DU is deployed with a RLC layer, a MAC layer and a PHY in the protocol stack, as shown in FIG. 3. Referring to FIG. 3, the CU-CP and the CU-UP can communicate through an E1 interface, the CU-CP and the DU can communicate through an F1-control plane (which can be referred to as F1-C) interface, and the CU-UP and the DU can communicate through an F1-user plane (which can be referred to as F1-U) interface.

[0175] It can be understood that the above-mentioned splitting of functions is only an example and does not constitute a limitation on the CU and the DU.

[0176] 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). Correspondingly, the CU-CP can also be referred to as an O-CU-CP, the CU-UP can also be referred to as an O-CU-UP, and the RU can also be referred to as an O-RU. For ease of description, the CU, the CU-CP, the CU-UP, the DU and the RU are taken as examples for description in the embodiments of the present application.

[0177] FIG. 4 is a structural schematic diagram of an ORAN system provided by an embodiment of the present application. The ORAN system can include one or more O-CUs, O-DUs, and O-RUs. FIG. 4 only shows the case where the ORAN system includes one O-CU, one O-DU, and one O-RU. Referring to FIG. 4, the O-CU can further include an O-CU-CP and an O-CU-UP. The ORAN system can communicate with a terminal device through the O-RU. In the ORAN system, the protocol layers of the protocol stacks deployed by different nodes (or network elements) can be different, or in other words, the protocol layer functions that can be implemented by different nodes can be different. Table 1 exemplarily shows the correspondence between different network elements in the ORAN system and the protocol layer functions that can be implemented by the network elements.

[0178] Table 1

[0179] All or part of the functions of the RAN node in the present application can also be implemented by software functions running on hardware, or by virtualized functions instantiated on a platform such as a cloud platform. The RAN node can also be provided with a communication module, circuit, or chip for performing corresponding communication functions, and program instructions for performing corresponding communication functions. The RAN node in the present application can also be a logic node, logic module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the RAN node. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form of the RAN node.

[0180] The terminal 120 is a device with wireless transceiving function, which can send signals to the base station or receive signals from the base station. The terminal can also be referred to as a user equipment (UE), a terminal device, an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a mobile station (MS), a remote station, a remote terminal, a mobile terminal (MT), a user terminal, a wireless communication device, a user agent, a user device, and a terminal device, etc. The terminal 120 can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiving function, a wearable device, a vehicle, a drone, a helicopter, an airplane, a ship, a robot, a mechanical arm, a smart home device, etc. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the device form of the terminal.

[0181] Exemplarily, the terminal 120 can be an internet of things (IoT) device (e.g., a sensor, an electricity meter, a water meter, etc.), a V2X device, a station (ST) in a wireless local area network (WLAN), a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (PDA) device, a handheld device having wireless communication function, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, an in-vehicle device, a wearable device (which can also be referred to as a smart wearable device), a tablet computer or a computer with wireless transceiver function, a virtual reality (VR) terminal, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless terminal in self driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical treatment, a wireless terminal in smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in smart city, a wireless terminal in smart home, a vehicle terminal, a vehicle with vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication capability, a smart connected vehicle, a drone with UAV to UAV (U2U) communication capability, etc.

[0182] The roles of the base stations and the terminals can be relative, for example, the network element 120i in FIG. 1 can be a helicopter or a drone, which can be configured as a mobile base station, for those terminals 120j accessing to the wireless access network 100 through 120i, the terminal 120i is a base station; but for the base station 110a, 120i is a terminal, that is, 110a and 120i communicate through a wireless air interface protocol. Of course, 110a and 120i can also communicate through a base station-to-base station interface protocol, at this time, 120i is also a base station relative to 110a. Therefore, the base stations and the terminals can be collectively referred to as communication apparatuses, 110a and 110b in FIG. 1 can be referred to as communication apparatuses with base station function, and 120a-120j in FIG. 1 can be referred to as communication apparatuses with terminal function.

[0183] The base station and the terminal can be fixed in position or mobile. The base station and the terminal can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; can also be deployed on water; 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 the base station and the terminal.

[0184] The core network 200 includes various core network devices that can provide service support for the terminal. For example, the core network devices can include an access and mobility management function (AMF) entity, a session management function (SMF) entity, a user plane function (UPF) 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 the terminal; the SMF entity can be responsible for session management, such as session establishment of a user; and the UPF entity can be a functional entity of the user plane, mainly responsible for connecting external networks. It should be noted that the entity in the present 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, and the like.

[0185] Dual connectivity communication scenario

[0186] The terminal can be connected to at least two access network devices or two wireless communication systems at the same time, which can be referred to as dual connectivity (DC), such as multiple RAT dual connectivity (MR-DC). The MR-DC architecture can include, for example, E-UTRA-NR dual connectivity (EN-DC), next generation wireless access node E-UTRA-NR dual connectivity (NGEN-DC), NR-E-UTRA dual connectivity (NE-DC), and NR-NR dual connectivity (NR-DC).

[0187] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of a dual connectivity architecture according to an embodiment of the present application. Referring to Figure 5, a terminal device 510 can be connected to an access network device 520 and an access network device 530. In the dual connectivity architecture, the access network device responsible for interacting with the terminal device 510 in terms of radio resource control messages and interacting with the core network control plane entity can be referred to as a master node (MN), such as the access network device 520, and the other access network device can be referred to as a secondary node (SN), such as the access network device 530.

[0188] Regardless of whether it is a master node or a secondary node, the internal part can also support multiple carriers for carrier aggregation. For the master node, the aggregated multiple carriers are referred to as a master cell group (MCG). The MCG includes a PCell and SCells. For the secondary node, the aggregated multiple carriers are referred to as a secondary cell group (SCG). The primary cell in the SCG is referred to as a primary secondary cell (PSCell), and the remaining normal secondary cells in the SCG are still referred to as SCells.

[0189] Cell handover

[0190] Mobility management is one of the key technologies involved in the communication process. Generally, mobility management can include cell selection and reselection, cell handover (HO), power control, and load balancing, etc.

[0191] Cell handover aims to improve the continuity of services provided by the communication system to the terminal device. In the communication process, the terminal device can be handed over from one cell (also referred to as a "source cell") to another cell (also referred to as a "target cell"). Generally, cell handover can be divided into two types: a traditional handover mechanism and a conditional handover mechanism.

[0192] In the traditional handover procedure, the mobility management of the connected terminal device is controlled by the network device. The source base station (i.e., the network device providing services for the source cell) instructs the terminal device to perform cell handover by sending an RRC reconfiguration message (RRCReconfiguration) containing a handover command, such as instructing the terminal device to hand over to which target cell and how to hand over. Specifically, after receiving the RRC reconfiguration message containing the handover command, the terminal device immediately releases the source cell and stops uplink / downlink data transmission with the source cell; and accesses the target cell according to the content contained in the handover command, such as the configuration information of the target cell. Therefore, the successful transmission of the handover message is a necessary condition to ensure successful handover under the traditional handover mechanism.

[0193] In order to improve the success rate of handover, the related technologies propose a conditional handover (CHO) mechanism. For the CHO mechanism, the source base station can send an RRC reconfiguration message containing CHO configuration information to the terminal device when the source link (i.e., the communication link between the terminal device and the source base station) quality is good. The CHO configuration information can include configuration information of one or more candidate cells, execution trigger conditions of the candidate cells, measurement configuration, and the like. After receiving the CHO configuration information, the terminal device does not immediately initiate execution of the handover action to any candidate cell, but continues to maintain the connection and data transmission with the source base station. After finding a cell in the candidate cell that meets the execution trigger condition, the terminal device can autonomously determine the target cell and initiate handover execution. Unlike the CHO mechanism, for the traditional handover mechanism, after receiving the handover command, the terminal device will immediately perform handover to the target cell indicated by the handover command.

[0194] Regardless of which handover mechanism is used, the target cell can be determined based on the measurement result during the handover process. As an implementation manner, the network device can issue a measurement configuration to the terminal device; the terminal device can detect the signal state change of the neighbor cell according to the measurement object, the reporting configuration, and other parameters indicated in the measurement configuration. The measurement configuration information can be transmitted through the RRC dedicated signaling RRCReconfiguration message.

[0195] FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a process of issuing a measurement configuration according to an embodiment of the present application. The process shown in FIG. 6 can include steps 1 and 2.

[0196] In step 1, the network device can send an RRCReconfiguration message to the terminal device. The RRCReconfiguration message can include measurement configuration information.

[0197] In step 2, the terminal device can send an RRC reconfiguration complete (RRCReconfigurationComplete) message to the network device.

[0198] After receiving the RRCReconfiguration message, the terminal device can perform relevant measurements according to the content of the measurement configuration information, and then report the measurement result to the network device through measurement reporting signaling.

[0199] The measurement performed by the terminal device can include multiple types of measurements, such as intra-frequency measurement, inter-frequency measurement, and inter-system measurement. The inter-system measurement mentioned here can refer to a scenario in which the candidate cell and the current serving cell belong to different wireless communication systems, such as the inter-cell measurement in the multi-system dual connectivity scenario mentioned above. The meanings of the intra-frequency measurement and the inter-frequency measurement will be introduced in the measurement object mentioned below, and will not be repeated here.

[0200] As a possible implementation, the measurement process can mainly include steps such as measurement configuration, measurement execution, and measurement reporting. The steps involved in the measurement process will be introduced in detail below.

[0201] Measurement configuration

[0202] Generally, the measurement configuration can include a measurement object (MO) (which can be represented as measObject), a report configuration (which can be represented as reportConfig), a measurement ID, a measurement quantity configuration, and a measurement GAP configuration.

[0203] 1. Measurement object

[0204] The MO can include a synchronization signal block (SSB) frequency, an SSB subcarrier spacing (SCS), an SMTC configuration, and white-listed cells and blacklisted cells, as shown in FIG. 7.

[0205] Referring to FIG. 7, the measurement object configuration measObjectNR can include an SSB frequency (ssbFrequency), an SSB SCS (ssbSubcarrierSpacing), and an SMTC configuration (smtc 1 and smtc 2), as shown in 710 in FIG. 7. In addition, in the measObjectNR, the blacklisted cells can be indicated by an excluded cell addition and modification list (excludedCellsToAddModList) and an excluded cell removal list (excludedCellsToRemoveList), and the white-listed cell list can be indicated by an allowed cell addition and modification list (allowedCellsToAddModList) and an allowed cell removal list (allowedCellsToRemoveList), as shown in 720 in FIG. 7.

[0206] The white-listed cell can also be referred to as an allowed cell (such as allowedCells), and the blacklisted cell can also be referred to as an excluded cell (such as excludedCell).

[0207] For LTE, one measurement object refers to one individual carrier frequency; for NR, one measurement object refers to the time-frequency location and subcarrier spacing of the reference signal to be measured. The measurement object of NR indicates the information for SSB intra / inter-frequency measurement or channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS) intra / inter-frequency measurement. The meaning of NR intra / inter-frequency measurement is introduced as follows.

[0208] SSB-based intra-frequency measurement: the SSB used for measurement by the neighbor cell has the same center frequency and the same SCS as the SSB of the serving cell.

[0209] SSB-based inter-frequency measurement: the SSB used for measurement by the neighbor cell has at least one of the center frequency and the SCS different from the SSB of the serving cell.

[0210] CSI-RS-based intra-frequency measurement: the neighbor cell indicates that the bandwidth of the CSI-RS used for measurement is completely contained in the bandwidth of the CSI-RS used for measurement by the serving cell, and both have the same SCS.

[0211] CSI-RS-based inter-frequency measurement: the bandwidth of the CSI-RS used for measurement by the neighbor cell is not completely contained in the bandwidth of the CSI-RS used for measurement by the serving cell, or both have different SCSs.

[0212] Each cell will periodically send multiple SSB beams in the time domain (i.e., SSB beam sweeping), and the beam sweeping needs a certain time to complete. In order to ensure that all SSB beams under each cell are accurately and completely measured, when the base station issues the measurement configuration, in addition to indicating the SSB frequency points that need to be measured, the time information of the SSB will also be indicated. Optionally, the base station can indicate the timing position and duration of starting SSB measurement. For example, the configuration of SMTC configuration can effectively indicate the time window (timing position and duration) for the terminal device to search for SSB, reducing unnecessary measurement power consumption of the terminal device.

[0213] The SMTC configuration represents a timing configuration that the network device issues to the terminal device when the terminal device performs SSB-based measurement on a certain cell. The SMTC configuration can include an SMTC period, an SMTC duration, and an SMTC offset. Optionally, the SMTC configuration can indicate time information of the SSB or time information of performing the SSB measurement. For example, the SMTC period can indicate a repetition period of the SSB, the SMTC offset can indicate a starting subframe of the SSB in the period, and the SMTC duration can cover a duration of the SSB. For another example, the SMTC period can represent a repetition period of a measurement action, the SMTC offset can represent a starting subframe of the measurement action in the period, and the SMTC duration can represent a duration for which the measurement action should last after the measurement action starts.

[0214] As an implementation manner, the network device can configure a specific list of to-be-measured cells, such as a blacklist of cells and a whitelist of cells. For a cell listed in the blacklist, the terminal device no longer performs event measurement and measurement reporting on the cell. The whitelist of cells includes cells on which the terminal device performs event measurement and measurement reporting.

[0215] As an implementation manner, the measurement configuration can include MG-related configurations. The MG defines a time period during which the terminal device leaves a current frequency point to measure another frequency point. For the NR system, the terminal device can completely measure the inter-frequency or inter-system frequency point only when the effective measurement time in the measurement gap (GAP) duration can completely cover the SMTC configuration duration of the inter-frequency or inter-system frequency point. The effective measurement time in the measurement GAP duration refers to the remaining time after the measurement GAP duration is reduced by the frequency switching time. The frequency switching mentioned herein includes switching from the frequency point of the serving cell to the frequency point of the neighbor cell, and switching from the frequency point of the neighbor cell to the frequency point of the serving cell.

[0216] The measurement GAP configuration can be configured in the granularity of the terminal device or in the granularity of a frequency range (FR). In other words, the measurement GAP can be configured for each terminal device or for each FR. For each FR, multiple measurement GAP configurations can coexist. Further, the measurement object configuration can indicate a measurement GAP configuration associated with each frequency. Each frequency is associated with only one measurement GAP configuration, but the measurement GAP configurations associated with different frequencies can be the same.

[0217] It should be noted that, during the measurement GAP duration, the terminal device generally does not transmit and receive any data with the serving network device, but instead adjusts the receiver to the target frequency point to perform inter-frequency or inter-system measurement. The terminal device returns to the serving cell at the end of the measurement GAP duration.

[0218] 2. Report configuration

[0219] The measurement report configuration can be used to indicate the criteria to trigger the reporting of the measurement report and the format of the measurement report. The NR measurement report can be based on the result of SSB or CSI-RS measurement. Exemplarily, each reporting configuration can have a separate identity (such as reportConfigld).

[0220] Optionally, the measurement report configuration can be classified into event triggered reporting configuration and periodic triggered reporting configuration according to the type. The periodic triggered reporting configuration can include reporting period, reference signal type and white list of cells. The event triggered reporting configuration can include various event categories and threshold values, time to trigger (i.e. time hysteresis) and the type of reference signal (SSB or CSI-RS) and the like.

[0221] Generally, after the entering condition of the measurement report is met, the terminal device will not trigger the reporting immediately, but needs to continuously meet the entering condition of the measurement report within the time to trigger to trigger the measurement report. Table 2 shows the measurement report event, the entering condition of the measurement report and the leaving condition of the measurement report.

[0222] Table 2

[0223] Referring to Table 2, Ms represents the measurement result of the serving cell, Mn represents the measurement result of the neighbor cell, Hys represents the amplitude hysteresis of the measurement result, Thresh, Thresh1 and Thresh2 represent the threshold values in different events respectively, Ofs represents the MO level offset of the serving cell, Ofn represents the MO level offset of the neighbor cell, Ocs represents the cell offset CIO of the serving cell, Ocn represents the cell offset CIO of the neighbor cell, and Off represents the offset of the measurement event.

[0224] According to Table 2, the measurement report event can include A1 event to A6 event, and B1 event and B2 event. The meaning of different measurement report events will be introduced below.

[0225] A1 event means that the measurement result of a serving cell is higher than a threshold value (Thresh). A2 event means that the measurement result of a serving cell is lower than a threshold value. A3 event means that a neighbor cell is better than a PCell / PSCell, such as the signal quality of the neighbor cell is better than the signal quality of the PCell / PSCell. A4 event means that the measurement result of a neighbor cell is higher than a threshold value. A5 event means that the measurement result of a serving cell is lower than a threshold value 1 (Thresh1) and the measurement result of a neighbor cell is higher than a threshold value 2 (Thresh2). A6 event means that a neighbor cell is better than a Scell, such as the signal quality of the neighbor cell is better than the signal quality of the Scell. B1 event means that the measurement result of a neighbor cell (different system from a serving cell) is higher than a threshold value. B2 event means that the measurement result of a serving cell is lower than a threshold value and the measurement result of a neighbor cell (different system from a serving cell) is higher than a threshold value.

[0226] 3. Measurement identity (ID)

[0227] The measurement ID (measID) is used to associate a measurement object with a measurement configuration as a set. In other words, the measurement ID is used to associate a measurement object with a measurement configuration.

[0228] For example, the measurement ID can associate a measurement object (MeasObjectID) and a measurement reporting configuration (reportConfigID), as shown in 810 in FIG. 8. If the terminal device reaches a measurement start threshold, the terminal device can determine whether to perform this measurement according to the presence or absence of the measurement identity. When the terminal device sends a measurement report to the network side, only the measID needs to be indicated. This is because the corresponding MeasObjectID and reportConfigID can be found according to the measID, and then it can be determined what kind of measurement report it is. By configuring multiple measIDs, multiple measObjects can be linked to the same reportConfig, or multiple reportConfigs can be linked to the same measObject.

[0229] 4. Measurement quantity configuration

[0230] The measurement quantity configuration can indicate the measurement quantity and layer (layer) 3, i.e., L3 filter coefficients, as shown in FIG. 9. Referring to FIG. 9, the measurement quantity configuration 910 can indicate the measurement quantity of different cells through cell and measurement quantity indexes; the filter coefficient configuration 920 can indicate the filter coefficients for SSB measurement and the filter coefficients for CSI-RS measurement.

[0231] Optionally, the measurement quantity can include a reference signal received power (RSRP), a received signal strength indicator (RSSI), a reference signal received quality (RSRQ), a signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR), and the like. Among them, the RSRP reflects the received strength of the reference signal; the RSSI reflects the total signal strength of the current channel; the RSRQ reflects the signal-to-noise ratio and interference level of the current channel quality, which is approximately the ratio of RSRP to RSSI; the SINR reflects the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio of the current channel, which is an important indicator for measuring the performance of the terminal device.

[0232] In the measurement event used by the switching strategy, the RSRP based on the SSB and the RSRQ based on the SSB are mainly used as the measurement quantity. The terminal device can perform measurement according to the measurement configuration, and when the terminal device determines that the RSRP or the RSRQ of a certain measurement frequency point meets the reporting condition of the corresponding event, the terminal device can report the measurement report.

[0233] Measurement execution

[0234] FIG. 10 is a structural schematic diagram of a measurement model provided by an embodiment of the present application. The measurement model shown in FIG. 10 can also be referred to as an L3 measurement model.

[0235] The measurement output of the model shown in FIG. 10 is divided into beam level measurement results (for example, rsIndexResults information elements) and cell level measurement results (for example, cellResults information elements). The measurement execution process will be introduced below in combination with FIG. 10.

[0236] Reference point A is a link for the terminal device to perform physical layer measurement sampling. In some embodiments, the terminal device can perform physical layer measurement sampling in the granularity of a beam. For example, the reference point A can be the measurement sampling result of K beams.

[0237] Between the reference point A and the reference point A1, the terminal device can perform L1 filtering on the measured beam measurement sampling result. The reference point A1 can be the L1 filtering result of the beam measurement sampling result, or can be referred to as the L1 beam measurement result.

[0238] Between the reference point A1 and the reference point B, the terminal device can consolidate / select the L1 beam measurement results, and obtain an L1 cell-level measurement result by weighted average of the beam measurement results meeting the condition in the cell. The L1 cell-level measurement result can represent the cell quality.

[0239] Two threshold values, nrofSS-BlocksToAverage and absThreshSS-BlocksConsolidation, are usually carried in the measurement configuration. The principle of beam consolidation / selection before the reference point B can include the following two.

[0240] One principle is that if the highest beam measurement quantity, or the maximum value of the beam measurement quantity, is less than or equal to the threshold value absThreshSS-BlocksConsolidation, the maximum value of the beam measurement quantity is the cell quality obtained at point B.

[0241] Another principle is that if the maximum value of the beam measurement quantity is greater than the threshold value absThreshSS-BlocksConsolidation, the obtained cell quality is the linear average of all beam measurement quantities exceeding the threshold. The total number of beam measurement quantities used to calculate the average should be less than or equal to the threshold value nrofSS-BlocksToAverage.

[0242] Between the reference point B and the reference point C, the terminal device can perform L3 filtering on the L1 cell-level measurement result to obtain an L3 cell measurement result. Optionally, the L3 filtering is performed by using the following formula. n =(1-a)*F n- 1+a*M n ;

[0243] Wherein, M n is the measurement result reported by the physical layer (L1); F n is the measurement result after this filtering; F n-1 is the measurement result after the last filtering; k i is the filtering coefficient.

[0244] Between the reference point C and the reference point D, the terminal device can perform evaluation of measurement reporting according to the configuration of the network device to obtain the final measurement result for reporting and the evaluation measurement quantity, i.e., the cell-level measurement result.

[0245] On the other hand, between the reference point A1 and the reference point E, the terminal device can perform L3 beam filtering on the L1 beam filtering result to obtain an L3 beam filtering result.

[0246] Between the reference point E and the reference point F, the terminal device can select a beam and a measurement result of the beam (i.e., a beam-level measurement result) for reporting according to a certain decision condition (such as configuration information of the network device).

[0247] Measurement report

[0248] As mentioned above, the terminal device can perform measurement according to the measurement configuration issued by the network device. When a certain trigger condition is met, the terminal device can perform evaluation on the measurement in the connected state and the measurement report. If the reporting condition is met, the terminal device can fill in the measurement report and send the measurement report to the network device.

[0249] FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a process of reporting a measurement report according to an embodiment of the present application. Referring to FIG. 11, in step 1, the terminal device can send a measurement report (MeasurementReport) message to the network device.

[0250] According to the trigger reporting mode, the measurement report can be divided into two types: event-triggered reporting and periodic reporting. Event-triggered reporting can refer to that the terminal device triggers the sending of the measurement report only after a certain measurement event threshold is met and lasts for a period of time. Periodic reporting can refer to that the terminal device sends the measurement report according to the reporting period and time interval configured by the network device.

[0251] As a possible implementation manner, the content of the measurement report can include MeasID, a serving cell measurement result list (measResultServingMOList), and a neighbor cell measurement result (measResultNeighCells). The measResultServingMOList can include cell ID information (such as a serving cell index), cell-level measurement results of measurement quantities RSRP, RSRQ, and SINR, beam-level measurement results of measurement quantities RSRP, RSRQ, and SINR, and SSB-Index or CSI-RS-Index, and measurement results of RSRP, RSRQ, and SINR of reference signals. The measResultNeighCells can include cell identification information (such as a physical cell identification (PCI)), measurement results of measurement quantities RSRP, RSRQ, and SINR corresponding to the cell, or a cell global identity (CGI), and the like.

[0252] AI

[0253] AI can use computers to simulate and extend human consciousness, thinking information process, intelligent behavior (such as learning, reasoning, thinking, planning, etc.), so that computers can realize higher level applications. AI that can learn from data is called machine learning (ML). Specifically, machine learning refers to extracting identifiable features from a series of raw data, and then producing a model by learning these features.

[0254] The related technology proposes that AI / ML can be applied to a communication system, such as NR, to improve network performance and user experience through intelligent collection and data analysis. Among them, the framework of AI / ML application in NR is shown in FIG. 12.

[0255] The framework shown in FIG. 12 can include data collection (data collection) 1210, model training (model training) 1220, model inference (model inference) 1230, and execution (actor) 1240, etc. Functional modules.

[0256] Among them, the data collection 1210 entity can collect and store data from gNB, gNB-CU, gNB-DU, terminal device or other management entity, and use these data as the database for AI model training and data analysis inference. The model training 1220 entity can give the optimal AI model by analyzing the training data provided by the data collection 1210. The model inference 1230 entity can use the AI model to give reasonable prediction based on AI for network operation or guide the network to make strategy adjustment based on the inference data provided by the data collection 1210. The related strategy adjustment is planned by the execution 1240 entity, and sent to multiple network entities to run. At the same time, after applying the related strategy, the specific performance of the network will be input to the database again and stored.

[0257] AI technology can be applied to various scenarios in communication systems. Mobility management is one of the key technologies involved in communication process, and how to apply AI technology to mobility management is a problem to be solved. For example, how to predict which measurement results by AI technology, how to predict measurement results based on AI technology, and how to determine the timing of predicting measurement results based on AI technology, etc. are all problems to be solved.

[0258] The problems faced by applying AI technology to the scenario of mobility management will be introduced in combination with specific examples.

[0259] As mentioned above, for inter-frequency measurement or inter-system measurement of a neighbor cell, the measurement configuration can include MG configuration and SMTC configuration. The MG configuration indicates the time for performing measurement of the neighbor cell. FIG. 13A is an example diagram of measurement time provided by an embodiment of the present application. In FIG. 13A, nine time indicated by MG configuration is shown, that is, in the nine time indicated by MG configuration, the terminal device needs to perform measurement of the neighbor cell.

[0260] If the measurement results of part or all of the neighbor cells are predicted, actual measurement of the neighbor cells can not be performed or actual measurement of the neighbor cells can be performed only in part of the time. As a possible implementation, the time for performing actual measurement of the neighbor cell can be indicated by MG configuration. In this case, compared with the traditional measurement mode (as shown in FIG. 13A), the measurement configuration can include less MG configuration (as shown in FIG. 13B) or no MG configuration (as shown in FIG. 13C).

[0261] Referring to FIG. 13B, actual measurement of the neighbor cell can be performed in the three time (time 1, time 5 and time 9) indicated by MG configuration. In addition, the measurement results of the neighbor cell are predicted in the time other than the three time indicated by the traditional measurement mode.

[0262] Referring to FIG. 13C, the measurement results of the neighbor cell are predicted in the nine time indicated by the traditional measurement mode.

[0263] It can be seen that the terminal device can determine the time for performing actual measurement of the neighbor cell according to the MG configuration in the measurement configuration, but cannot determine the time for predicting the measurement results of the neighbor cell, such as in which time indicated by the omitted MG configuration the measurement results of the neighbor cell need to be predicted. Further, the terminal device cannot obtain the measurement results in the time indicated by the omitted MG configuration, thereby affecting the integrity and accuracy of the overall measurement results.

[0264] For the measurement scenario of the serving cell, or the measurement scenario of the neighbor cell (non-inter-frequency system or non-inter-system with the serving cell), the measurement configuration can include SMTC configuration. The time indicated by the SMTC configuration is the time for performing measurement of the cell. FIG. 14A is another example diagram of measurement time provided by an embodiment of the present application. In FIG. 14A, nine time indicated by SMTC configuration (time 1 to time 9) is shown, that is, in the nine time indicated by SMTC configuration, the terminal device needs to perform measurement of the cell.

[0265] If part or all of the cell measurement results are predicted, the cell measurement can not be performed or only be performed at part of the occasions. As a possible implementation, the occasions for actual measurement of the cell can be indicated by the SMTC configuration. In this case, compared with the conventional measurement manner (as shown in FIG. 14A), the measurement configuration can include less SMTC configuration (as shown in FIG. 14B) or no SMTC configuration.

[0266] Referring to FIG. 14B, actual measurement of the cell can be performed at the three occasions (occasion 1, occasion 5 and occasion 9) indicated by the SMTC configuration. In addition, the measurement results of the cell are predicted at the occasions other than the three occasions indicated by the conventional measurement manner.

[0267] It can be seen that the terminal device determines the occasions for actual measurement of the cell according to the SMTC configuration in the measurement configuration, but cannot determine the occasions for prediction of the measurement results of the cell, such as which of the omitted occasions indicated by the SMTC configuration need prediction of the measurement results of the cell. Further, the terminal device cannot obtain the measurement results at the occasions indicated by the omitted SMTC configuration, thereby affecting the integrity and accuracy of the overall measurement results.

[0268] To solve one or more of the above problems, the embodiments of the present application provide the following communication methods.

[0269] In the embodiments of the present application, by determining the timing occasion (first timing occasion) for prediction of the measurement results, it is helpful to apply the measurement results obtained based on the prediction manner to the scenario of mobility management.

[0270] Exemplarily, the first timing occasion is determined by the network device, which helps to reduce the processing complexity of the terminal device, thereby helping to reduce the overhead of the terminal device. Optionally, the first timing occasion can be explicitly indicated by the network device or implicitly indicated by the network device. The method of explicitly indicating the first timing occasion can be suitable for various scenarios, which helps to improve the universality. The method of implicitly indicating the first timing occasion helps to reduce the signaling overhead of indicating the first timing occasion.

[0271] Exemplarily, the first timing occasion is determined by the terminal device, which helps to improve the flexibility of determining the first timing occasion.

[0272] In the embodiments of the present application, by indicating one or more of the type of prediction, the object of prediction or the manner of prediction, it is helpful to determine the method of predicting the measurement results.

[0273] In the embodiments of the present application, by not sending the reference signal for performing measurement at the first timing occasion, it is helpful to reduce the overhead of sending the reference signal.

[0274] The various communication methods provided by the embodiments of the present application are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0275] The network device determines the first timing (explicit indication)

[0276] FIG. 15 is a flowchart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. The method shown in FIG. 15 can involve the interaction between a terminal device and a network device. The terminal device can be any of the terminal devices mentioned above, or can be a chip, a chip system, or a processor supporting the terminal device to implement the method. The network device can be any of the network devices mentioned above, or can be a chip, a chip system, or a processor supporting the network device to implement the method.

[0277] The method provided by the embodiments of the present application is described below from the perspective of the interaction between the terminal device and the network device.

[0278] The method shown in FIG. 15 can include steps S1510 to S1530.

[0279] In step S1510, the terminal device can receive first information. Correspondingly, the network device can send the first information to the terminal device.

[0280] The first information described above can be used to determine the first timing. The timing mentioned by the embodiments of the present application can refer to a single time point (such as a timing position in a communication system), or can refer to a time window or a time period. The timing position can be indicated by a system frame number and a subframe number, for example.

[0281] The first timing can be the timing for obtaining a predicted value of a measurement result. In other words, the first timing is the timing for obtaining a measurement result by prediction, or the first timing is the timing for predicting a measurement result.

[0282] In some embodiments, the measurement result described above can be a measurement result for mobility management, such as a radio resource management (RRM) measurement result. For example, the measurement result can be a measurement result of a serving cell and / or a measurement result of a neighbor cell. For another example, the measurement result can be a cell-level measurement result and / or a beam-level measurement result.

[0283] In some embodiments, the first information can directly indicate the first timing, or in other words, the first information can include information associated with the first timing. This scheme is simple to implement.

[0284] Exemplarily, the first information can indicate a time sequence position corresponding to the first occasion or a time window or time period corresponding to the first occasion. Alternatively, the time window or time period can be indicated by a time sequence position and a time length, i.e., the first information can comprise a time sequence position corresponding to the first occasion and a time length.

[0285] Exemplarily, the first information can comprise one or more of the following: periodicity information; offset information; time duration information; or time advance information.

[0286] Exemplarily, the first occasion can be periodic, and the first information can indicate the first occasion within a period and a period (also referred to as a repetition period) of the first occasion. In this case, all the first occasions can be determined based on the first occasion within a period and the repetition period of the first occasion, thereby facilitating reduction of processing complexity and indication overhead of the first occasion.

[0287] Exemplarily, the first information can indicate a reference point and a time offset of the first occasion relative to the reference point. Alternatively, the time offset of the first occasion relative to the reference point can be a time offset amount between a start position or an end position of the first occasion and the reference point. The reference point can be indicated by a system frame number, a subframe number, etc. for ease of implementation.

[0288] Alternatively, the first information can indicate a reference occasion and a time offset of the first occasion relative to the reference occasion. Alternatively, the time offset of the first occasion relative to the reference occasion can be a time offset between a start position / end position of the first occasion and a start position / end position of the reference occasion.

[0289] If the first occasion is periodic, the first information can indicate a time offset between the first occasion and a reference point (or a reference occasion) within a period and the reference point (or the reference occasion). Taking an example of a period comprising a first occasion A, a first occasion B and a first occasion C, the first information can comprise a reference point and offset amounts A, B and C corresponding to the first occasion A, the first occasion B and the first occasion C respectively. As an example, the offset amounts A, B and C are all offset amounts relative to the reference point. As another example, the offset amount A is an offset amount of the first occasion A relative to the reference point, the offset amount B is an offset amount of the first occasion B relative to the first occasion A, and the offset amount C is an offset amount of the first occasion C relative to the first occasion B. In this case, the offset amount B and the offset amount C can also be referred to as offset increments, thereby facilitating further reduction of indication overhead of the first occasion.

[0290] In some embodiments, the first information can indicate a time at which the measurement result needs to be acquired, and a time at which the measurement result needs to be acquired by actual measurement. Among them, in the time at which the measurement result needs to be acquired, the time other than the time at which the measurement result needs to be acquired by actual measurement is the first time. That is, the first information can indirectly indicate the first time.

[0291] In step S1520, at the first time, a predicted value of the measurement result is acquired.

[0292] The predicted value of the measurement result can also be understood as acquiring the measurement result by prediction. The prediction mentioned here can be the prediction based on the AI / ML technology mentioned in the foregoing, or the prediction based on statistical and probabilistic analysis technology. Illustratively, the prediction based on the AI / ML technology can mean prediction by a first model, wherein the first model is a model based on the AI / ML technology.

[0293] In some embodiments, acquiring the measurement result by prediction can include directly predicting the measurement result, or indirectly predicting the measurement result, that is, predicting one or more intermediate quantities involved in the process of acquiring the measurement result.

[0294] Referring back to FIG. 10, in the process of acquiring the L3 cell-level measurement result, the intermediate quantities involved may, for example, include the L1 beam measurement result (corresponding to reference point A), the L1 beam filtering result (corresponding to reference point A1), and the cell quality (corresponding to reference point B).

[0295] Among them, the L1 beam measurement result can also be referred to as the L1 beam measurement result before filtering; the L1 beam filtering result can also be referred to as the L1 beam measurement result after filtering; and the cell quality can be referred to as the L3 cell measurement result before filtering.

[0296] That is, acquiring the L3 cell-level measurement result by prediction can include directly predicting the L3 cell-level measurement result, and / or predicting one or more intermediate quantities mentioned above. For example, acquiring the L3 cell-level measurement result by prediction can mean predicting the beam measurement result of reference point A, and then acquiring the L3 cell-level measurement result according to the predicted value of the beam measurement result.

[0297] Continuing to refer to FIG. 10, in the process of acquiring the L3 beam-level measurement result, the intermediate quantities involved may, for example, include the L1 beam measurement result (corresponding to reference point A), the L1 beam filtering result (corresponding to reference point A1), and the L3 beam filtering result (corresponding to reference point E).

[0298] The beam measurement result of L1 can also be referred to as a beam measurement result before L1 filtering; the beam filtering result of L1 can also be referred to as a beam measurement result after L1 filtering, or a beam measurement result before L3 beam filtering; and the beam filtering result of L3 can also be referred to as a beam measurement result after L3 beam filtering.

[0299] Similarly, obtaining the beam level measurement result of L3 in a prediction manner can include directly predicting the beam level measurement result of L3, and / or predicting one or more intermediate quantities. For example, obtaining the beam level measurement result of L3 in a prediction manner can refer to predicting the beam measurement result of L3 before L3 beam filtering at the reference point A1, and then obtaining the beam level measurement result of L3 according to the predicted value of the beam measurement result.

[0300] It should be understood that, in the process of obtaining the measurement result in a prediction manner, the measurement result can be predicted alone, or the measurement result and one or more intermediate quantities associated with the measurement result can be predicted. For example, in the process of obtaining the cell level measurement result of L3 in a prediction manner, the beam measurement result of L1 can be predicted (for example, predicting the L1 measurement result of beam 2 according to the L1 measurement result of beam 1), and the cell level measurement result of L3 can be predicted (for example, predicting the cell level measurement result of L3 at time t2 according to the cell level measurement result of L3 at time t1).

[0301] In some embodiments, the predicted value of the measurement result can be used to determine the beam signal quality, the cell signal quality, and the handover strategy of the terminal device. The handover strategy mentioned herein can include the handover strategy of the primary cell, the handover strategy of the primary secondary cell, and the handover strategy of the secondary cell.

[0302] In some embodiments, a measurement report can be generated according to the predicted value of the measurement result, or the predicted value of the measurement result and the actual measurement result (or referred to as the measured value of the measurement result). Further, the generated measurement report can be reported to the network device.

[0303] In the embodiments of the present application, the indication information of the network device, such as the first information, is used to determine the timing of predicting the measurement result, i.e., the first timing, which helps to apply the prediction manner (such as the prediction manner based on AI technology) to mobility management, thereby helping to reduce the cell measurement overhead. In addition, the first timing is determined by the network device, which helps to reduce the processing complexity of the terminal device, thereby helping to reduce the overhead of the terminal device.

[0304] The second time is a time when the measurement result needs to be obtained, and the third time is a time when the measurement result is obtained through actual measurement. The second time can obtain the measurement result through actual measurement or prediction. The third time is a time for performing measurement, or a time when the measurement result is obtained through actual measurement.

[0305] For example, the second time and the first time can be configured, and the first time can be indicated by the first information. That is, the terminal device can predict the measurement result at the first time, and obtain the measurement result through actual measurement at the second time except the first time.

[0306] For example, the second time and the third time can be configured, and the third time can be indicated by the first information. That is, the terminal device can obtain the measurement result through actual measurement at the third time, and predict the measurement result at the second time except the third time (i.e., the first time).

[0307] For example, the first time and the third time can be configured, and the first time and the third time can be indicated by the first information. That is, the terminal device can obtain the measurement result through actual measurement at the third time, and predict the measurement result at the first time.

[0308] In some embodiments, the first time can be indicated by the aforementioned MG configuration and SMTC configuration. In other words, the configuration of the first time can reuse the configuration of the measurement configuration such as the MG configuration and the SMTC configuration in the related art, thereby reducing the modification of the related art for indicating the first time, or helping to reduce the degree of modification of the protocol.

[0309] For example, the SMTC configuration in the existing measurement configuration, or the MG configuration and the SMTC configuration can not be changed (or reserved). That is, the second time is indicated by the existing measurement configuration.

[0310] For example, the terminal device can receive the first MG configuration and the first SMTC configuration sent by the network device, and correspondingly, the network device can send the first MG configuration and the first SMTC configuration to the terminal device. The first MG configuration and the first SMTC configuration mentioned here can be applied to a scenario of obtaining a neighbor cell measurement result, where the neighbor cell and the serving cell are inter-frequency systems and / or inter-systems. In this case, the time indicated by the first MG configuration is the second time.

[0311] For another example, the terminal device can receive the first SMTC configuration sent by the network device, and correspondingly, the network device can send the first SMTC configuration to the terminal device. The first SMTC configuration mentioned here can be applied to the scenario of obtaining the serving cell measurement result and the non-inter-frequency inter-system scenario. In this case, the time indicated by the first SMTC configuration is the second time.

[0312] As an example, the first time can be part or all of the second time mentioned above.

[0313] In some embodiments, the first information can indicate the first time, or the first information can indicate the third time. In the case where the first information indicates the third time, the first time can be other time than the third time in the second time. The following will introduce various implementations of the first information according to the two cases.

[0314] In some embodiments, the first information can include the second MG configuration or the second SMTC configuration. For example, for the inter-frequency inter-system scenario, the first information can include the second MG configuration; for the non-inter-frequency inter-system scenario, the first information can include the second SMTC configuration. The time indicated by the second MG configuration or the second SMTC configuration is the first time or the third time.

[0315] If the second MG configuration or the second SMTC configuration is used to indicate the first time, the terminal device predicts the measurement result at the time indicated by the second MG configuration or the second SMTC configuration. If the second MG configuration or the second SMTC configuration is used to indicate the third time, the terminal device obtains the measurement result by actual measurement at the time indicated by the second MG configuration or the second SMTC configuration, and predicts the measurement result at other time than the third time in the second time.

[0316] Referring back to FIG. 13B, the first MG configuration can be used to indicate time 1 to time 9, the second MG configuration can be used to indicate time 1, time 5, and time 9, or the second MG configuration can be used to indicate time 2, time 3, time 4, time 6, time 7, and time 8.

[0317] Referring back to FIG. 13C, the first MG configuration can be used to indicate time 1 to time 9, the second MG configuration can be used to indicate time 1 to time 9, or the network device does not issue the second MG configuration.

[0318] Referring back to FIG. 14B, the first SMTC configuration can be used to indicate time 1 to time 9, the second SMTC configuration can be used to indicate time 1, time 5, and time 9, or the second SMTC configuration can be used to indicate time 2, time 3, time 4, time 6, time 7, and time 8.

[0319] It should be noted that the second MG configuration and the second SMTC configuration can adopt a similar configuration manner as the MG and the SMTC configuration in the related art. For example, the first SMTC configuration and the second SMTC configuration can each include SMTC configuration period, SMTC configuration duration, and SMTC configuration offset.

[0320] In some embodiments, the first information can multiplex part of the parameters in the first MG configuration or the first SMTC configuration, which helps to further save the indication overhead. In the related art, the MG configuration can include GAP pattern identification, MG length (duration or time length), and repetition period of the MG, and the like. Among them, the repetition period of the MG can be used to determine the time interval between two adjacent MGs. The SMTC configuration can include SMTC configuration period information, which can be used to determine the time interval between two adjacent SMTC occasions.

[0321] Exemplarily, the first information can include a first period, that is, the first information can multiplex other information in the first MG configuration except the repetition period of the MG, or the first information can multiplex other information in the first SMTC configuration except the SMTC configuration period information.

[0322] For example, the first period can be an integer multiple of the second period. The second period is the repetition period of the second occasion. That is, the second period is the MG repetition period in the first MG configuration, or the second period is the SMTC configuration period in the first SMTC configuration. As an example, the first period can be 4 times the second period, as shown in FIG. 13B, or as shown in FIG. 14B.

[0323] Exemplarily, the first information can include a first multiple, and the ratio of the first period to the second period is the first multiple, which helps to reduce the number of bits required to indicate the first period.

[0324] In some embodiments, the first information can include first bit sequence information, each bit in the first bit sequence is associated with one of the second occasions, wherein: if the value of the bit is a first value, the second occasion associated with the bit is the first occasion; and / or if the value of the bit is a second value, the second occasion associated with the bit is the third occasion.

[0325] Still taking FIG. 13B as an example, the first bit sequence can include 9 bits, each of the 9 bits is associated with occasion 1 to occasion 9 in turn. The value of each bit can be used to indicate whether the occasion associated therewith is the first occasion and / or the third occasion. Referring to FIG. 13B, if the first value is 1, the values of the first bit, the fifth bit and the ninth bit in the first bit sequence are 1; if the second value is 0, the values of the second bit to the fourth bit and the sixth bit to the eighth bit in the first bit sequence are 0. For example, the first bit sequence is “100010001”.

[0326] Optionally, the positional relationship between the first occasion and the third occasion is periodically repeated, e.g., the positional relationship between the first occasion and the third occasion in every 9 occasions is the same. In this case, the first bit sequence can include 9 bits, and the indication of the positional relationship between the first occasion and the third occasion in each period by the first bit sequence helps to save the indication overhead.

[0327] It should be understood that the bit sequence can also be referred to as a bit map, etc., which is not limited in the present application.

[0328] In some embodiments, the first information includes first identification information, the first identification information being used to indicate the configuration information of the first occasion or the configuration information of the third occasion, wherein the configuration information of the first occasion is used to determine the first occasion, and the configuration information of the third occasion is used to determine the third occasion. It should be understood that the first identification information can also be replaced by index information, etc. The indication of the first occasion or the third occasion by the first identification information helps to reduce the dynamic indication overhead.

[0329] For example, the network device can configure one or more sets of configuration information of candidate first occasions and / or one or more sets of configuration information of candidate third occasions, so as to indicate the configuration information of the used first occasion and / or the configuration information of the third occasion by the first identification information, or in other words, to indicate the configuration information of the valid first occasion and / or the configuration information of the valid third occasion by the first identification, thereby helping to save the dynamic indication overhead.

[0330] As an example, the one or more sets of configuration information of candidate first occasions and / or the one or more sets of configuration information of candidate third occasions can be preconfigured.

[0331] As another example, the one or more sets of configuration information of candidate first occasions and / or the one or more sets of configuration information of candidate third occasions can be configured before the first identification information is sent.

[0332] For example, the configuration information of the one or more groups of candidate first occasions and / or the configuration information of the one or more groups of candidate third occasions can be predefined, and the first occasion and / or the third occasion indicated by the first identification information can be used to save the dynamic indication overhead.

[0333] As an example, the above-mentioned predefinition can be predefined by a protocol.

[0334] As an example, the configuration information of the one or more groups of candidate first occasions can be stored in association with the one or more identification information, such as in the form of a table or an array. The configuration information of the one or more groups of candidate third occasions can be stored in association with the one or more identification information, such as in the form of a table or an array.

[0335] As an example, the network device can configure the configuration information of the one or more groups of candidate first occasions and / or the configuration information of the one or more groups of candidate third occasions when starting the prediction function or when the network device has a light load.

[0336] In some embodiments, the first information can directly indicate the first occasion and / or the third occasion, such as indicating the timing position and the duration of the first occasion and / or the third occasion. For example, the first information can include one or more of the following: periodic information; offset information; duration information; or time advance information.

[0337] In the above-mentioned method, the first information can indicate the first occasion or the third occasion. Optionally, in order to distinguish the occasion indicated by the first information, the terminal device can receive first indication information sent by the network device, and determine whether the occasion indicated by the first information is the first occasion or the third occasion according to the first indication information.

[0338] For example, the first indication information is 1 bit, when the value of the bit is 1, the occasion indicated by the first information is the first occasion, and when the value of the bit is 0, the occasion indicated by the first information is the third occasion; or, when the value of the bit is 0, the occasion indicated by the first information is the first occasion, and when the value of the bit is 1, the occasion indicated by the first information is the third occasion.

[0339] For example, the first information can include the first indication information. This scheme is simple to implement.

[0340] For example, the first indication information is valid for a period of time. For example, when the first information is received, the occasion indicated by the first information can be determined according to the first indication information received most recently, which helps to avoid sending the first indication information multiple times, thereby helping to reduce the transmission overhead of the first indication information.

[0341] If the first information comprises the first bit sequence information, the first indication information can be a meaning of a bit value, such as the first indication information can comprise a first value and / or a second value.

[0342] In some embodiments, the first information can be predefined to indicate whether the first occasion or the third occasion, which helps to reduce the complexity of processing.

[0343] In some embodiments, the terminal device can receive the second information sent by the network device. Accordingly, the network device can send the second information to the terminal device. The second information is used to indicate that part or all of the measurement results are obtained by prediction. For example, the step S1520 mentioned above can be replaced by: if the second information is received, the predicted value of the measurement result is obtained at the first occasion. Alternatively, if the second information is not received, the predicted value of the measurement result is not obtained, or the measurement result is obtained by actual measurement. The second information can be understood as indication information for performing prediction.

[0344] In this way, the terminal device can determine the first occasion in advance, and when the network indicates to perform prediction (e.g., when the network device sends the second message), the terminal device can directly perform prediction on the measurement result at the first occasion, which helps to reduce the time delay of obtaining the predicted result.

[0345] As mentioned above, the first occasion can be determined by the network device, and the first information can be determined by the network device. In some embodiments, the first information can be determined by a first network device, or the first information can be determined by a second network device; wherein the first network device is a network device corresponding to a neighboring cell of the terminal device, and the second network device is a network device corresponding to a serving cell.

[0346] For example, the first network device and the second network device can exchange the first information, which helps the first network device and the second network device to reach a consensus on the first occasion. For example, if the first information is determined by the second network device, the second network device can send the first information to the first network device and the terminal device; if the first information is determined by the first network device, the first network device can send the first information to the second network device, and the second network device can send the first information to the terminal device.

[0347] In some embodiments, the terminal device can report the measurement result (including the measurement result obtained by actual measurement and the measurement result obtained by prediction) to the network device. For example, the terminal device can report the measurement result through a measurement report message. Further, the network device can determine the cell handover decision according to the received measurement result.

[0348] In the related art, for the inter-frequency inter-system scenario, the data transmission and reception between the terminal device and the serving cell is suspended when measuring the neighbor cell. If the method provided in the embodiments of the present application is used to predict the measurement result of the neighbor cell at the first time, the terminal device and the serving cell can continue to communicate at the first time, thereby helping to avoid the communication interruption caused by the neighbor cell measurement and helping to improve the user experience.

[0349] Prediction method

[0350] The prediction method mentioned in the foregoing can include various kinds. In some embodiments, the network device can indicate the prediction method to the terminal device. For example, the terminal device can receive the third information sent by the network device. The third information can be used to indicate the prediction method, such as the type of prediction and / or the object of prediction.

[0351] Optionally, the type of prediction can include at least one of time domain prediction, space domain prediction, or frequency domain prediction.

[0352] FIG. 16A is a schematic diagram of one scenario of the prediction type provided in the embodiments of the present application.

[0353] Referring to FIG. 16A, the beams 1 and 3 at the time t1 and the time t2 can be measured, and the beams 1 and 3 at the time t3 can be predicted, that is, time domain prediction. For example, the measurement result of the beam 1 at the time t3 and the measurement result of the beam 3 at the time t3 can be predicted by the measurement result of the beam 1 at the time t1 and the measurement result of the beam 3 at the time t2.

[0354] Referring to FIG. 16A, the beams 1 and 3 can be measured, and the beams 2 and 4 can be predicted, that is, space domain prediction. For example, the measurement result of the beam 2 and the measurement result of the beam 4 can be predicted by the measurement result of the beam 1 and the measurement result of the beam 3.

[0355] FIG. 16B is another schematic diagram of the prediction type provided in the embodiments of the present application. Referring to FIG. 16B, the beams 1 and 3 of the cell 1 can be measured, and the beams 5 and 7 of the cell 2 can be predicted. For example, the measurement result of the beam 5 of the cell 2 and the measurement result of the beam 7 of the cell 2 can be predicted by the measurement result of the beam 1 of the cell 1 and the measurement result of the beam 3 of the cell 1.

[0356] In the mobility management scenario, the object of prediction can include, for example, the cell level measurement result and / or the beam level measurement result. That is, the cell level measurement result and / or the beam level measurement result are obtained by prediction.

[0357] As described above, the cell-level measurement result and / or the beam-level measurement result obtained in a predictive manner can be directly predicted, or can be indirectly predicted. Taking the prediction by the first model as an example, the output of the first model can be the cell-level measurement result or the beam-level measurement result, or the output of the first model can be one or more intermediate quantities, which can be used to obtain the cell-level measurement result or the beam-level measurement result.

[0358] Exemplarily, the third information can indicate that the L3 cell-level measurement result is predicted in one or more of the following manners: predicting the L1 beam-level measurement result, and then generating the L3 cell-level measurement result according to the predicted value of the L1 beam-level measurement result; predicting the L3 cell-level measurement result based on the L3 cell-level measurement result; or predicting the L3 cell-level measurement result based on the L1 beam-level measurement result.

[0359] Exemplarily, the third information can indicate that the L3 beam-level measurement result is predicted in one or more of the following manners: predicting the L1 beam-level measurement result, and then generating the L3 beam-level measurement result according to the predicted value of the L1 beam-level measurement result; predicting the L3 beam-level measurement result based on the L3 beam-level measurement result; or predicting the L3 beam-level measurement result based on the L1 beam-level measurement result.

[0360] It should be understood that the above-mentioned measurement results can refer to measurement values directly obtained by actual measurement, or can refer to results after filtering of the measurement values. Alternatively, the measurement values directly obtained by actual measurement can also be referred to as measurement results before filtering, and the results after filtering of the measurement values can be referred to as measurement results after filtering.

[0361] For example, the beam measurement result of L1 (corresponding to reference point A in FIG. 10) can also be referred to as the beam measurement result before L1 filtering; the beam filtering result of L1 (corresponding to reference point A1 in FIG. 10) can also be referred to as the beam measurement result after L1 filtering, or the beam measurement result before L3 beam filtering; the cell quality (corresponding to reference point B in FIG. 10) can be referred to as the cell measurement result before L3 filtering; the beam filtering result of L3 (corresponding to reference point E in FIG. 10) can also be referred to as the beam measurement result after L3 beam filtering.

[0362] Still taking the prediction by the first model as an example, the third information can indicate the input data and / or the output result of the first model. For example, the input data of the first model can be one of the L1 beam-level measurement result, the L3 cell-level measurement result, and the L3 beam-level measurement result; and the output data of the first model can be one of the predicted value of the L1 beam-level measurement result, the predicted value of the L3 cell-level measurement result, and the L3 beam-level measurement result.

[0363] The third information can indicate one or more of the above information. As an example, the third information can indicate that the L3 beam level measurement result is predicted based on the L3 beam level measurement result, while indicating that the prediction type is time domain prediction. That is, the L3 beam level measurement result at time t2 can be predicted based on the L3 beam level measurement result at time t1.

[0364] In some embodiments, the third information can be determined by a network device, such as the first network device or the second network device. Exemplarily, the first network device and the second network device can exchange the third information, which helps the first network device and the second network device reach a common understanding of the third information. As an example, if the third information is determined by the second network device, the second network device can send the third information to the first network device and the terminal device; if the third information is determined by the first network device, the first network device can send the third information to the second network device, and the second network device sends the third information to the terminal device.

[0365] The network device determines the first time (implicit indication)

[0366] FIG. 17 is a flow diagram of another communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application. The method shown in FIG. 17 involves the interaction between the terminal device and the network device. In the following, the method for implicitly indicating the first time provided by the embodiments of the present application will be introduced in combination with FIG. 17.

[0367] The method shown in FIG. 17 can include step S1710 and step S1720.

[0368] In step S1710, the terminal device can receive the measurement configuration sent by the network device, and correspondingly, the network device can send the measurement configuration to the terminal device.

[0369] The measurement configuration can include the third MG configuration and the third SMTC configuration, or the measurement configuration includes the third SMTC configuration. It should be noted that the time indicated by the third MG configuration is the time for performing measurement, or the time for actually measuring to obtain the measurement result.

[0370] In step S1720, if the second information is received, the first time is determined based on the measurement configuration; wherein the second information is used to indicate that part or all of the measurement results are obtained by prediction.

[0371] In some embodiments, the measurement result is the measurement result of a neighbor cell, and the neighbor cell and the serving cell are in different frequency systems or different systems. Or, the method shown in FIG. 17 is applicable to the scenario of different frequency and different systems.

[0372] In some embodiments, if the measurement configuration includes the third SMTC configuration (without the third MG configuration), the first occasion is a fourth occasion, and the fourth occasion is the occasion indicated by the third SMTC configuration; if the measurement configuration includes the third MG configuration and the third SMTC configuration, the first occasion is an occasion other than the occasion indicated by the third MG configuration among the fourth occasions.

[0373] FIG. 18A is an example of the first occasion provided by an embodiment of the present application. Referring to FIG. 18A, the measurement configuration includes only the third SMTC configuration. If the second information is received, the first occasion is occasion 1 to occasion 9 indicated by the third SMTC configuration.

[0374] FIG. 18B is another example of the first occasion provided by an embodiment of the present application. Referring to FIG. 18B, the measurement configuration includes the third SMTC configuration and the third MG configuration. The third SMTC configuration indicates occasion 1 to occasion 9, and the third MG configuration indicates occasion 1, occasion 4, and occasion 8. If the second information is received, the first occasion is occasion 2, occasion 3, occasion 5, occasion 6, occasion 7, and occasion 9.

[0375] In some embodiments, the terminal device can receive the second indication information sent by the network device, and if the second indication information is received, the terminal device determines the first occasion according to the above method, i.e., determines the first occasion based on the measurement configuration. Further, when the second information is received, the terminal device obtains the predicted value of the measurement result at the first occasion.

[0376] In other words, the above step S1720 can be replaced by: if the second indication information is received, the terminal device determines the first occasion based on the measurement configuration. In this way, the terminal device can determine the first occasion in advance, and when the network indicates to make a prediction (e.g., when the network device sends the second message), the terminal device can directly predict the measurement result at the first occasion, which helps to reduce the time delay of obtaining the predicted result.

[0377] For the scenario of implicitly indicating the first occasion, the network device can also issue a prediction method to the terminal device, and the content and indication method of the prediction method are similar to the content related to the third information introduced above. For brevity, details are not described here.

[0378] Similarly, the second indication information can be determined by the first network device or the second network device. Further, the first network device and the second network device can interact the second indication information, which helps to reach a consensus on the first occasion.

[0379] The terminal device determines the first occasion

[0380] FIG. 19 is a flow diagram of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. The method shown in FIG. 19 can include step S1910.

[0381] In step S1910, the terminal device determines the first occasion.

[0382] In some embodiments, the terminal device can multiplex the first MG configuration and the first SMTC configuration in the measurement configuration. Specifically, the occasion indicated by the first MG configuration or the first SMTC configuration is the second occasion, and the first occasion can be part or all of the second occasion. Illustratively, before determining the first occasion, the terminal device can receive the first MG configuration and the first SMTC configuration sent by the network device, and the second occasion is the occasion indicated by the first MG configuration. This method is suitable for the scenario of inter-frequency and inter-system. Illustratively, before determining the first occasion, the terminal device can receive the first SMTC configuration, and the second occasion is the occasion indicated by the first SMTC configuration. This method is suitable for the scenario of non-inter-frequency and non-inter-system.

[0383] In the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device determines the first occasion, which helps to improve the flexibility of determining the first occasion.

[0384] In some embodiments, before determining the first occasion, the terminal device can receive the fifth information sent by the network device. The fifth information can be used to determine the first occasion.

[0385] Illustratively, the fifth information can include a first threshold, and the first threshold is the maximum number of prediction values allowed to be obtained, such as the maximum number of occasions allowed to be predicted in N occasions. The N occasions may, for example, be part or all of the second occasion mentioned above.

[0386] Still taking FIG. 13B as an example, if the first threshold is 5 and the N occasions include occasion 1 to occasion 9, the number of first occasions included in occasion 1 to occasion 9 is less than or equal to 5, that is, at most 5 occasions are allowed to predict the measurement results. For another example, the first threshold can also include the maximum number of prediction values obtained when predicting in the first occasion, such as occasion 1. As an example, in the case of predicting the beam-level measurement result of L1 first, and then obtaining the cell-level measurement result of L3 according to the prediction value of the beam-level measurement result of L1, the first threshold can indicate the maximum number of beam-level measurement results of L1 allowed to be obtained. Through the setting of the first threshold, the measurement overhead and the reliability of the measurement result (determined based on the measured value and the prediction value) can be taken into account.

[0387] Illustratively, the fifth information can include a first ratio, and the first ratio is the ratio of the number of prediction values to the sum of the number of prediction values and the number of measured values. Here, the measured value refers to the measurement result obtained by performing measurement.

[0388] For example, the first proportion can be 20%, 50%, 80%, etc. In a case where the reliability of the prediction model is high and the system is more sensitive to measurement overhead, the first proportion can be large, such as 80%-100%. In a case where the reliability of the measurement result (determined based on the measured value and the predicted value) is required to be high, the first proportion can be small, such as less than 50%. It should be understood that the above-mentioned value and range of the first proportion are exemplary, and the present application is not limited thereto.

[0389] Similarly, the fifth information can further include a second proportion, the second proportion being a ratio of the number of predicted values to the number of measured values.

[0390] For example, the fifth information can include a fifth occasion, where the fifth occasion is an occasion for obtaining a measurement result by performing measurement. That is, the network device can indicate some occasions for which the measurement result is obtained by actual measurement, and the terminal device can determine whether the measurement result is obtained by actual measurement or by prediction in other occasions.

[0391] For example, the fifth information can include one or more first configuration information, each first configuration information being associated with one or more candidate first occasions. In this case, the terminal device can select one first configuration information from the one or more first configuration information, and then determine the first occasion according to the selected first configuration information.

[0392] As an example, the above-mentioned first configuration information can be one or more of the first information, the measurement configuration, and the fourth information mentioned above.

[0393] It should be understood that the first configuration information can be configuration information of the first occasion, i.e., indicating the first occasion, or configuration information of the third occasion, i.e., indicating the third occasion (indirectly indicating the first occasion). For example, in a case where the first configuration information indicates the third occasion, the first occasion can be determined according to the occasion for which the measurement result is required to be obtained and the third occasion.

[0394] It should be understood that the fifth information can include one or more of the above information, and the present application is not limited thereto. For example, the fifth information can include the first proportion and the fifth occasion, or the first threshold and the fifth occasion. For another example, the fifth information can include one or more first configuration information and the first threshold.

[0395] In some embodiments, the terminal device can determine the first occasion based on remaining resources of the terminal device. The remaining resources can include at least one of remaining memory, remaining power, remaining computing resources, or remaining computing power resources. For example, when the remaining memory, the remaining computing resources, or the remaining computing power resources are small, the number of the first occasions can be small, which helps to save resources. This is because the model used in the prediction process usually requires more resources. For another example, when the remaining power is small, the number of the first occasions can be large, which helps to save power. This is because the power consumption in the measurement process can be large.

[0396] It should be understood that the above method of determining the first occasion is only exemplary, and different determination methods can be used according to actual use scenarios. For example, as technology develops, the power consumption of performing measurement is greatly reduced, which is less than the power required for performing prediction. Therefore, in the case of small remaining power, the number of the first occasions can be small. For another example, in the future, the demand for memory, computing power, and other resources in the model usage process is greatly reduced. Therefore, in the case of small remaining memory or small computing power resources, the number of the first occasions can be large.

[0397] In some embodiments, the method shown in FIG. 19 can further include step S1920. In step S1920, the terminal device can send fourth information to the second network device, and the fourth information can be used to indicate the first occasion.

[0398] Through the transmission of the fourth information, the second network device and the terminal device can have consistent understanding of the first occasion.

[0399] Exemplarily, the second network device can send the fourth information to the first network device. That is, the first network device and the second network device can interact the fourth information, thereby helping to achieve consistent understanding of the first occasion by the network devices.

[0400] Optionally, the prediction method can be determined by the terminal device and reported to the network device, or the prediction method can be determined by the network device and issued to the terminal device. The prediction method can be indicated by the third information. The content of the third information is similar to the content described above, and is not described here for brevity.

[0401] Determining a transmission occasion of a reference signal

[0402] FIG. 20 is a flow diagram of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. The method shown in FIG. 20 can include step S2010.

[0403] In step S2010, the first network device determines a transmission occasion of a reference signal based on the first occasion. The reference signal is used to perform measurement.

[0404] Exemplarily, the transmission occasion of the reference signal can not include the first occasion. Since the terminal device does not need to measure the reference signal at the first occasion, the first network device can not transmit the reference signal at the first occasion, thereby helping to reduce the overhead of transmitting the reference signal.

[0405] In some embodiments, the first network device can determine the validity time of the transmission occasion of the reference signal according to the second information. Alternatively, if the second information (determined by the second network device) is received or the second information (determined by the first network device) is transmitted to the second network device, the first network device can transmit the reference signal according to the transmission occasion of the reference signal, i.e., not transmitting the reference signal at the first occasion.

[0406] It is considered that the plurality of terminal devices within the coverage of the first network device all perform measurement based on the reference signal, therefore, the terminal devices within the coverage of the first network device can adopt the same first occasion configuration, thereby helping to avoid the influence on other terminal devices when the reference signal is not transmitted at the first occasion.

[0407] In some embodiments, the first network device can determine the first occasion based on the first information. Exemplarily, before step S2010, the method shown in FIG. 20 can further include step S2020.

[0408] In step S2020, the first network device can receive the first information from the second network device, or the first network device can determine the first information. That is, the first information can be determined by the first network device, or can be indicated by the second network device.

[0409] In some embodiments, the first network device can determine the first occasion based on the measurement configuration and the second information, or based on the measurement configuration and the second indication information. This method is applicable to the scenario of implicitly indicating the first occasion mentioned above.

[0410] In some embodiments, the first network device can determine the first occasion based on the fourth information. This method is applicable to the scenario of the terminal device determining the first occasion mentioned above.

[0411] It should be noted that the indication information associated with the prediction, such as one or more of the first information, the second information or the third information, can be included in the measurement configuration, such as the measurement object configuration, or can be configured by other means, which is not limited in the present application. For example, the first information and the third information can be included in the measurement configuration, and the second information is carried in the downlink control information.

[0412] It should be noted that the neighbor cell mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can be replaced by a candidate cell or a target cell.

[0413] It should be understood that the measurement result mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can refer to a measurement value directly obtained through actual measurement, or a result after filtering the measurement value. Alternatively, the measurement value directly obtained through actual measurement can also be referred to as a measurement result before filtering, and the result after filtering the measurement value can be referred to as a measurement result after filtering.

[0414] For example, the beam measurement result of L1 (corresponding to reference point A in FIG. 10) can also be referred to as a beam measurement result before filtering of L1; the beam filtering result of L1 (corresponding to reference point A1 in FIG. 10) can also be referred to as a beam measurement result after filtering of L1, or a beam measurement result before filtering of L3; the cell quality (corresponding to reference point B in FIG. 10) can be referred to as a cell measurement result before filtering of L3; and the beam filtering result of L3 (corresponding to reference point E in FIG. 10) can also be referred to as a beam measurement result after filtering of L3.

[0415] It should be noted that in the embodiments of the present application, the beam measurement result and the beam level measurement result can be replaced with each other, and the cell measurement result and the cell level measurement result can be replaced with each other.

[0416] It should be understood that the embodiments provided by the present application can be applied to a scenario in which a predicted measurement result is used to replace an actual measurement result, or a scenario in which a predicted measurement result is added on the basis of not changing the actual measurement scheme in the related art (i.e., without reducing the number of actual measurements). Replacing the actual measurement result with the predicted measurement result helps to reduce the number of actual measurements, thereby helping to reduce the measurement overhead. Adding the predicted measurement result on the basis of not changing the actual measurement scheme in the related art (i.e., without reducing the number of actual measurements) helps to improve the performance of the system.

[0417] It should be noted that the method provided by the embodiments of the present application can also be applicable to an ORAN architecture. In the ORAN architecture, the network device can include an O-DU, an O-CU, and an O-RU. The actions of generating or determining (such as determining the first information, the second information, and the third information) by the network device in the foregoing method can be performed by the O-CU, and the actions of sending or receiving by the network device can be performed by the O-DU, such as being sent by the O-DU to other devices through a front-haul interface from the O-RU, or being received from other devices. In the ORAN architecture, the behavior of the terminal device can refer to the description in the foregoing. For the sake of brevity, details are not described herein.

[0418] In the future, nodes with AI functions, such as server units (SUs) or intelligence units (IUs), can be introduced into the RAN architecture, and the method provided in the embodiments of the present application can also be applicable to this architecture. Taking the node with AI functions as an SU for example, in the method mentioned above, the actions (such as determining the first information, the second information, and the third information) generated or determined by the network device can be performed by the SU, and the determination results (such as the first information, the second information, and the third information) are sent by the SU to the CU, and then sent by the CU to the DU; the actions of sending or receiving by the network device can be performed by the DU, such as being sent by the DU to other devices through the front interface from the RU, or being received from other devices. The behavior of the terminal device can be referred to the description above. For brevity, the details are not described here.

[0419] If the ORAN architecture introduces nodes with AI functions, such as open SUs (O-SUs) or open IUs (O-IUs), the actions performed by the SU in the method mentioned above can be performed by the O-SU or the O-IU.

[0420] For the convenience of understanding, the method provided in the embodiments of the present application will be exemplarily introduced below in combination with FIG. 21 to FIG. 25.

[0421] Inter-frequency inter-system scenario (explicit indication)

[0422] FIG. 21 is a flow diagram of another communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application. The method shown in FIG. 21 can involve the interaction between the terminal device and the source base station and the candidate / target base station.

[0423] The method shown in FIG. 21 can include steps 1a to 5. Among them, steps 1a, 2a and steps 1b, 2b are optional, that is, steps 1a, 2a are executed or steps 1b, 2b are executed.

[0424] In step 1a, the source base station determines the first information. Wherein, the source base station is the second network device mentioned above, that is, the serving base station of the terminal device. Optionally, the source base station can also determine the third information.

[0425] In step 2a, the source base station sends the first information to the candidate / target base station. The candidate / target base station is the first network device mentioned above, that is, the network device corresponding to the neighboring cell. Optionally, the source base station also sends the third information to the candidate / target base station.

[0426] In step 1b, the candidate / target base station determines the first information. Optionally, the candidate / target base station can also determine the third information.

[0427] In step 2b, the candidate / target base station sends the first information to the source base station. Optionally, the candidate / target base station also sends the third information to the source base station.

[0428] In step 3, the terminal device receives the measurement configuration, such as measurement object configuration, sent by the source base station.

[0429] The measurement configuration can include the first MG configuration and the first information, which can be used to indicate the timing of the predicted and / or actual measurement, i.e. the aforementioned first timing and / or third timing. Exemplarily, each of the first timing and / or the third timing corresponds to one MG timing (i.e. the timing indicated by the MG configuration).

[0430] Exemplarily, the first information can include one or more of periodicity information, offset information, duration information, and timing advance information.

[0431] Exemplarily, the first information is identification / index information, each identification / index is associated with configuration information, which is the configuration information of the first timing or the configuration information of the third timing.

[0432] Exemplarily, the first information is the second MG configuration information. For example, the predicted measurement is performed on the timing corresponding to the second MG configuration (the reception / transmission of the serving cell does not need to be suspended on the corresponding timing), and the actual measurement is performed on the timing corresponding to the first MG configuration except for the timing corresponding to the second MG configuration. For another example, the actual measurement is performed on the timing corresponding to the second MG configuration (the reception / transmission of the serving cell needs to be suspended on the corresponding timing), and the predicted measurement is performed on the timing corresponding to the first MG configuration except for the timing corresponding to the second MG configuration. The timing corresponding to the MG configuration can be understood as the timing indicated by the MG configuration.

[0433] Exemplarily, the first information is repetition period information. For example, based on the repetition period information, part of the timing corresponding to the first MG configuration information can be determined, and the predicted measurement is performed on the part of the timing (the reception / transmission of the serving cell does not need to be suspended on the corresponding timing), and the actual measurement is performed on the other timing corresponding to the first MG configuration information except for the part of the timing.

[0434] For another example, based on the repetition period information, part of the timing corresponding to the first MG configuration information can be determined, and the actual measurement is performed on the part of the timing (the reception / transmission of the serving cell needs to be suspended on the corresponding timing), and the predicted measurement is performed on the other timing corresponding to the first MG configuration information except for the part of the timing.

[0435] For example, the first information is bit sequence information. Each bit corresponds to a time occasion of an MG. For example, a bit of 1 in the bit sequence corresponds to a time occasion in which prediction is performed (no need to suspend reception / transmission of the serving cell in the corresponding time occasion), and a bit of 0 corresponds to a time occasion in which actual measurement is performed. Optionally, the bit sequence can be used to indicate that the time occasion of the MG in each period is the first time occasion or the third time occasion.

[0436] In some embodiments, the terminal device can receive third information sent by the source base station, and the third information can be used to indicate a prediction method.

[0437] For example, the third information can indicate a type of prediction, such as one or more of time domain prediction, frequency domain prediction, and spatial domain prediction.

[0438] For another example, the third information can indicate an object of prediction, such as one or more of beam level measurement results and cell level measurement results.

[0439] For another example, the third information can indicate how to perform prediction, such as direct prediction or indirect prediction.

[0440] As an example, the third information can indicate one or more of the following: predicting L1 beam level measurement results, generating L3 cell level measurement results based on predicted values of the L1 beam level measurement results, predicting L3 cell level measurement results based on the L3 cell level measurement results, or predicting L3 cell level measurement results based on the L1 beam level measurement results.

[0441] As another example, the third information can indicate one or more of the following: predicting L1 beam level measurement results, generating L3 beam level measurement results based on predicted values of the L1 beam level measurement results, predicting L3 beam level measurement results based on the L3 beam level measurement results, or predicting L3 beam level measurement results based on the L1 beam level measurement results.

[0442] It should be understood that the above measurement results can refer to measurement values directly obtained by actual measurement, or refer to results after filtering of the measurement values. Alternatively, the measurement values directly obtained by actual measurement can also be referred to as measurement results before filtering, and the results after filtering of the measurement values can be referred to as measurement results after filtering.

[0443] For example, the beam measurement result of L1 (corresponding to reference point A in FIG. 10) can also be referred to as the beam measurement result before filtering of L1; the beam filtering result of L1 (corresponding to reference point A1 in FIG. 10) can also be referred to as the beam measurement result after filtering of L1, or the beam measurement result before filtering of L3; the cell quality (corresponding to reference point B in FIG. 10) can be referred to as the cell measurement result before filtering of L3; and the beam filtering result of L3 (corresponding to reference point E in FIG. 10) can also be referred to as the beam measurement result after filtering of L3.

[0444] In step 4, the terminal device obtains the measurement result based on the first MG configuration information and the first information.

[0445] The measurement result can include a predicted value of the measurement result and a measured value of the measurement result. The terminal device obtains the predicted value of the measurement result at the first time, and obtains the measured value of the measurement result at a time other than the first time in the time corresponding to the first MG configuration.

[0446] Optionally, if the terminal device receives the second information, the terminal device obtains the measurement result based on the first MG configuration information and the first information. The second information is used to indicate that part or all of the measurement result is obtained by prediction, and the second information can also be referred to as prediction indication information.

[0447] In step 5, the terminal device sends the measurement result to the source base station.

[0448] Exemplarily, the terminal device can report the measurement result through a measurement report message.

[0449] In some embodiments, the candidate / target base station can determine, according to the first information, a time at which no reference signal is sent, such as no reference signal is sent at the first time.

[0450] By indicating the first information to the terminal device through the source base station, the terminal device can know at which times in the time indicated by the existing MG configuration to perform prediction, which helps to obtain complete and accurate measurement results. In addition, the neighbor cell can also not send a reference signal at the corresponding time (prediction time), which helps to reduce the reference signal overhead.

[0451] Non-frequency and non-system scenario (explicit indication)

[0452] FIG. 22 is a flow diagram of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. The method shown in FIG. 22 can involve the interaction between a terminal device and a source base station and a candidate / target base station.

[0453] The method shown in FIG. 22 can include steps 1a to 5. Among them, steps 1a and 2a and steps 1b and 2b are optional, that is, steps 1a and 2a are executed or steps 1b and 2b are executed.

[0454] In step 1a, the source base station determines the first information. Among them, the source base station is the second network device mentioned above, that is, the service base station of the terminal device. Optionally, the source base station can also determine the third information.

[0455] In step 2a, the source base station sends the first information to the candidate / target base station. The candidate / target base station is the first network device mentioned above, i.e., the network device corresponding to the neighbor cell. Optionally, the source base station also sends the third information to the candidate / target base station.

[0456] In step 1b, the candidate / target base station determines the first information. Optionally, the candidate / target base station can also determine the third information.

[0457] In step 2b, the candidate / target base station sends the first information to the source base station. Optionally, the candidate / target base station also sends the third information to the source base station.

[0458] In step 3, the terminal device receives the measurement configuration sent by the source base station, such as the measurement object configuration.

[0459] The measurement configuration can include the first SMTC configuration and the first information, which can be used to indicate the timing of the prediction and / or actual measurement, i.e., the first timing and / or the third timing mentioned above. Exemplarily, each of the first timing and / or the third timing corresponds to one SMTC configuration timing (i.e., the timing indicated by the SMTC configuration).

[0460] Exemplarily, the first information can include one or more of the period information, the offset information, the duration information, and the time advance information.

[0461] Exemplarily, the first information is identification / index information, each identification / index is associated with a configuration information, which is the configuration information of the first timing or the configuration information of the third timing.

[0462] Exemplarily, the first information is the second SMTC configuration information. For example, the prediction is performed on the timing corresponding to the second SMTC configuration (the reception / transmission of the serving cell does not need to be suspended on the corresponding timing), and the actual measurement is performed on the timing of the first SMTC configuration except for the timing corresponding to the second SMTC configuration. For another example, the actual measurement is performed on the timing corresponding to the second SMTC configuration (the reception / transmission of the serving cell needs to be suspended on the corresponding timing), and the prediction is performed on the timing of the first SMTC configuration except for the timing corresponding to the second SMTC configuration. The timing corresponding to the SMTC configuration can be understood as the timing indicated by the SMTC configuration.

[0463] Exemplarily, the first information is the repetition period information. For example, based on the repetition period information, a part of the timing corresponding to the first SMTC configuration information can be determined, and the prediction is performed on the part of the timing (the reception / transmission of the serving cell does not need to be suspended on the corresponding timing), and the actual measurement is performed on the other timing corresponding to the first SMTC configuration information.

[0464] For example, based on the repetition period information, part of the occasions corresponding to the first SMTC configuration information can be determined, and actual measurement is performed on the part of the occasions (the reception / transmission of the serving cell needs to be suspended on the corresponding occasions), and prediction is performed on the other occasions corresponding to the first SMTC configuration information.

[0465] For example, the first information is bit sequence information. Each bit in the bit sequence corresponds to an occasion corresponding to an SMTC configuration. For example, 1 bit in the bit sequence corresponds to an occasion on which prediction is performed (the reception / transmission of the serving cell does not need to be suspended on the corresponding occasion), and 0 bit corresponds to an occasion on which actual measurement is performed. Optionally, the bit sequence can be used to indicate that the occasion corresponding to the SMTC configuration in each period is the first occasion or the third occasion.

[0466] In some embodiments, the terminal device can receive third information sent by the source base station, and the third information can be used to indicate a prediction method.

[0467] For example, the third information can indicate the type of prediction, such as one or more of time domain prediction, frequency domain prediction, and spatial domain prediction.

[0468] For example, the third information can indicate the object of prediction, such as one or more of beam level measurement results and cell level measurement results.

[0469] For example, the third information can indicate how to perform prediction, such as direct prediction or indirect prediction.

[0470] As an example, the third information can indicate one or more of the following: predicting L1 beam level measurement results, generating L3 cell level measurement results based on the predicted values of the L1 beam level measurement results, predicting L3 cell level measurement results based on the L3 cell level measurement results, or predicting L3 cell level measurement results based on the L1 beam level measurement results.

[0471] As another example, the third information can indicate one or more of the following: predicting L1 beam level measurement results, generating L3 beam level measurement results based on the predicted values of the L1 beam level measurement results, predicting L3 beam level measurement results based on the L3 beam level measurement results, or predicting L3 beam level measurement results based on the L1 beam level measurement results.

[0472] It should be understood that the above measurement results can refer to measurement values directly obtained by actual measurement, or can refer to results after filtering of the measurement values. Alternatively, the measurement values directly obtained by actual measurement can also be referred to as measurement results before filtering, and the results after filtering of the measurement values can be referred to as measurement results after filtering.

[0473] For example, the beam measurement result of L1 (corresponding to reference point A in FIG. 10) can also be referred to as a beam measurement result before L1 filtering; the beam filtering result of L1 (corresponding to reference point A1 in FIG. 10) can also be referred to as a beam measurement result after L1 filtering, or a beam measurement result before L3 beam filtering; the cell quality (corresponding to reference point B in FIG. 10) can be referred to as a cell measurement result before L3 filtering; and the beam filtering result of L3 (corresponding to reference point E in FIG. 10) can also be referred to as a beam measurement result after L3 beam filtering.

[0474] In step 4, the terminal device obtains the measurement result based on the first SMTC configuration information and the first information.

[0475] The measurement result can include a predicted value of the measurement result and an actually measured value of the measurement result. The terminal device obtains the predicted value of the measurement result at a first time, and obtains the actually measured value of the measurement result at a time other than the first time in a time corresponding to the first SMTC configuration.

[0476] Optionally, if the terminal device receives second information, the terminal device obtains the measurement result based on the first SMTC configuration information and the first information. The second information is used to indicate that part or all of the measurement result is obtained by prediction, and the second information can also be referred to as prediction indication information.

[0477] In step 5, the terminal device sends the measurement result to the source base station.

[0478] For example, the terminal device can report the measurement result through a measurement report message.

[0479] In some embodiments, the candidate / target base station can determine, according to the first information, a time at which no reference signal is sent, such as a time at which no reference signal is sent in the first time.

[0480] By indicating the first information to the terminal device through the source base station, the terminal device can know at which times in the time indicated by the existing SMTC configuration to perform prediction, which helps to obtain complete and accurate measurement results. In addition, the neighbor cell can also not send a reference signal at the corresponding time (prediction time), which helps to reduce the reference signal overhead.

[0481] Inter-frequency and inter-system scenario (implicit indication)

[0482] FIG. 23 is a flow diagram of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. The method shown in FIG. 23 can involve the interaction between a terminal device and a source base station and a candidate / target base station.

[0483] The method shown in FIG. 23 can include steps 1a to 5. Among them, steps 1a and 2a and steps 1b and 2b are optional, that is, steps 1a and 2a are executed or steps 1b and 2b are executed.

[0484] In step 1a, the source base station determines the second information or the second indication information. The source base station is the second network device mentioned above, i.e., the serving base station of the terminal device. Optionally, the source base station can also determine the third information.

[0485] In step 2a, the source base station sends the second information or the second indication information to the candidate / target base station. The candidate / target base station is the first network device mentioned above, i.e., the network device corresponding to the neighboring cell. Optionally, the source base station also sends the third information to the candidate / target base station.

[0486] In step 1b, the candidate / target base station determines the second information or the second indication information. Optionally, the candidate / target base station can also determine the third information.

[0487] In step 2b, the candidate / target base station sends the second information or the second indication information to the source base station. Optionally, the candidate / target base station also sends the third information to the source base station.

[0488] In step 3, the terminal device receives the measurement configuration sent by the source base station, such as the measurement object configuration.

[0489] The measurement configuration can include the third SMTC configuration, or the measurement configuration can include the third SMTC configuration and the third MG configuration. Optionally, if the terminal device receives the second information, the terminal device determines the first occasion based on the measurement configuration and obtains the predicted value of the measurement result at the first occasion.

[0490] For example, when the measurement configuration does not include the third MG configuration information (and the measurement configuration is for the scenario of inter-frequency inter-system measurement), all occasions indicated by the third SMTC configuration are the first occasion.

[0491] For another example, when the measurement configuration includes the third MG configuration information (and the measurement configuration is for the scenario of inter-frequency inter-system measurement), the occasion indicated by the third MG configuration is the first occasion, and the occasions other than the first occasion among the occasions indicated by the third SMTC configuration are the third occasions.

[0492] In some embodiments, the terminal device can receive the third information sent by the source base station, and the third information can be used to indicate the prediction method.

[0493] For example, the third information can indicate the type of prediction, such as one or more of time domain prediction, frequency domain prediction, and spatial domain prediction.

[0494] For another example, the third information can indicate the object of prediction, such as one or more of beam level measurement result and cell level measurement result.

[0495] For another example, the third information can indicate one or more of the following: predicting the L1 beam level measurement result, generating the L3 cell level measurement result based on the predicted value of the L1 beam level measurement result, predicting the L3 cell level measurement result based on the L3 cell level measurement result, or predicting the L3 cell level measurement result based on the L1 beam level measurement result.

[0496] For another example, the third information can indicate one or more of the following: predicting the L1 beam level measurement result, generating the L3 cell level measurement result based on the predicted value of the L1 beam level measurement result, predicting the L3 cell level measurement result based on the L3 cell level measurement result, or predicting the L3 cell level measurement result based on the L1 beam level measurement result.

[0497] For another example, the third information can indicate one or more of the following: predicting the L1 beam level measurement result, generating the L3 cell level measurement result based on the predicted value of the L1 beam level measurement result, predicting the L3 cell level measurement result based on the L3 cell level measurement result, or predicting the L3 cell level measurement result based on the L1 beam level measurement result.

[0498] It should be understood that the above measurement results can refer to measurement values directly obtained by actual measurement, or refer to results after filtering of the measurement values. Alternatively, the measurement values directly obtained by actual measurement can also be referred to as measurement results before filtering, and the results after filtering of the measurement values can be referred to as measurement results after filtering.

[0499] For example, the beam measurement result of L1 (corresponding to reference point A in FIG. 10) can also be referred to as the beam measurement result before filtering of L1; the beam filtering result of L1 (corresponding to reference point A1 in FIG. 10) can also be referred to as the beam measurement result after filtering of L1, or the beam measurement result before filtering of L3; the cell quality (corresponding to reference point B in FIG. 10) can be referred to as the cell measurement result before filtering of L3; and the beam filtering result of L3 (corresponding to reference point E in FIG. 10) can also be referred to as the beam measurement result after filtering of L3.

[0500] In step 4, the terminal device obtains measurement results according to the measurement configuration.

[0501] The measurement results can include predicted values of the measurement results and actual measurement values of the measurement results. The terminal device can perform prediction at the first occasions indicated by the measurement configuration in step 3, and perform actual measurement at the third occasions indicated by the measurement configuration in step 3.

[0502] For example, in a case where all the occasions indicated by the third SMTC configuration are the first occasions, the terminal device can obtain measurement results of the neighbor cells based on frequency domain prediction according to measurement results of the serving cell. In a case where part of the occasions indicated by the third SMTC configuration are the first occasions, the terminal device can obtain measurement results of the neighbor cells based on frequency domain prediction according to measurement results of the serving cell, or obtain other remaining measurement results of the neighbor cells based on spatial domain prediction according to part of the measurement results of the neighbor cells.

[0503] In step 5, the terminal device sends the measurement result to the source base station.

[0504] Exemplarily, the terminal device can report the measurement result through a measurement report message.

[0505] In some embodiments, the candidate / target base station can determine, according to the second information and / or the second indication information, an occasion in which no reference signal is sent, such as no reference signal is sent in the first occasion.

[0506] By redefining the meanings of the SMTC configuration and the MG configuration, the terminal device can learn the predicted occasion, which helps to obtain complete and accurate measurement results, and helps to save signaling overhead. In addition, the neighbor cell can also not send the reference signal in the corresponding occasion, realizing the reduction of reference signal overhead.

[0507] Inter-frequency and inter-system scenario (ORAN architecture, explicit indication)

[0508] As mentioned above, the method provided by the embodiments of the present application can be applied to the ORAN architecture. The following describes a scheme for explicitly indicating the first occasion in the ORAN architecture in an inter-frequency and inter-system scenario.

[0509] FIG. 24 is a flowchart of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. The method shown in FIG. 24 can involve the interaction between a terminal device and a source base station and a candidate / target base station. The source base station can include an O-RU, an O-DU, and an O-CU (not shown in FIG. 24), and the candidate / target base station can include an O-RU (not shown in FIG. 24), an O-DU, and an O-CU.

[0510] The method shown in FIG. 24 can include steps 1a to 5. Among them, steps 1a, 2a and steps 1b, 2b are optional, that is, steps 1a, 2a are executed or steps 1b, 2b are executed.

[0511] In step 1a, the O-CU of the source base station determines the first information. The source base station is the second network device mentioned above, that is, the serving base station of the terminal device. Optionally, the O-CU of the source base station can also determine the third information.

[0512] In step 2a, the source base station sends the first information to the candidate / target base station. The candidate / target base station is the first network device mentioned above, that is, the network device corresponding to the neighbor cell. Optionally, the source base station also sends the third information to the candidate / target base station.

[0513] Specifically, the O-CU of the source base station can send the first information to the O-CU of the candidate / target base station. Optionally, the O-CU of the source base station can send the third information to the O-CU of the candidate / target base station.

[0514] In step 1b, the O-CU of the candidate / target base station determines the first information. Optionally, the O-CU of the candidate / target base station can also determine the third information.

[0515] In step 2b, the candidate / target base station sends the first information to the source base station. Optionally, the candidate / target base station also sends the third information to the source base station.

[0516] Specifically, the O-CU of the candidate / target base station can send the first information to the O-CU of the source base station. Optionally, the O-CU of the candidate / target base station can send the third information to the O-CU of the source base station.

[0517] In step 3, the terminal device receives the measurement configuration, such as the measurement object configuration, sent by the source base station. The measurement configuration can include the first MG configuration and the first information.

[0518] Specifically, the O-CU of the source base station sends the measurement configuration to the O-DU of the source base station, and then the O-DU of the source base station sends the measurement configuration to the O-RU of the source base station through the front-haul interface, and the O-RU of the source base station further sends the measurement configuration to the terminal device.

[0519] The related description of the measurement configuration can refer to the related description in the method shown in FIG. 21, which will not be described here again.

[0520] In step 4, the terminal device obtains the measurement result based on the first MG configuration information and the first information.

[0521] The measurement result can include a predicted value of the measurement result and a measured value of the measurement result. The terminal device obtains the predicted value of the measurement result at the first time, and obtains the measured value of the measurement result at other time than the first time in the time corresponding to the first MG configuration.

[0522] Optionally, if the terminal device receives the second information, the terminal device obtains the measurement result based on the first MG configuration information and the first information. The second information is used to indicate that part or all of the measurement result is obtained by prediction, and the second information can also be referred to as prediction indication information.

[0523] In step 5, the terminal device sends the measurement result to the source base station.

[0524] Specifically, the terminal device can send the measurement result to the O-RU of the source base station, and send the measurement result to the O-DU of the source base station through the front-haul interface by the O-RU of the source base station, and then send the measurement result to the O-CU of the source base station by the O-DU of the source base station.

[0525] Exemplarily, the terminal device can report the measurement result through a measurement report message.

[0526] In some embodiments, the candidate / target base station can determine the occasion in which the reference signal is not transmitted according to the first information, such as not transmitting the reference signal at the first occasion.

[0527] Other schemes provided by the embodiments of the present application can be applied to the introduction of the ORAN architecture. For brevity, the details are not repeated here.

[0528] Inter-frequency and inter-system scenario (explicit indication) (applied to ORAN architecture including AI function node)

[0529] The following takes the AI function node as an O-SU as an example to introduce the scheme of explicitly indicating the first occasion in the inter-frequency and inter-system scenario.

[0530] FIG. 25 is a flow diagram of another communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application. The method shown in FIG. 25 can involve the interaction between the terminal device and the source base station and the candidate / target base station. The source base station can include O-RU, O-DU, O-CU, and O-SU, and the candidate / target base station can include O-RU, O-DU, O-CU, and O-SU, wherein O-RU, O-DU, and O-CU are not shown in FIG. 25.

[0531] The method shown in FIG. 25 can include steps 1a to 5. Among them, steps 1a, 2a and steps 1b, 2b are optional, that is, steps 1a, 2a are executed or steps 1b, 2b are executed.

[0532] In step 1a, the O-SU of the source base station determines the first information. The source base station is the second network device mentioned earlier, that is, the serving base station of the terminal device. Optionally, the O-SU of the source base station can also determine the third information.

[0533] In step 2a, the source base station sends the first information to the candidate / target base station. The candidate / target base station is the first network device mentioned earlier, that is, the network device corresponding to the neighbor cell. Optionally, the source base station also sends the third information to the candidate / target base station.

[0534] Specifically, the O-SU of the source base station can send the first information to the O-SU of the candidate / target base station. Optionally, the O-SU of the source base station can send the third information to the O-SU of the candidate / target base station.

[0535] In step 1b, the O-SU of the candidate / target base station determines the first information. Optionally, the O-SU of the candidate / target base station can also determine the third information.

[0536] In step 2b, the candidate / target base station sends the first information to the source base station. Optionally, the candidate / target base station also sends the third information to the source base station.

[0537] Specifically, the O-SU of the candidate / target base station can send the first information to the O-SU of the source base station. Optionally, the O-SU of the candidate / target base station can send the third information to the O-SU of the source base station.

[0538] In step 3, the terminal device receives the measurement configuration sent by the source base station, such as the measurement object configuration. The measurement configuration can include the first MG configuration and the first information.

[0539] Specifically, the O-SU of the source base station sends the measurement configuration to the O-CU of the source base station, the O-CU of the source base station sends the measurement configuration to the O-DU of the source base station, and then the O-DU of the source base station sends the measurement configuration to the O-RU of the source base station through the front-haul interface. The O-RU of the source base station further sends the measurement configuration to the terminal device.

[0540] The related description of the measurement configuration can refer to the related description in the method shown in FIG. 21, which will not be repeated here.

[0541] In step 4, the terminal device obtains the measurement result based on the first MG configuration information and the first information.

[0542] The measurement result can include a predicted value of the measurement result and a measured value of the measurement result. The terminal device obtains the predicted value of the measurement result at the first time, and obtains the measured value of the measurement result at other time than the first time in the time corresponding to the first MG configuration.

[0543] Optionally, if the terminal device receives the second information, the terminal device obtains the measurement result based on the first MG configuration information and the first information. The second information is used to indicate that part or all of the measurement result is obtained by prediction, and the second information can also be called prediction indication information.

[0544] In step 5, the terminal device sends the measurement result to the source base station.

[0545] Specifically, the terminal device can send the measurement result to the O-RU of the source base station, and the O-RU of the source base station sends the measurement result to the O-DU of the source base station through the front-haul interface, and then the O-DU of the source base station sends the measurement result to the O-CU of the source base station.

[0546] Optionally, the O-CU of the source base station can send the measurement result to the O-SU of the source base station. For example, if the measurement result needs to be used when performing certain model inference or model training based on AI, the O-CU of the source base station can send the measurement result to the O-SU of the source base station. As an example, the O-CU of the source base station can send the measurement result to the O-SU of the source base station when determining the handover strategy of the terminal device according to the measurement result and other information by using AI technology.

[0547] Exemplarily, the terminal device can report the measurement result through a measurement report message.

[0548] In some embodiments, the candidate / target base station can determine, according to the first information, an occasion at which the reference signal is not transmitted, such as not transmitting the reference signal at the first occasion.

[0549] Other schemes provided by the embodiments of the present application can be applied to the introduction of the ORAN architecture, which can refer to the related introduction of FIG. 24. For brevity, the details are not described here.

[0550] It should be understood that the embodiments of the present application are introduced taking SU and O-SU as examples. The methods provided by the embodiments of the present application are also applicable to other nodes with AI functions.

[0551] The method embodiments provided by the present application are described above, and the device embodiments provided by the present application will be described below. It should be understood that the description of the device embodiments corresponds to the description of the method embodiments, and therefore, the content not described in detail can refer to the method embodiments described above. For brevity, the details are not described here.

[0552] FIG. 26 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 26, the communication device 2600 can include a transceiver unit 2610 and / or a processing unit 2620. The transceiver unit 2610 can implement corresponding communication functions, and the processing unit 2620 is configured to perform data processing. The transceiver unit 2610 can also be referred to as a communication interface or a communication unit. Optionally, the device 2600 can also include a storage unit, which can be used to store instructions and / or data. The processing unit 2620 can read the instructions and / or data in the storage unit, so that the device implements the foregoing method embodiments.

[0553] As a possible implementation, the first occasion can be determined by the network device or the terminal device. As a possible implementation, the first occasion can be explicitly indicated or implicitly indicated. Next, the device 2600 is introduced respectively for the above different cases.

[0554] In a possible design, the device 2600 can be a terminal device in the foregoing method embodiments, or can be a chip, processor or chip system for implementing the terminal device function. The device 2600 can be configured to perform the steps or processes performed by the terminal device in any of the foregoing method embodiments.

[0555] Next, the device 2600 is introduced taking the first occasion determined by the network device and the first occasion explicitly indicated as examples.

[0556] In particular, the transceiver 2610 can be configured to receive first information, the first information being used to determine a first occasion, the first occasion being an occasion for obtaining a predicted value of a measurement result. The processing unit 2620 can be configured to obtain, at the first occasion, the predicted value of the measurement result.

[0557] In some embodiments, the transceiver 2610 can be further configured to receive a first measurement gap, MG, configuration and a first synchronization signal block based measurement timing configuration, SMTC, configuration, the second occasion being an occasion indicated by the first MG configuration; or receive the first SMTC configuration, the second occasion being an occasion indicated by the first SMTC configuration; wherein the first occasion is part or all of the second occasion.

[0558] In some embodiments, the first information indicates the first occasion; and / or the first information indicates a third occasion, the third occasion being an occasion in the second occasion for performing measurement, the first occasion being an occasion in the second occasion other than the third occasion.

[0559] In some embodiments, the first information comprises a second MG configuration or a second SMTC configuration, an occasion indicated by the second MG configuration or the second SMTC configuration being the first occasion or the third occasion.

[0560] In some embodiments, the first information is used to indicate a first period, the first period being a repetition period of the first occasion or the third occasion; wherein the first period is an integer multiple of a second period, the second period being a repetition period of the second occasion.

[0561] In some embodiments, the first information comprises first bit sequence information, each bit in the first bit sequence being associated with an occasion in the second occasion, wherein: if a value of the bit is a first value, the occasion associated with the bit is the first occasion; and / or if the value of the bit is a second value, the occasion associated with the bit is the third occasion.

[0562] In some embodiments, the first information comprises first identification information, the first identification information being used to indicate configuration information of the first occasion or configuration information of the third occasion, wherein the configuration information of the first occasion is used to determine the first occasion, and the configuration information of the third occasion is used to determine the third occasion.

[0563] In some embodiments, the first information comprises one or more of the following: period information; offset information; duration information; or time advance information.

[0564] In some embodiments, the transceiver 2610 can further be configured to receive second information, the second information being used to indicate that part or all of the measurement results are to be obtained by prediction; and wherein the obtaining, at the first occasion, the predicted value of the measurement result comprises obtaining, at the first occasion, the predicted value of the measurement result if the second information is received.

[0565] In some embodiments, the transceiver 2610 can further be configured to receive third information, the third information being used to indicate a type of the prediction and / or an object of the prediction, wherein the type of the prediction comprises at least one of a time domain prediction, a spatial domain prediction, or a frequency domain prediction, and the object of the prediction comprises a cell level measurement result and / or a beam level measurement result.

[0566] In some embodiments, the first information is determined by a first network device or the first information is determined by a second network device, wherein the first network device is a network device corresponding to a neighbor cell of the terminal device, and the second network device is a network device corresponding to a serving cell.

[0567] Hereinafter, the communication apparatus 2600 is introduced by taking an example of a first occasion being determined by a network device and being implicitly indicated.

[0568] Specifically, the transceiver 2610 can be configured to receive a measurement configuration, the measurement configuration comprising a third measurement gap MG configuration and a third synchronization signal block based measurement timing configuration SMTC configuration, or the measurement configuration comprising a third SMTC configuration. The processing unit 2620 can be configured to determine a first occasion based on the measurement configuration if second information is received, wherein the second information is used to indicate that part or all of the measurement results are to be obtained by prediction, and the first occasion is an occasion for obtaining the predicted value.

[0569] In some embodiments, the determining, based on the measurement configuration, the first occasion comprises: if the measurement configuration comprises the third SMTC configuration, the first occasion is a fourth occasion, and the fourth occasion is an occasion indicated by the third SMTC configuration; or if the measurement configuration comprises the third MG configuration and the third SMTC configuration, the first occasion is an occasion other than an occasion indicated by the third MG configuration in the fourth occasion.

[0570] In some embodiments, the occasion indicated by the third MG configuration is an occasion for performing measurement.

[0571] In some embodiments, the measurement result is a measurement result of a neighbor cell, and the neighbor cell and the serving cell are in a different frequency system or a different system.

[0572] The terminal device determines the first occasion, and the communication device 2600 is introduced below.

[0573] Specifically, the processing unit 2620 can be configured to determine a first occasion, the first occasion being an occasion of obtaining a predicted value of a measurement result. The transceiver unit 2610 can be configured to send fourth information to a second network device, the fourth information being used for indicating the first occasion.

[0574] In some embodiments, the first occasion is part or all of a second occasion, where: the second occasion is an occasion indicated by a first measurement gap MG configuration indication; or the second occasion is an occasion indicated by a first synchronization signal block-based measurement timing configuration SMTC configuration indication.

[0575] In some embodiments, before the determination of the first occasion, the transceiver unit 2610 can be further configured to: receive fifth information, the fifth information being used for determining the first occasion, the fifth information including one or more of the following: a first threshold, the first threshold being a maximum number of allowed obtaining of the predicted value; a first ratio, the first ratio being a ratio of a number of the predicted value to a sum of the number of the predicted value and a number of actually measured values, the actually measured values being measurement results obtained by performing measurement; a fifth occasion, the fifth occasion being an occasion of obtaining measurement results by performing measurement; or one or more first configuration information, each of the first configuration information being associated with one or more of the candidate first occasions.

[0576] In some embodiments, the determination of the first occasion includes: determining the first occasion based on a remaining resource of the terminal device, the remaining resource including at least one of a remaining memory, a remaining power, a remaining computing resource, or a remaining computing power resource.

[0577] In a possible design, the device 2600 can be a network device in the above method embodiments, or can be a chip, processor, or chip system that implements a network device function.

[0578] The communication device 2600 is introduced below, taking a first occasion determined by a network device as an example. In this embodiment, the communication device 2600 can be a second network device, the second network device being a network device corresponding to a serving cell.

[0579] Specifically, the transceiver 2610 can be configured to receive first information from a first network device, the first network device being a network device corresponding to a neighbor cell, and transmit the first information to a terminal device. The first information is used to determine a first occasion, the first occasion being an occasion for obtaining a predicted value of a measurement result. Alternatively, the processing unit 2620 can be configured to determine the first information. The transceiver 2610 can be configured to transmit the first information to the terminal device, the first information being used to determine a first occasion, the first occasion being an occasion for obtaining a predicted value of a measurement result.

[0580] In some embodiments, the transceiver 2610 can be further configured to receive a first measurement gap MG configuration and a first synchronization signal block based measurement timing configuration SMTC configuration, and the second occasion is an occasion indicated by the first measurement gap MG configuration; or receive the first SMTC configuration, and the second occasion is an occasion indicated by the first SMTC configuration; wherein the first occasion is part or all of the second occasions.

[0581] In some embodiments, the first information indicates the first occasion; and / or the first information indicates a third occasion, the third occasion being an occasion in the second occasions for performing measurement, and the first occasion being an occasion in the second occasions other than the third occasion.

[0582] In some embodiments, the first information comprises a second MG configuration or a second SMTC configuration, and an occasion indicated by the second MG configuration or the second SMTC configuration is the first occasion or the third occasion.

[0583] In some embodiments, the first information is used to indicate a first period, the first period being a repetition period of the first occasion or the third occasion; wherein the first period is an integer multiple of a second period, the second period being a repetition period of the second occasions.

[0584] In some embodiments, the first information comprises first bit sequence information, each bit in the first bit sequence being associated with an occasion in the second occasions, wherein: if a value of the bit is a first value, the occasion associated with the bit is the first occasion; and / or if the value of the bit is a second value, the occasion associated with the bit is the third occasion.

[0585] In some embodiments, the first information comprises first identification information, the first identification information being used to indicate configuration information of the first occasion or configuration information of the third occasion, wherein the configuration information of the first occasion is used to determine the first occasion, and the configuration information of the third occasion is used to determine the third occasion.

[0586] In some embodiments, the first information comprises one or more of: periodicity information; offset information; duration information; or timing advance information.

[0587] In some embodiments, the transceiver 2610 can also be configured to send, to the terminal device, second information, the second information being used to indicate that part or all of the measurement results are obtained through prediction.

[0588] In some embodiments, the transceiver 2610 can also be configured to send, to the terminal device, third information, the third information being used to indicate a type of the prediction and / or an object of the prediction, wherein: the type of the prediction comprises at least one of time domain prediction, spatial domain prediction, or frequency domain prediction; and the object of the prediction comprises cell level measurement results and / or beam level measurement results.

[0589] The communication apparatus 2600 is described below with respect to a first occasion determined by a network device, which is implicitly indicated as an example. In this embodiment, the communication apparatus 2600 can be a second network device, which is a network device corresponding to a serving cell.

[0590] Specifically, the transceiver 2610 can be configured to send, to the terminal device, a measurement configuration, the measurement configuration comprising a third measurement gap MG configuration and a third synchronization signal block based measurement timing configuration SMTC configuration, or the measurement configuration comprising a third SMTC configuration. The processing unit 2620 can be configured to, if the second information is sent to the terminal device, the measurement configuration is used to determine a first occasion; wherein the second information is used to indicate that part or all of the measurement results are obtained through prediction, and the first occasion is an occasion of obtaining the predicted value.

[0591] In some embodiments, if the measurement configuration comprises the third SMTC configuration, the first occasion is a fourth occasion, and the fourth occasion is an occasion indicated by the third SMTC configuration; and if the measurement configuration comprises the third MG configuration and the third SMTC configuration, the first occasion is an occasion other than an occasion indicated by the third MG configuration in the fourth occasion.

[0592] In some embodiments, the occasion indicated by the third MG configuration is an occasion of performing measurement.

[0593] In some embodiments, the measurement results are measurement results of a neighbor cell, and the neighbor cell and the serving cell are in different frequency systems or different systems.

[0594] The communication apparatus 2600 is introduced below, which is determined by the terminal device at the first occasion. In this embodiment, the communication apparatus 2600 can be a second network device, and the second network device is a network device corresponding to a serving cell.

[0595] Specifically, the transceiver 2610 can be configured to receive fourth information, where the fourth information is used to indicate a first occasion, and the first occasion is an occasion of obtaining a predicted value of a measurement result.

[0596] In some embodiments, the first occasion is part or all of a second occasion, where the second occasion is an occasion indicated by a first measurement gap MG configuration indication, or the second occasion is an occasion indicated by a first synchronization signal block-based measurement timing configuration SMTC configuration indication.

[0597] In some embodiments, before the determination of the first occasion, the transceiver 2610 can also be configured to send fifth information to the terminal device, where the fifth information is used to determine the first occasion, and the fifth information includes one or more of the following: a first threshold, where the first threshold is a maximum number of allowed obtaining of the predicted value; a first ratio, where the first ratio is a ratio of a number of the predicted value to a sum of the number of the predicted value and a number of actually measured values, and the actually measured values are measurement results obtained by performing measurement; a fifth occasion, where the fifth occasion is an occasion of obtaining measurement results by performing measurement; or one or more first configuration information, where each of the first configuration information is associated with one or more of the candidate first occasions.

[0598] Exemplarily, the communication apparatus 2600 can also be a first network device, and the first network device is a network device corresponding to a neighbor cell.

[0599] Specifically, the transceiver 2610 can be configured to receive first information from a second network device, or determine the first information, where the first information is used to determine a first occasion, and the first occasion is an occasion of obtaining a predicted value of a measurement result, and the second network device is a network device corresponding to a serving cell of the terminal device. The processing unit 2620 can be configured to determine a transmission occasion of a reference signal based on the first occasion, where the reference signal is used to perform measurement, and the transmission occasion of the reference signal does not include the first occasion.

[0600] It should be understood that the "units" in the apparatus 2600 can be implemented by hardware, or implemented by software, or implemented by hardware executing corresponding software. For example, the "units" can refer to application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), electronic circuits, processors (such as shared processors, dedicated processors, or group processors, etc.) and memories for executing one or more software or firmware programs, integrated logic circuits, and / or other suitable components supporting the described functions. For another example, the transceiving unit 2610 can be replaced by a transceiver circuit (which can include a receiving circuit and a transmitting circuit), and the processing unit 2620 can be replaced by a processor or a processing circuit.

[0601] FIG. 27 shows a schematic block diagram of another communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication apparatus 2700 can be a terminal device / network device, or a chip, chip system, or processor, etc. implemented in a terminal device / network device to implement the above-described methods. The apparatus can be used to implement the methods described in the above method embodiments, and details can be referred to the descriptions in the above method embodiments.

[0602] The communication apparatus 2700 can include one or more processors 2710, which can also be referred to as processing units, and can implement certain control functions. The processor 2710 can be a general purpose processor or a special purpose processor, etc. For example, it can be a baseband processor or a central processing unit. The baseband processor can be used to process communication protocols and communication data, and the central processing unit can be used to control the communication apparatus, execute software programs, and process data of the software programs.

[0603] In an alternative design, the processor 2710 can also store instructions and / or data, which can be executed by the processor 2710, so that the communication apparatus 2700 performs the methods described in the above method embodiments.

[0604] In another alternative design, the communication apparatus 2700 can include a communication interface 2720 for implementing receiving and transmitting functions. For example, the communication interface 2720 can be a transceiver circuit, an interface, an interface circuit, or a transceiver, etc. The transceiver circuit, the interface, the interface circuit, or the transceiver for implementing the receiving and transmitting functions can be separate or integrated together. The above transceiver circuit, interface, interface circuit, or transceiver can be used for reading and writing of codes / data, or the above transceiver circuit, interface, interface circuit, or transceiver can be used for transmission or transfer of signals.

[0605] Optionally, one or more memories 2730 are included in the communication device 2700, which can store instructions thereon that are executable by the processor 2710 to cause the communication device 2700 to perform the methods described in the above method embodiments. Optionally, the memories 2730 can also store data. Optionally, the processor 2710 can also store instructions and / or data therein. The processor 2710 and the memories 2730 can be separately provided, or integrated together.

[0606] It should be understood that, in a possible design, each step in the method embodiments provided by the embodiments of the present application can be completed by integrated logic circuits of hardware in the processor or instructions in the form of software. The steps of the method disclosed in combination with the embodiments of the present application can be directly embodied as being completed by a hardware processor, or completed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor. The software modules can be located in random access memories, flash memories, read-only memories, programmable read-only memories, or electrically erasable programmable memories, registers, or other mature storage mediums in the art. The storage medium is located in the memory, and the processor reads information in the memory and combines hardware to complete the steps of the above method. To avoid repetition, no further description is given here.

[0607] It should be noted that the processor in the embodiments of the present application can be an integrated circuit chip with a processing capability of signals. In the implementation process, each step of the above method embodiments can be completed by integrated logic circuits of hardware in the processor or instructions in the form of software. The processor mentioned above can be a general processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gates or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components. Each method, step and logic block diagram disclosed in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented or executed. The general processor can be a microprocessor or the processor can also be any conventional processor. The steps of the method disclosed in combination with the embodiments of the present application can be directly embodied as being completed by a hardware decoding processor, or completed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software modules can be located in random access memories, flash memories, read-only memories, programmable read-only memories, or electrically erasable programmable memories, registers, or other mature storage mediums in the art. The storage medium is located in the memory, and the processor reads information in the memory and combines hardware to complete the steps of the above method.

[0608] It is to be understood that the memory in the embodiments of the present application can be a volatile memory or a nonvolatile memory, or can include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. Among them, the nonvolatile memory can be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically EPROM (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory can be a random access memory (RAM) used as an external cache. By way of example, and not limitation, many forms of RAM can be used, such as static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the system and method described herein is intended to include, but not be limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0609] The embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program product, which comprises computer program code, when the computer program code is run on a computer, so that the computer executes each step or process performed by the terminal device / network device in any of the above method embodiments.

[0610] The embodiments of the present application also provide a computer readable storage medium, which stores program code, when the program code is run on a computer, so that the computer executes each step or process performed by the terminal device / network device in any of the above method embodiments.

[0611] The embodiments of the present application also provide a communication device, which comprises a processor and an interface for transmitting and / or receiving signals, so that the processor executes each step or process performed by the terminal device / network device in any of the above method embodiments.

[0612] The various device embodiments and method embodiments described above can fully correspond, and respective steps are performed by corresponding modules or units, for example, the communication unit or communication interface performs the steps of receiving or sending in the method embodiments, and other steps except sending and receiving can be performed by the processing unit or processor.

[0613] In the embodiments of the present application, each term and English abbreviation is an exemplary example given for the convenience of description, and should not constitute any limitation on the present application. The embodiments of the present application do not exclude the possibility of defining other terms capable of achieving the same or similar functions in existing or future protocols.

[0614] The terms "component", "module", "system", and the like used in the present specification are used to represent computer-related entities, hardware, combinations of hardware and software, software, or software in execution. For example, a component can be, but is not limited to, a process running on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and / or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application running on a computing device and the computing device can be a component. One or more components can reside within a process and / or thread of execution, and a component can be localized on one computer and / or distributed between two or more computers. In addition, these components can execute from various computer readable media having various data structures stored thereon. The components can communicate via local and / or remote processes that are in accordance with a signal having one or more data packets (e.g., data from programs running on one or more computers in a network over a wired and / or a wireless medium). The data packets can carry any or all of the information that implements the various aspects of the techniques described herein.

[0615] Those of ordinary skill in the art can realize that the various illustrative logical blocks and steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented by electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. The choice of whether to implement the described functions in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. A skilled person can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of the present application.

[0616] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the above-described system, device and unit can be based on the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, which will not be described here.

[0617] In several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed system, device and method can be implemented in other manners. For example, the described device embodiments are merely schematic. The division of the units is merely logical function division. There can be another division manner for the actual implementation, for example, multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. In addition, the displayed or discussed mutual couplings or direct couplings or communication connections can be indirect couplings or communication connections through some interfaces, devices or units, and can be in electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0618] The units described as separate components can or can not be physically separate, and the components shown as units can or can not be physical units, i.e., can be located in one place, or can be distributed on multiple network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the embodiment.

[0619] In addition, each functional unit in the various embodiments of the present application can be integrated into a processing unit, or each unit can be a physically separate unit, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit.

[0620] In the above embodiments, the functions of each functional unit can be implemented wholly or partially by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented by software, it can be implemented in the form of a computer program product in whole or in part. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions (programs). When the computer program instructions (programs) are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are wholly or partially generated. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network or other programmable devices. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transferred from one computer-readable storage medium to another, for example, the computer instructions can be transferred from one website, computer, server or data center to another through wired (such as coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (such as infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) 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. integrated with one or more available media. The available media can be magnetic media (such as floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), optical media (such as DVD), or semiconductor media (such as solid state disk (SSD)) and the like.

[0621] If the functions are implemented in the form of software function units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application or the parts that essentially contribute to the prior art or the parts of the technical solutions can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes a plurality of instructions for causing a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the embodiments of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes a U disk, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk, and various media that can store program codes.

[0622] The above is only a specific implementation of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art can easily think of changes or replacements within the technical scope disclosed in the present application, which should be covered within the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method characterized by comprising: Comprising: receiving first information, the first information being used to determine a first occasion, the first occasion being an occasion for obtaining a predicted value of a measurement result; obtaining, at the first occasion, the predicted value of the measurement result.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, The method further comprises: receiving a first measurement gap (MG) configuration and a first synchronization signal block based measurement timing configuration (SMTC) configuration, a second occasion being an occasion indicated by the first MG configuration; or receiving the first SMTC configuration, the second occasion being an occasion indicated by the first SMTC configuration; wherein the first occasion is part or all of the second occasion.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein: the first information indicates the first occasion; and / or the first information indicates a third occasion, the third occasion being an occasion in the second occasion for performing measurement, the first occasion being an occasion in the second occasion other than the third occasion.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein, the first information comprises a second MG configuration or a second SMTC configuration, an occasion indicated by the second MG configuration or the second SMTC configuration being the first occasion or the third occasion.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein, the first information is used to indicate a first periodicity, the first periodicity being a repetition periodicity of the first occasion or the third occasion; wherein the first periodicity is an integer multiple of a second periodicity, the second periodicity being a repetition periodicity of the second occasion.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein, the first information comprises first bit sequence information, each bit in the first bit sequence being associated with an occasion in the second occasion, wherein: if a value of the bit is a first value, the occasion associated with the bit in the second occasion is the first occasion; and / or if the value of the bit is a second value, the occasion associated with the bit in the second occasion is the third occasion.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein, the first information comprises first identification information, the first identification information being used to indicate configuration information of the first occasion or configuration information of the third occasion, wherein the configuration information of the first occasion is used to determine the first occasion, and the configuration information of the third occasion is used to determine the third occasion.

8. The method of claim 3, wherein, the first information comprises one or more of: periodicity information; offset information; duration information; or time advance information.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1-8, characterized in that, The method further comprises: receiving second information, the second information being used to indicate that part or all of the measurement result is obtained through prediction; wherein the obtaining, at the first occasion, the predicted value of the measurement result comprises: if the second information is received, obtaining, at the first occasion, the predicted value of the measurement result.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1-9, characterized in that, The method further comprises: receiving third information, the third information being used to indicate a type of the prediction and / or an object of the prediction, wherein: the type of the prediction comprises at least one of a time domain prediction, a spatial domain prediction or a frequency domain prediction; the object of the prediction comprises a cell level measurement result and / or a beam level measurement result.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1-10, characterized in that, the first information is determined by a first network device, or the first information is determined by a second network device; The first network device is a network device corresponding to a neighboring cell of the terminal device, and the second network device is a network device corresponding to a serving cell.

12. A communication method characterized by comprising: The method comprises: receiving first information from a first network device, or determining the first information, the first network device being a network device corresponding to a neighboring cell; sending the first information to the terminal device, the first information being used to determine a first occasion, the first occasion being an occasion for obtaining a predicted value of a measurement result.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein, The method further comprises: receiving a first measurement gap (MG) configuration and a first synchronization signal block-based measurement timing configuration (SMTC) configuration, the second occasion being an occasion indicated by the first MG configuration; or receiving the first SMTC configuration, the second occasion being an occasion indicated by the first SMTC configuration; The first occasion is part or all of the second occasions.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein: the first information indicates the first occasion; and / or the first information indicates a third occasion, the third occasion being an occasion in the second occasions for performing measurement, and the first occasion being an occasion in the second occasions other than the third occasion.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein, The first information comprises a second MG configuration or a second SMTC configuration, an occasion indicated by the second MG configuration or the second SMTC configuration being the first occasion or the third occasion.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein, The first information is used to indicate a first period, the first period being a repetition period of the first occasion or the third occasion. The first period is an integer multiple of a second period, the second period being a repetition period of the second occasions.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein, The first information comprises first bit sequence information, each bit in the first bit sequence being associated with an occasion in the second occasions, wherein: if the bit is of a first value, the occasion associated with the bit is the first occasion; and / or if the bit is of a second value, the occasion associated with the bit is the third occasion.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein, The first information comprises first identification information, the first identification information being used to indicate configuration information of the first occasion or configuration information of the third occasion, wherein the configuration information of the first occasion is used to determine the first occasion, and the configuration information of the third occasion is used to determine the third occasion.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein, The first information comprises one or more of the following: period information; offset information; duration information; or time advance information.

20. The method of any one of claims 12-19, wherein, The method further comprises: sending second information to the terminal device, the second information being used to indicate that part or all of the measurement results are obtained through prediction.

21. The method of any one of claims 12-20, wherein, The method further comprises: sending third information to the terminal device, the third information being used to indicate a type of the prediction and / or an object of the prediction, wherein: the type of the prediction comprises at least one of a time domain prediction, a spatial domain prediction, or a frequency domain prediction; and the object of the prediction comprises a cell-level measurement result and / or a beam-level measurement result.

22. A communications device, characterized by comprising units for performing the respective steps of the method according to any one of claims 1-11, or comprising units for performing the respective steps of the method according to any one of claims 12-21.

23. A communications device, characterized by comprising a processor coupled with a memory for storing a program or instructions, which, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to perform the method according to any one of claims 1-11 or any one of claims 12-21.

24. A communications device, characterized by comprising a processor and an interface for transmitting and / or receiving signals, such that the processor performs the method according to any one of claims 1-11 or any one of claims 12-21.

25. A readable storage medium, on which a computer program or instructions are stored, characterized in that, The computer program or instructions, when executed, cause the computer to perform the method according to any one of claims 1-11 or any one of claims 12-21.

26. A computer program product, characterised in that, comprising computer program instructions, which cause the computer to perform the method according to any one of claims 1-11 or any one of claims 12-21.

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