Communication method and communication apparatus

Abstract

The present application relates to the field of communications, and specifically relates to a communication method and a communication apparatus. NTN communication is characterized by long signal propagation distances, resulting in large path loss. A search space-based downlink control information reception scheme worsens the link budget of downlink control information. In the present application, first downlink control information and second downlink control information may be transmitted by a base station (e.g., a satellite) in an NTN. A terminal receives multiple pieces of repeated downlink control information, and can perform combined decoding on the downlink control information received multiple times, to improve a decoding success rate, thereby improving transmission reliability of the downlink control information in the NTN. In addition, A first time domain positions and B second time domain positions are arranged in a staggered manner, so that the terminal can start to receive second downlink control information without waiting for complete reception of all A pieces of first downlink control information, thereby reducing the delay for the terminal to access the NTN on the basis of the second downlink control information.

Description

Communication method and communication apparatus

[0001] The present application claims priority to the Chinese patent application No. 202411098922.0, filed on August 9, 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] Non-terrestrial network (NTN) refers to a network for communication based on aerial devices such as satellites, unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) or high altitude platform stations (HAPS). NTN has the characteristics of wide coverage, low latency, wide bandwidth and low cost. As a supplement and extension of ground networks, NTN can achieve wide-area seamless coverage that cannot be achieved by wired telephone networks and ground mobile communication networks, and effectively solve the problem of Internet access in areas where communication infrastructure is scarce.

[0004] The communication characteristics of NTN are that the signal propagation distance is far, resulting in large path loss, and the downlink control information receiving mode based on search space makes the link budget of downlink control information worse. How to improve the transmission reliability of downlink control information in NTN is a problem to be solved at present. SUMMARY

[0005] Embodiments of the present application provide a communication method, a communication apparatus, a communication system, a computer readable storage medium and a computer program product, which can improve the transmission reliability of downlink control information in NTN.

[0006] In a first aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communication method, an execution subject of the method can be a base station or a chip applied to the base station, and the execution subject is taken as an example for description. The method comprises: sending first information, the first information indicating (or configuring) A first time domain positions, A being a positive integer greater than 1, wherein the A first time domain positions comprise a first time domain position a0 and a second time domain position a1; sending second information, the second information indicating (or configuring) B second time domain positions, B being a positive integer greater than 1, wherein the B second time domain positions comprise a first time domain position b0 and a second time domain position b1, the time domain position b0 being located between the time domain position a0 and the time domain position a1, and the time domain position b1 being located after the time domain position a1; sending A first downlink control information at the A first time domain positions, the A first downlink control information being the same, the A first downlink control information indicating (or configuring) C third time domain positions, the C third time domain positions being used for transmitting C first access information, C being a positive integer; and sending B second downlink control information at the B second time domain positions, the A first downlink control information being the same, the B second downlink control information indicating (or configuring) D fourth time domain positions, the D fourth time domain positions being used for transmitting D second access information, D being a positive integer.

[0007] In the embodiment, the first downlink control information and the second downlink control information can be sent by a base station (such as a satellite) in an NTN, and the terminal can combine and decode the first downlink control information received multiple times to improve the decoding success rate, thereby improving the transmission reliability of the downlink control information in the NTN. In addition, in the embodiment, the A first time domain positions and the B second time domain positions are staggered, and the terminal can start receiving the second downlink control information without waiting for the A first downlink control information to be completely received, thereby reducing the time delay of the terminal accessing the NTN based on the second downlink control information.

[0008] In an optional implementation of the first aspect, a time slot in which the A first time domain positions or the B second time domain positions are located comprises n0 and n0+I·S·(R1-1); wherein n0 is a time slot in which the time domain position a0 or the time domain position b0 is located; I is the number of synchronization information blocks in a time unit in which the first information and the second information are located, I being a positive integer greater than 1; S is the number of time slots occupied by the first access information or the second access information, S being a positive integer; and R1 is equal to A or B.

[0009] The time unit in which the first information and the second information are located can be a period occupied by a synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel block (SSB) burst, for example, a "half frame", and the length of the period is not limited in the embodiment. In the embodiment, the repeated downlink control information is transmitted after all the downlink control information associated with the SSBs in one SSB burst is transmitted once, compared with transmitting the downlink control information associated with another SSB after transmitting the downlink control information associated with one SSB multiple times, the embodiment reduces the latency of the terminal accessing the NTN based on the second downlink control information.

[0010] In an optional implementation of the first aspect, the calculation formula of n0 includes one of the following formulas: wherein the number of time slots occupied by the first access information or the second access information is 1; wherein i is the SSB index, O and M are parameters in the first table, is the number of time slots in a system frame.

[0011] If the first formula (the formula containing O and M) is used, the old terminal (the terminal that does not support receiving multiple repeated downlink control information) can be considered, and the forward compatibility of the enhancement scheme is improved. If the second formula (the formula containing O and S) is used, the number of time slots occupied by each access information can be flexibly configured, and the application scenario of the scheme is expanded. If the third formula (the formula containing O and not containing S) is used, the calculation formula of n0 can be simplified by presetting S, and the resource overhead of the terminal for calculating n0 is reduced.

[0012] In an optional implementation of the first aspect, the first information includes a first index, and the second information includes a second index, the first index and the second index are indexes in an index column in the first table, the first table further includes an O column and an R1 column, and the value corresponding to the first index in the R1 column includes A, and the value corresponding to the second index in the R1 column includes B.

[0013] Compared with the scheme of directly indicating A, B and O, the transmission resource occupied by the index is less, and the repetition times A and B are indicated by the combination of the index and the table, so that the base station only needs a small amount of transmission resource to indicate A first time domain positions and B second time domain positions, thereby reducing the resource overhead.

[0014] In an optional implementation of the first aspect, the first index is the same as the second index, and A and B are two values in a first value set.

[0015] In this embodiment, the multiple repetition numbers can be indicated by an index, thereby reducing resource overhead for indicating the A first time domain positions and the B second time domain positions.

[0016] In an optional implementation of the first aspect, the order of the multiple values in the first value set is the same as the order of the multiple SSBs in the first time unit, and the first time unit is a time unit in which the first information and the second information are located.

[0017] In this embodiment, the terminal can determine the repetition number corresponding to the SSB based on the default order without additional information indication, thereby reducing resource overhead for indicating the A first time domain positions and the B second time domain positions.

[0018] In an optional implementation of the first aspect, the first table further includes an R2 column, and the value corresponding to the first index in the R2 column includes C, and the value corresponding to the second index in the R2 column includes D.

[0019] In this embodiment, the repetition number C of the first access information and the repetition number D of the second access information are independently configured, and the base station can flexibly indicate or configure the repetition number of the access information, thereby expanding the application scenario of the scheme.

[0020] In an optional implementation of the first aspect, the first index is the same as the second index, and C and D are two values in the second value set.

[0021] In this embodiment, the multiple repetition numbers can be indicated by an index, thereby reducing resource overhead for indicating the C third time domain positions and the D fourth time domain positions.

[0022] In an optional implementation of the first aspect, the order of the multiple values in the second value set is the same as the order of the multiple SSBs in the first time unit, and the first time unit is a time unit in which the first information and the second information are located.

[0023] In this embodiment, the terminal can determine the repetition number corresponding to the access information based on the default order without additional information indication, thereby reducing resource overhead for indicating the C third time domain positions and the D fourth time domain positions.

[0024] In an optional implementation of the first aspect, the first table further includes a number of search space sets per slot column, an M column, and a first symbol index column.

[0025] In this embodiment, the first table contains information required by an old terminal (a terminal that does not support receiving multiple repetitions of downlink control information) to access the network, thereby enhancing the forward compatibility of the scheme.

[0026] In a second aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communication method, an execution subject of the method can be a terminal or a chip applied to the terminal, and the following description is made by taking the execution subject as the terminal. The method comprises: receiving first information, the first information indicating (or configuring) A first time domain positions, A being a positive integer greater than 1, wherein the A first time domain positions comprise a first time domain position a0 and a second time domain position a1; receiving second information, the second information indicating (or configuring) B second time domain positions, B being a positive integer greater than 1, wherein the B second time domain positions comprise a first time domain position b0 and a second time domain position b1, the time domain position b0 being located between the time domain position a0 and the time domain position a1, and the time domain position b1 being located after the time domain position a1; receiving A first downlink control information at the A first time domain positions, the A first downlink control information being the same, the A first downlink control information indicating (or configuring) C third time domain positions, the C third time domain positions being used for transmitting C first access information, C being a positive integer; and receiving B second downlink control information at the B second time domain positions, the A first downlink control information being the same, the B second downlink control information indicating (or configuring) D fourth time domain positions, the D fourth time domain positions being used for transmitting D second access information, D being a positive integer.

[0027] In the embodiments, the first downlink control information and the second downlink control information can be transmitted by a base station (such as a satellite) in an NTN, and the terminal can combine and decode the first downlink control information received multiple times to improve the decoding success rate, thereby improving the transmission reliability of the downlink control information in the NTN. In addition, in the embodiments, the A first time domain positions and the B second time domain positions are staggered, and the terminal can start receiving the second downlink control information without waiting for the A first downlink control information to be completely received, thereby reducing the time delay of the terminal accessing the NTN based on the second downlink control information.

[0028] In an optional implementation of the second aspect, a time slot in which the A first time domain positions or the B second time domain positions are located comprises n0 and n0+I·S·(R1-1); wherein n0 is a time slot in which the time domain position a0 or the time domain position b0 is located; I is the number of synchronization information blocks in a time unit in which the first information and the second information are located, I being a positive integer greater than 1; S is the number of time slots occupied by the first access information or the second access information, S being a positive integer; and R1 is equal to A or B.

[0029] The time unit in which the first information and the second information are located can be a period occupied by one SSB burst, for example, one "half frame", and the length of the period is not limited in the embodiment. In the embodiment, the repeated downlink control information is transmitted after the downlink control information associated with all the SSBs in one SSB burst is transmitted once, which reduces the latency of the terminal accessing the NTN based on the second downlink control information compared with transmitting the downlink control information associated with another SSB after the downlink control information associated with one SSB is transmitted multiple times.

[0030] In an optional implementation of the second aspect, the calculation formula of n0 includes one of the following formulas: wherein the number of time slots occupied by the first access information or the second access information is 1; wherein i is the SSB index, O and M are parameters in the first table, is the number of time slots in one system frame.

[0031] If the first formula (the formula containing O and M) is used, the old terminal (the terminal that does not support receiving multiple repeated downlink control information) can be considered, and the forward compatibility of the scheme is enhanced. If the second formula (the formula containing O and S) is used, the number of time slots occupied by each access information can be flexibly configured, and the application scenario of the scheme is expanded. If the third formula (the formula containing O and not containing S) is used, the calculation formula of n0 can be simplified by presetting S, and the resource overhead of the terminal for calculating n0 is reduced.

[0032] In an optional implementation of the second aspect, the first information includes a first index, and the second information includes a second index, the first index and the second index are indexes in an index column in the first table, the first table further includes an O column and an R1 column, and the value corresponding to the first index in the R1 column includes A, and the value corresponding to the second index in the R1 column includes B.

[0033] Compared with the scheme of directly indicating A, B and O, the transmission resource occupied by the index is less, and the number of repetitions A and B is indicated by the combination of the index and the table, so that the base station only needs a small amount of transmission resource to indicate A first time domain positions and B second time domain positions, thereby reducing the resource overhead.

[0034] In an optional implementation of the second aspect, the first index is the same as the second index, and A and B are two values in a first value set.

[0035] In the embodiment, multiple repetition times can be indicated by one index, thereby reducing the resource overhead of indicating A first time domain positions and B second time domain positions.

[0036] In an optional implementation of the second aspect, the order of the plurality of values in the first set of values is the same as the order of the plurality of SSBs in the first time unit, and the first time unit is a time unit in which the first information and the second information are located.

[0037] In this embodiment, the terminal can determine the number of repetitions corresponding to the SSB based on the default order without additional information indication, thereby reducing the resource overhead of indicating the A first time domain positions and the B second time domain positions.

[0038] In an optional implementation of the second aspect, the first table further includes an R2 column, and the value corresponding to the first index in the R2 column includes C, and the value corresponding to the second index in the R2 column includes D.

[0039] In this embodiment, the number of repetitions C of the first access information and the number of repetitions D of the second access information are independently configured, and the base station can flexibly indicate or configure the number of repetitions of the access information, thereby expanding the application scenarios of the scheme.

[0040] In an optional implementation of the second aspect, the first index is the same as the second index, and C and D are two values in the second set of values.

[0041] In this embodiment, the plurality of numbers of repetitions can be indicated by one index, thereby reducing the resource overhead of indicating the C third time domain positions and the D fourth time domain positions.

[0042] In an optional implementation of the second aspect, the order of the plurality of values in the second set of values is the same as the order of the plurality of SSBs in the first time unit, and the first time unit is a time unit in which the first information and the second information are located.

[0043] In this embodiment, the terminal can determine the number of repetitions corresponding to the access information based on the default order without additional information indication, thereby reducing the resource overhead of indicating the C third time domain positions and the D fourth time domain positions.

[0044] In an optional implementation of the second aspect, the first table further includes: a number of search space sets per slot column, an M column, and a first symbol index column.

[0045] In this embodiment, the first table contains information required by an old terminal (a terminal that does not support receiving a plurality of repeated downlink control information) to access the network, thereby enhancing the forward compatibility of the scheme.

[0046] In a third aspect, the embodiments of the present application provide a communication device. The communication device can include a processing unit and a transceiver unit, configured to perform: any one of the methods in the first aspect and the optional implementations thereof, or any one of the methods in the second aspect and the optional implementations thereof.

[0047] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus, which can be a base station or a chip applied to a base station. The communication apparatus can include a processor configured to perform any of the methods in the first aspect and the optional implementation.

[0048] Optionally, when the communication apparatus is a base station, the processor is, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or a field programmable gate array (FPGA); when the communication apparatus is a chip, the processor is, for example, a core, which can include at least one execution unit, for example, an arithmetic and logic unit (ALU).

[0049] Optionally, the communication apparatus can further include a transceiver. When the communication apparatus is a base station, the transceiver can be a transceiver circuit, an antenna, or the like; when the communication apparatus is a chip, the transceiver can be an input / output interface, a pin, a circuit, or the like.

[0050] Optionally, the communication apparatus can further include a memory configured to store a computer program or instructions, and the processor executes the computer program or instructions stored in the memory, so that the communication apparatus performs any of the methods in the first aspect and the optional implementation. When the communication apparatus is a base station, the memory can be a read-only memory, a random access memory, or the like; when the communication apparatus is a chip, the memory can be a register, a cache, or the like.

[0051] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus, which can be a terminal or a chip applied to a terminal. The communication apparatus can include a processor configured to perform any of the methods in the second aspect and the optional implementation.

[0052] Optionally, when the communication apparatus is a terminal, the processor is, for example, a CPU, an ASIC, or a FPGA; when the communication apparatus is a chip, the processor is, for example, a core, which can include at least one execution unit, for example, an ALU.

[0053] Optionally, the communication apparatus can further include a transceiver. When the communication apparatus is a terminal, the transceiver can be a transceiver circuit, an antenna, or the like; when the communication apparatus is a chip, the transceiver can be an input / output interface, a pin, a circuit, or the like.

[0054] Optionally, the communication apparatus can further include a memory for storing a computer program or instructions, and the processor executes the computer program or instructions stored in the memory to enable the communication apparatus to perform the method of any one of the second aspect and the optional embodiments thereof. When the communication apparatus is a terminal, the memory can be a read-only memory, a random access memory, etc.; when the communication apparatus is a chip, the memory can be a register, a cache, etc.

[0055] In a sixth aspect, the embodiments of the present application provide a communication system, including: a communication apparatus for performing the method of any one of the first aspect and the optional embodiments thereof, and a communication apparatus for performing the method of any one of the second aspect and the optional embodiments thereof.

[0056] In a seventh aspect, the embodiments of the present application provide a computer readable storage medium storing a computer program, when the computer program is executed on a communication apparatus, the computer program causes the communication apparatus to perform: the method of any one of the first aspect and the optional embodiments thereof, or the method of any one of the second aspect and the optional embodiments thereof.

[0057] In an eighth aspect, the embodiments of the present application provide a computer program product, including: computer program code or computer program instructions, when the computer program code or computer program instructions are run on a communication apparatus, the computer program code or computer program instructions causes the communication apparatus to perform: the method of any one of the first aspect and the optional embodiments thereof, or the method of any one of the second aspect and the optional embodiments thereof. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0058] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an architecture of a communication system to which embodiments of the present application are applied;

[0059] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a radio access network node according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0060] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an NTN architecture including a transmissive mode satellite according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0061] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a synchronization signal block according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0062] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a cell search method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0063] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an NTN link according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0064] FIG. 7 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0065] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a time-domain position relationship according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0066] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of another time-domain position relationship according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0067] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of still another time-domain position relationship according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0068] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of still another time-domain position relationship according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0069] FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0070] FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of a structure of another communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0071] The technical solutions in the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0072] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an architecture of a communication system 1000 to which embodiments of the present application are applied. As shown in FIG. 1, the communication system includes a radio access network (RAN) 100, wherein the RAN 100 includes at least one RAN node (e.g., 110a-110e in FIG. 1, collectively referred to as 110) and can further include at least one terminal (e.g., 120a-120d in FIG. 1, collectively referred to as 120). The RAN 100 can further include other RAN nodes, such as wireless relay devices and / or wireless backhaul devices (not shown in FIG. 1). The terminals 120 are connected to the RAN nodes 110 in a wireless manner. Terminals and terminals and RAN nodes and RAN nodes can be connected to each other in a wired or wireless manner. The communication system 1000 can further include a core network 200. The RAN nodes 110 are connected to the core network 200 in a wireless or wired manner. The core network devices in the core network 200 and the RAN nodes 110 in the RAN 100 can be independent and different physical devices, or can be the same physical device integrated with the logical functions of the core network devices and the logical functions of the RAN nodes. The communication system 1000 can further include the Internet 300.

[0073] The RAN 100 can be an evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) system, a new radio (NR) system, or a future wireless access system defined in the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP). The RAN 100 can also include two or more different wireless access systems described above. The RAN 100 can also be an open RAN (O-RAN).

[0074] The RAN node, also referred to as a network device, a radio access network device, a RAN entity, or an access node, is configured to help a terminal to access to the communication system through a wireless manner.

[0075] In one application scenario, the RAN node can be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next generation NodeB (gNB) in a 5th generation (5G) mobile communication system, a base station in a future communication network, an access point (AP) in a Wi-Fi system, an AP in a long range radio (LoRa) system, or an AP in a vehicle-to-everything (V2X) system. The RAN node can be a macro base station (such as 110a in FIG. 1), a micro base station or an indoor station (such as 110e in FIG. 1), or a relay node (such as 110b and 110c in FIG. 1).

[0076] In another application scenario, a terminal can be assisted to implement wireless access through cooperation of multiple RAN nodes, and different RAN nodes respectively implement part of functions of a base station. For example, a RAN node can be a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), or a radio unit (RU). Here, the CU completes functions of a radio resource control (RRC) protocol and a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) of a base station, and can also complete a function of a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP); the DU completes functions of a radio link control (RLC) layer and a medium access control (MAC) layer of a base station, and can also complete part of a physical (PHY) layer or all of the PHY layer; and a specific description about the protocol layers can refer to related technical specifications of the 3GPP. The RU can be used to implement a function of transceiving a radio frequency signal. The CU and the DU can be two independent RAN nodes, or can be integrated in a same RAN node, for example, integrated in a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in a radio frequency device, for example, included in a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH).

[0077] 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).

[0078] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an architecture of an O-RAN provided by an embodiment of the present application.

[0079] As shown in FIG. 2, the O-RAN 200 includes a CU 210, a DU 220, and an RU 230. Optionally, the CU 210 and the DU 220 can be integrated in a BBU 240, and the BBU 240 can be co-located with the RU 230 or not. The CU 210 can communicate with a core network 250 through a backhaul link, the CU 210 and the DU 220 can communicate through a midhaul link, the DU 220 and the RU 230 can communicate through a fronthaul link, and the RU 230 and a UE 260 can communicate through an air interface.

[0080] The RAN node in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of the software module and the hardware module, for example, the RAN node can be a server loaded with a corresponding software module. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form of the RAN node. For ease of description, a base station is described as an example of the RAN node in the following.

[0081] A terminal is a device with wireless transceiving function, which can send a signal to a base station or receive a signal from the base station. The terminal can also be referred to as a terminal device, a user equipment (UE), a mobile station, a mobile terminal, etc. The terminal can be widely applied to various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D) communication, vehicle to everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), internet of things (IOT), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), industrial control, autonomous driving, remote medical treatment, smart power grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wear, smart transportation, smart city, etc. The terminal can be a mobile phone (such as 120a and 120b in FIG. 1), a tablet computer (such as 120c in FIG. 1), a printer with wireless transceiving function (such as 120d in FIG. 1), a wearable device, a vehicle, a charging pile, an airplane, a ship, a robot, a mechanical arm, a smart home device, etc. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form of the terminal.

[0082] As an example but not limitation, in embodiments of the present application, the wearable device can also be referred to as a smart wearable device, which is a general term for devices that are designed and developed by applying wearable technology to daily wear, such as glasses, gloves, watches, clothing, and shoes. The wearable device is a portable device that can be directly worn on the body or integrated into the user's clothes or accessories. The wearable device is not only a hardware device, but also a powerful function achieved through software support and data interaction, cloud interaction. The broad sense of smart wearable device includes electronic devices with full functions, large size, and complete or partial functions that can be achieved without relying on smart phones, such as smart watches or smart glasses, or electronic devices that focus on a certain application function and need to be used with other devices such as smart phones, such as various smart wristbands, smart jewelry, and other devices for measuring physical signs.

[0083] As an example but not limitation, in embodiments of the present application, the vehicle can be a smart car or an intelligent car, a digital car, an unmanned car, a driverless car, a pilotless car, or an automobile, a self-driving car or an autonomous car, or an electric vehicle (EV), where the EV can be a pure EV or a battery EV, a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), a range extended EV (REEV), a plug-in HEV (PHEV), or a new energy vehicle. The various terminals introduced above can be considered as vehicle-mounted terminals if they are located on a vehicle (for example, placed or installed in a vehicle), and the vehicle-mounted terminal can also be referred to as a vehicle-mounted module, a vehicle-mounted chip, or an on-board unit (OBU).

[0084] 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 the water surface; can also be deployed on an airplane, a balloon, and a man-made satellite. Embodiments of the present application do not limit the application scenarios of the base station and the terminal.

[0085] The roles of the base station and the terminal can be relative. For example, 110d in FIG. 1 (which can be a helicopter or a drone) can be configured as a mobile base station, and for those terminals accessing the wireless access network 100 through 110d, 110d is a base station; but for 110a, 110d is a terminal, that is, 110a and 110d communicate through a wireless air interface protocol. Of course, 110a and 110d can also communicate through a base station-to-base station interface protocol, and in this case, 110d is also a base station relative to 110a. Therefore, the base station and the terminal can be collectively referred to as a communication device, and 110a-110e in FIG. 1 can be referred to as a communication device with a base station function, and 120a-120d in FIG. 1 can be referred to as a communication device with a terminal function.

[0086] The base station and the terminal, the base station and the base station, and the terminal and the terminal can communicate through a licensed spectrum, an unlicensed spectrum, or both. They can communicate through a spectrum below 6 gigahertz (GHz), a spectrum above 6 GHz, or both. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the spectrum resources used for wireless communication.

[0087] In the embodiments of the present application, the functions of the base station can also be performed by a module (such as a chip) in the base station or a control subsystem containing base station functions. The control subsystem containing base station functions herein can be a control center in the above-mentioned application scenarios such as smart grids, industrial control, intelligent transportation, and smart cities. The functions of the terminal can also be performed by a module (such as a chip or a modem) in the terminal or a device containing terminal functions.

[0088] In the embodiments of the present application, the base station sends downlink information to the terminal, the downlink information is carried on a downlink channel, and the downlink information can also be referred to as a downlink signal; the terminal sends uplink information to the base station, the uplink information is carried on an uplink channel, and the uplink information can also be referred to as an uplink signal.

[0089] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, the technologies involved in the embodiments of the present application are briefly introduced below.

[0090] 1. NTN.

[0091] A network that implements communication by means of non-terrestrial network devices can be referred to as an NTN. An NTN can include an aerial network device such as a satellite, a HAPS, or a UAS, has advantages such as wide coverage, long communication distance, high reliability, great flexibility, high throughput, and is not affected by geographical environment, climate conditions, and natural disasters, and has been widely applied in various fields. For example, an NTN can provide communication services for areas that are difficult for a terrestrial network to cover (e.g., oceans, forests, deserts, or remote areas); on the other hand, an NTN can enhance the reliability of mobile communication, such as providing more stable communication services for users in high-speed mobile scenarios such as trains or airplanes; in addition, an NTN can also provide more data transmission resources to support a larger number of terminal devices. The following takes an NTN containing a satellite as an example for description.

[0092] Generally speaking, the higher the orbit of a satellite, the larger its coverage area, but the longer the communication delay. According to the orbit height, satellites can be divided into geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellites, medium earth orbit (MEO) satellites, and low earth orbit (LEO) satellites.

[0093] The orbit height of a GEO satellite is about 35,000 km. A GEO satellite is relatively stationary relative to the ground and can provide a large coverage area. However, the GEO satellite is too far from the ground, requiring a large-diameter antenna for communication, and the large distance also results in a large transmission delay of the GEO satellite, which cannot meet the needs of real-time services. In addition, the tight synchronous orbit resources, high launch cost, and inability to cover the polar regions are all factors that restrict the development of GEO satellites.

[0094] The orbit height of a MEO satellite is about 2,000 km to 35,000 km. The orbit height of a MEO satellite is lower than that of a GEO satellite but higher than that of a LEO satellite, and global coverage can be achieved using a small number of MEO satellites. Currently, MEO satellites are mainly used for positioning and navigation.

[0095] The orbit height of a LEO satellite is about 300 km to 2,000 km. The orbit height of a LEO satellite is relatively low, and the transmission delay and launch cost are lower than those of a GEO satellite and a MEO satellite. Therefore, a communication system based on a LEO satellite has made great progress in recent years.

[0096] According to the working mode, the working mode of a satellite can generally be divided into two categories, namely, a transparent mode and a regenerative mode.

[0097] The main difference between the transparent mode and the regenerative mode is the processing manner of the signal. The satellite working in the transparent mode performs radio frequency processing on the uplink signal before transmitting the uplink signal downward, without performing baseband demodulation, decoding and other processing. For example, the satellite working in the transparent mode can change the carrier frequency of the uplink signal, and perform filtering and amplification processing on the uplink signal. For the satellite working in the regenerative mode, in addition to the radio frequency processing on the uplink signal, the satellite can also perform demodulation, decoding, re-encoding and re-modulation processing on the uplink signal, which is equivalent to integrating part or all of the functions of the base station on the satellite. In addition, the satellite working in the regenerative mode usually has an inter-satellite link (ISL), which can work in the radio frequency (RF) band or the optical band, while the satellite working in the transparent mode does not necessarily have an ISL.

[0098] The NTN architecture involved in the present application will be introduced below taking the transparent mode as an example.

[0099] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an NTN architecture including a satellite working in the transparent mode. In the transparent mode, the main role of the satellite is layer (L) 1 relay, such as performing radio frequency filtering, frequency conversion and amplification processing on the physical layer signal, without having the functions of higher protocol layers. The terminal is connected to the ground network device through the satellite, and the ground network device includes the gateway and the base station shown in FIG. 3, wherein the gateway can also be referred to as a “gateway station”. In the transparent mode, the satellite and the gateway can be regarded as RRUs, and the satellite, the gateway and the base station jointly implement the function of the RAN. Alternatively, the gateway can also be integrated with the base station.

[0100] For example, for the uplink, the terminal sends the uplink signal (carrying the uplink data of the terminal) through the Uu interface, the satellite receives the uplink signal and forwards the uplink signal to the gateway (the satellite can perform frequency conversion on the signal), and the gateway forwards the uplink signal to the base station. After receiving the uplink signal, the base station performs relevant processing to obtain the data that the terminal needs to send to the core network, and can send the data to the core network through the interface (such as the NG interface) between the base station and the core network. The core network can send the data to the Internet through the N6 interface. For the downlink, the Internet can send the downlink data to the core network through the N6 interface, and the core network sends the downlink data to the base station through the interface between the base station and the core network. After receiving the downlink data, the base station performs relevant processing to generate the downlink signal (carrying the downlink data), and can send the downlink signal to the gateway through the Uu interface, and the gateway sends the downlink signal to the satellite, and the satellite forwards the downlink signal to the terminal (the satellite can perform frequency conversion on the signal).

[0101] It should be noted that the names of the interfaces are examples and are not limited, and as technology develops, other interfaces with the same or similar functions can appear, and these new interfaces are also applicable to the present application. The present application does not limit the interface between the devices for transmitting data.

[0102] 2. Initial access in NTN.

[0103] The initial access is also called initial channel access, which includes cell search and random access, and the present application mainly relates to cell search.

[0104] A cell can be regarded as a wireless signal coverage area identified by a cell global identifier (CGI) or a physical cell identifier (PCI). The signal coverage area of each base station can be divided into one or more cells.

[0105] The above description of the cell is an example and is not limited, and as technology develops, concepts with the same or similar functions as the cell can appear, and these concepts are also applicable to the embodiments of the present application.

[0106] Cell search can be considered as a process of finding a new cell and completing time synchronization and frequency synchronization with the new cell. The terminal can perform cell search before performing cell switching or when turning on and searching for a network.

[0107] The terminal can perform cell search based on SSB. SSB can also be referred to as a synchronization signal block, as shown in FIG. 4, SSB includes a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and a physical broadcasting channel (PBCH), occupying 4 orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols in the time domain and 240 subcarriers in the frequency domain, wherein the PSS and the SSS each occupy 127 subcarriers.

[0108] As a network device, the satellite can send different SSBs to different areas and distinguish them by the index of the SSB. Different SSB indexes represent the areas covered by SSBs in different beam directions.

[0109] After receiving the SSB, the terminal decodes the SSB and performs corresponding operations according to the decoded information. As shown in FIG. 5, by detecting the PSS, the terminal can complete time synchronization and frequency synchronization with the new cell and determine the transmission time of the SSS; by detecting the PSS and the SSS, the terminal can determine the PCI of the new cell. The PBCH carries a main information block (MIB), and the terminal decodes the PBCH to obtain the MIB and obtain the information related to random access in the MIB, such as the time-frequency resource information of the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH); the terminal can detect the PDCCH according to the time-frequency resource information of the PDCCH to obtain the downlink control information, which indicates or configures the time-frequency resource of the SIB1, and the terminal receives the SIB1 on the time-frequency resource of the SIB1 and decodes the SIB1 to obtain the cell system information. In the NTN containing a satellite, the SIB1 can also indicate or configure the time-frequency resource of the SIB19, and the terminal receives the SIB19 on the time-frequency resource of the SIB19 and decodes the SIB19 to obtain the satellite ephemeris information.

[0110] After obtaining the cell system information and the ephemeris information, the terminal can send a random access preamble on the uplink resource corresponding to the SSB index to start random access. For the network device, the area where the terminal is located can be determined by the received random access preamble and the corresponding uplink resource, and a connection with the terminal can be established.

[0111] The above description of the SSB and initial access is an example and is not limited, and as the technology develops, the same or similar concepts as described above can appear, which are also applicable to the embodiments of the present application.

[0112] 3. Transmission link of NTN.

[0113] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a transmission link of an NTN according to an embodiment of the present application. In the NTN, according to the communication object, the link between the terminal and the satellite can be referred to as a service link, and the link between the satellite and the gateway can be referred to as a feeder link. In addition, according to the data flow direction, the link in the gateway→satellite→terminal direction can be referred to as a forward link (i.e., a downlink), and the link in the terminal→satellite→gateway direction can be referred to as a reverse link (i.e., an uplink). Therefore, the transmission delay of the NTN includes the transmission delay on the service link and the transmission delay on the feeder link.

[0114] As shown in FIG. 6, in the NTN, the distance between the terminal and the satellite is far, resulting in a large path loss of the service link. If the terminal still receives the downlink control information in the manner of the search space-based downlink control information reception in the ground network, the probability of decoding failure of the downlink control information will increase. Therefore, the search space-based downlink control information reception manner cannot be applied to the NTN.

[0115] The communication method provided by the embodiment of the application is described below.

[0116] As shown in FIG. 7, the method 700 is performed by the base station and the terminal respectively, or the method 700 is performed by the chip applied to the base station and the chip applied to the terminal respectively. The base station and the terminal are taken as examples for description. The method 700 includes the following steps.

[0117] S710, the base station sends first information, the first information indicating (or, configuring) A first time domain positions, A being a positive integer greater than 1, wherein the A first time domain positions include a first time domain position a0 at the first position and a first time domain position a1 at the second position.

[0118] Correspondingly, the terminal receives the above-mentioned first information.

[0119] The first information can be a field carried in the MIB in the SSB. The first information can indicate the A first time domain positions in an explicit manner, for example, the first information can be two bits, and the value of the two bits represents the first index; or the first information can indicate the A first time domain positions in an implicit manner, for example, the first information can be an information coding manner, and the information coding manner represents the first index. The terminal can determine the A first time domain positions in combination with the first index and a preset table. The method of determining the A first time domain positions based on the index and the table will be described in detail below.

[0120] A is the repetition number of the first downlink control information, and A can be a fixed value, for example, the value of A can be agreed as 2 or 4 in a protocol.

[0121] Alternatively, A can be a variable value, and the base station can determine the specific value of A according to an internal algorithm and the current communication environment.

[0122] For example, the satellite is currently located at the apogee, resulting in a poor link budget of the service link, and the base station can determine A as a larger value to improve the decoding performance of the first downlink control information.

[0123] For another example, the satellite is currently located at the perigee, and the link budget of the service link is good, and the base station can determine A as a smaller value to reduce the resource overhead of the first downlink control information.

[0124] The first time-domain position can be one or more time-domain symbols (abbreviated as "symbols"), such as 1, 2, or 3 OFDM symbols.

[0125] The starting position of the first time-domain position can be located in the first symbol in a time slot, or can be located in a symbol other than the first symbol in a time slot. When the starting position of the first time-domain position is located in the first symbol of a time slot, the terminal can receive the first downlink control information as soon as possible, thereby accelerating the rate of cell search.

[0126] The time slots in which the A first time-domain positions are located are discontinuous (or, spaced apart), for example, the time slot in which the time-domain position a0 is located is spaced apart from the time slot in which the time-domain position a1 is located by 1 or more time slots.

[0127] In various embodiments of the present application, the "time-domain position" can also be replaced by "time-domain resource".

[0128] After sending the first information, the base station can perform the following steps.

[0129] S720, the base station sends second information, the second information indicates (or, configures) B second time-domain positions, B is a positive integer greater than 1, wherein the B second time-domain positions include a first time-domain position b0 and a second time-domain position b1, the time-domain position b0 is located between the time-domain position a0 and the time-domain position a1, and the time-domain position b1 is located after the time-domain position a1.

[0130] Correspondingly, the terminal receives the above-mentioned second information.

[0131] The second information can be a field carried by the MIB in the SSB, and the SSB carrying the second information is different from the SSB carrying the first information. The second information can indicate the B second time-domain positions in an explicit manner, for example, the second information can be two bits, and the value of the two bits represents the second index; the second information can also indicate the B second time-domain positions in an implicit manner, for example, the second information is an information encoding manner, and the information encoding manner represents the second index. The terminal can determine the B second time-domain positions in combination with the second index and a preset table. The method of determining the B second time-domain positions based on the index and the table will be described in detail below.

[0132] B is the repetition number of the second downlink control information, and B can be a fixed value, for example, the value of B can be agreed as 2 or 4 in a protocol.

[0133] Alternatively, B can be a variable value, and the base station can determine the specific value of B according to an internal algorithm and the current communication environment.

[0134] For example, the current satellite is located at the apogee, resulting in a poor link budget of the service link, the base station can determine B as a larger value to improve the decoding performance of the second downlink control information.

[0135] For another example, the current satellite is located at the perigee, resulting in a good link budget of the service link, the base station can determine B as a smaller value to reduce the resource overhead of the second downlink control information.

[0136] The second time domain position can be one or more symbols, such as 1, 2, or 3 OFDM symbols.

[0137] The starting position of the second time domain position can be located at the first symbol in a time slot, or can be located at a symbol other than the first symbol in a time slot. When the starting position of the second time domain position is located at the first symbol of a time slot, the terminal can receive the second downlink control information as soon as possible, and accelerate the rate of cell search.

[0138] The time slots where the B second time domain positions are located are discontinuous (or, interval distribution), for example, the time slot where the time domain position b0 is located is interval 1 or more time slots from the time slot where the time domain position b1 is located. In addition, the time slot where the time domain position b0 is located can be adjacent to the time slot where the time domain position a0 is located, or can be non-adjacent; similarly, the time slot where the time domain position b1 is located can be adjacent to the time slot where the time domain position a1 is located, or can be non-adjacent.

[0139] After sending the second information, the base station can perform the following steps.

[0140] S730, the base station sends A first downlink control information at A first time domain positions, the A first downlink control information is the same, and the A first downlink control information indicates (or configures) C third time domain positions, the C third time domain positions are used to transmit C first access information, and C is a positive integer.

[0141] S740, the base station sends B second downlink control information at B second time domain positions, the A first downlink control information is the same, and the B second downlink control information indicates (or configures) D fourth time domain positions, the D fourth time domain positions are used to transmit D second access information, and D is a positive integer.

[0142] The A first downlink control information can be transmitted based on a redundancy version or can not be transmitted based on a redundancy version. The B second downlink control information can be transmitted based on a redundancy version or can not be transmitted based on a redundancy version. Embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific transmission mode of the A first downlink control information and the B second downlink control information.

[0143] The C first access information and the D second access information can be information carried in a broadcast message. When C is greater than 1, the C first access information can or can not be based on a redundancy version transmission. When D is greater than 1, the D second access information can or can not be based on a redundancy version transmission. Embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific transmission mode of the C first access information and the D second access information.

[0144] C can be equal to or different from A. D can be equal to or different from B.

[0145] The time domain position relationship of each information in the method 700 is described below in combination with FIGS. 8-10.

[0146] As shown in FIG. 8, the base station transmits four SSBs, SSB 0, SSB 1, SSB 2 and SSB 3, in time slots 0 and 1, each occupying 4 symbols. Among them, SSB 0 indicates or configures the time domain position of PDCCH 0, SSB 1 indicates or configures the time domain position of PDCCH 1, SSB 2 indicates or configures the time domain position of PDCCH 2, and SSB 3 indicates or configures the time domain position of PDCCH 3, as shown by the arrows between SSBs and PDCCHs in FIG. 8. Optionally, the SSBs can also indicate or configure the frequency domain position or frequency domain resource of the corresponding PDCCH.

[0147] The PDCCH in each time slot indicates the time domain position of the broadcast message in the time slot where the PDCCH is located, for example, the downlink control information carried by PDCCH 0 in time slot 2 indicates the time domain position of broadcast message 0 in time slot 2, the downlink control information carried by PDCCH 1 in time slot 3 indicates the time domain position of broadcast message 1 in time slot 3, and the downlink control information carried by PDCCH 0 in time slot 6 indicates the time domain position of broadcast message 0 in time slot 6.

[0148] In the method 700, the first information and the second information can be information carried by any two of SSB 0-SSB 3.

[0149] For example, the first information is the information carried by SSB 0, the second information is the information carried by SSB 1, the A first time domain positions are the symbols where PDCCH 0 is located in slots 2 and 6, the B second time domain positions are the symbols where PDCCH 1 is located in slots 3 and 7, the 2 downlink control information carried by PDCCH 0 in slots 2 and 6 are the A first downlink control information, and the 2 downlink control information carried by PDCCH 1 in slots 3 and 7 are the B second downlink control information, wherein the symbol where PDCCH 0 is located in slot 2 is time domain position a0, the symbol where PDCCH 0 is located in slot 6 is time domain position a1, the symbol where PDCCH 1 is located in slot 3 is time domain position b0, and the symbol where PDCCH 1 is located in slot 7 is time domain position b1. In addition, the symbols occupied by the broadcast messages in slots 2 and 6 are the C third time domain positions, the access information carried by the two broadcast messages in slots 2 and 6 are the C first access information, the symbols occupied by the two broadcast messages in slots 3 and 7 are the D fourth time domain positions, and the access information carried by the two broadcast messages in slots 3 and 7 are the D second access information.

[0150] As shown in FIG. 9, the base station transmits 4 SSBs in slots 0 and 1, which are SSB 0, SSB 1, SSB 2 and SSB 3 respectively, and each SSB occupies 4 symbols. Among them, SSB 0 indicates or configures the time domain position of PDCCH 0, SSB 1 indicates or configures the time domain position of PDCCH 1, SSB 2 indicates or configures the time domain position of PDCCH 2, and SSB 3 indicates or configures the time domain position of PDCCH 3, as shown by the arrows between SSBs and PDCCHs in FIG. 9. Optionally, the SSBs can also indicate or configure the frequency domain position or frequency domain resource of the corresponding PDCCH.

[0151] The PDCCHs in each slot indicate the time domain position of the broadcast message in the slot where the PDCCH is located, for example, the downlink control information carried by PDCCH 0 in slot 2 indicates the time domain position of broadcast message 0 in slot 2, the downlink control information carried by PDCCH 1 in slot 3 indicates the time domain position of broadcast message 1 in slot 3, and the downlink control information carried by PDCCH 0 in slot 6 indicates the time domain position of broadcast message 0 in slot 6.

[0152] In the method 700, the first information and the second information can be the information carried by any two of SSB 0 to SSB 3.

[0153] For example, the first information is the information carried by SSB 0, the second information is the information carried by SSB 2, the A first time domain positions are the symbols where PDCCH 0 is located in slots 2, 6, 10 and 14, the B second time domain positions are the symbols where PDCCH 2 is located in slots 4 and 8, the 4 downlink control information carried by PDCCH 0 in slots 2, 6, 10 and 14 are A first downlink control information, the 2 downlink control information carried by PDCCH 2 in slots 4 and 8 are B second downlink control information, wherein the symbol where PDCCH 0 is located in slot 2 is time domain position a0, the symbol where PDCCH 0 is located in slot 6 is time domain position a1; the symbol where PDCCH 2 is located in slot 4 is time domain position b0, and the symbol where PDCCH 2 is located in slot 8 is time domain position b1. In addition, the symbols occupied by the broadcast messages in slots 2, 6, 10 and 14 are C third time domain positions, the access information carried by the 4 broadcast messages in slots 2, 6, 10 and 14 are C first access information, the symbols occupied by the two broadcast messages in slots 4 and 8 are D fourth time domain positions, and the access information carried by the two broadcast messages in slots 4 and 8 are D second access information.

[0154] As shown in FIG. 10, the base station transmits 4 SSBs in slots 0 and 1, which are SSB 0, SSB 1, SSB 2 and SSB 3 respectively, each of which occupies 4 symbols. Among them, SSB 0 indicates or configures the time domain position of PDCCH 0, SSB 1 indicates or configures the time domain position of PDCCH 1, SSB 2 indicates or configures the time domain position of PDCCH 2, and SSB 3 indicates or configures the time domain position of PDCCH 3, as shown by the arrows between SSBs and PDCCHs in FIG. 10. Optionally, the SSBs can also indicate or configure the frequency domain position or frequency domain resource of the corresponding PDCCH.

[0155] The PDCCHs in each slot indicate the time domain positions of the broadcast messages in the slot where the PDCCHs are located, for example, the downlink control information carried by PDCCH 0 in slot 2 indicates the time domain position of broadcast message 0 in slot 2, the downlink control information carried by PDCCH 1 in slot 3 indicates the time domain position of broadcast message 1 in slot 3, and the downlink control information carried by PDCCH 0 in slot 6 indicates the time domain position of broadcast message 0 in slot 6.

[0156] In the method 700, the first information and the second information can be the information carried by any two of SSB 0 to SSB 3.

[0157] For example, the first information is the information carried by SSB 1, the second information is the information carried by SSB 2, the A first time domain positions are the symbols where PDCCH 1 is located in slots 3, 7, 11 and 15, the B second time domain positions are the symbols where PDCCH 2 is located in slots 4 and 8, the 4 downlink control information carried by PDCCH 1 in slots 3, 7, 11 and 15 are A first downlink control information, and the 2 downlink control information carried by PDCCH 2 in slots 4 and 8 are B second downlink control information, wherein the symbol where PDCCH 1 is located in slot 3 is time domain position a0, the symbol where PDCCH 1 is located in slot 7 is time domain position a1, the symbol where PDCCH 2 is located in slot 4 is time domain position b0, and the symbol where PDCCH 2 is located in slot 8 is time domain position b1. In addition, the symbols occupied by the broadcast messages in slots 3, 7, 11 and 15 are C third time domain positions, the access information carried by the 4 broadcast messages in slots 3, 7, 11 and 15 are C first access information, the symbols occupied by the two broadcast messages in slots 4 and 8 are D fourth time domain positions, and the access information carried by the two broadcast messages in slots 4 and 8 are D second access information.

[0158] As shown in FIGS. 8-10, the repetition number of the PDCCH associated with each SSB can be the same or different, and the repetition number of the broadcast message associated with each SSB can be the same or different. For one SSB, the repetition number of the PDCCH associated with the SSB and the repetition number of the broadcast message associated with the SSB can be the same or different.

[0159] In FIGS. 8-10, the broadcast message can be SIB1 or a combination of SIB1 and SIB19.

[0160] In the NTN, some access information is carried in SIB19. If SIB1 or SIB19 is sent alone, SIB19 also needs to be repeated multiple times to improve transmission reliability. In this embodiment, the network device in the NTN can compress SIB1 and SIB19 and send them as one broadcast message repeatedly, so that the terminal can receive SIB19 without waiting for the scheduling of SIB1, thereby improving the access rate of the terminal.

[0161] For example, for low-altitude aircraft such as drones, the terminal does not need ephemeris information to access the network of such low-altitude aircraft, so the broadcast message can be SIB1; for high-altitude aircraft such as GEO satellites, the constellation information is necessary for random access, so the above broadcast message can be a combination of SIB1 and SIB19, wherein the base station can compress SIB1 and SIB19 and combine them into one SIB that can be scheduled in one slot.

[0162] As shown in FIG. 11, one time slot can include 2 symbols carrying PDCCH and 12 symbols carrying broadcast messages, the 2 symbols carrying PDCCH can be adjacent or not adjacent, the downlink control information in each symbol schedules one broadcast message, i.e., indicates the time-frequency resource of one broadcast message. The broadcast messages can be compressed SIB1 and compressed SIB19, or the two broadcast messages can be part of the information in SIB1 (information for access) and part of the information in SIB19 (information for access), and the remaining information in SIB1 and SIB19 can be transmitted in subsequent system messages supporting repetition.

[0163] In the method 700, the time slot in which the A first time domain positions or the B second time domain positions are located includes: n0 and n0+I·S·(R1-1); wherein n0 is the time slot in which the time domain position a0 or the time domain position b0 is located, n0+I·S·(R1-1) is the time slot in which the last time domain position of the A first time domain positions or the B second time domain positions is located; I is the number of synchronization information blocks in the time unit in which the first information and the second information are located, I is a positive integer greater than 1; S is the number of time slots occupied by the first access information or the second access information, S is a positive integer; R1 is equal to A or B.

[0164] Taking FIG. 9 as an example, the first information is the information carried by SSB 0, and the second information is the information carried by SSB 2. The time unit in which the first information and the second information are located can be a “half frame”, i.e., a half radio frame starting from time slot 0. In the time unit, there are a total of 4 SSBs, so I is equal to 4.

[0165] The A first time domain positions are the symbols in which PDCCH 0 is located in time slot 2, time slot 6, time slot 10 and time slot 14, the symbol in which PDCCH 0 is located in time slot 2 is time domain position a0, the symbol in which PDCCH 0 is located in time slot 6 is time domain position a1, the symbol in which PDCCH 0 is located in time slot 10 is time domain position a2, and the symbol in which PDCCH 0 is located in time slot 14 is time domain position a3; the B second time domain positions are the symbols in which PDCCH 2 is located in time slot 4 and time slot 8, the symbol in which PDCCH 2 is located in time slot 4 is time domain position b0, and the symbol in which PDCCH 2 is located in time slot 8 is time domain position b1. Thus, it can be determined that the time slot in which time domain position a0 is located is time slot 2, and the time slot in which time domain position b0 is located is time slot 4, i.e., for the A first time domain positions, the time slot n0 is time slot 2, and for the B second time domain positions, the time slot n0 is time slot 4.

[0166] The base station or the terminal can determine the time slot n0 according to n 0+I·S·j Determine the time slot after the time slot n0, wherein j=0, 1, 2, …, R1-1.

[0167] The number of time slots occupied by the first access information is 1, and S can be determined to be 1; the repetition number of the first access information is 4, and R1 can be determined to be 4, j = 0, 1, 2, 3. For the time domain position a1, j = 1, and the time slot in which the time domain position a1 is located can be determined as n 0+I·S·j = n 0+4·1·1 = n4, that is, the 4th time slot after the time slot n0, and from FIG. 9, when the time slot n0 is time slot 2, the time slot n4 is time slot 6. For the time domain position a2, j = 2, and the time slot in which the time domain position a2 is located can be determined as n 0+I·S·j = n 0+4·1·2 = n8, that is, the 8th time slot after the time slot n0, and from FIG. 9, when the time slot n0 is time slot 2, the time slot n8 is time slot 10. For the time domain position a3, j = 3, and the time slot in which the time domain position a3 is located can be determined as n 0+I·S·j = n 0+4·1·3 = n 12 , that is, the 12th time slot after the time slot n0, and from FIG. 9, when the time slot n0 is time slot 2, the time slot n 12 is time slot 14.

[0168] The number of time slots occupied by the second access information is 1, and S can be determined to be 1; the repetition number of the second access information is 2, and R1 can be determined to be 2, j = 0, 1. For the time domain position b1, j = 1, and the time slot in which the time domain position b1 is located can be determined as n 0+I·S·j = n 0+4·1·1 = n4, that is, the 4th time slot after the time slot n0, and from FIG. 9, when the time slot n0 is time slot 4, the time slot n4 is time slot 8.

[0169] As can be seen from the above, the time slot determined based on n 0+I·S·j makes all the downlink control information associated with SSBs in one SSB burst be transmitted once before the repeated downlink control information is transmitted, compared with the downlink control information associated with one SSB being transmitted multiple times before the downlink control information associated with another SSB is transmitted, and the embodiment reduces the latency of the terminal accessing the NTN based on the second downlink control information.

[0170] Optionally, n0 can be calculated using any one of the following formulas:

[0171] wherein the number of time slots occupied by the first access information or the second access information is 1;

[0172] wherein i is an SSB index, and O and M are parameters in the first table, μ represents a calculation coefficient corresponding to an NR subcarrier spacing, for example, for a subcarrier spacing configuration Δf, Δf = 2 μ · 15 [kHz], when Δf is 15, μ is equal to 0.

[0173] The first formula (the formula containing O and M) is a formula in the prior art, and if the first formula is used, the old terminal (a terminal that does not support receiving multiple repeated downlink control information) can be considered, and the forward compatibility of the enhancement scheme is improved. The second formula (the formula containing O and S) includes the number of time slots occupied by the access information S, and if the second formula is used, the number of time slots occupied by each access information can be flexibly configured, and the application scenario of the expansion scheme is expanded. The third formula (the formula containing O and not containing S) defaults the number of time slots occupied by the access information to 1, and if the third formula is used, the calculation formula of n0 can be simplified by presetting S, and the resource overhead of the terminal for calculating n0 is reduced.

[0174] The time domain position relationship of each information in the method 700 is described in detail above, and these time domain position relationships can be preset (for example, specified by a protocol) or indicated or configured by the base station. The following describes an example of a method for indicating the time domain position relationship by the base station.

[0175] Optionally, the first information includes a first index, and the second information includes a second index, the first index and the second index are indexes of an index column in the first table, the first table further includes an O column and an R1 column, and a value corresponding to the first index in the R1 column includes A, and a value corresponding to the second index in the R1 column includes B.

[0176] The following gives several optional examples of the first table. It should be noted that these tables are examples and are not limited to the values of the parameters in the tables.

[0177] Table 1

[0178] If Table 1 is used as the first table, the first index and the second index can be index 2, and the values of A and B are 4, which are the values corresponding to index 2 in the R1 column.

[0179] In some cases, for example, for a super large cell, different beam directions have different link budgets, in order to avoid occupying the maximum repetition number in different directions, different beam directions can use different repetition numbers. For example, the first index can be index 2, the value of A is 4, which is the value corresponding to index 2 in the R1 column, and the second index can be index 1, and the value of B is 2, which is the value corresponding to index 1 in the R1 column.

[0180] For the terminal, it can determine the repetition number of PDCCH based on R1, and optionally, it can also determine the repetition number of broadcast message based on R1, wherein the repetition number C of broadcast message and the repetition number A of PDCCH can be determined by a preset relationship, for example, C=A, or C=2A, or C=A / 2.

[0181] Table 2

[0182] If Table 2 is used as the first table, the first index can be index 4, the value of A, that is, the value 2 in the R1 column corresponding to index 4, and the second index can be index 6, the value of B, that is, the value 4 in the R1 column corresponding to index 6. For a new terminal (a terminal supporting receiving multiple repeated downlink control information), it can determine the repetition number of PDCCH based on R1, and optionally, it can also determine the repetition number of broadcast message based on R1, wherein the repetition number C of broadcast message and the repetition number A of PDCCH can be determined by a preset relationship, for example, C=A, or C=2A, or C=A / 2. For an old terminal (a terminal not supporting receiving multiple repeated downlink control information), it can still access based on Table 2, and only needs to ignore R1.

[0183] Table 3

[0184] If Table 3 is used as the first table, the first index and the second index can be index 2, the value of A, that is, the first value 2 in the R1 column corresponding to index 2, and the value of B, that is, the second value 2 in the R1 column corresponding to index 2. In this example, the order of the values in the R1 set is the same as the order of the SSB indexes, that is, the first value 2 in "2, 2, 4, 4" is the value corresponding to SSB 0, the second value 2 in "2, 2, 4, 4" is the value corresponding to SSB 1, the third value 4 in "2, 2, 4, 4" is the value corresponding to SSB 2, and the fourth value 4 in "2, 2, 4, 4" is the value corresponding to SSB 3. Alternatively, the correspondence between each value in "2, 2, 4, 4" and the SSB can also be other preset relationships.

[0185] For the terminal, it can determine the repetition number of PDCCH based on R1, and optionally, it can also determine the repetition number of broadcast message based on R1, wherein the repetition number C of broadcast message and the repetition number A of PDCCH can be determined by a preset relationship, for example, C=A, or C=2A, or C=A / 2.

[0186] In this embodiment, the repetition number of the plurality of SSBs can be indicated by one index, thereby reducing resource overhead of indicating A first time domain positions and B second time domain positions. In addition, the terminal can determine the repetition number corresponding to the SSB based on a default order without additional information indication, thereby reducing resource overhead of indicating A first time domain positions and B second time domain positions.

[0187] Table 4

[0188] If Table 4 is used as the first table, the first index and the second index can be index 6, the value of A is 2 corresponding to index 6 in the R1 column, and the value of B is 2 corresponding to index 6 in the R1 column. In this example, the order of the values in the R1 set is the same as the order of the SSB indexes, that is, the first value 2 in "2, 2, 4, 4" corresponds to SSB 0, the second value 2 in "2, 2, 4, 4" corresponds to SSB 1, the third value 4 in "2, 2, 4, 4" corresponds to SSB 2, and the fourth value 4 in "2, 2, 4, 4" corresponds to SSB 3. Alternatively, the correspondence between each value in "2, 2, 4, 4" and the SSB can also be other preset relationships.

[0189] For a new terminal, it can determine the repetition number of the PDCCH based on R1, and optionally, it can also determine the repetition number of the broadcast message based on R1, wherein the repetition number C of the broadcast message and the repetition number A of the PDCCH can be determined by a preset relationship, for example, C=A, or C=2A, or C=A / 2. For an old terminal, it can still access based on Table 4, and only needs to ignore R1.

[0190] In this embodiment, the repetition number of the plurality of SSBs can be indicated by one index, thereby reducing resource overhead of indicating A first time domain positions and B second time domain positions. In addition, the terminal can determine the repetition number corresponding to the SSB based on a default order without additional information indication, thereby reducing resource overhead of indicating A first time domain positions and B second time domain positions.

[0191] Alternatively, R2 column can also be added in the above table to indicate the repetition number of the broadcast message (such as the first downlink control information and the second downlink control information). As shown in Tables 5-8.

[0192] Table 5

[0193] In Table 5, the values in the R2 column are the same as the values in the R1 column, or alternatively, the values in the R2 column can also be different from the values in the R1 column. The terminal directly determines the repetition number of the broadcast message based on the indexes and Table 5, for example, the first index and the second index can be index 2, the values of A and B, i.e., the values 4 in the R1 column corresponding to index 2, and the values of C and D, i.e., the values 4 in the R2 column corresponding to index 2.

[0194] Table 6

[0195] In Table 6, the values in the R2 column are the same as the values in the R1 column, or alternatively, the values in the R2 column can also be different from the values in the R1 column. The terminal directly determines the repetition number of the broadcast message based on the indexes and Table 6, for example, the first index and the second index can be index 4, the values of A and B, i.e., the values 2 in the R1 column corresponding to index 4, and the values of C and D, i.e., the values 2 in the R2 column corresponding to index 4.

[0196] Table 7

[0197] In Table 7, the values in the R2 column are the same as the values in the R1 column, or alternatively, the values in the R2 column can also be different from the values in the R1 column. The terminal directly determines the repetition number of the broadcast message based on the indexes and Table 7, for example, the first index and the second index can be index 2, the values of A and B, i.e., the values 2 and 2 in the R1 column corresponding to index 2, and the values of C and D, i.e., the values 2 and 2 in the R2 column corresponding to index 2.

[0198] Table 8

[0199] In Table 8, the values in the R2 column are the same as the values in the R1 column, or alternatively, the values in the R2 column can also be different from the values in the R1 column. The terminal directly determines the repetition number of the broadcast message based on the indexes and Table 8, for example, the first index and the second index can be index 6, the values of A and B, i.e., the values 2 and 2 in the R1 column corresponding to index 2, and the values of C and D, i.e., the values 2 and 2 in the R2 column corresponding to index 2.

[0200] For Tables 5-8, the repetition number C of the first access information and the repetition number D of the second access information are independently configured, the base station can flexibly indicate or configure the repetition number of the access information, and the application scenarios of the expansion scheme.

[0201] Compared with the scheme of directly indicating A, B and O, the transmission resource occupied by the index is less, the repetition number A and B (or A, B, C and D) is indicated by the combination of the index and the table, and the base station only needs a small amount of transmission resource to indicate A first time domain positions and B second time domain positions (or A first time domain positions, B second time domain positions, C third time domain positions and D fourth time domain positions), thereby reducing the resource overhead.

[0202] In summary, in the method 700, the first downlink control information and the second downlink control information can be sent by a base station (e.g., a satellite) in an NTN, and the terminal can combine and decode the multiple received first downlink control information to improve the decoding success rate, thereby improving the transmission reliability of the downlink control information in the NTN. In addition, in the method 700, the A first time domain positions and the B second time domain positions are staggered, and the terminal can start receiving the second downlink control information without waiting for the A first downlink control information to be completely received, thereby reducing the latency of the terminal accessing the NTN based on the second downlink control information.

[0203] The above describes the method examples provided by the embodiments of the present application in detail. It can be understood that the corresponding apparatuses contain the corresponding hardware structures and / or software modules to implement the functions. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that the units and algorithm steps of the examples described in combination with the embodiments disclosed in the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a certain function is implemented in hardware or computer software driven hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art 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.

[0204] FIGS. 12 and 13 are structural schematic diagrams of two communication apparatuses provided by the embodiments of the present application, which can be used to implement the functions of the terminal or the base station in the above method embodiments, and thus have the beneficial effects of the above method embodiments. In the embodiments of the present application, the apparatuses can be the terminal shown in FIG. 1, can be the base station described in FIG. 1, and can also be a module (e.g., a chip) applied to the terminal or the base station.

[0205] As shown in FIG. 12, the apparatus 1200 includes a processing unit 1210 and a transceiver unit 1220. The transceiver unit 1220 performs the receiving step and / or the sending step under the control of the processing unit 1210, wherein the transceiver unit 1220 is a sending unit when performing the sending step, and the transceiver unit 1220 is a receiving unit when performing the receiving step. The apparatus 1200 is used to implement the functions of the terminal or the base station in the above method embodiments described in FIG. 7.

[0206] When the apparatus 1200 is configured to implement the functions of the terminal in the method embodiment described in FIG. 7, the processing unit 1210 is configured to perform, by the transceiver 1220, receiving first information, the first information indicating (or configuring) A first time domain positions, A being a positive integer greater than 1, wherein the A first time domain positions include a first time domain position a0 and a second time domain position a1, receiving second information, the second information indicating (or configuring) B second time domain positions, B being a positive integer greater than 1, wherein the B second time domain positions include a first time domain position b0 and a second time domain position b1, the time domain position b0 being between the time domain position a0 and the time domain position a1, and the time domain position b1 being after the time domain position a1, receiving A first downlink control information at the A first time domain positions, the A first downlink control information being the same, the A first downlink control information indicating (or configuring) C third time domain positions, the C third time domain positions being used for transmitting C first access information, C being a positive integer, and receiving B second downlink control information at the B second time domain positions, the A first downlink control information being the same, the B second downlink control information indicating (or configuring) D fourth time domain positions, the D fourth time domain positions being used for transmitting D second access information, D being a positive integer.

[0207] Optionally, the time slots in which the A first time domain positions or the B second time domain positions are located include n0 and n0+I·S·(R1-1); wherein n0 is a time slot in which the time domain position a0 or the time domain position b0 is located; I is the number of synchronization information blocks in a time unit in which the first information and the second information are located, I being a positive integer greater than 1; S is the number of time slots occupied by the first access information or the second access information, S being a positive integer; and R1 is equal to A or B.

[0208] Optionally, the calculation formula of n0 includes one of the following formulas: wherein the number of time slots occupied by the first access information or the second access information is 1; wherein i is an SSB index, and O and M are parameters in the first table, is the number of time slots in a system frame.

[0209] Optionally, the first information includes a first index, and the second information includes a second index, the first index and the second index being indexes in an index column in the first table, the first table further including an O column and an R1 column, a value corresponding to the first index in the R1 column including A, and a value corresponding to the second index in the R1 column including B.

[0210] Optionally, the first index is the same as the second index, and A and B are two values in a first value set.

[0211] Optionally, the order of the plurality of values in the first set of values is the same as the order of the plurality of SSBs in the first time unit, and the first time unit is a time unit in which the first information and the second information are located.

[0212] Optionally, the first table further includes an R2 column, and a value corresponding to the first index in the R2 column includes C, and a value corresponding to the second index in the R2 column includes D.

[0213] Optionally, the first index is the same as the second index, and C and D are two values in the second set of values.

[0214] Optionally, the order of the plurality of values in the second set of values is the same as the order of the plurality of SSBs in the first time unit, and the first time unit is a time unit in which the first information and the second information are located.

[0215] Optionally, the first table further includes an R2 column, and a value corresponding to the first index in the R2 column includes C, and a value corresponding to the second index in the R2 column includes D.

[0216] When the apparatus 1200 is used to implement the functions of the base station in the method embodiment described in FIG. 7, the processing unit 1210 is configured to perform, by the transceiver 1220: transmitting first information, the first information indicating (or configuring) A first time domain positions, A being a positive integer greater than 1, wherein the A first time domain positions include a time domain position a0 located at the first position and a time domain position a1 located at the second position; transmitting second information, the second information indicating (or configuring) B second time domain positions, B being a positive integer greater than 1, wherein the B second time domain positions include a time domain position b0 located at the first position and a time domain position b1 located at the second position, the time domain position b0 being located between the time domain position a0 and the time domain position a1, and the time domain position b1 being located after the time domain position a1; transmitting A first downlink control information at the A first time domain positions, the A first downlink control information being the same, the A first downlink control information indicating (or configuring) C third time domain positions, the C third time domain positions being used for transmitting C first access information, C being a positive integer; and transmitting B second downlink control information at the B second time domain positions, the A first downlink control information being the same, the B second downlink control information indicating (or configuring) D fourth time domain positions, the D fourth time domain positions being used for transmitting D second access information, D being a positive integer.

[0217] Optionally, a time slot in which the A first time domain positions or the B second time domain positions are located includes n0 and n0+I·S·(R1-1); wherein n0 is a time slot in which the time domain position a0 or the time domain position b0 is located; I is a number of synchronization signal blocks in a time unit in which the first information and the second information are located, I being a positive integer greater than 1; S is a number of time slots occupied by the first access information or the second access information, S being a positive integer; and R1 is equal to A or B.

[0218] Optionally, the calculation formula of n0 includes one of the following formulas: wherein the number of time slots occupied by the first access information or the second access information is 1; wherein i is the SSB index, O and M are parameters in the first table, is the number of time slots in a system frame.

[0219] Optionally, the first information includes a first index, and the second information includes a second index, the first index and the second index are indexes in an index column in the first table, the first table further includes an O column and an R1 column, a value corresponding to the first index in the R1 column includes A, and a value corresponding to the second index in the R1 column includes B.

[0220] Optionally, the first index is the same as the second index, and A and B are two values in a first value set.

[0221] Optionally, the order of the multiple values in the first value set is the same as the order of the multiple SSBs in a first time unit, and the first time unit is a time unit in which the first information and the second information are located.

[0222] Optionally, the first table further includes an R2 column, a value corresponding to the first index in the R2 column includes C, and a value corresponding to the second index in the R2 column includes D.

[0223] Optionally, the first index is the same as the second index, and C and D are two values in a second value set.

[0224] Optionally, the order of the multiple values in the second value set is the same as the order of the multiple SSBs in a first time unit, and the first time unit is a time unit in which the first information and the second information are located.

[0225] Optionally, the first table further includes: a number of search space sets per time slot column, an M column, and a first symbol index column.

[0226] The apparatus 1200 can be a terminal or a base station. The processing unit 1210 can be implemented by hardware or by software, when implemented by hardware, the processing unit 1210 is a logic circuit, an integrated circuit, etc.; when implemented by software, the processing unit 1210 can be a general-purpose processor, which realizes by reading software codes stored in a storage unit, the storage unit can be integrated in the processing unit 1210 or exist independently outside the processing unit 1210.

[0227] As shown in FIG. 13, the apparatus 1300 includes a processor 1310 and an interface circuit 1320. The processor 1310 and the interface circuit 1320 are coupled to each other. It can be understood that the interface circuit 1320 can be a transceiver or an input / output interface. Optionally, the apparatus 1300 can further include a memory 1330 for storing instructions executed by the processor 1310 or storing input data required by the processor 1310 to execute instructions or storing data generated after the processor 1310 executes instructions.

[0228] When the apparatus 1300 is used to implement the method shown in FIG. 7, the processor 1310 is configured to implement the functions of the processing unit 1210 described above, and the interface circuit 1320 is configured to implement the functions of the transceiver unit 1220 described above.

[0229] When the apparatus 1300 is a terminal chip (i.e., a chip applied to a terminal), the terminal chip implements the functions of the terminal in the above method embodiments. The terminal chip receives information from a base station, which can be understood as the information being first received by other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the terminal and then transmitted to the terminal chip by these modules. The terminal chip transmits information to the base station, which can be understood as the information being first transmitted to other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the terminal and then transmitted to the base station by these modules.

[0230] When the apparatus 1300 is a base station chip (i.e., a chip applied to a base station), the base station chip implements the functions of the base station in the above method embodiments. The base station chip receives information from a terminal, which can be understood as the information being first received by other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the base station and then transmitted to the base station chip by these modules. The base station chip transmits information to the terminal, which can be understood as the information being first transmitted to other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the base station and then transmitted to the terminal by these modules.

[0231] In this application, entity A transmitting information to entity B can be A directly transmitting to B, or A indirectly transmitting to B through other entities. Similarly, entity B receiving information from entity A can be entity B directly receiving information transmitted by entity A, or entity B indirectly receiving information transmitted by entity A through other entities. Here, entity A and B can be RAN nodes or modules inside RAN nodes. The transmission and reception of information can be information interaction between RAN nodes, for example, information interaction between a base station and a terminal; the transmission and reception of information can also be information interaction between different modules inside an apparatus, for example, information interaction between a terminal chip and other modules in the terminal, or information interaction between a base station chip and other modules in the base station.

[0232] It is appreciated that a processor in the embodiments of the present application can be a CPU, and can also be other general-purpose processors, a digital signal processor (DSP), an ASIC, an FPGA or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor, or can be any conventional processor.

[0233] The method steps in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in hardware, or can be implemented in software instructions executable by a processor. The software instructions can be composed of corresponding software modules, and the software modules can be stored in a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory, an erasable programmable read-only memory, an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, a register, a hard disk, a mobile hard disk, a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), or any other form of storage medium well known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor, so that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. The storage medium can also be a component of the processor. The processor and the storage medium can be located in an ASIC. In addition, the ASIC can be located in a base station or a terminal. The processor and the storage medium can also exist as discrete components in the base station or the terminal.

[0234] In the above embodiments, all or part of the embodiments can be implemented by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented by software, all or part of the embodiments can be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer programs or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments are performed. The computer can be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, a network device, a user equipment or other programmable apparatus. The computer programs or instructions can be stored in a computer readable storage medium or transferred from one computer readable storage medium to another computer readable storage medium, for example, the computer programs or instructions can be transferred from one website site, computer, server or data center to another website site, computer, server or data center through wired or wireless manner. The computer readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center and the like integrated with one or more available media. The available media can be a magnetic medium, such as a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape; or an optical medium, such as a digital video disc; or a semiconductor medium, such as a solid state disk. The computer readable storage medium can be a volatile or non-volatile storage medium, or can include both volatile and non-volatile storage media.

[0235] Finally, regarding the embodiments of the present application, the following points are explained:

[0236] First, in the embodiments of the present application, the first, second and various numerical numbers are only distinguished for convenience of description, and do not limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. For example, the first information and the second information represent two information, which can be two different information, or can be the same information.

[0237] Second, in the embodiments of the present application, "indication" can include direct indication and indirect indication, and can also include explicit indication and implicit indication. The information indicated by a certain information is called to be indicated information, and there are many ways to indicate the to-be-indicated information in the specific implementation process, for example, the to-be-indicated information can be directly indicated, such as the to-be-indicated information itself or the index of the to-be-indicated information. The to-be-indicated information can also be indirectly indicated by indicating other information, wherein the other information and the to-be-indicated information have an association relationship. The to-be-indicated information can also be indicated only by a part, and the other part of the to-be-indicated information is known or agreed in advance, for example, whether a certain information element exists can be used to indicate the to-be-indicated information by means of pre-agreement (for example, agreement), thereby reducing the indication overhead to a certain extent.

[0238] Thirdly, the "protocol" involved in the embodiments of the present application can refer to a standard protocol in the communication field, which can include a long term evolution (LTE) protocol, an NR protocol, and a related protocol in a future communication system, and the present application does not make any limitation thereon.

[0239] Fourthly, the "predefined" or "preconfigured" can be implemented by pre-storing a corresponding code, table or other information indicating related information in a device (for example, a terminal or a base station), and the present application does not make any limitation on the specific implementation manner. Wherein, the "storing" can refer to storing in one or more memories, which can be separately arranged or integrated in a processor or a communication device; the one or more memories can be partially separately arranged and partially integrated in the processor or the communication device. The type of the memory can be any form of storage medium, and the present application does not make any limitation thereon.

[0240] Fifthly, "at least one" refers to one or more, and "multiple" refers to two or more. The "and / or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, which means that there can be three kinds of relationships, for example, A and / or B can represent: A exists alone, B exists alone, and A and B exist at the same time, wherein A and B can be a single object or multiple objects. The character " / " generally represents an "or" relationship between the front and rear associated objects. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single item or multiple items. For example, at least one of a, b and c can represent: a, or b, or c, or a and b, or a and c, or b and c, or a, b and c. Wherein a, b and c can be a single object or multiple objects.

[0241] Sixthly, in the embodiments of the present application, the descriptions such as "when", "in the case of", "if" and "if" all refer to the objective situation that the device (for example, a terminal or a base station) will make corresponding processing, which is not limited by time, and does not require the device to have a judgment action when implemented, nor means that there are other limitations.

[0242] Seventhly, in various embodiments of the present application, the terms and / or descriptions of different embodiments are consistent and can be mutually referenced if there is no special description and logical conflict, and the technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationship.

Claims

1. A communication method characterized by comprising: The method comprises: sending first information, the first information indicating A first time domain positions, A being a positive integer greater than 1, wherein the A first time domain positions include a first time domain position a0 and a second time domain position a1; sending second information, the second information indicating B second time domain positions, B being a positive integer greater than 1, wherein the B second time domain positions include a first time domain position b0 and a second time domain position b1, the time domain position b0 being located between the time domain position a0 and the time domain position a1, and the time domain position b1 being located after the time domain position a1; sending A first downlink control information at the A first time domain positions, the A first downlink control information being the same, the A first downlink control information indicating C third time domain positions, the C third time domain positions being used for transmitting C first access information, C being a positive integer; sending B second downlink control information at the B second time domain positions, the A first downlink control information being the same, the B second downlink control information indicating D fourth time domain positions, the D fourth time domain positions being used for transmitting D second access information, D being a positive integer.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, The time slots in which the A first time domain positions or the B second time domain positions are located include: n0 and n0+I·S·(R1-1); wherein n0 is a time slot in which the time domain position a0 or the time domain position b0 is located; I is a number of synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) in a time unit in which the first information and the second information are located, I being a positive integer greater than 1; S is a number of time slots occupied by the first access information or the second access information, S being a positive integer; R1 is equal to A or B.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein, The calculation formula of n0 includes one of the following formulas: wherein the number of time slots occupied by the first access information or the second access information is 1. where i is the SSB index, O and M are parameters in the first table, The number of time slots in a system frame.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The first information includes a first index, and the second information includes a second index, the first index and the second index being indexes of an index column in a first table, the first table further including an O column and an R1 column, a value corresponding to the first index in the R1 column including A, and a value corresponding to the second index in the R1 column including B.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein, The first index and the second index are the same, and A and B are two values in a first value set.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein, An order of multiple values in the first value set is the same as an order of multiple SSBs in a first time unit, the first time unit being a time unit in which the first information and the second information are located.

7. The method according to any one of claims 4 to 6, characterized in that, The first table further includes an R2 column, a value corresponding to the first index in the R2 column including C, and a value corresponding to the second index in the R2 column including D.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein, The first index and the second index are the same, and C and D are two values in a second value set.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein, An order of multiple values in the second value set is the same as an order of multiple SSBs in a first time unit, the first time unit being a time unit in which the first information and the second information are located.

10. The method according to any one of claims 4 to 9, characterized in that, The first table further includes: a number of search space sets of each time slot column, an M column, and a first symbol index column.

11. A communication method, comprising: The method comprises: receiving first information, the first information indicating A first time domain positions, A being a positive integer greater than 1, wherein the A first time domain positions include a first time domain position a0 and a second time domain position a1; receiving second information, the second information indicating B second time domain positions, B being a positive integer greater than 1, wherein the B second time domain positions include a first time domain position b0 and a second time domain position b1, the time domain position b0 being between the time domain position a0 and the time domain position a1, and the time domain position b1 being after the time domain position a1; receiving A first downlink control information at the A first time domain positions, the A first downlink control information being the same, the A first downlink control information indicating C third time domain positions, the C third time domain positions being used for transmitting C first access information, C being a positive integer; receiving B second downlink control information at the B second time domain positions, the A first downlink control information being the same, the B second downlink control information indicating D fourth time domain positions, the D fourth time domain positions being used for transmitting D second access information, D being a positive integer.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein, The time slot in which the A first time domain positions or the B second time domain positions are located includes: n0 and n0+I·S·(R1-1); wherein n0 is a time slot in which the time domain position a0 or the time domain position b0 is located; I is a number of synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) in a time unit in which the first information and the second information are located, I being a positive integer greater than 1; S is a number of time slots occupied by the first access information or the second access information, S being a positive integer; R1 is equal to A or B.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein, The calculation formula of n0 includes one of the following formulas: wherein the number of time slots occupied by the first access information or the second access information is 1. where i is the SSB index, O and M are parameters in the first table, is a number of time slots in a system frame.

14. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 13, characterized in that, The first information includes a first index, and the second information includes a second index, the first index and the second index being indexes of an index column in a first table, the first table further including an O column and an R1 column, a value corresponding to the first index in the R1 column including A, and a value corresponding to the second index in the R1 column including B.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein, The first index and the second index are the same, and A and B are two values in a first value set.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein, An order of multiple values in the first value set is the same as an order of multiple SSBs in a first time unit, the first time unit being a time unit in which the first information and the second information are located.

17. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 16, characterized in that, The first table further includes an R2 column, a value corresponding to the first index in the R2 column including C, and a value corresponding to the second index in the R2 column including D.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein, The first index and the second index are the same, and C and D are two values in a second value set.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein, An order of multiple values in the second value set is the same as an order of multiple SSBs in a first time unit, the first time unit being a time unit in which the first information and the second information are located.

20. The method of any one of claims 14 to 19, wherein, The first table further includes: a number of search space sets per time slot column, an M column, and a first symbol index column.

21. A communications device, characterized by includes: A module for performing the method of any one of claims 1 to 10, or a module for performing the method of any one of claims 11 to 20.

22. A communications device, characterized by Comprising: a processor for implementing the method of any one of claims 1 to 10, or the method of any one of claims 11 to 20, by logic circuitry or executing code instructions; an interface circuit for receiving signals from and transmitting signals to other devices or for transmitting signals to, and receiving signals from, other devices.

23. A communication system, characterized by Comprising: a communication device for performing the method of any one of claims 1 to 10, and a communication device for performing the method of any one of claims 11 to 20.

24. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer readable storage medium stores a computer program or instructions which, when executed by a communication device, implement the method of any one of claims 1 to 10, or the method of any one of claims 11 to 20.

25. A computer program product, characterised in that, The computer program product comprises a computer program or instructions which, when executed by a communication device, implement the method of any one of claims 1 to 10, or the method of any one of claims 11 to 20.

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