Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

A communication method and apparatus, which are used for solving the problem of communication performance being reduced when the delay of system information is relatively large or system information cannot be acquired. In the method, a first communication apparatus receives first information and second information, wherein the first information comprises a first synchronization signal and system information, the second information comprises a second synchronization signal and first indication information, and the first indication information is used for indicating information related to a paging message. The first information is located in a first frequency unit, the second information is located in a second frequency unit, and the first frequency unit is different from the second frequency unit. It can be understood that the system information and the first indication information can be transmitted at different frequencies, such that transmission collisions between the two are reduced, and the transmission of the system information may not be affected by the transmission of the first indication information, such that the transmission delay of the system information can be reduced, and thus a terminal device can acquire the system information in a timely manner, thereby improving the communication performance of the terminal device.

Description

Communication method and apparatus

[0001] Cross-reference to Related Applications

[0002] This application claims priority to the Chinese Patent Application No. 202411309813.9, filed on September 18, 2024, and entitled “A Communication Method and Apparatus”, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method and apparatus. BACKGROUND

[0004] In a communication system, a network device periodically transmits a synchronization signal and a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) block (SSB), and a terminal device synchronizes with the network device by detecting the SSB. The PBCH carries a master information block (MIB), which contains information such as a system frame number (SFN), a cell barring identifier, and a system information block (SIB) parameter set. The terminal device can obtain the remaining system information (such as SIB) broadcast by the network device according to these information, and can also implement corresponding functions according to the obtained system information (such as MIB and / or SIB, etc.). For example, the terminal device needs to perform initial access to a cell according to the system information; or the terminal device needs to determine a paging occasion (PO) according to the system information.

[0005] If the terminal device has a large time delay in obtaining the system information or cannot obtain the system information, it will lead to a decrease in the communication performance of the terminal device. SUMMARY

[0006] Embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and apparatus for improving the communication performance of a terminal device.

[0007] In a first aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be applied to a first communication device. The first communication device is, for example, a terminal device, which is also referred to as a terminal apparatus. The terminal device is, for example, a terminal apparatus, or another apparatus including a terminal apparatus function, or a circuit, or a chip system (or a chip, such as a modem chip, also referred to as a baseband chip, or a system on chip (SoC) chip or a system in package (SIP) chip containing a modem core) or another functional module capable of realizing the function of a terminal apparatus, which is, for example, arranged in a terminal apparatus. The method comprises: receiving first information, the first information being located in a first frequency unit, and the first information comprising a first synchronization signal and system information; and receiving second information, the second information being located in a second frequency unit, and the second information comprising a second synchronization signal and first indication information, the first indication information being used to indicate information related to a paging message, wherein the first frequency unit is different from the second frequency unit.

[0008] In this embodiment, the system information and the first indication information can be transmitted on different frequency units, so that the first communication device can receive the corresponding information on the corresponding frequency units to meet the requirements of different functions. On the one hand, in the related art, the time domain interval between the PO determined according to the system information and the synchronization signal can be large, and the first communication device needs to receive the synchronization signal first and then enter a light sleep state, and then wake up to receive the PO, so that the first communication device needs to be frequently powered on and off, which is complex to implement and has high power consumption. In the present application, the second synchronization signal on the second frequency unit and the first indication information are included in the first information, which can be understood as that the second synchronization signal and the first indication information can be transmitted together, so that the time domain interval between the two is relatively small, which can reduce the time length of the light sleep state of the first communication device and the number of power-on and power-off, so as to reduce the power consumption of the first communication device. On the other hand, if the system information and the first indication information are transmitted on the same frequency unit, the first indication information and the system information can not be transmitted at the same time. In the present application, the first synchronization signal and the system information are transmitted on the first frequency unit, and the second synchronization signal and the first indication information are transmitted on the second frequency unit, so that the system information and the first indication information can be transmitted on different frequencies, which reduces the transmission conflict between the two, and the transmission of the system information will not be affected by the transmission of the first indication information, for example, the system information cannot be transmitted because the first indication information needs to be transmitted, so as to reduce the transmission delay of the system information, so that the first communication device can obtain the system information in time, and the communication performance of the first communication device is improved. For example, for cell initial access, the first communication device can receive the system information in a short time, and the initial access delay can be reduced.

[0009] In an optional implementation, the first information is used for initial cell selection; and / or the second information is used for receiving a paging message. In this implementation, the roles of the information on different frequency units can be different, so that the first communication device receives the information on the corresponding frequency unit according to the requirement. For example, if initial access is required, system information can be received on the first frequency unit, so that the system information is received in a shorter time, and a lower initial access latency is achieved. For another example, if a paging message is required to be received, the first indication information can be received on the second frequency unit, and since the second synchronization signal and the first indication information on the second frequency unit can be transmitted together, the length of time during which the first communication device is in a light sleep state and the number of times of power-on and power-off can be reduced, so that a lower receiving power consumption is achieved.

[0010] In an optional implementation, the first synchronization signal and the second synchronization signal can have multiple implementation manners. For example, in a first optional implementation, the type of the first synchronization signal and the type of the second synchronization signal are the same. In this implementation, the first communication device does not need to configure multiple sets of hardware and / or algorithms, and the implementation complexity is lower.

[0011] In a second optional implementation of the first synchronization signal and the second synchronization signal, the type of the first synchronization signal and the type of the second synchronization signal are different. In this implementation, the first communication device can use different hardware and / or algorithms to implement the reception of the first synchronization signal and the second synchronization signal, and the synchronization requirement in different situations can be met. For example, the first synchronization signal is a low power synchronization signal (LP-SS), and if the first synchronization signal is used, the first communication device can use simpler hardware and / or algorithms when performing initial access, so that the power consumption of the first communication device can be reduced, and the access latency can also be reduced. For another example, the second synchronization signal includes a primary synchronization signal (PSS) and / or a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and if the second synchronization signal is used, the first communication device can use more accurate hardware and / or algorithms when receiving a paging message, so that more accurate synchronization can be achieved.

[0012] In a third alternative implementation of the first synchronization signal and the second synchronization signal, the first synchronization signal and the second synchronization signal are of the same type but have different corresponding sequences. In this implementation, the first communication device has higher implementation flexibility. For example, the PSS and / or SSS included in the second synchronization signal can use a shorter sequence, and can occupy less time domain resource relative to the LP-SS, thereby reducing the time delay between synchronization and paging.

[0013] In a fourth alternative implementation of the first synchronization signal and the second synchronization signal, the first synchronization signal and the second synchronization signal are of the same type and have the same corresponding sequence. In this implementation, the first communication device does not need to configure multiple sets of hardware and / or algorithms, and has lower implementation complexity.

[0014] In an alternative implementation, the transmission period of the first information is shorter than the transmission period of the second information. For example, the first communication device can search for the system information in a shorter time when initially accessing, thereby achieving lower initial access latency. When waiting for paging, the first communication device can remain in a sleep state for a longer time, thereby reducing the power consumption of the first communication device.

[0015] In an alternative implementation, the method further includes receiving third information, the third information being located in a second frequency unit, the third information including a third synchronization signal, and the second information and the third information being located in the same transmission period. Through this implementation, the first communication device can synchronize according to multiple sets of synchronization signals, which is beneficial to improving synchronization accuracy.

[0016] In an alternative implementation, the third synchronization signal and the second synchronization signal are of the same type and have the same corresponding sequence. Through this implementation, the first communication device can use the same hardware and / or algorithms to process the third synchronization signal and the second synchronization signal, thereby reducing implementation complexity.

[0017] In an alternative implementation, a time domain interval between a time domain resource used to receive the second information and a time domain resource used to receive the third information is less than or equal to N time units, N being an integer. Through this implementation, the first communication device can receive multiple sets of synchronization signals in a shorter time, so as to synchronize according to multiple sets of synchronization signals, which is beneficial to improving synchronization accuracy. Moreover, the time domain interval between the second information and the third information is lower, which can reduce the number of power-on and power-off of the first communication device, and reduce the power consumption of the first communication device.

[0018] In an optional implementation, the system information is scrambled by different scrambling information from the first indication information; and / or, the channel used for receiving the system information is of a different type from the channel used for receiving the first indication information. The first communication device can distinguish the first indication information and the system information according to the scrambling information and / or the channel type, so that the receiving of the first indication information or the system information can be implemented.

[0019] In an optional implementation, the first communication device receives second indication information, the second indication information indicating that the first information comprises the system information, or the second indication information indicating that the second information comprises the first indication information. This implementation can be considered as an explicit indication manner for the information transmitted on the frequency units. Alternatively, the first communication device receives third indication information, the third indication information being used to indicate that the frequency unit where the third indication information is located is the first frequency unit or the second frequency unit. This implementation can also be considered as an explicit indication manner for the information transmitted on the frequency units. Alternatively, the first communication device detects the first synchronization signal and determines that the first frequency unit corresponding to the first synchronization signal further comprises the system information, or the first communication device detects the second synchronization signal and determines that the second frequency unit corresponding to the second synchronization signal further comprises the first indication information. This implementation can be considered as an implicit indication manner for the information transmitted on the frequency units. Alternatively, the first communication device detects the first synchronization signal and determines that the first information is transmitted on the first frequency unit corresponding to the first synchronization signal; or the first communication device detects the second synchronization signal and determines that the second information is transmitted on the second frequency unit corresponding to the second synchronization signal. This implementation can also be considered as an implicit indication manner for the information transmitted on the frequency units. In the embodiments of the present application, the information transmitted on the first frequency unit or the second frequency unit can be indicated by an explicit or implicit manner, so that the first communication device does not need to perform blind detection to determine what information is transmitted on the corresponding frequency unit, the number of detection of the first communication device can be reduced, and the power consumption of the first communication device can be reduced.

[0020] In a second aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be applied to a second communication device. The second communication device is, for example, a network side device, which is also referred to as a network device. The network device is, for example, a network equipment, or other equipment including the function of the network equipment, or a circuit, or a chip system (or a chip, such as a modem chip, also referred to as a baseband chip, or a system on chip (SoC) chip or a system in package (SIP) chip containing a modem core, or other functional module capable of realizing the function of the network equipment, which is, for example, arranged in the network equipment). The method comprises: transmitting first information, the first information being located in a first frequency unit, and the first information comprising a first synchronization signal and system information; and transmitting second information, the first information being located in a second frequency unit, and the second information comprising a second synchronization signal and first indication information, the first indication information being used for indicating information related to a paging message, wherein the first frequency unit is different from the second frequency unit.

[0021] In an optional implementation, the first information is used for initial cell selection; and / or the second information is used for receiving a paging message.

[0022] In an optional implementation, the first synchronization signal and the second synchronization signal satisfy any one of the following conditions: the types of the signals are different; the types of the signals are the same; the types of the signals are the same, and corresponding sequences are different; or the types of the signals are the same, and corresponding sequences are the same.

[0023] In an optional implementation, a transmission period of the first information is less than a transmission period of the second information.

[0024] In an optional implementation, the first indication information is used for indicating information related to a paging message of a first terminal group. The method further comprises: transmitting third information, the third information being located in the second frequency unit, the second information and the third information being located in a same transmission period, and the third information comprising a third synchronization signal and fourth indication information, the fourth indication information being used for indicating information related to a paging message of a second terminal group.

[0025] In an optional implementation, the third synchronization signal and the second synchronization signal are of the same type, and corresponding sequences are the same.

[0026] In an optional implementation, a time domain interval between a time domain resource used for transmitting the second information and a time domain resource used for transmitting the third information is less than or equal to N time units, N being an integer.

[0027] In an optional implementation, the method further includes: sending second indication information, the second indication information indicating that the first information includes system information, or the second indication information indicating that the second information includes the first indication information; or sending third indication information, the third indication information being used to indicate that a frequency unit where the third indication information is located is the first frequency unit or the second frequency unit.

[0028] As to the technical effects brought by the second aspect or the various optional implementations, reference can be made to the introduction of the technical effects of the first aspect or the corresponding implementation.

[0029] In a third aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be applied to the first communication device as described above. The method includes: receiving a fourth synchronization signal; determining a first reference time according to a time domain position of the fourth synchronization signal, the first reference time being used to determine a first resource, the first resource being used to receive fifth indication information, the fifth indication information being used to indicate information related to a paging message.

[0030] In this implementation, the first communication device can determine the first reference time according to the fourth synchronization signal, and further determine the first resource used to transmit the fifth indication information. It can be understood that the present application embodiment provides a way of determining the resource where the indication information related to the paging message is located, which does not need to rely on system information, so that even if the time delay of obtaining the system information is increased or the system information cannot be obtained, the first resource of the fifth indication information can be determined, and the fifth indication information can be received in time, thereby improving the communication performance. In addition, since this way does not need to rely on system information, the dependence and demand for system information can be reduced, thereby reducing the transmission of system information.

[0031] In an optional implementation, when the first resource is determined according to the first reference time, the first resource can be determined according to the first reference time and a predefined rule, or the first resource can also be determined according to the first reference time and a first offset. Through this implementation, the first communication device can determine the resource used to transmit the information related to the paging message without relying on system information, thereby reducing the dependence and demand for system information, and reducing the transmission of system information.

[0032] In an optional implementation, the first offset is determined according to an identifier of the first terminal; or the first offset is configured by the network device; or the first offset is pre-configured or predefined.

[0033] In an optional implementation, the transmission period of the fourth synchronization signal is greater than or equal to a first threshold. It can be understood that the transmission period of the fourth synchronization signal is greater, that is, the fourth synchronization signal is transmitted or received more sparsely. It can be understood that the more intensive the fourth synchronization signal is, the more intensive the corresponding paging window is, and then if the actual time domain position of a detected fourth synchronization signal deviates from the real time domain position, the fourth synchronization signal is easily attributed to the wrong paging window, resulting in the inability to correctly receive the paging indication information subsequently. In this way, the fourth synchronization signal is more sparse, and even if the actual time domain position of a detected fourth synchronization signal deviates from the real time domain position, a fourth synchronization signal can be attributed to the correct paging window, improving the accuracy of the paging window (or the first reference time).

[0034] In an optional implementation, the method further includes: receiving fifth indication information at the first resource; and receiving the paging message according to the fifth indication information. Through this implementation, the first communication device can determine the resource for transmitting the paging message related information and receive the corresponding paging message without the aid of system information, reducing the dependence and demand for system information, thereby reducing the transmission of system information.

[0035] In an optional implementation, the fifth indication information is further used to indicate at least one terminal group, and the first communication device can receive the paging message according to the fifth indication information if the at least one terminal group includes the first terminal. Through this implementation, the first communication device can judge whether to receive the paging message according to whether the at least one terminal group indicated by the fifth indication information includes itself, and only receive the paging message when the at least one terminal group includes itself, which can reduce the false wake-up rate of the first communication device and save the power consumption of the first communication device for receiving and decoding the paging message.

[0036] In an optional implementation, the time domain interval between the time domain position of the first resource and the time domain position of the fourth synchronization signal is less than or equal to a second threshold. It can be understood that the time domain interval between the first resource and the time domain position of the fourth synchronization signal is small enough, thereby reducing the light sleep time of the first communication device after receiving the fourth synchronization signal, and the first communication device does not need to be powered off and powered on again, which can reduce the number of power-on and power-off of the first communication device and reduce the reception power consumption of the first communication device.

[0037] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be applied to the second communication device as described above. The method includes: transmitting a fourth synchronization signal; transmitting fifth indication information, the fifth indication information being located at a first resource, the first resource being determined according to a first reference time, the first reference time being determined according to the time domain position of the fourth synchronization signal, and the fifth indication information being used to indicate information related to a paging message.

[0038] In an optional implementation, the first resource is determined according to the first reference time, which can include: determining the first resource according to the first reference time and a predefined rule; or determining the first resource according to the first reference time and a first offset.

[0039] In an optional implementation, the first offset is determined according to an identifier of the terminal; or the first offset is configured by the network device; or the first offset is pre-configured or predefined.

[0040] In an optional implementation, a transmission period of the fourth synchronization signal is greater than or equal to a first threshold.

[0041] In an optional implementation, the fifth indication information is used to indicate a paging message for paging the first terminal group. The method further includes: sending sixth indication information, the sixth indication information being located at a second resource, a time domain position of the second resource being second offset from the first reference time, the sixth indication information being used to indicate a paging message for paging a second terminal group, the first offset and the second offset being different.

[0042] In an optional implementation, the paging message is used to page at least one terminal group, and the fifth indication information is further used to indicate the at least one terminal group.

[0043] In an optional implementation, a time domain interval between the time domain position of the first resource and a time domain position of the fourth synchronization signal is less than or equal to a second threshold.

[0044] As to the technical effects brought by the fourth aspect or various optional implementations, reference can be made to the introduction of the technical effects of the third aspect or corresponding implementations.

[0045] In a fifth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided. The communication apparatus can be the first communication apparatus of any one of the first aspect to the fourth aspect. The communication apparatus has the functions of the first communication apparatus. For example, the communication apparatus has the functions of any one of the first aspect to the fourth aspect, e.g., the communication apparatus includes modules or units or means corresponding to the functions of any one of the first aspect to the fourth aspect, which are specifically configured to perform the operations of any one of the first aspect to the fourth aspect. The modules or units or means can be implemented by software or by hardware or by a combination of software and hardware. The communication apparatus, for example, is a terminal device, or is another device having functions of a terminal device, or is a chip system (or a chip or a circuit) or another functional module, which is capable of implementing the functions of a terminal device, e.g., the chip system or the functional module is arranged in a terminal device. In an optional implementation, the communication apparatus includes a baseband device and a radio frequency device. In another optional implementation, the communication apparatus includes a processing unit (also sometimes referred to as a processing module) and a transceiver unit (also sometimes referred to as a transceiver module). The transceiver unit is capable of implementing a sending function and a receiving function. When the transceiver unit implements the sending function, the transceiver unit can be referred to as a sending unit (also sometimes referred to as a sending module). When the transceiver unit implements the receiving function, the transceiver unit can be referred to as a receiving unit (also sometimes referred to as a receiving module). The sending unit and the receiving unit can be the same functional module, which is referred to as a transceiver unit and is capable of implementing the sending function and the receiving function. Alternatively, the sending unit and the receiving unit can be different functional modules, and the transceiver unit is a general term for these functional modules.

[0046] In an optional implementation, the transceiver unit (or the receiving unit) is configured to receive first information, the first information being located in a first frequency unit, the first information including a first synchronization signal and system information, and receive second information, the second information being located in a second frequency unit, the second information including a second synchronization signal and first indication information, the first indication information being used for indicating information related to a paging message, wherein the first frequency unit is different from the second frequency unit.

[0047] In an optional implementation, the transceiver unit (or the receiving unit) is configured to receive a fourth synchronization signal. The processing unit is configured to determine a first reference time according to a time domain position of the fourth synchronization signal, the first reference time being used for determining a first resource, the first resource being used for receiving fifth indication information, the fifth indication information being used for indicating information related to a paging message.

[0048] In an alternative implementation, the communication apparatus further includes a storage unit (also referred to as a storage module), and the processing unit is configured to be coupled with the storage unit and to execute programs or instructions in the storage unit to enable the communication apparatus to perform the functions of the first communication apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects.

[0049] In a sixth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided. The communication apparatus can be the second communication apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects. The communication apparatus has the functions of the second communication apparatus. For example, the communication apparatus has the functions of any one of the first to fourth aspects, e.g., the communication apparatus includes modules or units or means for performing the operations according to any one of the first to fourth aspects. The modules or units or means can be implemented in software, hardware or a combination of software and hardware. The communication apparatus can be, for example, a network device, or another device having network device functions, or a chip system (or chip or circuit) or another functional module that can implement the functions of the network device, e.g., the chip system or functional module is arranged in the network device. The network device can include, for example, a core network device and / or an access network device. Alternatively, the communication apparatus can be, for example, a terminal device, or another device having terminal device functions, or a chip system (or chip or circuit) or another functional module that can implement the functions of the terminal device, e.g., the chip system or functional module is arranged in the terminal device. In an alternative implementation, the communication apparatus includes a baseband device and a radio frequency device. In another alternative implementation, the communication apparatus includes a processing unit (also referred to as a processing module) and a transceiver unit (also referred to as a transceiver module). The transceiver unit can be implemented as described above with reference to the fifth aspect.

[0050] In an alternative implementation, the transceiver unit (or the sending unit) is configured to send first information at a first frequency unit, the first information including a first synchronization signal and system information, and to send second information at a second frequency unit, the second information including a second synchronization signal and first indication information, the first indication information being used to indicate information related to a paging message, wherein the first frequency unit is different from the second frequency unit.

[0051] In an alternative implementation, the transceiver unit (or the sending unit) is configured to send a fourth synchronization signal, and to send fifth indication information at a first resource, the first resource being determined according to a first reference time, the first reference time being determined according to a time domain position of the fourth synchronization signal, the fifth indication information being used to indicate information related to a paging message.

[0052] In an alternative implementation, the communication apparatus further includes a storage unit (also referred to as a storage module), and the processing unit is configured to be coupled with the storage unit and execute programs or instructions in the storage unit to enable the communication apparatus to perform the functions of the second communication apparatus according to any of the first to fourth aspects.

[0053] In a seventh aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which includes one or more processors. The one or more processors are configured to execute the computer programs or instructions, which when executed cause the communication apparatus to implement the method according to any possible design or implementation of the first aspect or the third aspect.

[0054] In a possible design, the communication apparatus can further include an interface circuit, and the processor is configured to communicate with other apparatuses or components via the interface circuit.

[0055] In a possible design, the communication apparatus can further include a memory. The memory is configured to store part or all of the necessary computer programs or instructions for implementing the functions related to the first aspect or the third aspect.

[0056] The communication apparatus can be a terminal, a communication module in the terminal, or a chip responsible for communication functions in the terminal, such as a modem chip (also referred to as a baseband chip) or an SoC or SIP chip including a modem module.

[0057] In an eighth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which includes one or more processors. The one or more processors are configured to execute the computer programs or instructions, which when executed cause the communication apparatus to implement the method according to any possible design or implementation of the second aspect or the fourth aspect.

[0058] In a possible design, the communication apparatus can further include an interface circuit, and the processor is configured to communicate with other apparatuses or components via the interface circuit.

[0059] In a possible design, the communication apparatus can further include a memory. The memory is configured to store part or all of the necessary computer programs or instructions for implementing the functions related to the second aspect or the fourth aspect.

[0060] The communication apparatus can be a network device, a communication module in the network device, or a chip responsible for communication functions in the network device, such as a modem chip (also referred to as a baseband chip) or an SoC or SIP chip including a modem module.

[0061] In a ninth aspect, a communication system is provided, comprising a second communication device, wherein the second communication device is configured to perform the method performed by the second communication device in any one of the first aspect to the fourth aspect. For example, the second communication device can be implemented by the communication device in the sixth aspect or the eighth aspect.

[0062] Optionally, the communication system further comprises a first communication device, wherein the first communication device is configured to perform the method performed by the first communication device in any one of the first aspect to the fourth aspect. For example, the first communication device can be implemented by the communication device in the fifth aspect or the seventh aspect.

[0063] In a tenth aspect, a computer readable storage medium is provided, configured to store a computer program or instructions, which, when executed, cause the method performed by the first communication device or the second communication device in the above aspects to be implemented.

[0064] In an eleventh aspect, a computer program product is provided, comprising instructions, which, when executed on a computer, cause the method in the above aspects to be implemented.

[0065] In a twelfth aspect, a chip system is provided, comprising a processor and an interface, wherein the processor is configured to call and execute instructions from the interface, so that the chip system implements the method in the above aspects.

[0066] For the technical effects brought by the fifth aspect to the twelfth aspect and various optional embodiments thereof, reference can be made to the introduction of the technical effects of the first aspect or the second aspect and the corresponding embodiments thereof. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0067] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario provided by the present application;

[0068] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an architecture of a communication system provided by the present application;

[0069] FIG. 3A is a schematic diagram of a detection mechanism;

[0070] FIG. 3B is a schematic diagram of joint transmission of paging indication information and synchronization signals provided by the present application;

[0071] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a flow of a communication method provided by the present application;

[0072] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a comparison of a scheme provided by the present application;

[0073] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a flow of another communication method provided by the present application;

[0074] FIG. 7A is an example diagram of a paging window containing multiple groups of paging indication information according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0075] FIG. 7B and FIG. 7C are example diagrams of a paging window containing one group of paging indication information according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0076] FIG. 8 is another flow diagram of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0077] FIG. 9 is a structural diagram of a communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0078] FIG. 10 is another structural diagram of a communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0079] To make the objectives, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present application clearer, the embodiments of the present application will be further described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

[0080] In the embodiments of the present application, the number of a noun, unless otherwise specified, represents "a singular noun or a plural noun", i.e. "one or more". "At least one" means one or more, and "multiple" means two or more. "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 the following three cases: A exists alone, A and B exist together, B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally represents an "or" relationship between the associated objects. For example, A / B means A or B. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions means any combination of these items, including any combination of single item or multiple items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c means a, b, c, a and b, a and c, b and c, or a and b and c, where a, b, and c can be single or multiple.

[0081] The ordinal numbers "first", "second", etc. mentioned in the embodiments of the present application are used to distinguish multiple objects, and are not used to limit the size, content, order, time sequence, priority or importance of the multiple objects. The numbering of steps in each embodiment introduced in the present application is only used to distinguish different steps, and is not used to limit the order of the steps.

[0082] The communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application can be applied to a fourth generation (4th generation, 4G) communication system, for example, a long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE) communication system, and can also be applied to a fifth generation (5th generation, 5G) communication system, for example, a 5G new radio (new radio, NR) communication system, or a communication system evolved after 5G, for example, a future communication system, etc. The method provided by the embodiments of the present application can also be applied to a bluetooth system, a wireless fidelity (wireless fidelity, Wifi) system, a long range radio (long range radio, LoRa) system or a vehicle-to-everything (vehicle-to-everything, V2X) system. The method provided by the embodiments of the present application can also be applied to a terrestrial network (terrestrial network, TN), and can also be applied to a non-terrestrial network (non-terrestrial network, NTN).

[0083] Please refer to FIG. 1, which is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of the embodiments of the present application. FIG. 1 includes a first communication device and a second communication device. The first communication device is, for example, a terminal device, and the second communication device is, for example, a network device (for example, an access network device, a core network device, an RSU or a control node, etc.). Alternatively, the first communication device and the second communication device are two different terminal devices. Alternatively, the first communication device and the second communication device can be two different network devices, for example, the first communication device is an RSU or a control node, and the second communication device is an access network device or a core network device. Optionally, the second communication device can also be a relay device or a forwarding device that forwards signals of other devices.

[0084] Optionally, the first communication device and the second communication device can transmit information through radio waves, or can transmit information through transmission media such as visible light, laser, infrared, optical fiber, etc.

[0085] Please refer to FIG. 2, which is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a possible communication system to which the embodiments of the present application are applicable. As shown in FIG. 2, the communication system can include a radio access network (radio access network, RAN) 100 and a core network (core network, CN) 200. Optionally, the communication system can also include an Internet 300.

[0086] The RAN 100 includes at least one RAN node (e.g., 110a and 110b in FIG. 2, collectively referred to as 110) and at least one terminal device (e.g., 120a-120j in FIG. 2, collectively referred to as 120). Other RAN nodes, such as wireless relay devices and / or wireless backhaul devices (not shown in FIG. 2), etc., can also be included in the RAN 100. The terminal devices 120 are wirelessly connected to the RAN nodes 110. The RAN nodes 110 are connected to a core network 200 through wireless or wired means. The core network devices in the core network 200 and the RAN nodes 110 in the RAN 100 can be different physical devices, respectively, or can be the same physical device integrated with the logical functions of the core network and the logical functions of the wireless access network.

[0087] The RAN 100 can be a 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) related cellular system, such as a 4G, 5G mobile communication system or a future-oriented communication system. The RAN 100 can also be an open radio access network (O-RAN or ORAN), a cloud radio access network (CRAN), or a WiFi system. The RAN 100 can also be a communication system that combines two or more of the above systems.

[0088] The RAN nodes 110, which can also be referred to as RAN entities or access nodes, etc., form part of the communication system and help terminal devices to access the wireless access. The RAN nodes 110 in the communication system 10 can be of the same type or of different types. In some scenarios, the roles of the RAN nodes 110 and the terminal devices 120 are relative, e.g., the network element 120i in FIG. 2 can be a helicopter or a drone, which can be configured as a mobile base station. For a terminal device 120j that accesses the RAN 100 through the network element 120i, the network element 120i is a base station; but for the base station 110a, the network element 120i is a terminal device. The RAN nodes 110 and the terminal devices 120 are sometimes referred to as communication apparatuses, e.g., the network elements 110a and 110b in FIG. 2 can be understood as communication apparatuses with base station functions, and the network elements 120a-120j can be understood as communication apparatuses with terminal device functions.

[0089] The RAN node can also be variously expressed, such as access network device. The access network device is a device with wireless transceiver functions, used for communication with terminal devices. The access network device includes, but is not limited to, a base station (base transceiver station (BTS), Node B, evolved Node B (eNodeB) / eNB, or the next generation Node B (gNodeB) / gNB), a transmission reception point (TRP), a base station of subsequent evolution of the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP), an access node in a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) system, a wireless relay node, a wireless backhaul node, and the like. The base station can be a macro base station (such as 110a in FIG. 2), a micro base station, a pico base station, an indoor station (such as 110b in FIG. 2), a small station, a relay station, and the like. Multiple base stations can support a network of the same access technology or a network of different access technologies. The base station can include one or more co-sited or non-co-sited transmission reception points. The access network device can also be a wireless controller, a centralized unit (CU), and / or a distributed unit (DU) in a cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenario. The access network device can also be a server and the like. For example, the network device in V2X technology can be a road side unit (RSU). The access network device is described below by taking the base station as an example. The base station can communicate with the terminal device, or communicate with the terminal device through the relay station. The terminal device can communicate with multiple base stations in different access technologies.

[0090] In the CU-DU architecture, or in an open RAN (ORAN) system, an access network device can include one or more of a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU), and the like logical network elements. The CU and the DU can be separately arranged, or can also be included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in a radio frequency device or a radio frequency unit, such as a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH).

[0091] In different systems, the CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU, or RU can also have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in an ORAN system, the CU can also be referred to as an open CU (O-CU), the DU can also be referred to as an open DU (O-DU), the CU-CP can also be referred to as an open CU-CP (O-CU-CP), the CU-UP can also be referred to as an open CU-UP (O-CU-UP), and the RU can also be referred to as an open RU (O-RU). For the convenience of description, the CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU, and RU are taken as examples for description in the embodiments of the present application. Any one of the CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU, and RU in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0092] The CU and the DU can be configured according to protocol layer functions of the wireless network that they implement. For example, the CU is configured to implement functions of a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer and above protocol layers (e.g., a radio resource control (RRC) layer and / or a service data adaption protocol (SDAP) layer, etc.). The DU is configured to implement functions of a PDCP layer and below protocol layers (e.g., one or more of a radio link control (RLC) layer, a media access control (MAC) layer, or a physical (PHY) layer). For another example, the CU is configured to implement functions of a PDCP layer and above protocol layers (e.g., an RRC layer and / or an SDAP layer), and the DU is configured to implement functions of a PDCP layer and below protocol layers (e.g., one or more of an RLC layer, a MAC layer, or a PHY layer).

[0093] The above configuration of the CU and the DU is merely an example, and the CU and the DU can be configured to have other functions as needed. For example, the CU or the DU can be configured to have functions of more protocol layers, or the CU or the DU can be configured to have partial processing functions of protocol layers. For example, partial functions of an RLC layer and functions of protocol layers above the RLC layer are configured in the CU, and remaining functions of the RLC layer and functions of protocol layers below the RLC layer are configured in the DU. For another example, the functions of the CU or the DU can be divided according to service types or other system requirements. For example, functions that require a shorter latency can be configured in the DU, and functions that do not require the shorter latency can be configured in the CU.

[0094] The DU and the RU can cooperate to implement functions of a PHY layer. One DU can be connected to one or more RUs. The DU and the RU can be configured in various manners according to design. For example, the DU is configured to implement baseband functions, and the RU is configured to implement intermediate radio frequency functions. For another example, the DU is configured to implement high layer functions in the PHY layer, and the RU is configured to implement low layer functions in the PHY layer or to implement the low layer functions and radio frequency functions. The high layer functions in the PHY layer can include a portion of functions of the PHY layer that are closer to a MAC layer. The low layer functions in the PHY layer can include another portion of functions of the PHY layer that are closer to the intermediate radio frequency side.

[0095] The core network 200 includes one or more core network devices. The core network devices are configured to implement functions such as mobility management, data processing, session management, policy and charging, and the like. The names of devices configured to implement core network functions can be different in systems of different access technologies, and the embodiments of the present application do not make any limitation in this regard. For example, in a system of the 5th generation mobile communication technology (5G), the core network devices include, for example, an access and mobility management function (AMF), a session management function (SMF), a policy control function (PCF), a user plane function (UPF), and the like.

[0096] The network device in the embodiments of the present application includes, for example, an access network device (or an access network network element), and / or a core network device (or a core network network element). In the embodiments of the present application, the communication apparatus used to implement the functions of the network device can be referred to as a network apparatus, which can be a network element or a network device, or an apparatus capable of supporting the network device or the network element to implement the functions, such as a chip system, which can be installed in the network device. All or part of the functions of the network device in the embodiments of the present application can also be implemented by software functions running on hardware, or by virtualized functions instantiated on a platform (such as a cloud platform). The network device in the present application can also be a logic node, a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the network device.

[0097] In the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application, the apparatus used to implement the functions of the network device is taken as an example (for example, the apparatus used to implement the functions of the access network apparatus is the access network apparatus, and the apparatus used to implement the functions of the core network apparatus is the core network apparatus), and the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application are described.

[0098] A terminal device is a device with wireless transceiver function, which can be a fixed device, a mobile device, a handheld device (e.g., a mobile phone), a wearable device, a vehicle-mounted device, or a wireless device (e.g., a communication module, a modem, or a chip system, etc.) built-in the above devices. The terminal device can be widely applied to various scenarios, such as sensing scenarios, cellular communication, 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, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wear, smart transportation, smart city, etc. The terminal device can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a wireless data card, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a computer with wireless transceiver function, a wearable device, a vehicle, a drone, a helicopter, an airplane, a ship, a robot, a mechanical arm, a smart home device, a mobile station (MS), a subscriber unit, a cellular phone, a smart phone, a wireless modem, a handset, a laptop computer, an MTC terminal, etc. Embodiments of the present application do not limit the device form of the terminal device.

[0099] Various terminal devices as introduced above can be considered as vehicle-mounted terminal devices if they are located on a vehicle (e.g., placed in or installed in a vehicle), which are also called as on-board units (OBU) for example. The terminal device of the present application can also be an on-board module, an on-board module group, an on-board component, an on-board chip or an on-board unit built-in a vehicle as one or more components or units, and the vehicle can implement the method of the present application through the built-in on-board module, on-board module group, on-board component, on-board chip or on-board unit.

[0100] A terminal device can also be referred to as a user equipment (UE), a terminal, an access station, a UE station, a remote station, a wireless communication device, or a user apparatus, etc.

[0101] In the embodiments of the present application, the communication device for implementing the function of the terminal device can be a terminal device, which can be a terminal device or a device capable of supporting the terminal device to implement the function, such as a chip system, which can be installed in the terminal device. In the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application, the device for implementing the function of the terminal device is taken as an example to describe the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application.

[0102] In the embodiments of the present application, the network device sends a downlink signal or downlink information to the terminal device, and the downlink information is carried on a downlink channel; the terminal device sends an uplink signal or uplink information to the base station, and the uplink information is carried on an uplink channel. In order to communicate with the network device, the terminal device needs to establish a wireless connection with a cell controlled by the network device. The cell that establishes a wireless connection with the terminal device is called a service cell of the terminal device.

[0103] In the following, the technical idea of the embodiments of the present application will be introduced in combination with the drawings.

[0104] In a wireless communication system, for example, a new radio (NR) system, in order to ensure the accuracy of data transmission, synchronization needs to be implemented between the network device and the terminal device. The synchronization can include at least one of time synchronization or frequency synchronization. Time synchronization is to adjust the time values of clocks distributed in different places to a certain accuracy or a certain compliance through time comparison, and the former is called absolute time synchronization, and the latter is called relative time synchronization. Frequency synchronization is to adjust the rate values of frequency sources distributed in different places to a certain accuracy or a certain compliance through frequency comparison, and the former is called absolute frequency synchronization, and the latter is called relative frequency synchronization. Through time and / or frequency synchronization (hereinafter referred to as time-frequency synchronization), the time / frequency deviation of the crystal oscillator of the terminal device and the crystal oscillator of the network device can be corrected to ensure the accuracy of data transmission. For example, time-frequency synchronization can be implemented based on a synchronization signal, that is, the synchronization signal in the embodiments of the present application can be a reference signal, or the synchronization signal in the embodiments of the present application can also be a signal dedicated to synchronization.

[0105] For example, the reference signal that can be used for time-frequency synchronization includes SSB. The network device periodically sends SSB, and the terminal device synchronizes with the network device by detecting the SSB. The SSB includes SS and PBCH, and the SS can include PSS and / or SSS. The first signal searched by the terminal device when it is powered on and enters the NR system is the PSS. In this stage, the terminal device searches for a cell on a given carrier frequency. Once the terminal device detects the PSS, it will be synchronized to the PSS period. Moreover, once the terminal device detects the PSS, since the structure of the SSB is defined, the resource location of the SSS and the PBCH is also known. For example, once the terminal device detects the PSS, it knows the transmission timing of the SSS. By detecting the SSS on the corresponding resource, the terminal device can determine the physical cell identity (PCI) of the cell. The information carried by the PBCH is called the master information block (MIB), which includes the system frame number (SFN), cell barring identification, and system information block (SIB) parameter set, and the terminal device needs to obtain the remaining system information broadcast by the network device according to these information. In order for the terminal device to search for a cell, each network device will periodically send SSB, that is, the SSB is a periodically transmitted common signal, and the period of the SSB can be flexibly set between 5 ms and 160 ms. Since the network device does not determine the access time of the terminal device, in order for the terminal device to quickly find a cell when it is powered on and moves within the system, the default transmission period of the SSB is 20 ms. In the case of using network energy saving technology, the period of the SSB is lengthened, for example, the period of the SSB can be lengthened to 1000 ms.

[0106] In the NR system, a terminal device can be in multiple states, and the power consumption in different states is different. For example, according to whether there is an RRC connection between the terminal device and the network device, the terminal device has three RRC states, which are RRC idle state (hereinafter referred to as idle state or Idle state), RRC inactive state (hereinafter referred to as inactive state or Inactive state) and RRC connected state (hereinafter referred to as connected state or connected state). In the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device in idle state and the terminal device in inactive state can be collectively referred to as the terminal device in non-connected state. The terminal device in connected state has an RRC connection with the network device, can perform data transmission with the network device, and can receive the RRC signaling sent by the network device. The terminal device in non-connected state does not have an RRC connection with the network device, and cannot perform data transmission with the network device, but can receive the broadcast information of the cell, such as system information, paging message, etc. The terminal device in connected state can initiate an RRC connection release process according to the received RRC connection release message, and switch to the non-connected state. The terminal device in non-connected state can switch to the connected state through a random access process.

[0107] In order to achieve low power consumption as much as possible, when there is no service in the terminal device, the terminal device can switch to an energy-saving state when there is no service, for example, enter idle state or inactive state, etc. At this time, the terminal device enters a deep sleep state, and part of the functions are no longer maintained, for example, the terminal device will disconnect the connection of the control plane. When there is service, the network device can wake up the terminal device through a paging message, the paging message is carried in a physical shared control channel (PDSCH), and the resources of the PDSCH are scheduled by a PDCCH. The terminal device needs to determine a paging frame (PF) and a paging occasion (PO) according to the identifier of the terminal device. One PF contains one or more POs, and one PO can be one subframe. The terminal device detects the PDCCH on the PO. For example, as shown in FIG. 3A, one PF contains one PO. The terminal device detects on the PO, and if a PDCCH scrambled with a P-RNTI is detected, the terminal device obtains the paging message from the resources indicated by the downlink control information (DCI) in the PDCCH. The paging message carries the identifier of one or more terminal devices, and the terminal device judges whether the paging message is paging itself according to whether the paging message carries its own identifier. If it is paging itself, the terminal device triggers a random access process and enters a connected state.

[0108] In combination with the foregoing, for a terminal device, both SSB and PDCCH need to be detected. As shown in FIG. 3A, which is an example of a detection mechanism of a terminal device, the period of SSB is taken as an example of 20 ms, and then the terminal device can detect the next SSB (e.g., SSB2 in FIG. 3A) after 20 ms from detecting one SSB (e.g., SSB1 in FIG. 3A). In addition, when the terminal device is in an idle state, it can also calculate a PF in a DRX period according to its own identifier in combination with a formula, and determine a PO in the PF to detect PDCCH on the PO.

[0109] However, since the PO is calculated by the terminal device according to a formula, and the parameters in the formula are predefined or configured by a network device, the time domain position of the PO and the time domain position of the SSB can be far apart. As shown in FIG. 3A, the frame where the SSB is located is not adjacent to the PF, and after the terminal device detects the SSB, it needs to detect paging again after 10 ms, and then powers off to enter a light sleep state, and then powers on again at the PO to detect PDCCH. The power consumption in the light sleep state is higher than that in the deep sleep state, and the terminal device cannot enter the deep sleep state in time, and frequent power on and power off can increase the power consumption of the terminal device. In addition, frequent power on and power off can also increase the implementation complexity.

[0110] To solve this problem, embodiments of the present application can reduce the time domain interval between SSB and PO, so that the terminal device can detect PDCCH on the PO immediately after detecting SSB, to reduce the number of power on and power off of the terminal device, thereby saving power consumption. Referring to FIG. 3B, which is an example of reducing the time domain interval between SSB and PO, in this example, the synchronization signal and PBCH, and the synchronization signal and PO are time-boundly bound, that is, referring to FIG. 3B, the synchronization signal and PBCH (i.e., SSB) are jointly transmitted at some time (i.e., the second resource group shown in FIG. 3B), and the synchronization signal and paging indication information are jointly transmitted at another time (i.e., the first resource group shown in FIG. 3B), and the paging indication information can indicate information related to a paging message. In this way, the terminal device can receive the synchronization signal and the paging indication information together, that is, it can receive PDCCH (containing paging indication information) directly after detecting SSB without powering off and powering on again. That is, the terminal device does not need to enter a light sleep state after detecting SSB, and can directly receive PDCCH (containing paging indication information), which not only reduces the implementation complexity of the terminal device, but also reduces the number of power on and power off and the length of time that the terminal device is in a light sleep state, thereby reducing the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0111] However, the terminal device needs to detect the SSB when performing initial access or random access. For example, for the terminal device performing initial access, the terminal device needs to receive the MIB carried by the PBCH, and acquire the remaining system information broadcast by the network device according to the information in the MIB. The system information includes the basic configuration information of the cell provided for the terminal device and the information of the services supported by the network. For the NR system, the system information can include the MIB, the SIB1 and the other system information (OSI), etc. The MIB and the SIB1 are the necessary system information, which includes the necessary information for the terminal device to access the cell. However, in some scenarios, the time delay of the terminal device acquiring the system information is large, which will cause the communication performance of the terminal device to be reduced.

[0112] For example, in the design of FIG. 3B, if the synchronization signal and the paging indication information are jointly transmitted at some time, the transmission period of the SSB is relatively long, that is, the transmission period of the MIB is long, and the time for the terminal device to search for the system information is also long, which will cause the time length of the initial access process of the terminal device to be increased.

[0113] Therefore, the embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can jointly transmit the synchronization signal and the system information, and the synchronization signal and the paging indication information on different frequency units. In this way, the system information and the paging indication information can be transmitted on different frequency units, the terminal device performing initial access can receive the system information on the frequency unit on which the system information is transmitted, so that the terminal device can receive the system information in a short time, the initial access time delay is reduced, and the communication performance of the terminal device is improved; and the terminal device waiting for paging can receive the paging indication information on the frequency unit on which the paging indication information is transmitted, so that the terminal device can reduce the light sleep time and the number of power-on and power-off, reduce the reception power consumption of the terminal device, and reduce the transmission power consumption of the base station.

[0114] For another example, in the design of FIG. 3B, since the synchronization signal and the paging indication information are jointly transmitted, the terminal device needs to determine the PO that needs to be detected by itself according to a certain rule. Alternatively, it can also be understood that, in the case that the system information cannot be acquired in time, the terminal device can also be unable to accurately calculate the PO, and therefore a method for determining the PO corresponding to the terminal device without the system information is urgently needed.

[0115] Therefore, the embodiment of the present application further provides another communication method. The method can determine a first reference time according to a synchronization signal. A first offset exists between a PO that needs to be detected by a terminal device and the first reference time, or a predetermined rule is met. The terminal device can determine the PO that needs to be detected by the terminal device according to the first reference time and the first offset, or the terminal device can determine the PO that needs to be detected by the terminal device according to the first reference time and the predetermined rule. Thus, a new way is provided to determine the PO that needs to be detected by the terminal device, to obtain paging indication information in time, and to improve the communication performance of the terminal device. In addition, the method can determine the position of the PO without the system information, can reduce the dependence of the terminal device on the system information, and thus can reduce the transmission of the system information.

[0116] The method provided by the embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the drawings corresponding to the embodiments of the present application, the steps represented by dashed lines are optional steps. The embodiments herein can be applied to the network architecture shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2. For example, the first communication device described in the embodiments herein can be the first communication device shown in FIG. 1, and the second communication device described in the embodiments herein can be the second communication device shown in FIG. 1. For another example, the first communication device described in the embodiments herein can be a terminal device or a functional module in the terminal device shown in FIG. 2, and the second communication device described in the embodiments herein can be an access network device or a functional module in the access network device shown in FIG. 2. For another example, the first communication device described in the embodiments herein can be a terminal device or a functional module in the terminal device shown in FIG. 2, and the second communication device described in the embodiments herein can be a core network device or a functional module in the core network device shown in FIG. 2. For another example, the first communication device and the second communication device described in the embodiments herein can both be a terminal device or a functional module in the terminal device shown in FIG. 2. In the following, for the purpose of description, the first communication device is taken as a UE, and the second communication device is taken as a network device.

[0117] Referring to FIG. 4, the embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the method. The method includes the following steps.

[0118] Step 401: The UE receives first information. Correspondingly, the network device sends the first information. The first information is located in a first frequency unit. The first information includes a first synchronization signal and system information.

[0119] Optionally, one frequency unit can be any one or more of the following: one or more bands, one or more frequency bands, one or more carriers, one or more bandwidth parts (BWPs), one or more component carriers (CCs), one or more resource blocks (RBs), one or more resource block groups (RBGs) or one or more resource block sets (RB sets), one or more resource elements (REs), n Hertz, m megahertz, etc. Wherein n and m are positive integers. For example, m = 5. For another example, m = 20. That is, the first frequency unit can be any one of the following: one or more bands, frequency bands, carriers, BWPs, CCs, RBs, RBGs, RB sets, REs, Hertz or megahertz. For example, one frequency unit is one CC. A CC is a plurality of independent carrier signals used in a wireless communication system, and information to be transmitted can be carried on a plurality of frequency-different CCs, and the CCs are orthogonal to each other, so that a plurality of CCs can be transmitted simultaneously in the same frequency band without interfering with each other. For example, the first frequency unit is a first CC. Alternatively, the first frequency unit is a first frequency band. Alternatively, the first frequency unit is a first BWP. Alternatively, the first frequency unit is a first band.

[0120] Optionally, the first information is a first information block. That is, the first synchronization signal and the system information are transmitted in the first information block. For example, the first information block is an SSB, that is, the first information is an SSB. Alternatively, the first information includes the first information block, and the first synchronization signal and the system information belong to the first information block. For example, the first information block is an SSB. One or more of the following are the same when the same information block is transmitted: antenna port, cyclic prefix (CP) length or subcarrier spacing. One information block corresponds to one block index. The first synchronization signal and the system information are transmitted in the first information block, or the first synchronization signal and the system information belong to the first information block, which can be understood as the first synchronization signal and the system information satisfying at least one of the following: corresponding to the same block index, being transmitted at the same center frequency position, being transmitted using the same antenna port, or being transmitted using the same CP or subcarrier spacing.

[0121] The first synchronization signal is used for synchronization between the UE and the network device. The synchronization includes time and / or frequency synchronization. It can also be described that the first synchronization signal is used for the UE to obtain time and / or frequency synchronization with the network device. Accordingly, after receiving the first synchronization signal, the UE can achieve synchronization with the network device. For example, the network device is an access network device, which covers (or serves) a first cell. The first synchronization signal can be used for the UE to obtain time and / or frequency synchronization with the first cell, or in other words, the UE can perform cell search and obtain time and / or frequency synchronization with the first cell when receiving the first synchronization signal. The first synchronization signal can be a reference signal or a signal dedicated for synchronization.

[0122] Optionally, the first synchronization signal includes a PSS and / or a SSS. Alternatively, the first synchronization signal can be an LP-SS. For example, when the first synchronization signal is an LP-SS, the first synchronization signal can include a coarse synchronization signal and a fine synchronization signal. Optionally, the first synchronization signal can include one and / or multiple sequences. The sequence can be, for example, an m-sequence, a Gold sequence, a pseudo-random sequence, or a Zadoff-Chu sequence.

[0123] Optionally, the system information can be cell-level information, and the network device can transmit the system information in a broadcast manner. For example, the system information is an MIB, and the MIB can be carried by a PBCH.

[0124] Optionally, the first information is used for initial cell selection. The initial cell selection can also be understood as initial cell access or initial cell search. For example, the UE performs initial cell selection when it is powered on to select a cell to access, so as to be served by the cell. In some embodiments, the UE can determine whether to receive the first information according to its own state. For example, the UE receives the first information when it needs to perform initial cell selection. The UE needs to perform initial cell selection, which can be understood as that the UE is not currently accessing any cell, for example, the UE is not accessing any cell when it is powered on, and needs to perform initial cell selection to access a cell that can provide services to it.

[0125] The first frequency unit is used for transmitting (sending or receiving) the first information, which can be understood as that the first information can be transmitted on the first frequency unit, and accordingly, the UE can receive the first information on the first frequency unit. For example, when the UE needs to obtain the first information or the system information, it can receive the first information on the first frequency unit.

[0126] In some embodiments, when the UE needs to perform initial cell selection, the UE can receive the first information on the first frequency unit.

[0127] In some embodiments, before the UE receives the first information at the first frequency unit, the UE can receive information or blindly detect information at other frequency units. For example, the other frequency units are second frequency units, the second frequency units are not used to transmit system information, the UE cannot receive the required system information at the second frequency units, and then the UE can switch to the first frequency unit to receive the first information.

[0128] For example, when the UE needs to perform initial cell selection, the UE attempts to receive system information at the second frequency units. When the system information is not received within a set time period, the UE determines that the current second frequency units are not frequency units used to transmit system information, and the UE switches to the first frequency unit to receive the first information. The set time period may, for example, be one or more transmission periods of system information. For example, when the transmission period of system information is 20 ms, the UE switches to the first frequency unit to receive the first information when the system information is not received within 20 ms or 40 ms.

[0129] For another example, when the UE receives a synchronization signal, because there is a certain association relationship between the resources carrying the synchronization signal and the system information, the UE can determine the resource position of the system information according to the resource position corresponding to the synchronization signal. The UE can attempt to receive system information at the determined resource position. If the system information is not received or the received information is not system information, the UE can determine that the current second frequency units are not frequency units used to transmit system information, and the UE can switch to the first frequency unit to receive the first information.

[0130] Through the above embodiments, the network side (such as a network device) can send different types of information at different frequency units, and the terminal device (such as a UE) can blindly receive the required information, which can reduce the power consumption and resource consumption of the network side for sending signaling, and can ensure that the terminal device can obtain the required information (such as system information).

[0131] Step 402: The UE receives a message indicating state switching. Correspondingly, the network device sends the message indicating state switching.

[0132] Optionally, the message indicating state switching is used to indicate that the UE switches to a low-power state, such as a non-connected state or a light-connected state. The power consumption of the light-connected state is lower than that of the connected state, and higher than that of the non-connected state.

[0133] For example, the message indicating the state switching is an RRC connection release message, which is used to indicate the UE to perform an RRC connection release procedure and switch to the non-connected state. After the UE establishes an RRC connection with the network device, the UE can perform data transmission with the network device and can receive RRC signaling sent by the network device. Then, the network device can send the RRC connection release message to the UE, and the UE can initiate the RRC connection release procedure according to the received RRC connection release message and switch to the non-connected state.

[0134] In some embodiments, if the UE is already in a low-power state, step 402 need not be performed, i.e., step 402 is an optional step that can or can not be performed, and thus is shown in dashed lines in FIG. 4.

[0135] Step 403: The UE receives second information. Accordingly, the network device sends the second information. The second information is located in a second frequency unit. The second information includes a second synchronization signal and first indication information, the first indication information being used to indicate information related to a paging message. The first frequency unit is different from the second frequency unit.

[0136] Optionally, the second frequency unit can also be any one of one or more bands, frequency bands, carriers, BWPs, CCs, RBs, RBGs, RB sets, REs, hertz, or megahertz. For example, the second frequency unit is a second CC. Alternatively, the second frequency unit is a second frequency band. Alternatively, the second frequency unit is a second BWP. Alternatively, the second frequency unit is a second band.

[0137] Optionally, the second information can be a second information block. That is, the second synchronization signal and the first indication information are transmitted in the second information block. For example, the second information block is a synchronization paging block, i.e., the second information is a synchronization paging block. Alternatively, the second information includes the second information block, and the first synchronization signal and the first indication information belong to the second information block. For example, the second information block is a synchronization paging block. The second synchronization signal and the first indication information are transmitted in the second information block, or the first synchronization signal and the first indication information belong to the second information block, which can be understood as the second synchronization signal and the first indication information satisfying at least one of the following: corresponding to the same block index, being transmitted at the same center frequency point position, being transmitted using the same antenna port, or being transmitted using the same CP or subcarrier spacing.

[0138] The second synchronization signal can also be used for synchronization between the UE and the network device. It can also be described that the second synchronization signal is used for the UE to obtain time and / or frequency synchronization with the network device. Accordingly, after receiving the second synchronization signal, the UE can achieve synchronization with the network device. The second synchronization signal can be a kind of reference signal or a kind of synchronization dedicated signal.

[0139] Optionally, the second synchronization signal comprises a PSS and / or a SSS. Alternatively, the second synchronization signal can be an LP-SS. For example, when the second synchronization signal is an LP-SS, the second synchronization signal can comprise a coarse synchronization signal and a fine synchronization signal. Optionally, the second synchronization signal can comprise one and / or more sequences. The sequence can be, for example, an m-sequence, a Gold sequence, a pseudo-random sequence, or a ZC sequence, etc.

[0140] In the embodiments of the present application, the information related to the paging message can be replaced by scheduling information of the paging message. Alternatively, the information related to the paging message can be replaced by control information of the paging message. The first indication information can also be referred to as paging indication information, paging information, paging control information, or paging scheduling information, etc.

[0141] Optionally, the first indication information can indicate one or more of the following: frequency domain resource of the paging message, time domain resource of the paging message, modulation and coding scheme (MCS) of the paging message, mapping manner of the paging message, channel state information reference signal for tracking (TRS) availability indication, whether there is a paging message, whether to wake up, antenna port for transmitting the paging message, etc.

[0142] The first indication information is downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling a PDSCH carrying the paging message. Optionally, the first indication information is DCI. Alternatively, the first indication information is included in DCI. For example, the first indication information is a PDCCH scrambled by a P-RNTI. For another example, the first indication information is DCI scrambled by a P-RNTI. Optionally, the first indication information is one or more of the following: a wake up signal (WUS), a paging early indication (PEI), a low power wake up signal (LP-WUS). If the first indication information is a PEI, or the first indication information includes a PEI, or the PDCCH includes a PEI, the information related to the paging message can be indicated by the PEI. If the PDCCH does not include a PEI, or the first indication information does not include a PEI, the information related to the paging message is indicated by other formats of DCI. Optionally, the PDCCH including a PEI is different from the PDCCH not including a PEI in format. For example, the DCI format including a PEI is DCI format 2_7, and the DCI format not including a PEI is DCI format 1_0.

[0143] Optionally, before step 403, the UE enters an idle state. Alternatively, before step 403, the UE enters an inactive state.

[0144] It should be noted that the embodiments of the present application do not limit the order of step 403 and step 401.

[0145] It should be noted that step 401, step 402 and step 403 can be executed independently or in combination.

[0146] Step 404: The UE obtains information related to the paging message according to the first indication information. The information related to the paging message includes indication information or scheduling information of the PDSCH carrying the paging message. For example, the UE can obtain the frequency domain resource of the PDSCH carrying the paging message, the time domain resource of the paging message, the MCS of the paging message, the mapping mode of the paging message, the TRS availability indication, whether there is a paging message, whether to wake up, the antenna port transmitting the paging message, and other information according to the first indication information, so that the UE can receive or decode the paging message according to these information.

[0147] Step 404 is an optional step, which can be executed or not executed.

[0148] Optionally, the second information is used to receive the paging message. In some embodiments, the UE can determine whether it needs to receive the second information according to its own needs. For example, if the UE needs to receive the paging message, or the UE is in a state of waiting for paging, the UE receives the second information. Whether the UE needs to receive the paging message can be determined according to the state of the UE, for example, when the UE is in a low-power state (such as an inactive state or a light connection state), the UE needs to receive the paging message. For example, after step 402 is executed, the UE initiates an RRC connection release procedure and switches to an inactive state, and then the UE needs to receive the paging message. If the paging message is a paging message for itself, the UE triggers a random access procedure and enters a connected state.

[0149] The second frequency unit is used for transmitting (sending or receiving) the second information. It can be understood that the second information can be transmitted on the second frequency unit, and correspondingly, the UE can receive the second information on the second frequency unit. For example, when the UE needs to receive the paging message, the UE can receive the second information on the second frequency unit.

[0150] In some embodiments, the first frequency unit further includes the first indication information. After the UE receives the first information on the first frequency unit, the UE can receive the first indication information on the first frequency unit. Based on this implementation, when the UE performs initial cell selection, the UE receives the first information on the first frequency unit and accesses the cell, and then receives the first indication information on the first frequency unit to enter the connected state, without the need to switch the frequency unit, thereby reducing the implementation complexity and power consumption of the UE.

[0151] In some embodiments, when the UE needs to perform initial cell selection, the UE can receive first information in the first frequency unit, and after receiving other system information according to the system information included in the first information, the UE can select a cell that needs to be accessed. After accessing the cell, the UE will not perform cell switching in a period of time, or the system information will not change in a period of time, and the UE considers that the system information does not need to be updated in the period of time, and then the UE can switch to the second frequency unit to receive information, such as receiving second information on the second frequency unit. Based on the above implementation, the UE can receive information in the first frequency unit when the system information is needed, and receive information in the second frequency unit when the system information is not needed. Based on the implementation, on the one hand, it is beneficial for the UE to quickly perform random access, and on the other hand, it is beneficial for the UE to save energy.

[0152] It can be seen that, in the embodiments of the present application, different frequency units can be used to transmit different information, and the functions of different information can be different, so that the information on different frequency units can be selectively received by UEs in different states according to their own conditions. For example, the first frequency unit can be used to transmit first information, the first information includes a first synchronization signal and system information, and the first information can be used to perform initial cell selection, so that the system information can be searched in a shorter time, and a lower access delay can be achieved. The second frequency unit can be used to transmit second information, the second information includes a second synchronization signal and first indication information, and the second information can be used to receive a paging message, or in other words, the second information can be used for random access. Since the second synchronization signal and the first indication information included in the second information are jointly transmitted, the time length of the UE in the light sleep state and the number of power-on and power-off can be reduced, or in other words, a longer deep sleep time can be achieved, and the reception power consumption can be reduced.

[0153] For the information on different frequency units to be selectively received by UEs in different states according to their own conditions, there can be two understanding methods as follows:

[0154] One understanding method is that for a UE, the UE can have different needs for downlink information in different stages, and the UE can receive information on the corresponding frequency unit according to its own needs. Taking the UE as UE1 for example, if the UE1 needs to perform initial access, the UE1 can receive first information on the first frequency unit. If the UE1 is waiting for paging, the UE1 can receive second information on the second frequency unit.

[0155] Another understanding is that for multiple UEs, different UEs can be in different states, and their needs for downlink information are also different. Therefore, these UEs can receive information on corresponding frequency units based on their own needs. Taking multiple UEs including UE1 and UE2 as an example, UE1 needs initial access, and UE2 is waiting for paging. Then, UE1 that needs initial access can receive first information on a first frequency unit, and UE2 that is waiting for paging can receive second information on a second frequency unit.

[0156] Please refer to FIG. 5 for a comparison diagram provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 5, in the related art, SSB is periodically transmitted, and paging indication information is transmitted on the same frequency unit as the SSB. The PO corresponding to the paging indication information or the PF in which the PO is located is calculated according to system information and a formula. Therefore, there can be a large time interval between the PO and the SSB, which increases the UE reception power consumption.

[0157] In the embodiment of the present application, taking first information as SSB and second information as a synchronization paging block as an example, as shown in FIG. 5, multiple SSBs (i.e., SSB1-3 shown in FIG. 5) are transmitted on a first frequency unit, and multiple synchronization paging blocks (i.e., synchronization paging blocks 1-4 shown in FIG. 5) are transmitted on a second frequency unit. In each synchronization paging block on the second frequency unit, the second synchronization signal and the first indication information are jointly transmitted, which can reduce the time length of the UE in the light sleep state and the number of power-on and power-off, and reduce the power consumption of the UE. In addition, since the SSB and the synchronization paging block are transmitted on different frequency units, there will be no conflict between them, so that the transmission period of the SSB can meet the initial access needs of the UE. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the transmission period of the SSB can be the same as or similar to that in the related art, which ensures that the UE can search for system information in a short time and achieve low access latency.

[0158] In the above embodiment, the first frequency unit and the second frequency unit are different, which can be understood as that the frequency points of the first frequency unit and the second frequency unit are different, and / or the bandwidths of the first frequency unit and the second frequency unit are different. For example, the center frequency point of the first frequency unit is higher than that of the second frequency unit. For another example, the bandwidth of the first frequency unit is greater than that of the second frequency unit.

[0159] Taking one frequency unit as one CC as an example, the first frequency unit is a first CC (or CC1), and the second frequency unit is a second CC (or CC2). The first CC can be referred to as an anchor CC, and the second CC can be referred to as a non-anchor CC. CC1 and CC2 are different CCs, including that the frequency points of CC1 and CC2 are different, and / or the bandwidths of CC1 and CC2 are different.

[0160] Optionally, the first frequency unit can be used to transmit paging related information in addition to the first information. The second frequency unit is used to transmit the second information but not used to transmit system information. Referring to FIG. 5, the first indication information can also be transmitted on the first frequency unit, that is, the UE can receive the first indication information on the first frequency unit.

[0161] In the embodiments of the present application, the first synchronization signal and the second synchronization signal can satisfy any of the following conditions:

[0162] Condition a1: the type of the first synchronization signal is different from the type of the second synchronization signal. One type of synchronization signal can include a PSS and / or an SSS, and the other type of synchronization signal can be an LP-SS or other types of synchronization signals, which are not limited.

[0163] Optionally, the first synchronization signal is a PSS and / or an SSS, and the second synchronization signal is an LP-SS. Based on this embodiment, at initial access, the UE uses the PSS and / or the SSS to synchronize and obtain a cell identity (ID), and at random access, the UE uses simpler hardware or algorithms to receive a paging message, thereby reducing the power consumption of the UE.

[0164] Optionally, the first synchronization signal is an LP-SS, and the second synchronization signal is a PSS and / or an SSS. Based on this embodiment, at initial access, the UE can use simpler hardware or algorithms to implement initial access, thereby reducing the power consumption of the UE and reducing the access delay. At receiving a paging message, the UE can use more accurate hardware or algorithms to achieve higher-precision synchronization.

[0165] Condition a2: the type of the first synchronization signal is the same as the type of the second synchronization signal.

[0166] For example, the first synchronization signal and the second synchronization signal both include a PSS and / or an SSS. In this way, the UE can use accurate hardware or algorithms to implement initial access, thereby achieving accurate time-frequency synchronization. Since the current designed synchronization signal is a PSS and / or an SSS, the UE can continue to use the current implementation method, which has good forward compatibility.

[0167] For another example, the first synchronization signal and the second synchronization signal are both LP-SSs. In this way, the UE can use simple hardware or algorithms to implement initial access, thereby reducing the power consumption of the UE.

[0168] Condition a3: the type of the first synchronization signal is the same as the type of the second synchronization signal, and the sequence of the first synchronization signal is different from the sequence of the second synchronization signal.

[0169] For example, the first synchronization signal and the second synchronization signal both include a PSS, and a sequence length of the PSS of the first synchronization signal is greater than a sequence length of the PSS of the second synchronization signal. Alternatively, the first synchronization signal and the second synchronization signal both include a SSS, and a sequence length of the SSS of the first synchronization signal is greater than a sequence length of the SSS of the second synchronization signal. Based on the embodiment, at initial access, the UE synchronizes and acquires a cell ID by using the PSS and / or the SSS. At random access, the UE knows the cell ID, and can synchronize by using a shorter synchronization signal, thereby reducing the network resource overhead.

[0170] Optionally, different sequences can indicate different cells or cell IDs.

[0171] Case a4: the type of the first synchronization signal is the same as the type of the second synchronization signal, and the sequence corresponding to the first synchronization signal is the same as the sequence corresponding to the second synchronization signal.

[0172] For example, the first synchronization signal and the second synchronization signal both include a PSS and / or a SSS, wherein the sequence of the PSS included in the first synchronization signal is the same as the sequence of the PSS included in the second synchronization signal, and the sequence of the SSS included in the first synchronization signal is the same as the sequence of the SSS included in the second synchronization signal. For another example, the first synchronization signal and the second synchronization signal are both LP-SS, wherein the sequence of the coarse synchronization signal included in the first synchronization signal is the same as the sequence of the coarse synchronization signal included in the second synchronization signal, and the sequence of the fine synchronization signal included in the first synchronization signal is the same as the sequence of the fine synchronization signal included in the second synchronization signal.

[0173] Based on the embodiment, the first synchronization signal and the second synchronization signal are completely the same, which can reduce the complexity of the network device in generating and sending the signal, and reduce the storage amount and implementation complexity of the UE in receiving the signal for synchronization, thereby reducing the power consumption of the network device and the UE.

[0174] Optionally, the first information and the second information can be periodically transmitted, that is, the network device periodically sends the first information or the second information. Correspondingly, the UE periodically receives the first information or the second information. For example, a transmission period of the first information is a first period T1, and a transmission period of the second information is a second period T2.

[0175] In some embodiments, in a first period, only the first information is included, and in a second period, the third information can be included in addition to the second information. The third information is also located in the second frequency unit, and the third information includes a third synchronization signal and fourth indication information. The first indication information is used to indicate information related to the paging message of the first UE group, and the fourth indication information is used to indicate information related to the paging message of the second UE group. Alternatively, it can also be described that the paging message indicated by the first indication information pages the first UE group, and the paging message indicated by the fourth indication information pages the second UE group. Alternatively, it can also be described that the first indication information is used to schedule the PDSCH carrying the paging message of the first UE group, and the fourth indication information is used to schedule the PDSCH carrying the paging message of the second UE group. The first UE group can also be referred to as a first group of UEs or other designations, and the second UE group can also be referred to as a second group of UEs or other designations. The UE group can also be referred to as a terminal group or a terminal device group, etc. It should be noted that in actual scenarios, there can be more UE groups, such as a third UE group or a fourth UE group, etc. Correspondingly, in a second period, paging indication information of the third UE group or the fourth UE group can also be included.

[0176] It can be understood that in some scenarios, the number of UEs paged by the paging message can be large, or the number of UEs (such as UEs waiting for paging) in the cell covered by the network device can be large, and the network device can not be able to schedule all UEs on a PO. Therefore, the network device can group and schedule, that is, all UEs can be divided into multiple UE groups, each UE group corresponds to a PO, and correspondingly, the UEs in each UE group can receive the PDSCH scheduling the paging message of the group on the PO corresponding to the group. In this way, the paging capacity of the network can be improved, and the access delay of the UE can be reduced.

[0177] For example, the network device can send the third information in addition to the second information, and the second information and the third information are located in the same transmission period. It can also be described that the first information belongs to the first period information, and the second information belongs to the second period information. In a period, the first period information only includes the first information, and the second period information can include the second information and the third information. The first indication information included in the second information corresponds to the first UE group, and the fourth indication information included in the third information corresponds to the second UE group. Correspondingly, the UEs of the first UE group receive the first indication information on their POs, and the UEs of the second UE group receive the fourth indication information on their POs.

[0178] Optionally, the third synchronization signal is the same as the second synchronization signal. For example, the third synchronization signal and the second synchronization signal are of the same type and have the same corresponding sequence, that is, the third synchronization signal and the second synchronization signal can be completely the same, which can reduce the complexity of the network device in generating and sending signals.

[0179] Optionally, the third synchronization signal is different from the second synchronization signal. For example, the second synchronization signal comprises a PSS and / or a SSS, and the third synchronization signal is an LP-SS. In this way, the UE groups can be divided according to the types of the UEs, and the UEs in different UE groups can receive the synchronization signals suitable for the UE groups. For example, the UEs in a low-capability UE group can receive the third synchronization signal, and the UEs in a high-capability UE group can receive the second synchronization signal.

[0180] Optionally, the sending or receiving order of the second information and the third information is not limited, i.e., the second information can be sent or received before or after the third information. For example, in the multiple synchronization paging blocks shown in FIG. 5, the synchronization paging block 1 is the second information, and the synchronization paging block 2 is the third information. Alternatively, the synchronization paging block 2 is the second information, and the synchronization paging block 1 is the third information.

[0181] The UEs in the first UE group receive the second information, and the UEs in the second UE group receive the third information. In some embodiments, the UEs in the first UE group can also receive the third information, and the third information received by the UEs can comprise the third synchronization signal but not the fourth indication information, i.e., the UEs receive the third synchronization signal but do not receive the fourth indication information on the PO corresponding to the second UE group. Similarly, the UEs in the second UE group can also receive the second information, and the second information received by the UEs can comprise the second synchronization signal but not the first indication information, i.e., the UEs receive the second synchronization signal but do not receive the first indication information on the PO corresponding to the first UE group.

[0182] Optionally, the second synchronization signal is associated with the first indication information, and the third synchronization signal is associated with the fourth indication information. For example, the second synchronization signal is adjacent to the first indication information, and the third synchronization signal is adjacent to the fourth indication information. The UEs determine the position of the POs to be received according to the relative positions of the second synchronization signal and the third synchronization signal. For example, the third synchronization signal is after the second synchronization signal, and after the UEs in the first UE group receive the second synchronization signal, the UEs receive the first indication information on the time-frequency resources associated with the second synchronization signal. After the UEs in the second UE group receive the second synchronization signal, the UEs continue to receive the third synchronization signal and receive the fourth indication information on the time-frequency resources associated with the third synchronization signal.

[0183] The second synchronization signal and the first indication information are adjacent, which can be understood as that the resource for transmitting the second synchronization signal is adjacent to the resource for transmitting the first indication information in the time domain. For example, the second synchronization signal occupies one or more time units in the time domain, and the first indication information occupies one or more time units in the time domain. The resource for transmitting the second synchronization signal is adjacent to the resource for transmitting the first indication information in the time domain, which can be understood as that the time units occupied by the second synchronization signal and the time units occupied by the first indication information are fully / partially overlapped. Alternatively, the resource for transmitting the second synchronization signal is adjacent to the resource for transmitting the first indication information in the time domain, which can be understood as that the time units occupied by the second synchronization signal include all the time units occupied by the first indication information (i.e., the time domain position of the first indication information is located in the time domain position of the second synchronization signal). Alternatively, the resource for transmitting the second synchronization signal is adjacent to the resource for transmitting the first indication information in the time domain, which can be understood as that the first time unit occupied by the first indication information is adjacent to the last time unit occupied by the second synchronization signal. Alternatively, the second synchronization signal and the first indication information each occupy M time units, the mth time unit occupied by the second synchronization signal is adjacent to the mth time unit occupied by the first indication information, where M is a positive integer, and m = 1,..., M. Similarly, the third synchronization signal and the fourth indication information are adjacent, which can be understood as described above for the second synchronization signal and the first indication information, and thus will not be described in detail.

[0184] Based on the embodiment, the UE can achieve high-precision time-frequency synchronization by using two groups of synchronization signals (i.e., the second synchronization signal and the third synchronization signal).

[0185] Optionally, whether the UE in the first UE group receives the third information can be determined according to the demand of the UE. For example, if one UE in the first UE group has no demand for precise synchronization, the UE can not receive the third information. If one UE in the first UE group has a demand for precise synchronization, the UE can receive the third information. For the UE in the second UE group, whether to receive the third information can also be determined according to the demand of the UE, which will not be described in detail.

[0186] Optionally, a time domain interval between the time domain resource (referred to as a first resource) used for transmitting (sending or receiving) the second information and the time domain resource (referred to as a second resource) used for (sending or receiving) the third information is less than or equal to N time units, N is a positive integer, and the value of N is not specifically limited. N can be predefined or preconfigured, or indicated by the network device, or reported after the UE makes a decision by itself. It can also be described that there is a time domain offset between the first resource and the second resource, and the time domain offset is N time units, or the transmission time of the second information and the third information is separated by less than N time units. Wherein, a time unit can be any one of one or more system frames, one or more subframes, one or more milliseconds (ms), one or more slots, one or more microslots, one or more microseconds, or one or more symbols.

[0187] As an example, the time domain resource used for transmitting the second information and the time domain resource used for transmitting the third information are adjacent in time domain. For example, the time slot used for transmitting the second information and the time slot used for transmitting the third information are adjacent. For example, the second information is transmitted in the nth time slot, and the third information is transmitted in the n+1th time slot.

[0188] Optionally, the N time units can be a time domain interval between a first time unit included in the first resource and a first time unit included in the second resource. Alternatively, the N time units can also be a time domain interval between a last time unit included in the first resource and a first time unit included in the second resource. Alternatively, the N time units can also be a time domain interval between a last time unit included in the first resource and a last time unit included in the second resource. Alternatively, the N time units can also be a time domain interval between any one of the time units included in the first resource and any one of the time units included in the second resource, which is not specifically limited.

[0189] Optionally, the total time of the N time units is less than or equal to a set threshold. The threshold can be predefined or preconfigured, or indicated by the network device, or reported after the UE makes a decision by itself.

[0190] The time domain interval between the first resource and the second resource is less than or equal to N time units, which can be understood as the time interval between the first resource and the second resource is small, that is, the time interval between the two groups of synchronization signals is small, and the UE does not need to wait for a long time after receiving the first group of SS (for example, the second synchronization signal) The second group of SS (for example, the third synchronization signal) can reduce the waiting power consumption of the UE.

[0191] Optionally, the first period T1 corresponding to the first information and the second period T2 corresponding to the second information are different. Or it can also be described as the transmission period of the first information block (such as SSB) is different from the transmission period of the second information block (such as the synchronization paging block).

[0192] Optionally, the transmission period of the first information is less than the transmission period of the second signal, that is, T1 < T2. For example, the first period T1 is 20 ms, and the second period T2 is 40 ms.

[0193] Based on the embodiment, the UE in initial access can search for system information in a shorter time, and the initial access delay is lower. The UE in paging waiting keeps sleeping for a longer time, and the UE reception power consumption is lower. In addition, since the network device can send the second information (and / or the third information) more sparsely, the overall transmission power consumption of the network device is lower.

[0194] In the embodiment of the application, the UE can receive the first information and the second information, and the UE can determine whether the received information is the first information (or system information) or the second information (or the first indication information) in multiple ways.

[0195] Method b1, the first indication information and the scrambling information corresponding to the system information are different. For example, the system information is scrambled using SI-RNTI, and the first indication information is scrambled using P-RNTI. Or, the channel used to send (or receive) the first indication information is different from the type of the channel used to send (or receive) the system information. For example, the channel used to send the first indication information is PDCCH, and the channel used to send the system information is PBCH. Then, the UE can determine whether the received information is system information or first indication information through blind detection.

[0196] For example, if the information scrambled using P-RNTI is received, the UE determines that the information is the first indication information; or if the information scrambled using SI-RNTI is received, the UE determines that the information is the system information.

[0197] For another example, if PDCCH is received, the UE determines that the information is the first indication information; or if PBCH is received, the UE determines that the information is the system information.

[0198] For another example, if PDCCH scrambled using P-RNTI is received, the UE determines that the information is the first indication information; or if PBCH scrambled using SI-RNTI is received, the UE determines that the information is the system information.

[0199] In the manner b2, in the case that the first synchronization signal and the second synchronization signal are different, the UE can also distinguish whether the corresponding information is the first indication information or the system information according to the detected synchronization signal. That is, if the first synchronization signal is detected, that is, the detected synchronization signal is the first synchronization signal, it is determined that the frequency unit is the first frequency unit, or it is determined that the first frequency unit corresponding to the first synchronization signal further includes the system information, or it is determined that the first information is transmitted on the first frequency unit corresponding to the first synchronization signal, or it is determined that the first synchronization signal and the system information are transmitted on the frequency unit. Or, if the second synchronization signal is detected, that is, the detected synchronization signal is the second synchronization signal, it is determined that the frequency unit is the second frequency unit, or it is determined that the first indication information is further included on the second frequency unit corresponding to the second synchronization signal, or it is determined that the second information is transmitted on the second frequency unit corresponding to the second synchronization signal, or it is determined that the second synchronization signal and the first indication information are transmitted on the frequency unit. The second information can also be replaced by the third information.

[0200] In this manner, the first information or the second information carried by the corresponding frequency unit is implicitly indicated by the different synchronization signals, and the UE can determine the type of the searched frequency unit without using the blind detection manner, so as to determine whether to continue demodulation, thereby reducing the implementation complexity and power consumption of the UE.

[0201] In the manner b3, the network device can also send the indication information to the UE, and the UE can determine whether the first information (or the system information) or the second information (or the first indication information) is carried on the current frequency unit according to the indication information. The indication information can be explicit indication information or implicit indication information. The indication information can also be described as a field or an attribute, etc. In this manner, the UE does not need to obtain the first indication information or the system information by using the blind detection manner, and the processing burden of the UE can be reduced.

[0202] In an implementation, the network device can send the second indication information, and the UE receives the second indication information. The second indication information indicates that the first information includes the system information, or the second indication information indicates that the second information includes the first indication information. It can also be described that the second indication information is used to indicate whether an information block includes the first indication information. If the second indication information indicates that an information block includes the first indication information, it can be understood that the information block does not include the system information. If the second indication information indicates that an information block does not include the first indication information, it can be understood that the information block includes the system information. The second indication information can be located in the first frequency unit or the second frequency unit.

[0203] For example, the indication information can be 1 bit, and when the bit is of a first value, it indicates that the first information includes system information, and when the bit is of a second value, it indicates that the second information includes the first indication information. For another example, the indication information can be 1 bit, and when the bit is of a first value, it indicates that the current frequency unit (i.e., the frequency unit receiving the indication information) is the first frequency unit, and when the bit is of a second value, it indicates that the current frequency unit is the second frequency unit. For example, the first value is 0, and the second value is 1, or the first value is 1, and the second value is 0.

[0204] Optionally, the second indication information can include first sub-indication information and second sub-indication information. Optionally, the first sub-indication information is located in the first frequency unit, and the second sub-indication information is located in the second frequency unit. As a first example, the first sub-indication information indicates that the first information includes system information, and the second sub-indication information indicates that the second information includes the first indication information. As a second example, the first sub-indication information is used to indicate whether to include system information, and the second sub-indication information is used to indicate whether to include the first indication information.

[0205] Another implementation is that the network device can send third indication information, and the UE receives the third indication information. The third indication information is used to indicate that the frequency unit where the third indication information is located (i.e., the frequency unit receiving the third indication information) is the first frequency unit or the second frequency unit, or the third indication information is located on the first information or the second information. Optionally, the second indication information can be located in the first frequency unit or the second frequency unit. As an example, the second indication information is located in the first frequency unit, and the second frequency unit does not include the second indication information, and the second indication information indicates that the frequency unit where the second indication information is located is the first frequency unit; or the second indication information is located in the second frequency unit, and the first frequency unit does not include the second indication information, and the second indication information indicates that the frequency unit where the second indication information is located is the second frequency unit.

[0206] Optionally, the third indication information can include third sub-indication information and fourth sub-indication information. As an example, the third sub-indication information is used to indicate that the frequency unit where the third sub-indication information is located is the first frequency unit, and the fourth sub-indication information is used to indicate that the frequency unit where the fourth sub-indication information is located is the second frequency unit. Optionally, the third sub-indication information is located in the first frequency unit, and the fourth sub-indication information is located in the second frequency unit. As a third example, the third sub-indication information indicates that the frequency unit where the third sub-indication information is located includes the first information, and the fourth sub-indication information indicates that the frequency unit where the fourth sub-indication information is located includes the second information. As a fourth example, the third sub-indication information is used to indicate whether the frequency unit where the third sub-indication information is located includes the first information, and the fourth sub-indication information is used to indicate whether the frequency unit where the fourth sub-indication information is located includes the second information.

[0207] In this mode, the corresponding frequency unit can be explicitly indicated as the first frequency unit or the second frequency unit, or other information described above, so that the UE can determine the type of the searched frequency unit without using a blind detection mode, thereby determining whether to continue demodulation, and reducing the implementation complexity and power consumption of the UE.

[0208] Optionally, the indication information (such as the second indication information or the third indication information described above) can be included in the first information and / or the second information, or can be included in the synchronization signal, or the indication information can be carried on a specific resource.

[0209] In the embodiments of the present application, receiving can be understood as monitoring, blind detection or detection, etc. Sending can be understood as generating or determining, etc. For example, the network device sending the first information can be replaced by the network device generating a sequence of signals carrying the first information, or the network device sending the second information can be replaced by the network device generating a sequence of signals carrying the second information. For example, in the CU-DU architecture, the CU can generate a sequence of signals carrying the first information, and the DU can send the signals carrying the first information, or the CU can generate a sequence of signals carrying the second information, and the DU can send the signals carrying the second information.

[0210] To sum up, in the embodiments of the present application, the frequency units are divided into two categories, one category of frequency units (i.e. the first frequency unit) transmits system information, and the other category of frequency units (i.e. the second frequency unit) transmits paging indication information (such as the first indication information or the fourth indication information). In this way, the UE that needs to perform initial access can receive system information on the first frequency unit to search for system information in a shorter time and achieve a lower access delay. The UE that waits for paging can receive paging indication information on the second frequency unit. On the one hand, the synchronization signal and the paging indication information are transmitted in a bound manner on the second frequency unit, so that the UE can reduce the number of power-on and power-off, and on the other hand, the second frequency unit can not transmit system information, so that the UE can achieve a longer sleep time, thereby reducing the overall reception power consumption of the UE, and the overall transmission power consumption of the corresponding base station is also reduced. Therefore, through the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application, the access delay of the UE that performs initial access can be guaranteed to be as low as possible, for example, remaining unchanged relative to the related art, and the power consumption of the UE that waits for paging can be guaranteed to be lower.

[0211] In view of the fact that the UE can not be able to accurately calculate the PO in the case that the system information cannot be acquired in time, it is urgent to design a method that does not require system information to determine the PO corresponding to the UE, so as to reduce the dependence on system information. Alternatively, in combination with the design of FIG. 3B, since the synchronization signal and the paging indication information are jointly transmitted, the UE needs to determine the PO that needs to be detected by itself according to certain rules. Alternatively, in the foregoing embodiments, when the paging indication information corresponding to a plurality of UE groups is transmitted respectively, the UE also needs to determine the PO that needs to be detected by itself.

[0212] Therefore, the embodiments of the present application also provide a communication method, see FIG. 6 for the flowchart of the method, which comprises the following steps.

[0213] Step 601: The network device transmits a fourth synchronization signal. Correspondingly, the UE receives the fourth synchronization signal. As shown in FIG. 6, UE1 and UE2 can receive the fourth synchronization signal.

[0214] The fourth synchronization signal is used for synchronization between the UE and the network device. It can also be described as the fourth synchronization signal is used for the UE to obtain time and / or frequency synchronization with the network device. Correspondingly, after receiving the fourth synchronization signal, the UE can achieve synchronization with the network device. The fourth synchronization signal can be a reference signal or a signal dedicated for synchronization.

[0215] Optionally, the fourth synchronization signal comprises a PSS and / or a SSS. Alternatively, the fourth synchronization signal can be an LP-SS. For example, in the case that the fourth synchronization signal is an LP-SS, the fourth synchronization signal can comprise a coarse synchronization signal and a fine synchronization signal. Optionally, the fourth synchronization signal can comprise one and / or a plurality of sequences. The sequence can be, for example, an m-sequence, a Gold sequence, a pseudo-random sequence or a ZC sequence, etc.

[0216] In the embodiments of the present application, the fourth synchronization signal can be used to determine the first reference time. The first reference time can be understood as a reference time point. Alternatively, the first reference time can be understood as a time window, which can be referred to as a paging window or a paging time window. That is, the network can configure one or more paging windows, and each paging window can include a set of synchronization signals and one or more sets of paging indication information. Taking the paging window as an example, the fourth synchronization signal can be used to determine the first paging window, or one or more reference time points in the first paging window. The reference time point can be a boundary time point of the paging window, such as a starting time unit or an ending time unit, or can be an arbitrary time unit specified in the paging window. For example, the starting time unit of the fourth synchronization signal is the starting time unit of the first paging window. The length of a paging window can be T time units. For example, one time unit is 1 ms, T = 320, or one time unit is 1 frame, T = 32, that is, the length of a paging window is 320 ms. For another example, the length of a paging window is 160 ms. The length of a paging window can also be other values, which are not limited herein.

[0217] Optionally, the transmission period of the fourth synchronization signal is greater than or equal to a first threshold. The first threshold can be predefined or preconfigured, or can be configured by the network device, and the value of the first threshold is not limited herein. The first threshold can be reported by the UE. For example, the first threshold is 320 ms. It can be understood that the transmission period of the fourth synchronization signal is relatively large, that is, the fourth synchronization signal is transmitted or received more sparsely. It can be understood that the more intensive the fourth synchronization signal is, the more intensive the corresponding paging window is. If the actual time domain position of a detected fourth synchronization signal deviates from the real time domain position, the fourth synchronization signal can be easily attributed to the wrong paging window, resulting in the inability to correctly receive the paging indication information subsequently. In this way, the fourth synchronization signal is more sparse, and even if the actual time domain position of a detected fourth synchronization signal deviates from the real time domain position, the fourth synchronization signal can still be attributed to the correct paging window, which can improve the accuracy of the paging window (or the first reference time).

[0218] In the embodiments of the present application, the network device and / or the UE can determine the first reference time according to the time domain position of the fourth synchronization signal. The time domain position of the fourth synchronization signal can be understood as the time unit occupied by the fourth synchronization signal in the time domain.

[0219] Optionally, the first reference time can be a starting time unit or an ending time unit of the fourth synchronization signal. That is, after the network device and / or the UE determine the time domain position of the fourth synchronization signal, the network device can determine the starting time unit of the fourth synchronization signal as the first reference time, or can determine the ending time unit of the fourth synchronization signal as the first reference time. Alternatively, the time domain position of the fourth synchronization signal and the first reference time have a corresponding relationship. After the network device determines the time domain position of the fourth synchronization signal, the network device can determine the first reference time according to the corresponding relationship and the time domain position of the fourth synchronization signal. Optionally, the first reference time can be understood as a paging window. Determining the first reference time can be understood as determining a first paging window or determining a reference time point in the first paging window.

[0220] After the network device and / or the UE determine the first reference time, the network device can determine a first resource for transmitting the fifth indication information according to the first reference time. The first resource refers to a physical resource for wireless communication. The physical resource can include a time domain resource and / or a frequency domain resource. The time domain resource included in the first resource can include one or more time units, and the frequency domain resource included in the first resource can include one or more frequency units. Optionally, the time domain resource for transmitting the fifth indication information can be determined according to the first reference time, or the PO for transmitting the fifth indication information can be determined according to the first reference time.

[0221] According to the first reference time to determine the first resource, the following methods can be used:

[0222] Method c1, the first resource is determined according to the first reference time and a predefined rule. It can be understood that the relationship between the first reference time and the first resource satisfies the predefined rule (or the preconfigured rule). Then, the corresponding first resource can be determined according to the first reference time and the predefined rule.

[0223] Optionally, the predefined rule can be that the first resource is adjacent to the first reference time in the time domain. The first reference time can include one or more time units. The first resource being adjacent to the first reference time in the time domain can be understood as that the time units included in the first resource and the time units included in the first reference time are all / partially overlapped. Alternatively, the first resource being adjacent to the first reference time in the time domain can be understood as that the first resource includes all the time units included in the first reference time (that is, the time domain position of the first reference time is located in the time domain position of the first resource). Alternatively, the first resource being adjacent to the first reference time in the time domain can be understood as that the first time unit of the first reference time is adjacent to the last time unit of the first resource. Alternatively, the first resource and the first reference time each include M time units, and the mth time unit of the first resource and the mth time unit of the second resource are adjacent, where M is a positive integer, and m = 1, …, M.

[0224] Optionally, a time domain interval between the time domain location of the first resource and the time domain location of the fourth synchronization signal is less than or equal to a second threshold. The second threshold can be predefined or preconfigured, or configured by the network device, and the value of the second threshold is not limited. Alternatively, the second threshold can be reported by the UE. For example, the second threshold is 1 ms. It can be understood that the time domain interval between the first resource and the time domain location of the fourth synchronization signal is small enough, so as to reduce the light sleep time of the UE after receiving the fourth synchronization signal, and the UE does not need to power off and then power on, thereby reducing the number of power on and power off of the UE and reducing the reception power consumption of the UE.

[0225] Optionally, since the first reference time is determined according to the fourth synchronization signal, the relationship between the first reference time and the first resource satisfies a predefined rule, and it can also be understood that the relationship between the fourth synchronization signal and the first resource satisfies the predefined rule.

[0226] Optionally, since the first reference time is determined according to the fourth synchronization signal, the relationship between the first reference time and the first resource satisfies a predefined rule, and it can also be understood that the relationship between the fourth synchronization signal and the first resource satisfies the predefined rule.

[0227] Optionally, the first offset includes X time units, and X is an integer. The time unit can be any one of a system frame, a subframe, a millisecond, a slot, a micro slot, a microsecond or a symbol.

[0228] Optionally, the first offset is configured by the network device. Alternatively, the first offset is preconfigured or predefined. Alternatively, the first offset is determined according to the ID of the UE. For example, the first offset can be calculated according to the ID of the UE in combination with a formula.

[0229] As an example, the first offset corresponding to the UE can be calculated by the following formula: X mod T = (T div N) * (UE ID mod N)

[0230] Wherein, T is a DRX cycle or a paging cycle, and N is the number of paging frames in one T. Wherein, mod is a modulus operation, and div is a division operation.

[0231] As another example, the first offset corresponding to the UE can be calculated by the following formula: X = floor(UE ID div N) mod N_s

[0232] Wherein, N is the number of paging frames in one paging cycle, and N_s is the number of POs in one paging frame. Wherein, floor is a down rounding operation.

[0233] Step 602: The network device sends the fifth indication information. Correspondingly, the UE (such as UE1) receives the fifth indication information. The fifth indication information is located in the first resource, and the fifth indication information is used to indicate information related to the paging message.

[0234] In the embodiments of the present application, the information related to the paging message can be replaced by scheduling information of the paging message. Alternatively, the information related to the paging message can be replaced by control information of the paging message. The fifth indication information can also be referred to as paging indication information, paging information, paging control information, or paging scheduling information, etc.

[0235] Optionally, the fifth indication information can indicate one or more of the following information: frequency domain resource of the paging message, time domain resource of the paging message, MCS of the paging message, mapping mode of the paging message, TRS availability indication, whether there is a paging message, whether to wake up, antenna port for transmitting the paging message, etc.

[0236] The fifth indication information is downlink control information, which is used to schedule the PDSCH carrying the paging message. Optionally, the fifth indication information is DCI. Alternatively, the fifth indication information is included in the DCI. For example, the fifth indication information is a PDCCH scrambled by P-RNTI. For another example, the fifth indication information is a DCI scrambled by P-RNTI. Optionally, the fifth indication information can be one or more of the following: WUS, PEI, or LP-WUS. If the fifth indication information is PEI, or the fifth indication information includes PEI, or the PDCCH includes PEI, the information related to the paging message can be indicated by the PEI. If the PDCCH does not include PEI, or the fifth indication information does not include PEI, the information related to the paging message is indicated by other formats of DCI. Optionally, the PDCCH including PEI is different from the PDCCH not including PEI in format. For example, the DCI format including PEI is DCI format 2_7, and the DCI format not including PEI is DCI format 1_0.

[0237] According to the number of paging indication information contained in one paging window (or the number of POs included in one paging window), the following two implementation manners can be adopted:

[0238] Implementation manner d1: A plurality of groups of paging indication information are contained in one paging window, and each group of paging indication information is used to schedule the PDSCH carrying the paging message for one UE group. The paging indication information of different groups or the POs corresponding to different UE groups are different. The plurality of groups of paging indication information contained in one paging window can also be understood as that the number of paging indication information (or POs) corresponding to the first reference time determined according to the fourth synchronization signal is multiple, or the number of paging indication information (or POs) related to the fourth synchronization signal is multiple.

[0239] Please refer to FIG. 7A, which is an example diagram including multiple groups of paging indication information provided by embodiments of the present application. In this example, the fifth indication information can be used to indicate information related to a paging message for paging the first UE group. The fifth indication information can be used to indicate information related to a paging message for paging the first UE group, which can also be described as the paging message indicated by the fifth indication information being used to page the first UE group, or the fifth indication information indicating a paging message for paging the first UE group, or the fifth indication information being used to schedule a PDSCH carrying the paging message for the first UE group.

[0240] Then, when the network device needs to page the first UE group, the network device can determine a first reference time according to the time domain position of the fourth synchronization signal, and determine a first resource according to the first reference time, the first resource being used to transmit the fifth indication information. Then, the network device can send the fifth indication information on the first resource, or the network device can generate a sequence of signals including the fifth indication information, the signals including the fifth indication information being carried on the first resource. Paging the first UE group by the network device means paging one or more UEs in the first UE group.

[0241] In the above, the first UE group includes UE1, and the UE receiving the fifth indication information can include that the UE1 can receive the fifth indication information on a PO corresponding to the first UE group. That is, when waiting for paging, the UE1 can determine a first reference time according to the time domain position of the fourth synchronization signal, and determine a first resource according to the first reference time, and then the UE1 can receive the fifth indication information on the first resource. Or, the UE1 determines a PO (i.e., PO1 shown in FIG. 7A) that needs to be detected by the UE1 according to the first reference time, and then detects the PDCCH on the PO.

[0242] In the case of using the implementation manner d1, the method can further include the following step 603.

[0243] Step 603: The network device sends sixth indication information. Correspondingly, the UE (such as UE2) receives the sixth indication information. The sixth indication information is located on a second resource, and the sixth indication information is used to indicate information related to a paging message (of the second UE group).

[0244] Please refer to FIG. 7A, in addition to the fifth indication information, the network device can also send sixth indication information, the sixth indication information can be used to indicate information related to a paging message for paging the second UE group. The sixth indication information can be used to indicate information related to a paging message for paging the second UE group, which can also be described as the paging message indicated by the sixth indication information being used to page the second UE group, or the sixth indication information indicating a paging message for paging the second UE group, or the sixth indication information being used to schedule a PDSCH carrying the paging message for the second UE group.

[0245] The fifth indication information is located in a first resource, and the sixth indication information is located in a second resource, and the first resource and the second resource are different. Optionally, the time domain positions of the first resource and the second resource are different, that is, the fifth indication information is transmitted in PO1, the PO that the first UE group needs to detect is PO1, the sixth indication information is transmitted in PO2, the PO that the second UE group needs to detect is PO2, and PO1 is different from PO2.

[0246] Then, when the network device needs to page the second UE group, the network device can determine the first reference time according to the time domain position of the fourth synchronization signal, and determine the second resource according to the first reference time, and the second resource is used to transmit the sixth indication information. Subsequently, the network device can send the sixth indication information on the second resource, or the network device can generate a sequence of a signal including the sixth indication information, and the signal including the sixth indication information is carried on the second resource. The paging of the second UE group by the network device means paging one or more UEs in the second UE group.

[0247] The second UE group includes UE2, and then UE2 can receive the sixth indication information on the PO corresponding to the second UE group. That is, when UE2 is waiting for paging, UE2 can determine the first reference time according to the time domain position of the fourth synchronization signal, and then UE2 can receive the sixth indication information on the second resource according to the first reference time. Alternatively, UE1 determines the PO (that is, PO2) that needs to be detected by UE1 according to the first reference time, and then detects the PDCCH on the PO.

[0248] In this embodiment, the first resource and the first reference time are separated by a first offset, the second resource and the first reference time are separated by a second offset, and the first offset and the second offset are different. That is, PO1 and the first reference time have a first offset, X1 shown in FIG. 7A, PO2 and the first reference time have a second offset, X2 shown in FIG. 7A, and the values of X1 and X2 are different. In FIG. 7A, the starting time unit of the fourth synchronization signal is taken as an example of the starting time unit of the paging window.

[0249] Then, for the network device, if a UE group or a UE in a UE group needs to be paged, the corresponding PO can be determined according to the first reference time and the offset X corresponding to the group, so as to send the paging indication information on the PO. For example, referring to FIG. 7A, when the network device needs to page the first UE group or a UE in the first UE group, PO1 (or the first resource) can be determined according to the first reference time and X1, and then the fifth indication information can be sent on PO1. Alternatively, when the network device needs to page the second UE group or a UE in the second UE group, PO2 (or the second resource) can be determined according to the first reference time and X2, and then the sixth indication information can be sent on PO2.

[0250] For a UE group or a UE in a UE group, a corresponding PO can be determined according to the first reference time and the offset X corresponding to the group, to detect the PDCCH on the PO. For example, referring to FIG. 7A, for UE1, PO1 (or the first resource) can be determined according to the first reference time and X1, and then the PDCCH can be detected on PO1. Alternatively, for UE2, PO2 (or the second resource) can be determined according to the first reference time and X2, and then the PDCCH can be detected on PO2.

[0251] Alternatively, for UEs in the same UE group, the same offset can be obtained by the above formula combined with the ID of the UE, that is, the offset corresponding to UEs in the same UE group is the same, and UEs in the same UE group will detect the PDCCH on the same PO.

[0252] Through the implementation, UEs in different UE groups only need to detect the paging indication information on the PO corresponding to the UE, and do not need to detect the paging indication information for a long time, which can reduce the power consumption of the UE.

[0253] In an implementation d2, only one set of paging indication information is included in one paging window. That is, only one PO is included in one paging window, and all UEs receive the paging indication information on the PO. It can also be understood that the number of paging indication information (or PO) corresponding to the first reference time determined according to the fourth synchronization signal is one, or the number of paging indication information (or PO) related to the fourth synchronization signal is one.

[0254] Please refer to FIG. 7B and FIG. 7C, which are example diagrams provided by the embodiments of the present application and include one set of paging indication information. In the example, only one PO is included in one paging window, and all UEs or the paging indication information corresponding to the UE are transmitted on the PO.

[0255] As an example, in the case where only one set of paging indication information is included in one paging window, it can be understood that the offset between the PO corresponding to all UEs or all UE groups and the first reference time is the same, that is, the first offset. Then the network device or the UE can also determine the time domain position of the PO according to the first offset and the first reference time after determining the first reference time.

[0256] As another example, in the case that only one set of paging indication information is contained in one paging window, the time domain resource carrying the set of paging indication information satisfies a predefined rule with the first reference time. For example, the time domain position between the time domain resource carrying the set of paging indication information and the first reference time is adjacent, or in other words, the time domain position between the PO and the first reference time is adjacent in one paging window. Since the first reference time is determined according to the time domain position of the fourth synchronization signal, the time domain resource carrying the set of paging indication information satisfies the predefined rule with the first reference time, which can also be understood as that the time domain resource carrying the set of paging indication information satisfies the predefined rule with the time domain resource corresponding to the fourth synchronization signal. For example, the time domain resource carrying the set of paging indication information is adjacent to the time domain resource corresponding to the fourth synchronization signal, or in other words, the time domain resource corresponding to the fourth synchronization signal is adjacent to the PO in one paging window. Then, the network device or the UE can also determine the time domain position of the PO according to the first reference time and the predefined rule after determining the first reference time.

[0257] Optionally, if the paging indication information on one PO can meet the requirement of scheduling paging messages of all UEs, the paging indication information corresponding to the paging messages of all UEs can be transmitted on one PO. If it is required to schedule the paging messages of different UE groups respectively, the paging messages of different UE groups can also be transmitted on different POs. For example, the network device can transmit the paging indication information corresponding to different UE groups in time. As shown in FIG. 7B and FIG. 7C, one PO is contained in each of the paging window 1 and the paging window 2, the paging indication information of the first UE group can be transmitted on the PO in the paging window 1, and the paging indication information of the second UE group can be transmitted on the PO in the paging window 2.

[0258] After the network device transmits the fifth indication information on each PO in each paging window, each UE can receive the fifth indication information on the PO. That is, in the case of adopting the implementation manner d2, the method can further include the following step 604.

[0259] Step 604: The UE (such as UE2) receives the fifth indication information, and the fifth indication information is located in the first resource.

[0260] It can be understood that the fifth indication information is received by all UEs on the PO in each paging window, that is, the fifth indication information is received by both UE1 and UE2.

[0261] Step 605: The network device transmits the paging message. Correspondingly, the UE (such as UE1 and / or UE2) receives the paging message according to the fifth indication information.

[0262] The fifth indication information is used for scheduling a PDSCH of a paging message, and correspondingly, a UE receiving the fifth indication information can receive the paging message on a resource scheduled by the fifth indication information.

[0263] The UE receiving the paging message according to the fifth indication information can include the following multiple cases.

[0264] Case e1: corresponding to the above embodiment d1, each UE receives the paging indication information on a PO corresponding to a UE group in which the UE is located. For example, the fifth indication information transmitted on PO1 is used for indicating a paging message for paging a first UE group, and then for UE1 in the first UE group, the UE1 can receive the paging message on a resource scheduled by the fifth indication information after receiving the fifth indication information on PO1. The sixth indication information transmitted on PO2 is used for indicating a paging message for paging a second UE group, and then for UE2 in the second UE group, the UE2 can receive the paging message on a resource scheduled by the sixth indication information after receiving the sixth indication information on PO2.

[0265] Case e2: corresponding to the above embodiment d2, each UE receives the fifth indication information on a same PO, and then each UE can receive the paging message on a resource scheduled by the fifth indication information. If the paging message is for paging the UE, the UE performs a random access procedure, and if the paging message is not for paging the UE, the UE continues to wait for paging.

[0266] Referring to FIG. 7B, on a PO in a paging window 1, UE1 and UE2 both receive the fifth indication information, and then UE1 and UE2 both receive the paging message on a resource scheduled by the fifth indication information. UE1 determines that the paging message is for paging the UE1, and UE1 performs a random access procedure. UE2 determines that the paging message is not for paging the UE2, and UE2 waits for paging. On a PO in a paging window 2, UE2 continues to receive the fifth indication information, and then UE2 receives the paging message on a resource scheduled by the fifth indication information. UE2 determines that the paging message is for paging the UE2, and UE2 performs a random access procedure.

[0267] Case e3: corresponding to the above embodiment d2, the fifth indication information is also used for indicating at least one UE group. That is, the fifth indication information is used for indicating information related to a paging message for paging at least one UE group, and the fifth indication information also indicates the at least one UE group. The at least one UE group is a UE group to which the paging message is for paging.

[0268] So, for any UE, after receiving the fifth indication information, if the at least one UE group indicated by the fifth indication information includes the UE, the UE receives the paging message, otherwise the UE does not receive the paging message. For example, for UE1 in the first UE group, if the at least one UE group indicated by the fifth indication information includes the UE1, or the at least one UE group includes the first UE group, the UE1 receives the paging message, otherwise the UE1 does not receive the paging message. For UE2 in the second UE group, if the at least one UE group indicated by the fifth indication information includes the UE2, or the at least one UE group includes the second UE group, the UE2 receives the paging message, otherwise the UE2 does not receive the paging message.

[0269] Referring to FIG. 7C, on the PO in the paging window 1, UE1 and UE2 both receive the fifth indication information, and then UE1 and UE2 both can determine whether the at least one UE group indicated by the fifth indication information includes itself. That is, UE1 determines that the at least one UE group includes itself, and then the paging message pages the UE group in which the UE1 is located, and the UE1 receives the paging message on the resource scheduled by the fifth indication information. While UE2 determines that the at least one UE group does not include itself, and then the paging message does not page the UE group in which the UE2 is located, and the UE2 does not receive the paging message. On the PO in the paging window 2, UE2 continues to receive the fifth indication information, and determines whether the at least one UE group indicated by the fifth indication information includes itself. If UE2 determines that the at least one UE group includes itself, then the paging message pages the UE group in which the UE2 is located, and the UE2 receives the paging message on the resource scheduled by the fifth indication information.

[0270] Optionally, the fifth indication information includes seventh indication information, and the seventh indication information indicates the at least one UE group paged by the corresponding paging message, or indicates the at least one UE group in which the UE paged by the corresponding paging message is located. The seventh indication information can also be referred to as UE group indication information or sub-group indication information, etc.

[0271] Optionally, the seventh indication information indicates whether the paging message includes the wake-up information of the at least one UE group in all UE groups. Or, the seventh indication information indicates whether the paging message includes the wake-up information of the UE group in which the UE is located. The paging message including the wake-up information of a UE group can be understood as that the paging message includes the wake-up information of one or more UEs in the UE group, or the paging message includes the wake-up information of any UE in the UE group. The wake-up information can be the ID of the UE, or other information indicating the wake-up UE, which is not limited.

[0272] As an example, the paging message contains IDs of P UEs, the P UEs can be divided into Y UE groups, and the seventh indication information is used to indicate which UE groups in the Y UE groups include IDs of UEs in the corresponding paging message. Alternatively, the seventh indication information is used to indicate which UE groups in the Y UE groups can include IDs of UEs in the corresponding paging message. The UE determines whether to receive the paging message corresponding to the seventh indication information according to the seventh indication information. For example, the paging message contains IDs of p UEs, the p UEs are paged or woken up, and p is less than or equal to P. The p UEs are included in y UE groups, and y is less than or equal to Y. Then, the seventh indication information is used to indicate that the paging message includes IDs of UEs in the y UE groups. Alternatively, the seventh indication information is used to indicate that the paging message is used to page one or more UEs in each of the y UE groups. It can also be understood that, for a UE, if one of the y UE groups includes the UE, the UE can determine that the paging message can contain the ID of the UE according to the seventh indication information.

[0273] Optionally, the seventh indication information can be a bitmap. For example, the bitmap contains Y bits, one bit corresponds to one UE group, and each bit is used to indicate whether the paging message contains IDs of UEs in the corresponding UE group. If the value of one of the Y bits is a first value, it indicates that the paging message contains IDs of UEs in the corresponding UE group. If the value is a second value, it indicates that the paging message does not contain IDs of UEs in the corresponding UE group. If the paging message contains IDs of UEs in a UE group, all UEs included in the UE group receive the paging message. If the paging message does not contain IDs of UEs in a UE group, all UEs included in the UE group do not receive the paging message.

[0274] Through the implementation, the UE receives the paging message only when the paging message contains IDs of UEs in the UE group to which the UE belongs or when the UE is possibly paged by the paging message. This can reduce the false wake-up rate of the UE and save power consumption of the UE for receiving and decoding the PDSCH.

[0275] In the above implementation, the first resource and / or the second resource can be understood as a type of resource, rather than a specific resource. That is, the number of the first resource and / or the second resource can be one or more. Optionally, the plurality of first resources and / or the second resources can be periodic.

[0276] Referring to FIG. 8, another flowchart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application is shown. The method can be applied to the case where a plurality of UE groups correspond to the same PO, for example, to the case where only one PO is included in one paging window. The method includes the following steps:

[0277] Step 801: The network device transmits a fourth synchronization signal. Correspondingly, the UE receives the fourth synchronization signal.

[0278] Step 802: The network device transmits fifth indication information. Correspondingly, the UE receives the fifth indication information.

[0279] In an implementation, the fourth synchronization signal is used to determine a first reference time, and the first reference time is used to determine a first resource, and the fifth indication information is located in the first resource. The fifth indication information is used to indicate information related to the paging message.

[0280] In an implementation, the fourth synchronization signal is used to determine a first resource, and the first resource is used to transmit the fifth indication information. For example, a time-frequency resource for transmitting the fourth synchronization signal and the first resource conform to a predetermined rule, or the time-frequency resource for transmitting the fourth synchronization signal and the first resource have a predetermined offset. The fifth indication information is used to indicate information related to the paging message.

[0281] Steps 801 and 802 are similar to steps 601 and 602 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, and the description of the corresponding part in the above embodiment can be referred to, and will not be repeated here.

[0282] In this embodiment, a plurality of UE groups can correspond to the same PO, that is, the UEs in the plurality of UE groups receive the fifth indication information on the PO. In order to reduce the power consumption of the UE, whether the UE needs to receive the paging message corresponding to the fifth indication information can be indicated by the fifth indication information. If it is indicated that the paging message needs to be received, the UE will receive the paging message on the corresponding resource. If it is indicated that the paging message does not need to be received, the UE will not receive the paging message, thereby reducing the receiving power consumption of the UE. For example, the fifth indication information is also used to indicate at least one UE group. The fifth indication information indicating at least one UE group can be understood as the fifth indication information indicating at least one UE group paged by the corresponding paging message, or indicating at least one UE group in which the UE paged by the corresponding paging message is located. In this way, the UE can determine whether the UE needs to receive the paging message corresponding to the fifth indication information according to whether the UE is located in the at least one UE group.

[0283] Optionally, the fifth indication information indicates whether the paging message includes wake-up information of at least one UE group in all UE groups. Or, the fifth indication information indicates whether the paging message includes wake-up information of the UE group in which the UE is located. The paging message including the wake-up information of a UE group can be understood as the paging message including the wake-up information of one or more UEs in the UE group, or the paging message including the wake-up information of any UE in the UE group. The wake-up information can be the ID of the UE, or other information indicating the wake-up UE, which is not limited.

[0284] As an example, the paging message contains IDs of P UEs at most, the P UEs can be divided into Y UE groups, and the fifth indication information is used to indicate which UE groups in the Y UE groups the IDs of UEs in the corresponding paging message are included. Alternatively, the fifth indication information is used to indicate which UE groups in the Y UE groups the IDs of UEs in the corresponding paging message are possibly included. The UE determines whether to receive the paging message corresponding to the fifth indication information according to the fifth indication information. For example, the paging message contains IDs of p UEs, the p UEs are paged or woken up, and p is less than or equal to P. The p UEs are included in y UE groups, and y is less than or equal to Y. Then the fifth indication information is used to indicate that the IDs of UEs in the y UE groups are included in the paging message. Alternatively, the fifth indication information is used to indicate that the paging message is used to page one or more UEs in each of the y UE groups. It can also be understood that, for a UE, if one of the y UE groups includes the UE, the UE can determine that the ID of the UE is possibly included in the paging message according to the fifth indication information.

[0285] Optionally, the fifth indication information can include a bitmap. For example, the bitmap contains Y bits, one bit corresponds to one UE group, and each bit is used to indicate whether the IDs of UEs in the corresponding UE group are included in the paging message. If the value of one of the Y bits is a first value, it indicates that the IDs of UEs in the corresponding UE group are included in the paging message, and if the value is a second value, it indicates that the IDs of UEs in the corresponding UE group are not included in the paging message. If the paging message contains the IDs of UEs in one UE group, all UEs included in the UE group receive the paging message, and if the paging message does not contain the IDs of UEs in one UE group, all UEs included in the UE group do not receive the paging message.

[0286] Optionally, the fifth indication information contains seventh indication information, and the seventh indication information indicates at least one UE group paged by the corresponding paging message, or indicates at least one UE group in which the UE paged by the corresponding paging message is located. The seventh indication information can also be referred to as UE group indication information or sub-group indication information, etc.

[0287] Optionally, the seventh indication information indicates whether the paging message includes wake-up information of at least one UE group in all UE groups. Alternatively, the seventh indication information indicates whether the paging message includes wake-up information of the UE group in which the UE is located. The paging message includes wake-up information of one UE group, which can be understood as that the paging message includes wake-up information of one or more UEs in the UE group, or the paging message includes wake-up information of any UE in the UE group. The wake-up information can be an ID of the UE or other information indicating to wake up the UE, which is not limited.

[0288] As an example, the paging message contains IDs of P UEs at most, the P UEs can be divided into Y UE groups, and the seventh indication information is used to indicate which UE groups in the Y UE groups the IDs of UEs in the corresponding paging message are included. Alternatively, the seventh indication information is used to indicate which UE groups in the Y UE groups the IDs of UEs in the corresponding paging message are possibly included. The UE determines whether to receive the paging message corresponding to the seventh indication information according to the seventh indication information. For example, the paging message contains IDs of p UEs, the p UEs are paged or woken up, and p is less than or equal to P. The p UEs are included in y UE groups, and y is less than or equal to Y. Then the seventh indication information is used to indicate that the IDs of UEs in the y UE groups are included in the paging message. Alternatively, the seventh indication information is used to indicate that the paging message is used to page one or more UEs in each of the y UE groups. It can also be understood that, for a UE, if one of the y UE groups includes the UE, the UE can determine that the ID of the UE is possibly included in the paging message according to the seventh indication information.

[0289] Optionally, the seventh indication information can be a bitmap. For example, the bitmap contains Y bits, one bit corresponds to one UE group, and each bit is used to indicate whether the IDs of UEs in the corresponding UE group are included in the paging message. If the value of one of the Y bits is a first value, it indicates that the IDs of UEs in the corresponding UE group are included in the paging message, and if the value is a second value, it indicates that the IDs of UEs in the corresponding UE group are not included in the paging message. If the paging message contains the IDs of UEs in one UE group, all UEs included in the UE group receive the paging message, and if the paging message does not contain the IDs of UEs in one UE group, all UEs included in the UE group do not receive the paging message.

[0290] Step 803: The UE determines that the at least one UE group indicated by the fifth indication information includes the UE.

[0291] That is, for any UE, the UE can determine whether the at least one UE group indicated by the fifth indication information includes the UE to decide whether to receive the paging message corresponding to the fifth indication information. The at least one UE group includes one UE, which means that the UE is located in one of the at least one UE group, or the UE is located in a first UE group, and the at least one UE group includes the first UE group.

[0292] Step 804: The network device sends the paging message. Correspondingly, the UE receives the paging message.

[0293] The fifth indication information received by the UE can be used to schedule the PDSCH carrying the paging message. If the UE determines that the at least one UE group indicated by the fifth indication information includes the UE, the UE receives the paging message on the resource scheduled by the fifth indication information. Referring to FIG. 7C, the UE is UE1, and UE1 receives the fifth indication information on the PO in the paging window 1. If UE1 determines that the at least one UE group indicated by the fifth indication information includes itself, UE1 receives the paging message on the resource scheduled by the fifth indication information.

[0294] Optionally, if the UE determines that the at least one UE group indicated by the fifth indication information does not include the UE, the UE does not receive the paging message corresponding to the fifth indication information. Referring to FIG. 7C, the UE is UE2, and UE2 receives the fifth indication information on the PO in the paging window 1. If UE2 determines that the at least one UE group indicated by the fifth indication information does not include itself, UE2 does not receive the paging message corresponding to the fifth indication information.

[0295] Through the embodiment, the UE receives the paging message only when the paging message includes the ID of the UE in the UE group to which the UE belongs or the UE receives the paging message only when the paging message can page the UE, which can reduce the false wake-up rate of the UE and save the power consumption of the UE for receiving and decoding the PDSCH.

[0296] In the embodiment, the paging window is introduced, the synchronization signal is sent at a specific position of the paging window (for example, the start position, the middle position or the end position of the paging window), the synchronization signal is transmitted periodically in the paging window, and the UE determines the boundary of the paging window by detecting the synchronization signal. The distance between the PO to be detected by the UE and the boundary of the paging window is the first offset value, and the UE determines the PO to be detected by the UE according to the boundary of the paging window and the first offset value. Through the method, the demand for system information can be reduced, and the transmission of the system information can be reduced. In addition, the PO is determined through the method, and the UE only needs to detect the PO, without detecting the paging indication information for a long time, so that the power consumption of the UE can be reduced. For the network device, the network device can send the synchronization signal periodically in the paging window, the transmission of the synchronization signal is sparse, and the transmission power consumption of the base station can be reduced.

[0297] FIG. 9 shows a structural diagram of a communication apparatus provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication apparatus 900 can be a first communication apparatus, for example, a UE or circuitry of the UE according to the embodiments of FIG. 4, FIG. 6 or FIG. 8, for implementing the method corresponding to the UE in the above method embodiments. Alternatively, the communication apparatus 900 can be a second communication apparatus, for example, a network device or circuitry of the network device according to the embodiments of FIG. 4, FIG. 6 or FIG. 8, for implementing the method corresponding to the network device in the above method embodiments. For example, the circuitry can be a chip system.

[0298] The communication apparatus 900 includes at least one processor 901. The processor 901 can be used for internal processing of the apparatus, to implement certain control processing functions. Optionally, the processor 901 includes instructions. Optionally, the processor 901 can store data. Optionally, different processors can be independent devices, can be located in different physical positions, and can be located on different integrated circuits. Alternatively, different processors can be integrated in one or more processors, for example, integrated on one or more integrated circuits.

[0299] Optionally, the communication apparatus 900 includes one or more memories 903 for storing instructions. Optionally, the memory 903 can also store data. The processor and the memory can be separately arranged, or integrated together.

[0300] Optionally, the communication apparatus 900 includes a communication line 902 and at least one communication interface 904. Since the memory 903, the communication line 902 and the communication interface 904 are optional, they are all represented by dashed lines in FIG. 9.

[0301] Optionally, the communication apparatus 900 can also include a transceiver and / or an antenna. The transceiver can be used to send information to other apparatuses or receive information from other apparatuses. The transceiver can be referred to as a transceiver, a transceiver circuit, an input / output interface, etc., for implementing the transceiving function of the communication apparatus 900 through the antenna. Optionally, the transceiver includes a transmitter and a receiver. For example, the transmitter can be used to generate a radio frequency signal from a baseband signal, and the receiver can be used to convert a radio frequency signal into a baseband signal.

[0302] The processor 901 can include a general purpose central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits used to control processing of program instructions.

[0303] The communication line 902 can include a path for transmitting information between the above components.

[0304] The communication interface 904 can include any transceiver-type device for communicating with other devices or communication networks, such as an Ethernet, a radio access network (RAN), a wireless local area network (WLAN), a wireline access network, etc.

[0305] The memory 903 can be a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that can store static information and instructions, a random access memory (RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device that can store information and instructions, an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disk storage, a magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium capable of storing instructions or data that can be accessed by a computer, but not limited to. The memory 903 can exist independently, and be connected to the processor 901 through the communication line 902. Alternatively, the memory 903 can be integrated with the processor 901.

[0306] The memory 903 is configured to store computer-executable instructions for implementing the embodiments of the present application, and the processor 901 is configured to control the execution of the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 903. The processor 901 is configured to execute the steps performed by the first communication device (e.g., a UE) or the second communication device (e.g., a network device) as described in the embodiments of FIG. 4, FIG. 6 or FIG. 8.

[0307] Optionally, the computer-executable instructions in the embodiments of the present application can also be referred to as application program codes, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited in this regard.

[0308] In a particular implementation, as an example, the processor 901 can include one or more CPUs, such as CPU0 and CPU1 in FIG. 9.

[0309] In a particular implementation, as an example, the communication apparatus 900 can include multiple processors, such as the processor 901 and the processor 905 in FIG. 9. Each of these processors can be a single-CPU processor or a multi-CPU processor. The processor herein can refer to one or more devices, circuits, and / or processing cores for processing data (e.g., computer program instructions).

[0310] When the apparatus shown in FIG. 9 is a chip, such as a chip of a first communication apparatus (e.g., a UE) or a chip of a second communication apparatus (e.g., a network device), the chip includes the processor 901 (and can also include the processor 905), the communication line 902, and the communication interface 904, and optionally includes the memory 903. Specifically, the communication interface 904 can be an input interface, a pin, or a circuit, etc. The memory 903 can be a register, a cache, etc. The processor 901 and the processor 905 can be a general-purpose CPU, a microprocessor, an ASIC, or one or more integrated circuits for controlling execution of a program for controlling the communication method of any of the above embodiments.

[0311] The embodiments of the present application can divide the functions of the apparatus according to the above method examples, for example, each function module can be divided according to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing module. The above integrated module can be realized in the form of hardware or in the form of a software function module. It should be noted that the division of the modules in the embodiments of the present application is illustrative, and is only a logical function division. When each function module is divided according to each function, for example, FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of an apparatus 1000, which can be a first communication apparatus (e.g., a UE) or a second communication apparatus (e.g., a network device) involved in the above method embodiments, or a chip in the first communication apparatus (e.g., a UE) or a chip in the second communication apparatus (e.g., a network device). The apparatus 1000 includes a processing unit 1002 and a transceiver unit 1001.

[0312] It should be understood that the apparatus 1000 can be used to implement the steps performed by the first communication apparatus (e.g., a UE) or the second communication apparatus (e.g., a network device) in the communication method of the embodiments of the present application. The related features can be referred to the embodiments shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 6, or FIG. 8, which will not be described here.

[0313] Optionally, the functions / implementation procedures of the transceiver unit 1001 and the processing unit 1002 in FIG. 10 can be implemented by invoking the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 903 by the processor 901 in FIG. 9. Alternatively, the functions / implementation procedures of the processing unit 1002 in FIG. 10 can be implemented by invoking the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 903 by the processor 901 in FIG. 9, and the functions / implementation procedures of the transceiver unit 1001 in FIG. 10 can be implemented by the communication interface 904 in FIG. 9.

[0314] Optionally, when the apparatus 1000 is a chip or a circuit, the functions / implementation procedures of the transceiver unit 1001 can also be implemented by pins or circuits, etc. Optionally, the transceiver unit 1001 can include a sending unit and / or a receiving unit, the sending unit is configured to implement the sending function, and the receiving unit is configured to implement the receiving function; or the transceiver unit 1001 can be an integral module, which can implement the sending function and / or the receiving function. Optionally, the transceiver unit 1001 can be implemented by a transceiver.

[0315] The present application also provides a computer readable storage medium, which stores computer programs or instructions, when the computer programs or instructions are executed, the method executed by the first communication device (such as UE) or the second communication device (such as network equipment) in the foregoing method embodiments is implemented. In this way, the functions described in the above embodiments can be implemented in the form of software function units and sold or used as independent products. Based on such understanding, the technical solutions of the present application can be embodied in the form of software products in essence or the part that contributes to the technical solutions or part of the technical solutions. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium, and includes a plurality of instructions for causing a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the embodiments of the present application. The storage medium includes: a U disk, a mobile hard disk, a ROM, a RAM, a magnetic disk or an optical disk, and various media that can store program codes.

[0316] The present application also provides a computer program product, which includes: computer program codes, when the computer program codes are executed on a computer, the computer executes the method executed by the first communication device (such as UE) or the second communication device (such as network equipment) in any of the foregoing method embodiments.

[0317] The embodiments of the present application also provide a processing device, which includes a processor and an interface; the processor is configured to execute the method executed by the first communication device (such as UE) or the second communication device (such as network equipment) related to any of the above method embodiments.

[0318] In the embodiments described above, all or some of the embodiments can be implemented by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented by software, all or some of the embodiments can be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded into and executed by a computer, all or some of the procedures or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are performed. The computer can be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable apparatus. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another computer readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from a website, a computer, a server or a data center to another website, computer, server or data center through a wired (for example, coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (for example, infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) manner. The computer readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. integrated with one or more available media sets. The available media can be a magnetic medium (for example, floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), an optical medium (for example, DVD), or a semiconductor medium (for example, solid state disk (SSD)) and the like.

[0319] The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithms described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented or performed by a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an ASIC, a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the described functions. The general purpose processor can be a microprocessor, optionally, the general purpose processor can also be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor can also be implemented by a combination of computing devices, such as a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other similar configuration.

[0320] The steps of methods or algorithms described in the embodiments of the present application can be directly embedded in hardware, a software unit executed by a processor, or a combination of the two. The software unit can be stored in a RAM, a flash memory, a ROM, an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an EEPROM, a register, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium in the art. The storage medium can be connected to the processor, so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. Alternatively, the storage medium can also be integrated into the processor. The processor and the storage medium can be located in an ASIC, which can be located in the terminal device. Alternatively, the processor and the storage medium can also be located in different components of the terminal device.

[0321] These computer program instructions can also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing device to cause a series of operations to be performed on the computer or other programmable data processing device to generate a computer implemented process, so that the instructions executed on the computer or other programmable data processing device provide steps for implementing the functions specified in one or more flows of the flowchart and / or one or more blocks of the block diagram.

[0322] The contents of various embodiments of the present application can be mutually referred to, and the terms and / or descriptions between different embodiments are consistent and can be mutually referred to if there is no special description and logical conflict. The technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationship.

[0323] It can be understood that, in the embodiments of the present application, the first device and / or the second device can perform part or all of the steps in the embodiments of the present application, and these steps or operations are only examples, and other operations or variations of various operations can also be performed in the embodiments of the present application. In addition, each step can be executed in a different order from that presented in the embodiments of the present application, and it is possible that not all the operations in the embodiments of the present application are executed.

Claims

1. A communication method characterized by comprising: The method comprises: receiving first information, the first information being located in a first frequency unit, the first information comprising a first synchronization signal and system information; receiving second information, the second information being located in a second frequency unit, the second information comprising a second synchronization signal and first indication information, the first indication information being used for indicating information related to a paging message, wherein the first frequency unit is different from the second frequency unit.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein: the first information is used for initial cell selection; and / or; the second information is used for receiving a paging message.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, the first synchronization signal and the second synchronization signal satisfy any one of the following: the types of the signals are different; the types of the signals are the same; the types of the signals are the same, and corresponding sequences are different; or the types of the signals are the same, and corresponding sequences are the same.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, a transmission period of the first information is less than a transmission period of the second information.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that, The method further comprises: receiving third information, the third information being located in the second frequency unit, the third information comprising a third synchronization signal, the second information and the third information being located in a same transmission period.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein, the third synchronization signal and the second synchronization signal are of the same type, and corresponding sequences are the same.

7. The method according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that, a time domain interval between a time domain resource used for receiving the second information and a time domain resource used for receiving the third information is less than or equal to N time units, N being an integer.

8. The method of any one of claims 1-7, wherein: the system information and the first indication information correspond to different scrambling information; and / or a type of a channel used for receiving the system information is different from a type of a channel used for receiving the first indication information.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that, The method further comprises: receiving second indication information, the second indication information indicating that the first information comprises the system information, or the second indication information indicating that the second information comprises the first indication information; or receiving third indication information, the third indication information being used for indicating that a frequency unit in which the third indication information is located is the first frequency unit or the second frequency unit; or detecting the first synchronization signal, and determining that the first frequency unit corresponding to the first synchronization signal further comprises the system information; or detecting the second synchronization signal, and determining that the second frequency unit corresponding to the second synchronization signal further comprises the first indication information; or detecting the first synchronization signal, and determining that the first information is transmitted on the first frequency unit corresponding to the first synchronization signal; or detecting the second synchronization signal, and determining that the second information is transmitted on the second frequency unit corresponding to the second synchronization signal.

10. A communication method characterized by comprising: The method comprises: sending first information, the first information being located in a first frequency unit, the first information comprising a first synchronization signal and system information; transmitting second information, the first information being located in a second frequency unit, the second information comprising a second synchronization signal and first indication information, the first indication information being used for indicating information related to a paging message, wherein the first frequency unit is different from the second frequency unit.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein, the first information is used for initial cell selection; and / or; the second information is used for receiving a paging message.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein, the first synchronization signal and the second synchronization signal satisfy any one of the following: the types of the signals are different; the types of the signals are the same; the types of the signals are the same, and corresponding sequences are different; or the types of the signals are the same, and corresponding sequences are the same.

13. The method of any one of claims 10-12, wherein, a transmission period of the first information is less than a transmission period of the second information.

14. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 13, characterized in that, the first indication information is used for indicating information related to a paging message of a first terminal group; the method further comprises: transmitting third information, the third information being located in the second frequency unit, the second information and the third information being located in a same transmission period, the third information comprising a third synchronization signal and fourth indication information, the fourth indication information being used for indicating information related to a paging message of a second terminal group.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein, the third synchronization signal and the second synchronization signal are of the same type, and corresponding sequences are the same.

16. The method according to claim 14 or 15, characterized in that a time domain interval between a time domain resource used for transmitting the second information and a time domain resource used for transmitting the third information is less than or equal to N time units, N being an integer.

17. The method of any one of claims 10-16, wherein, the method further comprises: transmitting second indication information, the second indication information indicating that the first information comprises the system information, or the second indication information indicating that the second information comprises the first indication information; or transmitting third indication information, the third indication information being used for indicating that a frequency unit in which the third indication information is located is the first frequency unit or the second frequency unit.

18. A method of communication, comprising: the method comprises: receiving a fourth synchronization signal; determining a first reference time according to a time domain position of the fourth synchronization signal, the first reference time being used for determining a first resource, the first resource being used for receiving fifth indication information, the fifth indication information being used for indicating information related to a paging message.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein, the first reference time being used for determining the first resource comprises: determining the first resource according to the first reference time and a predefined rule; or determining the first resource according to the first reference time and a first offset.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein, the first offset is determined according to an identity of a first terminal; or the first offset is configured by a network device; or the first offset is pre-configured or pre-defined.

21. The method of any one of claims 18-20, wherein, a transmission period of the fourth synchronization signal is greater than or equal to a first threshold.

22. The method of any one of claims 18-21, wherein, the method further comprises: receiving the fifth indication information at the first resource; receiving the paging message according to the fifth indication information.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein, the fifth indication information is further used for indicating at least one terminal group, and the receiving the paging message according to the fifth indication information comprises: If the at least one terminal group comprises a first terminal, the paging message is received according to the fifth indication information.

24. The method according to any one of claims 18 to 23, characterized in that A time domain interval between a time domain position of the first resource and a time domain position of the fourth synchronization signal is less than or equal to a second threshold.

25. A method of communication, comprising: The method comprises: transmitting a fourth synchronization signal; transmitting fifth indication information, the fifth indication information being located at a first resource, the first resource being determined according to a first reference time, the first reference time being determined according to a time domain position of the fourth synchronization signal, the fifth indication information being used for indicating information related to a paging message.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein, The first resource is determined according to a first reference time, comprising: determining the first resource according to the first reference time and a predefined rule; or, determining the first resource according to the first reference time and a first offset.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein The first offset is determined according to an identity of a terminal; or, The first offset is configured by a network device; or, The first offset is pre-configured or pre-defined.

28. The method of any one of claims 25-27, wherein, A transmission period of the fourth synchronization signal is greater than or equal to a first threshold.

29. The method of any one of claims 25-28, wherein, The fifth indication information is used for indicating a paging message for paging a first terminal group; The method further comprises: transmitting sixth indication information, the sixth indication information being located at a second resource, a time domain position of the second resource being a second offset from the first reference time, the sixth indication information being used for indicating a paging message for paging a second terminal group, the first offset and the second offset being different.

30. The method of any one of claims 25-27, wherein, The paging message is used for paging at least one terminal group, and the fifth indication information is further used for indicating the at least one terminal group.

31. The method of any one of claims 25-30, wherein, A time domain interval between a time domain position of the first resource and a time domain position of the fourth synchronization signal is less than or equal to a second threshold.

32. A communications device, characterized by The communication device comprises a module for performing the method of any one of claims 1-9, or a module for performing the method of any one of claims 10-17, or a module for performing the method of any one of claims 18-24, or a module for performing the method of any one of claims 25-31.

33. A communications device, characterized by The communication device comprises a processor for performing the method of any one of claims 1-9, or performing the method of any one of claims 10-17, or performing the method of any one of claims 18-24, or performing the method of any one of claims 25-31.

34. A computer-readable storage medium, comprising: The computer readable storage medium is used for storing a computer program, when the computer program runs on a computer, so that the method of any one of claims 1-9 is executed, or so that the method of any one of claims 10-17 is executed, or so that the method of any one of claims 18-24 is executed, or so that the method of any one of claims 25-31 is executed.

35. A computer program product, characterised in that, The computer program product comprises a computer program which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1-9, or causes the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 10-17, or causes the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 18-24, or causes the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 25-31.

36. A communication system, characterized by comprising a first communication device and a second communication device, wherein the first communication device is configured to perform the method of any one of claims 1-9 and the second communication device is configured to perform the method of any one of claims 10-17; or the first communication device is configured to perform the method of any one of claims 18-24 and the second communication device is configured to perform the method of any one of claims 25-31.

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