Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

Provided are a communication method and an apparatus. The method comprises: a network device sending first indication information, and correspondingly, a terminal receiving the first indication information, the first indication information being used for activating SSB transmission and / or indicating an SSB transmission resource, or the first indication information being used for deactivating SSB transmission. In other words, by means of activating SSB transmission and / or indicating an SSB transmission resource, or deactivating SSB transmission, a device is allowed to enter a sleep mode or a deep sleep mode, thereby reducing resource overheads and achieving the purpose of network energy saving.

Description

Communication method and apparatus

[0001] The present application claims priority from the Chinese patent application No. 202411397472.5 filed on September 30, 2024, and entitled "A communication method and apparatus", the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

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

[0003] Generally, a network device periodically broadcasts a synchronization signal block (SSB) to facilitate a terminal receiving the SSB to access the corresponding network according to the parsed information. However, this periodic broadcast mode causes the network device to be unable to enter a sleep mode or a deep sleep mode, thereby causing energy waste of the network device and being not conducive to network energy saving.

[0004] Therefore, how to achieve network energy saving has become a problem to be solved. SUMMARY

[0005] The present application provides a communication method and apparatus, which can reduce the transmission of SSB by activating the transmission of SSB and / or indicating the transmission resource of SSB, so as to enable the network device / terminal to enter a sleep mode or a deep sleep mode, reduce energy waste, and achieve the purpose of network energy saving.

[0006] In a first aspect, a method is provided, which can be executed by a terminal device, or can be executed by a component (such as a circuit, a chip or a chip system, etc.) configured in the terminal device, and can also be implemented by a logic module or software capable of realizing all or part of the functions of the terminal device. The present application does not make any limitation in this regard. Hereinafter, the terminal device is taken as an example for description.

[0007] The method comprises: receiving first indication information from a network device; wherein the first indication information is used to activate the transmission of SSB and / or indicate the transmission resource of SSB; or the first indication information is used to deactivate the transmission of SSB.

[0008] Or, receiving first indication information from the network device, determining whether to receive the SSB according to the first indication information (or receiving or not receiving the SSB according to the first indication information); wherein the first indication information is used to activate the transmission of the SSB and / or indicate the transmission resource of the SSB; or the first indication information is used to deactivate the transmission of the SSB.

[0009] Based on the first aspect, the terminal activates and / or indicates the transmission resource of the SSB by receiving the first indication information from the network device, or deactivates the transmission of the SSB by receiving the first indication information from the network device, so as to reduce the reception of the SSB, so that the terminal can be in sleep mode or deep sleep mode, thereby reducing energy consumption and achieving the purpose of network energy saving.

[0010] In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in the case that the first indication information is used to activate the transmission of the SSB and / or indicate the transmission resource of the SSB, the SSB is received; in the case that the first indication information is used to deactivate the transmission of the SSB, the reception of the SSB is stopped (or not).

[0011] In this implementation manner, different contents indicated by the first indication information can be used to receive or not receive the SSB, so as to reduce the reception of the SSB, so that the terminal can be in sleep mode or deep sleep mode, thereby reducing energy consumption and achieving the purpose of network energy saving.

[0012] In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the first indication information is used to indicate one SSB period, the transmission times of the SSB period are N or infinite, N is a positive integer; wherein, in the case that the first indication information is used to activate the transmission of the SSB, the transmission times of the SSB period being N is used to indicate that N SSB periods of the SSB are received, and the transmission times of the SSB period being infinite is used to indicate that the SSB is received according to the SSB period.

[0013] In this implementation manner, the SSB period and the transmission times of the SSB period indicated by the first indication information can be used to make the terminal receive the SSB according to the SSB period and the transmission times of the SSB period, thereby improving the reception efficiency.

[0014] In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the first indication information is used to indicate a plurality of SSB periods, the plurality of SSB periods include a first SSB period and a second SSB period; wherein, in the case that the first indication information is used to activate the transmission of the SSB, after receiving the SSB according to the first SSB period, the reception of the SSB according to the second SSB period is switched.

[0015] In this implementation manner, the plurality of SSB periods indicated by the first indication information can be used to receive the SSB, thereby improving the reception efficiency.

[0016] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the number of transmission times of the first SSB period is N, and the number of transmission times of the second SSB period is infinite; and in a case where the first indication information is used to activate the transmission of the SSB, switching to receiving the SSB according to the second SSB period after receiving the SSB according to the first SSB period includes: in a case where the first indication information is used to activate the transmission of the SSB, switching to receiving the SSB according to the second SSB period after receiving the SSB of N first SSB periods.

[0017] In this implementation, the SSB can be received through the first SSB period and the second SSB period indicated by the first indication information, and the number of transmission times of the first SSB period and the second SSB period, thereby improving the reception efficiency.

[0018] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, in a case where the first indication information is used to indicate the transmission resource of the SSB, before receiving the first indication information from the network device, the method further includes: receiving the index of the SCell and the configuration information of the SCell from the network device, the index of the SCell being used to indicate the SCell configured by the network device for the terminal, and the configuration information of the SCell being used to indicate the SCell corresponding to the index of the activated SCell.

[0019] In this implementation, by receiving the index of the SCell and the configuration information of the SCell, the SCell can be activated while being configured, thereby simplifying the processing procedure of the SCell, reducing the signaling transmission, and reducing the power consumption.

[0020] The second aspect provides a method, which can be executed by a network device, or can be executed by a component (such as a circuit, a chip or a chip system, etc.) configured in the network device, and can also be implemented by a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the network device. The present application does not limit this. Hereinafter, the network device is taken as an example for description.

[0021] The method includes: the network device sends first indication information to a terminal; the first indication information is used to activate the transmission of the SSB and / or indicate the transmission resource of the SSB; or the first indication information is used to deactivate the transmission of the SSB.

[0022] In other words, the network device obtains the first indication information, and the network device sends the first indication information to the terminal; the first indication information is used to activate the transmission of the SSB and / or indicate the transmission resource of the SSB; or the first indication information is used to deactivate the transmission of the SSB.

[0023] Based on the second aspect, the network device activates and / or indicates the transmission resource of the SSB through the first indication information, or deactivates the transmission of the SSB through the first indication information, so as to reduce the transmission of the SSB to the terminal, so that the network device can be in a sleep mode or a deep sleep mode, thereby reducing energy consumption and achieving the purpose of network energy saving.

[0024] In a possible implementation of the second aspect, in a case where the first indication information is used to activate the transmission of the SSB and / or indicate the transmission resource of the SSB, the SSB is transmitted; and in a case where the first indication information is used to deactivate the transmission of the SSB, the transmission of the SSB is stopped (or not transmitted).

[0025] In this implementation, different contents indicated by the first indication information can be used to determine whether the SSB is transmitted or not, so that the transmission of the SSB can be reduced, so that the network device can be in a sleep mode or a deep sleep mode, thereby reducing energy consumption and achieving the purpose of network energy saving.

[0026] In a possible implementation of the second aspect, the first indication information is used to indicate one SSB period, and the transmission times of the SSB period are N or infinite, N being a positive integer; and in a case where the first indication information is used to activate the transmission of the SSB, the transmission times of the SSB period being N are used to indicate that N SSB periods of the SSB are transmitted, and the transmission times of the SSB period being infinite are used to indicate that the SSB is transmitted according to the SSB period.

[0027] In this implementation, the SSB period and the transmission times of the SSB period indicated by the first indication information can be used to enable the network device to transmit the SSB according to the SSB period and the transmission times of the SSB period, thereby improving transmission efficiency.

[0028] In a possible implementation of the second aspect, the first indication information is used to indicate a plurality of SSB periods, and the plurality of SSB periods include a first SSB period and a second SSB period; and in a case where the first indication information is used to activate the transmission of the SSB, the SSB is transmitted according to the first SSB period, and then switched to be transmitted according to the second SSB period.

[0029] In this implementation, the plurality of SSB periods indicated by the first indication information can be used to transmit the SSB, thereby improving transmission efficiency.

[0030] In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the first SSB period is transmitted for N times, and the second SSB period is transmitted infinitely; in a case where the first indication information is used to activate transmission of the SSB, after the SSB of the first SSB period is transmitted for N times, transmission of the SSB is switched to the second SSB period.

[0031] In this implementation manner, the SSB can be transmitted through the first SSB period and the second SSB period indicated by the first indication information, and the transmission times of the first SSB period and the second SSB period, thereby improving transmission efficiency.

[0032] In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, in a case where the first indication information is used to indicate a transmission resource of the SSB, before the first indication information is transmitted, the method further includes: transmitting an index of an SCell and configuration information of the SCell, the index of the SCell being used to indicate an SCell configured by the network device for the terminal, and the configuration information of the SCell being used to indicate the SCell corresponding to the index of the activated SCell.

[0033] In this implementation manner, by transmitting the index of the SCell and the configuration information of the SCell, the SCell can be activated while the SCell is configured, thereby simplifying a processing procedure of the SCell, reducing signaling transmission, and reducing power consumption.

[0034] With reference to the first aspect or the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the first indication information is further used to indicate a transmission state of the SSB, and the transmission state includes an activated state or a deactivated state; in a case where the transmission state is the activated state, the first indication information is used to activate transmission of the SSB; and in a case where the transmission state is the deactivated state, the first indication information is used to deactivate transmission of the SSB.

[0035] In this implementation manner, the first indication information is further used to indicate the transmission state of the SSB, and the activated state or the deactivated state is used to indicate activation or deactivation of the transmission of the SSB, thereby improving communication reliability.

[0036] With reference to the first aspect or the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the first indication information is carried in radio resource control (RRC) signaling; or the first indication information is carried in a medium access control-control element (MAC CE); or the first indication information is carried in downlink control information (DCI), thereby improving communication reliability.

[0037] In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect or the second aspect, the first indication information is RRC signaling, or the first indication information is MAC CE, or the first indication information is DCI.

[0038] In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect or the second aspect, in a case where the network device configures a secondary cell (SCell) for the terminal, and the terminal does not receive an activation command of the network device, or in a case where the network device configures the SCell for the terminal, and the terminal receives the activation command of the network device, or in a case where the network device configures the SCell for the terminal, the terminal receives the activation command of the network device, and the terminal completes activation of the SCell, the first indication information is used to activate transmission of the SSB and / or to indicate transmission resources of the SSB; and the activation command is used to indicate activation of the SCell.

[0039] In a case where the network device configures the SCell for the terminal while the SCell is activated, the first indication information is used to indicate the transmission resources of the SSB. In a case where the terminal completes measurement and synchronization, or in a case where the terminal completes activation of the SCell, the first indication information is used to deactivate transmission of the SSB.

[0040] In this implementation manner, in a scenario where the SSB needs to be transmitted, the first indication information is used to indicate activation of transmission of the SSB and / or to indicate the transmission resources of the SSB, so as to transmit the SSB, or the first indication information is used to directly indicate the transmission resources of the SSB, so as to transmit the SSB; in a scenario where the SSB does not need to be transmitted, the first indication information is used to indicate deactivation of transmission of the SSB, so as to stop transmission of the SSB, thereby realizing on-demand transmission of the SSB, reducing energy waste, and realizing network energy saving.

[0041] In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect or the second aspect, the transmission resources of the SSB include one or more of the following: an index of the SCell, used to indicate the SCell configured by the network device for the terminal; a subcarrier spacing of the SSB; one or more SSB periods; a transmission number of the SSB period; an absolute radio frequency channel number (ARFCN) corresponding to frequency domain resources of the SSB; the frequency domain resources of the SSB; time domain resources of the SSB; and a type of the SSB.

[0042] In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect or the second aspect, the time domain resources of the SSB include at least one of the following: a starting position of the time domain resources of the SSB, a length of the time domain resources of the SSB, a time domain offset value of the SSB, a pattern of the time domain resources of the SSB, and a valid SSB opportunity within an SSB burst.

[0043] In a third aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which comprises a processing module and a transceiver module, the transceiver module being configured to receive first indication information from a network device; the first indication information being used to activate transmission of SSBs and / or to indicate transmission resources of SSBs; or the first indication information being used to deactivate transmission of SSBs.

[0044] In a possible implementation, the processing module is configured to receive or not receive SSBs according to the first indication information.

[0045] In a possible implementation, in a case where the first indication information is used to activate transmission of SSBs and / or to indicate transmission resources of SSBs, the transceiver module is configured to receive SSBs; and in a case where the first indication information is used to deactivate transmission of SSBs, the transceiver module is configured to stop (or not) receiving SSBs.

[0046] In a possible implementation, the first indication information is used to indicate one SSB period, the transmission times of the SSB period being N or infinite, N being a positive integer; wherein, in a case where the first indication information is used to activate transmission of SSBs, the transmission times of the SSB period being N is used to indicate that N SSB periods of SSBs are received, and the transmission times of the SSB period being infinite is used to indicate that SSBs are received according to the SSB period.

[0047] In a possible implementation, the first indication information is used to indicate a plurality of SSB periods, the plurality of SSB periods comprising a first SSB period and a second SSB period; wherein, in a case where the first indication information is used to activate transmission of SSBs, SSBs are received according to the first SSB period, and then switched to receiving SSBs according to the second SSB period.

[0048] In a possible implementation, the transmission times of the first SSB period is N, and the transmission times of the second SSB period is infinite; in a case where the first indication information is used to activate transmission of SSBs, SSBs are received according to the first SSB period, and then switched to receiving SSBs according to the second SSB period, comprising: in a case where the first indication information is used to activate transmission of SSBs, SSBs of N first SSB periods are received, and then switched to receiving SSBs according to the second SSB period.

[0049] In a possible implementation, the first indication information is further used to indicate a transmission state of SSBs, the transmission state comprising an activated state or a deactivated state; in a case where the transmission state is the activated state, the first indication information is used to activate transmission of SSBs; and in a case where the transmission state is the deactivated state, the first indication information is used to deactivate transmission of SSBs.

[0050] In a possible implementation, the first indication information is carried in radio resource control (RRC) signaling, or is carried in a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), or is carried in downlink control information (DCI).

[0051] In a possible implementation, in a case where the network device configures a secondary cell (SCell) for the terminal and the terminal does not receive an activation command from the network device, or in a case where the network device configures the SCell for the terminal and the terminal receives the activation command from the network device, or in a case where the network device configures the SCell for the terminal, the terminal receives the activation command from the network device, and the terminal completes activation of the SCell, the first indication information is used to activate transmission of the SSB and / or to indicate transmission resources of the SSB; and the activation command is used to indicate activation of the SCell.

[0052] In a case where the network device configures the SCell for the terminal while the SCell is activated, the first indication information is used to indicate transmission resources of the SSB. In a case where the terminal completes measurement and synchronization, or in a case where the terminal completes activation of the SCell, the first indication information is used to deactivate transmission of the SSB.

[0053] In a possible implementation, the transmission resources of the SSB include one or more of the following: an index of the SCell, used to indicate the SCell configured by the network device for the terminal; a subcarrier spacing of the SSB; one or more SSB periods; a transmission number of the SSB period; an absolute radio frequency channel number (ARFCN) corresponding to frequency domain resources of the SSB; the frequency domain resources of the SSB; time domain resources of the SSB; and a type of the SSB.

[0054] In a possible implementation, the time domain resources of the SSB include at least one of the following: a starting position of the time domain resources of the SSB, a length of the time domain resources of the SSB, a time domain offset value of the SSB, a pattern of the time domain resources of the SSB, and a valid SSB opportunity within an SSB burst.

[0055] In a possible implementation, in a case where the first indication information is used to indicate the transmission resources of the SSB, before receiving the first indication information from the network device, the method further includes: receiving, from the network device, an index of the SCell and configuration information of the SCell, the index of the SCell being used to indicate the SCell configured by the network device for the terminal, and the configuration information of the SCell being used to indicate the SCell corresponding to the index of the activated SCell.

[0056] In a fourth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which comprises a processing module and a transceiver module, the transceiver module being configured to transmit first indication information; the first indication information is used to activate transmission of SSBs and / or to indicate transmission resources of SSBs; or the first indication information is used to deactivate transmission of SSBs.

[0057] In a possible implementation, the processing module is configured to acquire the first indication information.

[0058] In a possible implementation, in a case where the first indication information is used to activate transmission of SSBs and / or to indicate transmission resources of SSBs, the transceiver module is configured to transmit SSBs; in a case where the first indication information is used to deactivate transmission of SSBs, the transceiver module is configured to stop transmitting (or not transmitting) SSBs.

[0059] In a possible implementation, the first indication information is used to indicate one SSB period, the transmission times of the SSB period are N or infinite, N being a positive integer; in a case where the first indication information is used to activate transmission of SSBs, the transmission times of the SSB period being N are used to indicate that N SSB periods of SSBs are transmitted, and the transmission times of the SSB period being infinite are used to indicate that SSBs are transmitted according to the SSB period.

[0060] In a possible implementation, the first indication information is used to indicate a plurality of SSB periods, the plurality of SSB periods comprising a first SSB period and a second SSB period; in a case where the first indication information is used to activate transmission of SSBs, SSBs are transmitted according to the first SSB period, and then SSBs are transmitted according to the second SSB period.

[0061] In a possible implementation, the transmission times of the first SSB period are N, and the transmission times of the second SSB period are infinite; in a case where the first indication information is used to activate transmission of SSBs, SSBs are transmitted according to the first SSB period, and then SSBs are transmitted according to the second SSB period, which comprises: in a case where the first indication information is used to activate transmission of SSBs, SSBs of N first SSB periods are transmitted, and then SSBs are transmitted according to the second SSB period.

[0062] In a possible implementation, the first indication information is further used to indicate a transmission state of SSBs, the transmission state comprising an activated state or a deactivated state; in a case where the transmission state is the activated state, the first indication information is used to activate transmission of SSBs; in a case where the transmission state is the deactivated state, the first indication information is used to deactivate transmission of SSBs.

[0063] In a possible implementation, the first indication information is carried in radio resource control (RRC) signaling, or is carried in a medium access control-control element (MAC CE), or is carried in downlink control information (DCI).

[0064] In a possible implementation, in a case where the network device configures a secondary cell (SCell) for the terminal and the terminal does not receive an activation command from the network device, or in a case where the network device configures the SCell for the terminal and the terminal receives the activation command from the network device, or in a case where the network device configures the SCell for the terminal, the terminal receives the activation command from the network device, and the terminal completes activation of the SCell, the first indication information is used to activate transmission of the SSB and / or to indicate transmission resources of the SSB; and the activation command is used to indicate activation of the SCell.

[0065] In a case where the network device configures the SCell for the terminal while the SCell is activated, the first indication information is used to indicate transmission resources of the SSB. In a case where the terminal completes measurement and synchronization, or in a case where the terminal completes activation of the SCell, the first indication information is used to deactivate transmission of the SSB.

[0066] In a possible implementation, the transmission resources of the SSB include one or more of the following: an index of the SCell, used to indicate the SCell configured by the network device for the terminal; a subcarrier spacing of the SSB; one or more SSB periods; a transmission number of the SSB period; an absolute radio frequency channel number (ARFCN) corresponding to frequency domain resources of the SSB; the frequency domain resources of the SSB; time domain resources of the SSB; and a type of the SSB.

[0067] In a possible implementation, the time domain resources of the SSB include at least one of the following: a starting position of the time domain resources of the SSB, a length of the time domain resources of the SSB, a time domain offset value of the SSB, a pattern of the time domain resources of the SSB, and a valid SSB opportunity within an SSB burst.

[0068] In a possible implementation, in a case where the first indication information is used to indicate the transmission resources of the SSB, before the first indication information is sent, the method further includes: sending an index of the SCell and configuration information of the SCell, the index of the SCell being used to indicate the SCell configured by the network device for the terminal, and the configuration information of the SCell being used to indicate the SCell corresponding to the index of the activated SCell.

[0069] In a fifth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which includes a processor. The processor is coupled to a memory and is configured to execute instructions or data in the memory to implement the method in any possible implementation of the first aspect. Optionally, the communication apparatus further includes the memory. Optionally, the communication apparatus further includes a communication interface, and the processor is coupled to the communication interface.

[0070] In an implementation, the communication interface can be a transceiver, or an input / output interface.

[0071] In another implementation, the communication apparatus is a chip configured in a terminal device. When the communication apparatus is a chip configured in a terminal device, the communication interface can be an input / output interface.

[0072] In a sixth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which includes a processor. The processor is coupled to a memory and is configured to execute instructions or data in the memory to implement the method in any possible implementation of the second aspect. Optionally, the communication apparatus further includes the memory. Optionally, the communication apparatus further includes a communication interface, and the processor is coupled to the communication interface.

[0073] In an implementation, the communication interface can be a transceiver, or an input / output interface.

[0074] In another implementation, the communication apparatus is a chip configured in a satellite. When the communication apparatus is a chip configured in a satellite, the communication interface can be an input / output interface.

[0075] In a seventh aspect, a processor is provided, which includes an input circuit, an output circuit and a processing circuit. The processing circuit is configured to receive a signal through the input circuit and transmit a signal through the output circuit, so that the processor executes the method in any possible implementation of any aspect.

[0076] In a specific implementation, the processor can be one or more chips, the input circuit can be an input pin, the output circuit can be an output pin, and the processing circuit can be a transistor, a gate circuit, a flip-flop, various logic circuits, etc. The input signal received by the input circuit can be received and input by, for example but not limited to, a receiver, the output signal output by the output circuit can be output to and transmitted by, for example but not limited to, a transmitter, and the input circuit and the output circuit can be the same circuit which is used as the input circuit and the output circuit at different times. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific implementation of the processor and various circuits.

[0077] In an eighth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which includes a processor and a memory. The processor is configured to read instructions stored in the memory and to receive signals via a receiver and transmit signals via a transmitter to perform the method in any possible implementation of the method in any of the preceding aspects.

[0078] Optionally, the processor is one or more, and the memory is one or more.

[0079] In a ninth aspect, a computer program product is provided, which includes a computer program (which can also be referred to as codes or instructions) that, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform the method in any possible implementation of the method in any of the preceding aspects.

[0080] In a tenth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which stores a computer program (which can also be referred to as codes or instructions) that, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform the method in any possible implementation of the method in any of the preceding aspects.

[0081] In an eleventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a chip system, which includes one or more processors configured to call and execute instructions stored in a memory, so that the method in any of the preceding aspects or any possible implementation of the method is performed. The chip system can be composed of a chip, or can include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0082] Optionally, the chip system can include an input circuit or interface for sending information or data, and an output circuit or interface for receiving information or data.

[0083] In a twelfth aspect, a communication system is provided, which includes the terminal and the network device as described above. Optionally, the communication system can further include other devices in communication with the terminal device and / or the network device.

[0084] The technical effects brought by any design in the third aspect to the twelfth aspect can be referred to the technical effects brought by different designs in the first aspect or the second aspect, which will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0085] FIG. 1 is a structural schematic diagram of a communication system;

[0086] FIG. 2 is a structural schematic diagram of a network device;

[0087] FIG. 3 is a flow schematic diagram of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0088] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a carrier aggregation scenario provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0089] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an SCell activation procedure according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0090] FIG. 6 is another schematic diagram of an SCell activation procedure according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0091] FIG. 7 is yet another schematic diagram of an SCell activation procedure according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0092] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of an SCell completion activation according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0093] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of an SSB period according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0094] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of multiple SSB periods according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0095] FIG. 11 is a schematic block diagram of a communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0096] FIG. 12 is another schematic block diagram of a communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0097] The technical solutions provided by the present application can be applied to various communication systems, which can be a 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) communication system, for example, a 4th generation (4G) long term evolution (LTE) system, an LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) system, a 5th generation (5G) new radio (NR) system, a vehicle to everything (V2X) system, a system with mixed networking of LTE and NR, or a device-to-device (D2D) system, a machine to machine (M2M) communication system, an internet of things (IoT), and other future communication systems, etc. Alternatively, the communication system can also be a non-3GPP communication system, which is not limited.

[0098] It should be noted that the above-mentioned communication system applicable to the present application is only an example, and the communication system applicable to the present application is not limited thereto. Herein, it is uniformly stated that the following will not be described in detail.

[0099] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of an architecture of a communication system 1000 applicable to the embodiments of the present application. As shown in Figure 1, the communication system includes a radio access network 100 and a core network 200, and optionally, the communication system 100 also includes an Internet 300. The radio access network 100 can include at least one radio access network device (e.g., 110a and 110b in Figure 1) and at least one terminal device (e.g., 120a-120j in Figure 1). The terminal device is connected to the radio access network device in a wireless manner, and the radio access network device is connected to the core network in a wireless or wired manner. The core network device and the radio access device can be independent and different physical devices, or can be integrated into the same physical device with the functions of the core network device and the logical functions of the radio access network device, or can be a physical device integrated with part of the functions of the core network device and part of the functions of the radio access network device. The terminal devices and the radio access network devices can be connected to each other in a wired or wireless manner.

[0100] It should be understood that Figure 1 is only a schematic diagram, and the communication system can also include other network devices, such as wireless relay devices and wireless backhaul devices, which are not shown in Figure 1.

[0101] Optionally, the radio access network device in the embodiments of the present application is an access device through which a terminal accesses the communication system in a wireless manner, and can also be referred to as a network device, which is a device for accessing a terminal to a wireless network. The network device can be a node in a radio access network, and can also be referred to as a base station, and can also be referred to as a radio access network (RAN) node (or device). The network device can be a macro base station (e.g., 110a in Figure 1), a micro base station or an indoor station (e.g., 110b in Figure 1), a relay node or a donor node, etc. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form of the network device. For ease of description, the network device is referred to as a radio access network device, and the base station is an example of the radio access network device.

[0102] For example, the network device can include an evolved Node B (eNB or e-NodeB) in an LTE system or an LTE-A system, such as a conventional macro base station eNB and a micro base station eNB in a heterogeneous network scenario. Alternatively, the network device can include a next generation Node B (gNB) in an NR system. Alternatively, the network device can include a transmission reception point (TRP), a home base station (for example, a home evolved NodeB, or a home Node B, HNB), a baseband unit (BBU), a BBU pool, or a wireless fidelity (WiFi) access point (AP), and the like. Alternatively, the network device can include a base station in an NTN, that is, can be deployed on a high-altitude platform or a satellite, in which the network device can act as a layer 1 (L1) relay, or can act as a base station, or can act as a DU, or can act as an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node. Alternatively, the network device can be a device that implements a base station function in IoT, such as V2X, D2D, or machine to machine (M2M), and the like. The embodiments of the present application are not limited.

[0103] Optionally, the base station in the embodiments of the present application can include various forms of base stations, such as a macro base station, a micro base station (also known as a small station), a relay station, an access point, a home base station, a TRP, a transmitting point (TP), a mobile switching center, and the like, which are not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0104] Optionally, as one possible deployment form, as shown in FIG. 2, the network device can include a central unit (CU) and / or a distributed unit (DU). Further, the network device can also include an active antenna unit (AAU). As another possible deployment form, the network device can include a radio unit (RU), or a device including a CU, a DU, and an RU. The RU can be included in a radio frequency device or a radio frequency unit, such as a remote radio unit (RRU), an AAU, or a remote radio head (RRH).

[0105] Optionally, the CU can implement part of the functions of the network device, and the DU implements another part of the functions of the network device. For example, the CU can be responsible for processing non-real-time protocols and services, and implements the functions of the radio resource control (RRC) layer and the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer. The DU can be responsible for processing the physical layer protocol and real-time services, and implements the functions of the radio link control (RLC) layer, the media access control (MAC) layer, and the physical (PHY) layer. It should be noted that the division of the protocol layers is only an example, and other protocol layer divisions can also be used.

[0106] Optionally, the AAU can implement part of the physical layer processing functions, radio frequency processing, and related functions of the active antenna. The information of the RRC layer is ultimately converted into the information of the PHY layer, or is converted from the information of the PHY layer. Therefore, in this architecture, the high-layer signaling (such as the RRC layer signaling) can also be considered as being sent by the DU, or being sent by the DU and the AAU.

[0107] Further, the CU control plane (CU-CP) and the CU user plane (CU-UP) can also be separated and implemented by different entities, that is, the control plane CU entity (CU-CP entity) and the user plane CU entity (CU-UP entity).

[0108] Optionally, in the structure of the network device shown in FIG. 2, the signaling generated by the CU can be sent to the terminal through the DU, or the signaling generated by the CU can be sent to the CU through the DU. The DU can not analyze the signaling and directly transmit the signaling to the terminal or the CU through protocol layer encapsulation.

[0109] Optionally, the terminal in the embodiments of the present application can be a user side device for implementing a wireless communication function, such as a terminal or a chip used in a terminal. The terminal can be a user equipment (UE), an access terminal, a terminal unit, a terminal station, a mobile station, a mobile station, a remote station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a wireless communication device, a terminal agent or a terminal device in a 5G network or a public land mobile network (PLMN) evolved after 5G. The access terminal can be a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handheld device with a wireless communication function, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device or a wearable device, a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless terminal in self driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical treatment, a wireless terminal in smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in smart city, a wireless terminal in smart home, etc. Alternatively, the terminal can be a terminal with a communication function in IoT, such as a terminal in V2X (e.g., a vehicle networking device), a terminal in D2D communication or a terminal in M2M communication, etc. The terminal can be mobile or fixed. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific form of the terminal.

[0110] The base station and the terminal can be fixed or mobile. The base station and the terminal can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; can be deployed on water; can also be deployed on an airplane, a balloon and a man-made satellite. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the application scenarios of the base station and the terminal.

[0111] The roles of the base stations and the terminals can be relative. For example, the helicopter or the drone 120i in FIG. 1 can be configured as a mobile base station, and for the terminal 120j that accesses the wireless access network 100 through the 120i, the terminal 120i is a base station; but for the base station 110a, the 120i is a terminal, that is, the 110a and the 120i communicate through a wireless air interface protocol. Of course, the 110a and the 120i can also communicate through a base station-to-base station interface protocol, and in this case, the 120i is also a base station relative to the 110a. Therefore, the base stations and the terminals can be collectively referred to as communication apparatuses, the 110a and the 110b in FIG. 1 can be referred to as communication apparatuses with base station functions, and the 120a-120j in FIG. 1 can be referred to as communication apparatuses with terminal functions.

[0112] The base stations and the terminals, the base stations and the base stations, and the terminals and the terminals can communicate through a licensed frequency spectrum, can communicate through an unlicensed frequency spectrum, or can communicate through both the licensed frequency spectrum and the unlicensed frequency spectrum; can communicate through a frequency spectrum below 6 gigahertz (GHz), can communicate through a frequency spectrum above 6 GHz, or can communicate through both the frequency spectrum below 6 GHz and the frequency spectrum above 6 GHz. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the frequency spectrum resources used for wireless communication.

[0113] In the embodiments of the present application, the functions of the base stations can also be performed by modules (such as chips) in the base stations or by control subsystems containing base station functions. The control subsystems containing base station functions herein can be control centers in the above-mentioned application scenarios such as smart grids, industrial control, intelligent transportation, and smart cities. The functions of the terminals can also be performed by modules (such as chips or modems) in the terminals or by apparatuses containing terminal functions.

[0114] To facilitate understanding of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, first, a brief introduction of the related technologies of the present application is given as follows.

[0115] 1. Secondary cell (SCell)

[0116] In the 5G system, after the terminal enters the connected state, it can communicate with the source network device through multiple component carriers at the same time. The source network device will specify a primary component carrier (PCC) for the terminal through explicit configuration or according to the protocol agreement. Other component carriers are called secondary component carriers (SCC). Among them, the serving cell on the PCC is called the primary cell (PCell), and the serving cell on the SCC is called the SCell. Among them, the SCell can only perform data transmission when it is in an active state.

[0117] 2、SSB

[0118] The primary synchronization signal (PSS), the secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and the physical broadcast channel (PBCH) can be collectively referred to as an SSB.

[0119] For example, the SSB can be carried by an SSB beam, so in the embodiments of the present application, the network device sending the SSB can also be understood as sending the SSB beam, and the terminal receiving the SSB can also be understood as receiving the SSB beam. The SSB and the SSB beam can be replaced with each other. In the spatial domain, the transmission and reception of the SSB are both periodic scanning.

[0120] The beam can be understood as a kind of communication resource. The technology for forming the beam can be beamforming technology or other technical means. Different beams can be considered as different resources.

[0121] The beam can be specifically represented by the index of various signals (or resources) in the protocol, such as the resource index of the channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), the SSB index, the resource index of the sounding reference signal (SRS), the resource index of the tracking reference signal (TRS), etc.

[0122] In addition, the beam can also be a spatial domain filter, or a spatial filter, or a spatial domain parameter, a spatial parameter, a spatial domain setting, a spatial setting, or quasi Co-location (QCL) information, a QCL assumption, a QCL indication, etc. in the protocol. The beam can be indicated by a transmission configuration indication (TCI) state parameter or a spatial relation parameter. Therefore, in this application, the beam can also be replaced by a spatial domain filter, a spatial filter, a spatial domain parameter, a spatial parameter, a spatial domain setting, a spatial setting, QCL information, a QCL assumption, a QCL indication, a TCI-state, or a spatial relation, etc. The above terms are also equivalent to each other. The beam in this application can also be replaced by other terms representing the beam, which is not limited in this application.

[0123] Network energy saving is of great significance to environmental sustainability, reduction of environmental impact (greenhouse gas emissions), and cost savings in operating costs. As 5G systems are popularized in various industries and geographical areas, handling more advanced services and applications requires very high data rates, making the network more dense. For example, in 5G systems, more antennas, larger bandwidths, and more frequency bands will be used for network communication, resulting in further increases in energy consumption for current 5G systems and future 6G systems and further evolved communication systems.

[0124] Currently, energy consumption has become a key part of the operator's operating expenses (OPEX). According to a report by the global system for mobile communications association (GSMA), the energy cost of a mobile network accounts for about 23% of the total cost of an operator. Most of the energy consumption comes from the wireless access network, especially the AAU, while the data center and the fiber transmission account for a smaller share. Among them, the power consumption of wireless access can be divided into two parts: dynamic and static parts.

[0125] The dynamic part is consumed when data transmission / reception is performed, and the static part is consumed when maintaining the necessary operation of the wireless access device, i.e., consumed when data transmission / reception is not performed. For example, when there is no terminal access and / or no radio resource management (RRM) measurement requirement of the terminal, the network device periodically broadcasts the SSB, which causes the network device to be unable to perform the sleep mode or the deep sleep mode, thereby causing the energy waste of the network device and being not conducive to the network energy saving.

[0126] Correspondingly, the terminal performs the RRM measurement periodically during the movement. During the measurement, the terminal can periodically measure multiple SSBs to select the SSB with the best signal quality according to the received multiple SSBs. In this process, the terminal periodically measures multiple SSBs, which also causes the energy waste of the terminal and is not conducive to the network energy saving.

[0127] Therefore, embodiments of the present application provide a communication method, which can reduce the transmission of the SSB by activating or deactivating the transmission of the SSB, so that the device can perform the sleep mode or the deep sleep mode, thereby reducing the resource consumption and achieving the purpose of the network energy saving.

[0128] The method provided by the embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It can be understood that, in the embodiments of the present application, the execution subject can perform part or all of the steps in the embodiments of the present application, and these steps or operations are only examples, and the embodiments of the present application can also perform other operations or various modifications of the operations. In addition, each step can be performed in a different order from the order 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 performed.

[0129] It should be noted that the names of messages between various functions or entities in the following embodiments of the present application or the names of information in the messages are only examples, and other names can also be used in the specific implementation, and the embodiments of the present application do not make specific limitations.

[0130] As shown in FIG. 3, a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application includes the following steps:

[0131] S201, a network device acquires first indication information.

[0132] In other words, the network device determines the first indication information.

[0133] The first indication information is used for activating transmission of the SSB and / or indicating a transmission resource of the SSB; or the first indication information is used for deactivating the transmission of the SSB. The transmission resource of the SSB is used to support the terminal to access the network device and communicate with the network device. For related examples of the transmission resource of the SSB, reference can be made to the following embodiments, which will not be described here.

[0134] In a possible case, the first indication information is used for activating the transmission of the SSB, which can also be described as: the first indication information is used for indicating the transmission of the SSB. The first indication information is used for deactivating the transmission of the SSB, which can also be described as: the first indication information is used for indicating to stop the transmission of the SSB. For convenience of description, the first indication information is used for activating or deactivating the transmission of the SSB in the embodiments of the present application.

[0135] In a possible case, activating the transmission of the SSB can also be understood as activating the SSB; and deactivating the transmission of the SSB can also be understood as deactivating the SSB. As known from the foregoing, the SSB can be carried by an SSB beam, and therefore, in the embodiments of the present application, activating the SSB can also be understood as activating the SSB beam, and deactivating the SSB can also be understood as deactivating the SSB beam.

[0136] In a possible case, the transmission of the SSB includes transmission and reception, and both the transmission and the reception of the SSB are performed by beam scanning, and each SSB corresponds to a beam scanning direction. Therefore, in the embodiments of the present application, activating the transmission of the SSB can be understood as scanning the SSB on different beams. Correspondingly, deactivating the transmission of the SSB can be understood as stopping scanning the SSB on different beams.

[0137] In a possible case, the first indication information is also used for indicating a transmission state of the SSB, and the transmission state includes an activated state or a deactivated state. In a case where the transmission state is the activated state, the first indication information is used for activating the transmission of the SSB; and in a case where the transmission state is the deactivated state, the first indication information is used for deactivating the transmission of the SSB.

[0138] The activated state can also be described as “activated state”, and the activated state refers to enabling the transmission or reception of the SSB. The deactivated state is a concept corresponding to the activated state, and the deactivated state can also be described as “non-activated state” or “deactivated state”, which is not limited. The deactivated state refers to disabling the transmission or reception of the SSB. Of course, the activated state and the deactivated state can also include other descriptions, which are not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0139] In an implementation, the first indication information can be configured by the network device, or can be specified by a protocol, without limitation. For example, the first indication information is configured by the network device, including: the network device configures the first indication information according to its own data transmission requirement; or the network device configures the first indication information according to the data transmission requirement of the terminal. For example, the network device receives a buffer status reporting (BSR) reported by the terminal, which is used to indicate the information of the data amount to be transmitted on an uplink (the signal transmission link from the terminal to the network device). The network device configures the first indication information based on the BSR reported by the terminal.

[0140] In S202, the network device sends the first indication information to the terminal, and correspondingly, the terminal receives the first indication information.

[0141] In a possible case, when the first indication information is used to activate the transmission of the SSB and / or indicate the transmission resource of the SSB, the network device sends the SSB to the terminal.

[0142] In an implementation, when the first indication information is used to activate the transmission of the SSB, the network device sends an activation instruction of the SSB to the terminal, and sends the SSB to the terminal.

[0143] For example, the activation instruction can be carried in RRC signaling, or can be carried in MAC CE, or can be carried in DCI, without limitation. Alternatively, the activation instruction can be RRC signaling, or can be MAC CE, or can be DCI, without limitation.

[0144] In another implementation, when the first indication information is used to activate the transmission of the SSB and indicate the transmission resource of the SSB, the network device sends an activation instruction of the SSB to the terminal, and sends the SSB to the terminal according to the transmission resource of the SSB.

[0145] In yet another implementation, when the first indication information is used to indicate the transmission resource of the SSB, the network device sends the SSB to the terminal according to the transmission resource of the SSB.

[0146] For example, the network device can send the SSB in the form of beam sweeping, that is, send multiple SSBs on different beams in a time-division multiplexing manner.

[0147] In a possible scenario, the first indication information is used to deactivate the transmission of the SSB, and the network device stops sending the SSB to (or does not send the SSB to) the terminal. In an implementation, in the case where the first indication information is used to deactivate the SSB, the network device sends the terminal an instruction to deactivate the SSB, and stops sending the SSB to the terminal; or, in the case where the first indication information is used to deactivate the SSB, the network device sends the terminal an instruction to deactivate the SSB, and does not send the SSB to the terminal.

[0148] For example, the instruction to deactivate can be carried in RRC signaling, or can be carried in MAC CE, or can be carried in DCI, without limitation. In other words, the instruction to deactivate can be RRC signaling, or can be MAC CE, or can be DCI, without limitation.

[0149] Optionally, the first indication information is used to deactivate the transmission of the SSB and to indicate the transmission resource of the SSB. In this optional manner, the network device stops sending the SSB to (or does not send the SSB to) the terminal. For example, the network device sends the terminal an instruction to deactivate the SSB, and ignores the transmission resource of the SSB. That is, in the case where the first indication information is used to deactivate the SSB and to indicate the transmission resource of the SSB, the network device sends the terminal an instruction to deactivate the SSB, but does not send the SSB to the terminal according to the transmission resource of the SSB.

[0150] Optionally, the first indication information is used to indicate the transmission resource of the SSB, and the transmission resource of the SSB is configured as invalid resource. That is, the network device can configure the transmission resource of the SSB as invalid resource to indicate the deactivation of the transmission of the SSB, i.e., to stop sending the SSB to (or does not send the SSB to) the terminal. For example, the bit position occupied by the transmission resource of the SSB is set to "0" to indicate the deactivation of the transmission of the SSB, or the bit position occupied by the transmission resource of the SSB is set to "00" to indicate the deactivation of the transmission of the SSB, without limitation.

[0151] In a possible scenario, the first indication information can be carried in RRC signaling, or can be carried in medium access control (MAC)-control element (CE), or can be carried in downlink control information (DCI), without limitation.

[0152] In a possible scenario, the first indication information can be RRC signaling, or can be MAC CE, or can be DCI, without limitation.

[0153] Optionally, the first indication information can be represented by 1 bit; when the 1 bit is 1, it indicates activating the transmission of the SSB; when the 1 bit is 0, it indicates deactivating the transmission of the SSB. Or, when the 1 bit is 0, it indicates activating the transmission of the SSB; when the 1 bit is 1, it indicates deactivating the transmission of the SSB, which is not limited.

[0154] In an implementation manner, in a case where the first indication information is used to indicate the transmission state of the SSB, the first indication information can be carried in RRC signaling; or the first indication information can be RRC signaling. That is, the network device can configure the transmission state of the SSB through RRC signaling.

[0155] In an implementation manner, in a case where the first indication information does not indicate the transmission state of the SSB; or the first indication information indicates the transmission state of the SSB, and the transmission state is a special state, the first indication information can also be carried in a MAC CE or DCI; or the first indication information can also be a MAC CE or DCI. That is, in a case where the network device does not configure the transmission state of the SSB, or configures the transmission state of the SSB as a special state, the network device can indicate activating or deactivating the transmission of the SSB through a MAC CE or DCI.

[0156] The special state is other state than the activating state or the deactivating state. For example, the special state can be an intermediate state, which is not limited.

[0157] S203, the terminal receives or does not receive the SSB from the network device according to the first indication information.

[0158] In other words, the terminal determines whether to receive the SSB according to the first indication information.

[0159] In a possible case, in a case where the first indication information is used to activate the transmission of the SSB and / or indicate the transmission resource of the SSB, the terminal receives the SSB from the network device.

[0160] In an implementation manner, in a case where the first indication information is used to activate the transmission of the SSB, the terminal receives the activation instruction of the SSB from the network device, and receives the SSB from the network device.

[0161] In another implementation manner, in a case where the first indication information is used to activate the transmission of the SSB and indicate the transmission resource of the SSB, the terminal receives the activation instruction of the SSB from the network device, and receives the SSB from the network device according to the transmission resource of the SSB.

[0162] In another implementation, in a case where the first indication information is used to indicate the transmission resource of the SSB, the terminal receives the SSB from the network device according to the transmission resource of the SSB. For example, the terminal can receive the SSB in a manner of beam sweeping, i.e., receiving multiple SSBs on different beams in a time-division multiplexing manner.

[0163] In another possible case, in a case where the first indication information is used to deactivate the transmission of the SSB, the terminal stops receiving (or does not receive) the SSB from the network device. In one implementation, in a case where the first indication information is used to deactivate the SSB, the terminal receives a deactivation instruction of the SSB from the network device and stops receiving the SSB from the network device; or, in a case where the first indication information is used to deactivate the SSB, the terminal receives a deactivation instruction of the SSB from the network device and does not receive the SSB from the network device.

[0164] Optionally, the first indication information is used to deactivate the transmission of the SSB and indicate the transmission resource of the SSB. In this optional manner, the terminal stops receiving (or does not receive) the SSB from the network device. For example, the terminal receives a deactivation instruction of the SSB from the network device but ignores the transmission resource of the SSB from the network device. That is, in a case where the first indication information is used to deactivate the SSB and indicate the transmission resource of the SSB, the terminal receives a deactivation instruction of the SSB from the network device but does not receive the SSB from the network device according to the transmission resource of the SSB.

[0165] Optionally, the first indication information is used to indicate the transmission resource of the SSB, and the transmission resource of the SSB is configured as invalid resource. That is, since the transmission resource of the SSB indicated by the first indication information is configured as invalid resource, the network device stops sending (or does not send) the SSB to the terminal, so that the terminal cannot receive the SSB from the network device.

[0166] Based on the above scheme, on one hand, the network device activates and / or indicates the transmission resource of the SSB through the first indication information, or deactivates the transmission of the SSB through the first indication information, so as to reduce the sending of the SSB to the terminal, so that the network device can enter sleep mode or deep sleep mode, thereby reducing energy consumption and achieving the purpose of network energy saving.

[0167] On the other hand, the terminal activates and / or indicates the transmission resource of the SSB through the first indication information, or deactivates the transmission of the SSB through the first indication information, so as to reduce the reception of the SSB, so that the terminal can enter sleep mode or deep sleep mode, thereby reducing energy consumption and achieving the purpose of network energy saving.

[0168] In an implementation, the method shown in FIG. 3 can be applied in a carrier aggregation (CA) scenario. In the CA scenario, two or more component carriers (CCs) can be aggregated to support a larger transmission bandwidth, so as to meet the demand for single-user peak rate and system capacity improvement. When the CA technology is applied, a terminal can communicate with a PCell and SCells simultaneously.

[0169] As shown in FIG. 4, a CA scenario provided by an embodiment of the present application is shown. When the CA technology is applied, Cell 1 can be a PCell, a terminal communicates with the PCell through a PCC, and an RRC connection is established between the terminal and the PCell. The PCell is a cell established when the terminal performs initial connection, or the PCell is a cell for which an RRC connection is reestablished, or the PCell is a cell specified in a cell switching process. Cell 2 and Cell 3 are two different SCells, which are used to provide additional radio resources, and there is no RRC connection between the SCells and the terminal. The SCell is added / modified / released to the terminal by a network device through an RRC connection reconfiguration message after an initial security activation process. The terminal communicates with Cell 2 through SCC1 and communicates with Cell 3 through SCC2. That is, the SCell is configured by the network device for the terminal to provide additional radio resources. Optionally, the network device can configure one or more SCells for the terminal.

[0170] As described above, the SCell can only perform data transmission when it is in an activated state. Therefore, the terminal needs to activate the SCell before data transmission. Optionally, the activation process of the SCell includes: the network device configures the SCell for the terminal, the network device sends an activation command to the terminal, and the terminal receives the activation command and activates the corresponding SCell. In the above activation process of the SCell, the network device needs to send an SSB to the terminal, and the terminal can perform RRM measurement according to the received SSB to obtain the signal quality of the SCell covered by the network device. For example, the terminal can calculate (or determine) the reference signal receiving power (RSRP) or the reference signal receiving quality (RSRQ) of the SCell according to the received SSB, to determine the signal quality of the SCell. Optionally, the terminal can select the SCell with the best signal quality and activate the SCell. The above-mentioned parameters related to the signal quality of the SCell (such as RSRP or RSRQ) are only examples and do not constitute a limitation on the present application.

[0171] A possible case, based on the carrier aggregation scenario shown in FIG. 4, the activation process of the SCell can include the following different scene examples.

[0172] Scenario 1: The network device configures the terminal with the SCell, and the terminal does not receive the activation command from the network device.

[0173] Among them, the activation command can be used to indicate the activation of the SCell. Here, it is uniformly stated that the following will not be described.

[0174] For example, as shown in FIG. 5, after the network device configures the terminal with the SCell, the network device will send the SSB of each SCell in frequency point units on the frequency point corresponding to each SCell. During the movement of the terminal, the terminal will perform RRM measurement. When measuring, the terminal can measure the SSB of multiple SCells to calculate the RSRP and RSPQ of each SCell according to the received SSB of multiple SCells. When the terminal determines that the RSRP and RSPQ meet certain conditions, the terminal will report the RSRP and RSPQ of the SCell to the network device.

[0175] Optionally, the terminal determining that the RSRP and RSPQ meet certain conditions can include the terminal determining that the RSRP and RSPQ are greater than a threshold value. Among them, the threshold value can be configured by the terminal device itself; or, it can also be configured by the network device and sent to the terminal; or, it can also be specified by the protocol, etc., without limitation.

[0176] Scenario 2: The network device configures the terminal with the SCell, and the terminal receives the activation command from the network device.

[0177] For example, as shown in FIG. 6, after the network device configures the terminal with the SCell, the terminal reports the RSRP and RSPQ of the SCell that meets the conditions to the network device based on the SSB of each SCell sent by the network device. When the network device determines that the SCell needs to send a certain amount of data to the terminal, the network device will send an activation command to the terminal to inform the terminal that the SCell needs to be activated.

[0178] Optionally, after the network device sends the activation instruction to the terminal, the network device sends the SSB of the SCell to be activated on the frequency point of the SCell to be activated. Correspondingly, after the terminal receives the activation command from the network device, when the terminal determines to activate the SCell, the terminal can perform cell search to obtain the frequency point information of the SCell to be activated, and use the frequency point information of the SCell to be activated to receive the SSB sent by the network device, so as to realize the activation of the SCell.

[0179] Scenario 3: The network device configures the terminal with an SCell, the terminal receives an activation command from the network device, and the terminal completes the activation of the SCell.

[0180] For example, as shown in FIG. 7, after the terminal completes the activation of the SCell, on one hand, the network device sends the SSB of the activated SCell on the corresponding frequency point of the activated SCell. During the movement of the terminal, the terminal can perform RRM measurement. During the measurement, the terminal can measure the SSB of the activated SCell to calculate the RSRP and RSPQ of the activated SCell according to the received SSB of the activated SCell. In the case where the terminal determines that the RSRP and RSPQ meet certain conditions, the terminal can perform cell selection, reselection, or handover, and the like, mobility management process. Alternatively, in the case where the terminal determines that the RSRP and RSPQ meet certain conditions, the terminal can report the RSRP and RSPQ, and the SSB resource indication (SS / PBCH block resource indicator, SSBRI) to the network device, so that the network device performs initial beam management.

[0181] On the other hand, the network device sends the SSB of the activated SCell on the corresponding frequency point of the activated SCell, and covers the entire activated SCell through beam sweeping, that is, the network device sends beams in different directions at multiple time points to cover the entire activated SCell. Each beam needs to be configured with PSS, SSS, and PBCH, and must be sent at the same time to facilitate the terminal to synchronize with the SCell.

[0182] Scenario 4: The network device configures the terminal with an SCell while the SCell is activated.

[0183] For example, as shown in FIG. 8, the network device configures the terminal with an SCell while the SCell is activated. In this case, the network device does not need to send an activation command to the terminal to instruct the terminal to activate the SCell. Then, in the case where the SCell is activated, the network device can send the SSB to achieve the terminal to perform cell measurement, selection, reselection, or handover, and the like, mobility management. In addition, the network device can send the SSB to achieve the terminal to synchronize with the SCell. The specific implementation manner can refer to the related description in the above scenario 3, which is not limited here.

[0184] An optional case is that in the above scenario 4, the network device configures the terminal with an SCell while the SCell is activated, which can be achieved in the following manner.

[0185] For example, before sending the first indication information, the network device sends the index of the SCell and the configuration information (or sCellState configuration information) of the SCell to the terminal; and correspondingly, the terminal receives the index of the SCell and the configuration information of the SCell. The index of the SCell is used to indicate the SCell configured by the network device for the terminal, and the configuration information of the SCell is used to indicate the SCell corresponding to the index of the activated SCell. That is, the above scenario 4 means that the network device configures the SCell for the terminal at the same time, and the sCellState configuration information is included, that is, the SCell is activated at the same time when the SCell is configured. In this case, the network device implicitly indicates the activation of the SCell and the transmission of the SSB through the sCellState configuration information. In this way, the network device does not need to separately send the activation command (indicating the activation of the SCell) and the activation instruction (indicating the transmission of the SSB) to the terminal, which can reduce signaling transmission and reduce power consumption.

[0186] For example, the network device can send the index of the SCell and the configuration information of the SCell to the terminal through RRC signaling. That is, the index of the SCell and the configuration information of the SCell are carried in the RRC signaling; or the index of the SCell and the configuration information of the SCell are RRC signaling.

[0187] Optionally, the index of the SCell can include a plurality of SCell indexes, each SCell index in the plurality of SCell indexes corresponding to one SCell, and different SCells corresponding to different SCell indexes.

[0188] Based on the above descriptions of scenarios 1-4, it can be understood that during the activation of the SCell and after the activation of the SCell is completed, the network device needs to send the SSB to the terminal, and after the terminal receives the SSB sent by the network device, the measurement and synchronization are completed. Therefore, in the embodiments of the present application, the network device can activate or deactivate the transmission of the SSB when there is a demand for the transmission of the SSB, or in the case of needing to transmit the SSB, to achieve on-demand transmission of the SSB. Compared with the network device always broadcasting the SSB (or periodically sending the SSB), the transmission of the SSB can be reduced, so that the energy consumption can be reduced and the purpose of network energy saving can be achieved.

[0189] In one implementation, in the above scenarios 1-4, the first indication information is used to activate the transmission of the SSB and / or indicate the transmission resource of the SSB. That is, in the above scenarios 1-4, the network device can send the SSB to the terminal by activating the transmission of the SSB and / or indicating the transmission resource of the SSB. The terminal activates the corresponding SCell according to the received SSB, and completes the measurement and synchronization.

[0190] Exemplarily, the network device can activate the transmission of the SSB and / or indicate the transmission resource of the SSB through RRC signaling, a MAC CE, or DCI.

[0191] In an implementation manner, in the case of the above scenario 4, the first indication information is used to indicate the transmission resource of the SSB. That is, in the case that the network device has activated the SCell while configuring the SCell for the terminal, the terminal does not need to receive the activation command of the network device, and activates the corresponding SCell. In this way, the network device can send the SSB to the terminal according to the transmission resource of the SSB through the transmission resource of the SSB indicated by the first indication information. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the SSB from the network device according to the transmission resource of the SSB according to the transmission resource of the SSB indicated by the first indication information, and completes the measurement and synchronization. In this scenario, the network device does not need to activate the transmission of the SSB through the first indication information, which can reduce the signaling interaction, further reduce the energy consumption, and achieve the purpose of network energy saving.

[0192] Exemplarily, the network device can indicate the transmission resource of the SSB through RRC signaling reconfiguration, or indicate the transmission resource of the SSB through a MAC CE or DCI.

[0193] In an implementation manner, in the case that the terminal completes the measurement and synchronization, or in the case that the terminal completes the activation of the SCell, the first indication information is used to deactivate the transmission of the SSB. That is, in the case that the terminal completes the measurement and synchronization, or in the case that the terminal completes the activation of the SCell, the network device deactivates the transmission of the SSB through the first indication information, and stops sending the SSB to (or does not send the SSB to) the terminal; correspondingly, the terminal receives the first indication information to deactivate the transmission of the SSB, and stops receiving (or does not receive) the SSB from the network device, so as to reduce the transmission of the SSB and reduce the energy consumption, and achieve the purpose of network energy saving.

[0194] Exemplarily, the network device can deactivate the transmission of the SSB through RRC signaling reconfiguration, or deactivate the transmission of the SSB through a MAC CE or DCI.

[0195] In a possible case, the transmission resource of the SSB includes one or more of the following a-h:

[0196] a: index of the SCell. Wherein, the index of the SCell is used to indicate the SCell configured by the network device for the terminal.

[0197] Optionally, the index of the SCell can include multiple SCell indexes, each of the multiple SCell indexes corresponding to one SCell, and different SCells corresponding to different indexes of the SCell.

[0198] b: subcarrier space (SCS) of the SSB.

[0199] Wherein, the subcarrier space refers to the frequency distance between adjacent subcarriers. The subcarrier space determines the number of subcarriers and the bandwidth size of each subcarrier. In multi-carrier communication, the time interval between different subcarriers is also called subcarrier interval time.

[0200] It should be understood that the subcarrier space can be independently configured by the network device according to the actual scene or predefined, and the present application is not limited. Generally, the smaller the subcarrier space, the more subcarriers can be accommodated, and the smaller the bandwidth, thereby reducing the data transmission rate.

[0201] c: absolute radio frequency channel number (ARFCN) corresponding to the frequency domain resource of the SSB.

[0202] Wherein, the ARFCN is used to identify the code of the transmission and reception reference frequency.

[0203] d: frequency domain resource of the SSB.

[0204] In one possible case, the frequency domain resource of the SSB can be the specific frequency domain resource used for SSB transmission; or, the frequency domain resource of the SSB can be the frequency domain resource position used for transmitting the SSB. That is, the first indication information can indicate the specific frequency domain resource, or can indicate the position of the frequency domain resource.

[0205] In one possible case, the position of the frequency domain resource of the SSB can be indicated by a global synchronization channel number (GSCN) or an ARFCN.

[0206] e: time domain resource of the SSB.

[0207] In a possible scenario, the time domain resource of the SSB can be a specific time domain resource used for SSB transmission. For example, the time domain resource of the SSB includes at least one of the following: a starting position of the time domain resource of the SSB, a length of the time domain resource of the SSB, a time domain offset value of the SSB, a pattern of the time domain resource of the SSB, a valid SSB opportunity within an SSB burst, and the like, without limitation. Optionally, the time domain resource of the SSB can also include an ending position of the time domain resource of the SSB, the ending position of the time domain resource of the SSB and the length of the time domain resource of the SSB, the starting position of the time domain resource of the SSB and the length of the time domain resource of the SSB, and the like, without limitation.

[0208] The starting position of the time domain resource of the SSB can be an absolute position, or the starting position of the time domain resource of the SSB can be a relative position relative to a reference time. For example, the reference time can be a time when the reception of the first indication information is completed, or the reference time can be a time when the transmission of the first indication information is completed, and the like, without limitation.

[0209] In a possible scenario, the time domain resource of the SSB can be represented by a slot and / or a time domain symbol. The slot is the smallest scheduling unit of the time domain resource. For example, in NR, one slot can include 14 orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols, each with a normal cyclic prefix (CP); or one slot can include 12 OFDM symbols, each with an extended CP; or one slot can include 7 OFDM symbols, each with a normal CP. It should be understood that the above examples are only illustrative and should not constitute any limitation on the present application. For system forward compatibility, the slot format is not limited to the above examples.

[0210] In NR, for different subcarrier spacings, a different number of slots can be included in 1 millisecond (ms). For example, when the subcarrier spacing is 15 kilohertz (kHz), 1 ms includes 1 slot, which occupies 1 ms; when the subcarrier spacing is 30 kHz, 1 ms includes 2 slots, each occupying 0.5 ms.

[0211] The time domain symbol is a minimum unit of time domain resources. Embodiments of the present application do not limit the length of one time domain symbol. For example, the length of one time domain symbol can be different for different subcarriers. For example, the time domain symbol can be an uplink symbol or a downlink symbol. For example, the uplink symbol can be a single carrier-frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) symbol or an OFDM symbol. For example, the downlink symbol can be an OFDM symbol.

[0212] In one possible case, the starting position of the time domain resources of the SSB can be in units of slots and / or time domain symbols. For example, the starting position of the time domain resources of the SSB can be the starting slot and / or the starting time domain symbol of the time domain resources of the SSB. Alternatively, the starting position of the time domain resources of the SSB can also be an offset of the starting time domain symbol relative to a reference time, which can be in units of slots.

[0213] The length of the time domain resources of the SSB can be used to indicate the time domain symbols occupied by the SSB on the time domain resources. For example, the SSB occupies 4 time domain symbols (e.g., OFDM symbols) on the time domain resources. That is, the length of the time domain resources of the SSB is 4 OFDM symbols.

[0214] In one possible case, the time domain offset value of the SSB can be the offset time domain symbol or the offset slot between two consecutive SSB opportunities, without limitation.

[0215] The pattern of the time domain resources of the SSB can be independently configured by the network device according to the actual scenario or specified by the protocol. In the case where the pattern of the time domain resources of the SSB is specified by the protocol, the pattern of the time domain resources of the SSB can include case A, case B, case C, case D, case E, case F, case G, case H (for details, refer to the target protocol content), and other cases introduced in future evolved systems, without limitation. The distribution of the pattern of the time domain resources of the SSB in the time domain is determined according to different subcarrier spacings and frequency bands. Different patterns ensure the effective distribution of the SSB in the time domain to adapt to different communication requirements and optimize network performance.

[0216] In an example, one SSB (or one time-frequency resource occupied by one SSB) can be referred to as one SSB burst, and one SSB burst can include multiple SSB opportunities, and one SSB opportunity can correspond to one SSB transmission. In an example, a valid SSB opportunity in a SSB burst can mean an SSB opportunity in the SSB burst for transmitting an SSB. In an example, an SSB opportunity can be indicated by a bitmap, for example, an SSB opportunity can be indicated by one bit, for example, when the one bit is 1, it means that the SSB opportunity is a valid SSB opportunity; or when the one bit is 0, it means that the SSB opportunity is a valid SSB opportunity. In an example, an SSB opportunity can also be indicated by two bits, for example, when the two bits are 11, it means that the SSB opportunity is a valid SSB opportunity; or when the two bits are 00, it means that the SSB opportunity is a valid SSB opportunity.

[0217] f: Type of SSB.

[0218] In an example, the type of SSB can be a non-cell defining SSB (NRNCD-SSB) or a cell defining SSB (NRCD-SSB), or can also be a type of SSB defined in a future evolved system, which is not limited herein.

[0219] g: One or more SSB periods.

[0220] In an example, when the first indication information is used to indicate one SSB period, the SSB can be transmitted according to the SSB period. In an example, when the first indication information is used to indicate one SSB period, the network device can send the SSB to the terminal according to the SSB period; correspondingly, the terminal can receive the SSB according to the SSB period. For example, taking 20 ms as the SSB period, the network device can send the SSB to the terminal every 20 ms; correspondingly, the terminal can receive the SSB every 20 ms.

[0221] Optionally, when the first indication information is used to indicate multiple SSB periods, the SSB can be transmitted according to the multiple SSB periods. In an example, when the first indication information is used to indicate multiple SSB periods, the network device can send the SSB to the terminal according to the multiple SSB periods; correspondingly, the terminal can receive the SSB according to the multiple SSB periods. For example, taking 20 ms and 160 ms as the multiple SSB periods, the network device can send the SSB to the terminal every 20 ms and every 160 ms; correspondingly, the terminal can receive the SSB every 20 ms and every 160 ms.

[0222] h: the number of transmission times of the SSB period.

[0223] The number of transmission times of the SSB period can be understood as the number of repetitions of the transmission of the SSB.

[0224] In an example, as shown in FIG. 9, in the case where the first indication information is used to indicate one SSB period, the number of transmission times of the SSB period is N, N being a positive integer. In the case where the first indication information is used to activate the transmission of the SSB, the number of transmission times of the SSB period is N is used to indicate the transmission of N SSB periods.

[0225] For example, when N = 4 and the SSB period is 20 ms, the first indication information is used to indicate one SSB period, and the number of transmission times of the SSB period N can be understood as the transmission of 4 SSBs of 20 ms.

[0226] Optionally, after the transmission of the N SSB periods, the first indication information can be used to activate or deactivate the transmission of the SSB. For example, the MAC CE or the DCI can be used to activate or deactivate the transmission of the SSB.

[0227] In another example, in the case where the first indication information is used to activate the transmission of the SSB, the number of transmission times of the SSB period is infinity. In the case where the first indication information is used to activate the transmission of the SSB, the number of transmission times of the SSB period is infinity is used to indicate the transmission of the SSB according to the SSB period. For example, the network device transmits the SSB to the terminal according to the SSB period all the time; correspondingly, the terminal receives the SSB from the network device according to the SSB period all the time. Alternatively, the network device transmits the SSB to the terminal according to the SSB period all the time, and the terminal ignores the SSB from the network device after completing the measurement and synchronization.

[0228] For example, when the SSB period is 20 ms, the first indication information is used to indicate one SSB period, and the number of transmission times of the SSB period is infinity can be understood as the transmission of the SSB according to the SSB period of 20 ms. That is, the network device transmits the SSB according to the SSB period of 20 ms all the time, and the terminal receives the SSB from the network device according to the SSB period of 20 ms all the time. In an implementation, the first indication information can be used to deactivate the transmission of the SSB to stop (or not to) the transmission of the SSB.

[0229] Optionally, in the case where the number of transmission times of the SSB period is infinity, the network device can use the RRC signaling reconfiguration to deactivate the transmission of the SSB to end the transmission of the SSB this time; or the network device can configure the transmission state of the SSB to be the deactivated state to indicate the deactivation of the transmission of the SSB to end the transmission of the SSB this time.

[0230] In another example, as shown in FIG. 10, in the case where the first indication information is used to indicate multiple SSB periods, the multiple SSB periods include a first SSB period and a second SSB period. In the case where the first indication information is used to activate the transmission of SSBs, after the SSBs are transmitted according to the first SSB period, the transmission of SSBs is switched to the second SSB period. For example, in the case where the first indication information is used to activate the transmission of SSBs, after the network device transmits SSBs according to the first SSB period, the network device switches to transmit SSBs according to the second SSB period; accordingly, after the terminal receives SSBs according to the first SSB period, the terminal switches to receive SSBs according to the second SSB period.

[0231] Optionally, as shown in FIG. 10, the number of transmissions of the first SSB period is N, and the number of transmissions of the second SSB period is infinite. In the case where the first indication information is used to activate the transmission of SSBs, after N SSBs of the first SSB period are transmitted, the transmission of SSBs is switched to the second SSB period. For example, in the case where the first indication information is used to activate the transmission of SSBs, after the network device transmits N SSBs of the first SSB period to the terminal, the network device switches to transmit SSBs to the terminal according to the second SSB period; accordingly, after the terminal receives N SSBs of the first SSB period from the network device, the terminal switches to receive SSBs from the network device according to the second SSB period.

[0232] For example, assuming that N = 4, the first SSB period is 20 ms, and the second SSB period is 160 ms, in the case where the first indication information is used to activate the transmission of SSBs, after the network device transmits 4 SSBs of 20 ms to the terminal, the network device switches to transmit SSBs to the terminal according to 160 ms; accordingly, after the terminal receives 4 SSBs of 20 ms from the network device, the terminal switches to receive SSBs from the network device according to 160 ms.

[0233] Optionally, in the case where the first indication information is used to activate the transmission of SSBs, after N SSBs of the first SSB period are transmitted, the network device can activate the transmission of SSBs by using a MAC CE or DCI to switch to transmit SSBs according to the second SSB period. Alternatively, in the case where the first indication information is used to activate the transmission of SSBs, after N SSBs of the first SSB period are transmitted, the terminal completes measurement and synchronization, and then the transmission of SSBs is switched to the second SSB period.

[0234] Optionally, in the case where the transmission of SSBs is switched to the second SSB period, the network device can deactivate the transmission of SSBs by using RRC signaling reconfiguration to end the transmission of SSBs this time; or the network device can indicate to deactivate the transmission of SSBs by configuring the transmission state of SSBs as a deactivated state to end the transmission of SSBs this time.

[0235] It should be noted that the above one or more SSB periods and the number of transmissions of the SSB period are only examples and cannot constitute a limitation on the present application. In addition, the one or more SSB periods and the number of transmissions of the SSB period can be independently configured by the network device according to the actual scene or specified by the protocol, and are not limited.

[0236] Based on the scheme of the embodiments of the present application, on the one hand, the network device activates the transmission of the SSB and / or indicates the transmission resource of the SSB through the first indication information; or the network device deactivates the transmission of the SSB through the first indication information. The network device can send the SSB to the terminal according to the transmission requirement of the SSB, so as to reduce the sending of the SSB to the terminal, so that the network device can enter the sleep mode or the deep sleep mode, thereby reducing the energy consumption and achieving the purpose of network energy saving.

[0237] On the other hand, the terminal activates the transmission of the SSB and / or indicates the transmission resource of the SSB through receiving the first indication information from the network device; or the terminal deactivates the transmission of the SSB through receiving the first indication information from the network device. The terminal can receive the SSB from the network device according to the transmission requirement of the SSB, so as to reduce the receiving of the SSB by the terminal, and further reduce the measurement of the SSB, so that the terminal can enter the sleep mode or the deep sleep mode, thereby reducing the energy consumption and achieving the purpose of network energy saving.

[0238] It should be noted that each embodiment of the present application can be independently implemented or combined for implementation, and is not limited. If there is no special description and logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions provided in different embodiments of the present application are consistent and can be mutually referenced. The technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationship.

[0239] It can be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, the execution subject can execute part or all of the steps in the embodiments of the present application. These steps or operations are only examples, and the embodiments of the present application can also execute other operations or variations of various operations. In addition, each step can be executed in a different order presented in the embodiments of the present application, and it is possible that not all operations in the embodiments of the present application are executed.

[0240] It should be understood that, in order to achieve the above functions, each device comprises a hardware structure and / or a software module corresponding to each function. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that, in combination with the algorithm steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed in the present text, the present application can be realized in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a certain function is executed in the form of hardware or computer software driven hardware depends on the specific application of the technical solution and the design constraint conditions. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of the present application.

[0241] The embodiments of the present application can divide the functional modules of each device according to the above method examples. For example, each functional module can be divided according to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated in one processing module. The above integrated module can be realized in the form of hardware or software functional module. It should be noted that the division of modules in the embodiments of the present application is illustrative, and is only a logical function division. Actual implementation can have another division manner.

[0242] In the case of dividing each functional module according to each function, FIG. 11 shows a communication device 110 which can execute the actions performed by any of the terminal and the network device in the method shown in FIG. 3. All related contents of each step involved in the above method embodiments can be referred to the function description of the corresponding functional module, and the technical effects that can be obtained can be referred to the above method embodiments, which will not be described here again.

[0243] The communication apparatus 110 can include a transceiver module 1101 and a processing module 1102. For example, the communication apparatus 110 can be a communication device, or a chip or other combination device or component with the above communication apparatus functions applied in the communication device. When the communication apparatus 110 is a communication device, the transceiver module 1101 can be a transceiver, which can include an antenna and a radio frequency circuit, etc. The processing module 1102 can be a processor (or processing circuit), for example, a baseband processor, which can include one or more CPUs. When the communication apparatus 110 is a component with the above communication apparatus functions, the transceiver module 1101 can be a radio frequency unit. The processing module 1102 can be a processor (or processing circuit), for example, a baseband processor. When the communication apparatus 110 is a chip system, the transceiver module 1101 can be an input / output interface of a chip (for example, a baseband chip). The processing module 1102 can be a processor (or processing circuit) of the chip system, which can include one or more central processing units. It should be understood that the transceiver module 1101 in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented by a transceiver or a transceiver related circuit component. The processing module 1102 can be implemented by a processor or a processor related circuit component (or processing circuit).

[0244] For example, the transceiver module 1101 can be configured to perform all the transceiver operations performed by the communication apparatus in the embodiments shown in FIG. 3, and / or other processes for supporting the technologies described herein. The processing module 1102 can be configured to perform all the operations performed by the communication apparatus in the embodiments shown in FIG. 3, except for the transceiver operations, and / or other processes for supporting the technologies described herein.

[0245] As another implementation manner, the transceiver module 1101 in FIG. 11 can be replaced by a transceiver which can integrate the functions of the transceiver module 1101. The processing module 1102 can be replaced by a processor which can integrate the functions of the processing module 1102. Further, the communication apparatus 110 shown in FIG. 11 can further include a memory.

[0246] As another implementation manner, the transceiver module 1101 in FIG. 11 can be replaced by a transceiver which can integrate the functions of the transceiver module 1101. The processing module 1102 can be replaced by a processor which can integrate the functions of the processing module 1102.

[0247] Embodiments of the present application further provide a communication apparatus 120 as shown in FIG. 12. The communication apparatus 120 can be a terminal device or a chip or system on chip in a terminal device; or a network device or a chip or system on chip in a network device; or a core network device or a chip or system on chip in a core network device. As shown in FIG. 12, the communication apparatus 120 includes a processor 1201, a transceiver 1202 and a communication line 1203.

[0248] Further, the communication apparatus 120 can further include a memory 1204. The processor 1201, the memory 1204 and the transceiver 1202 can be connected through the communication line 1203.

[0249] The processor 1201 can be a central processing unit (CPU), a general processor, a network processor (NP), a digital signal processor (DSP), a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a programmable logic device (PLD) or any combination thereof. The processor 1201 can also be other devices with processing function, such as a circuit, a device or a software module, which are not limited here.

[0250] The transceiver 1202 is configured to communicate with other devices or other communication networks. The other communication networks can be an Ethernet, a radio access network (RAN), a wireless local area network (WLAN) and the like. The transceiver 1202 can be a module, a circuit, a transceiver or any device capable of realizing communication.

[0251] The communication line 1203 is configured to transmit information between components included in the communication apparatus 120.

[0252] The memory 1204 is configured to store instructions. The instructions can be a computer program.

[0253] The memory 1204 can be a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that can store static information and / or instructions that are not to be changed by the device, or a random access memory (RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device that can store information and / or instructions for execution by the processor 1201 and / or for writing to other computer-readable media. The memory 1204 can be an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), or another optical disk storage, a magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, etc., without limitation.

[0254] It should be noted that the memory 1204 can exist independently of the processor 1201 or can be integrated with the processor 1201. The memory 1204 can be used to store instructions or program codes or some data, etc. The memory 1204 can be located in the communication device 120 or can be located outside the communication device 120, without limitation. The processor 1201 is configured to execute the instructions stored in the memory 1204 to implement the communication method provided by the embodiments described below.

[0255] In an example, the processor 1201 can include one or more CPUs, such as CPU0 and CPU1 in FIG. 12.

[0256] As an optional implementation, the communication device 120 includes multiple processors, for example, in addition to the processor 1201 in FIG. 12, the communication device 120 can further include a processor 1207.

[0257] As an optional implementation, the communication device 120 further includes an output device 1205 and an input device 1206. For example, the input device 1206 is a keyboard, a mouse, a microphone, or a joystick, etc., and the output device 1205 is a display screen, a speaker, etc.

[0258] It should be noted that the communication device 120 can be a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a network server, a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a wireless terminal, an embedded device, a chip system, or a device having a similar structure as shown in FIG. 10. In addition, the constituent structure shown in FIG. 12 does not constitute a limitation on the communication device, and the communication device can include more or fewer components than those shown in the figure, or combine certain components, or have a different arrangement of components, in addition to the components shown in FIG. 10.

[0259] In the embodiments of the present application, the chip system can be composed of a chip, or can include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0260] In addition, the actions, terms and the like involved among the embodiments of the present application can be mutually referred to and are not limited. The message names or parameter names in the messages exchanged between various devices in the embodiments of the present application are only examples, and other names can also be used in specific implementation, which are not limited.

[0261] The embodiments of the present application further provide a computer program product, which can realize the functions of any of the above method embodiments when executed by a computer.

[0262] The embodiments of the present application further provide a computer program, which can realize the functions of any of the above method embodiments when executed by a computer.

[0263] The embodiments of the present application further provide a computer readable storage medium. All or part of the processes of the above method embodiments can be instructed by a computer program to relevant hardware to complete, and the program can be stored in the above computer readable storage medium. When the program is executed, the processes of the above method embodiments can be included. The computer readable storage medium can be an internal storage unit of the terminal (including a data sending terminal and / or a data receiving terminal) of any of the preceding embodiments, for example, a hard disk or a memory of the terminal. The computer readable storage medium can also be an external storage device of the terminal, for example, a plug-in hard disk, a smart media card (SMC), a secure digital (SD) card, a flash card and the like. Further, the computer readable storage medium can include both the internal storage unit and the external storage device of the terminal. The computer readable storage medium is used to store the computer program and other programs and data required by the terminal. The computer readable storage medium can also be used to temporarily store data that has been output or will be output.

[0264] It should be noted that the terms "first" and "second" and the like in the specification, claims and drawings of the present application are used to distinguish different objects, and are not used to describe a specific order. "First", "second" are only for description purposes, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of indicated technical features. Therefore, the features limited by "first", "second" can explicitly or implicitly include one or more features. In the description of the embodiments, unless otherwise specified, the meaning of "multiple" is two or more.

[0265] Furthermore, the term "comprising" and "including" and their variants are intended to be broad and not to exclude other features or steps. For example, a process, method, system, product or apparatus that comprises a list of steps or units is not necessarily limited to those steps or units which are recited but can include additional steps or units which are not expressly listed or which are inherent to such process, method, product or apparatus.

[0266] It should be understood that, in the present application, "at least one" means one or more. "Multiple" means two or more. "At least two" means two or three and more. "And / or", used to describe the relationship between the associated objects, means that there can be three relationships. For example, "A and / or B" can mean that there are three cases: only A, only B and A and B exist at the same time, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally represents that the associated objects before and after are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions means any combination of these items, including any combination of single or multiple items. For example, at least one of a, b or c can mean: 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. "When" and "if" both mean that under certain objective circumstances, the corresponding processing will be done, not limited by time, and also does not require the implementation of the judgment action, nor means that there are other limitations.

[0267] In the embodiments of the present application, the words "exemplary" or "for example" are used to mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any embodiment or design described herein as "exemplary" or "for example" should not be construed as being preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, the exemplary or example embodiments are presented so as to best explain the concepts in the context of the embodiments.

[0268] In the present application, "sending information to (terminal device)" can be understood as the destination of the information is the terminal device. It can include direct or indirect sending of information to the terminal device. "Receiving information from (terminal device)" can be understood as the source of the information is the terminal device, which can include direct or indirect receiving of information from the terminal device. The information between the source and the destination of the information sending may be processed as necessary, such as format change, etc., but the destination can understand the valid information from the source.

[0269] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand the above-mentioned technical solutions from the description of the above-mentioned embodiments. For the convenience and brevity of description, only the division of the above-mentioned functional modules is taken as an example. In actual application, the above-mentioned functions can be completed by different functional modules according to the needs, that is, the internal structure of the device is divided into different functional modules to complete all or part of the functions described above.

[0270] In several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed device and method can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only illustrative. For example, the division of the modules or units is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, another division mode can be used. For example, multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another device, or some features can be ignored or not executed. In addition, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection between the units shown or discussed can be indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0271] The units described as separate components can or can not be physically separated, and the components shown as units can be one physical unit or multiple physical units, that is, they can be located in one place or distributed in multiple different places. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the embodiment.

[0272] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application can be integrated in one processing unit, or each unit can exist physically, or two or more units can be integrated in one unit. The integrated unit can be realized in the form of hardware or in the form of a software functional unit.

[0273] The integrated unit, if realized in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, can be stored in a readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be embodied in the form of a software product in essence or all or part of the technical solutions. The software product is stored in a storage medium and includes a plurality of instructions for causing an apparatus (which can be a single-chip microcomputer, a chip, etc.) or a processor to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in the embodiments of the present application. The storage medium described above includes a U disk, a mobile hard disk, a ROM, a RAM, a magnetic disk or an optical disk, and various storage medium that can store program codes.

[0274] The above is described so that the embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, and are not limited thereto; although the present application is described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that the technical solutions recorded in the foregoing embodiments can still be modified, or some technical features therein can be replaced by equivalents; and these modifications or replacements cannot make the essence of the corresponding technical solutions deviate from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. A communication method characterized by comprising: Applied to a terminal, the method comprises: receiving first indication information from a network device, wherein the first indication information is used to activate transmission of a synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel block (SSB) and / or indicate transmission resources of the SSB, or the first indication information is used to deactivate transmission of the SSB.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, The first indication information is also used to indicate a transmission state of the SSB, and the transmission state comprises an activated state or a deactivated state. In the case where the transmission state is the activated state, the first indication information is used to activate transmission of the SSB. In the case where the transmission state is the deactivated state, the first indication information is used to deactivate transmission of the SSB.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein, in the case where the first indication information is used to activate transmission of the SSB and / or indicate transmission resources of the SSB, the SSB is received; in the case where the first indication information is used to deactivate transmission of the SSB, reception of the SSB is stopped.

4. The method of any one of claims 1-3, wherein, the first indication information is carried in radio resource control (RRC) signaling; or the first indication information is carried in a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE); or the first indication information is carried in downlink control information (DCI).

5. The method of any one of claims 1-4, wherein, in the case where the network device configures a secondary cell (SCell) for the terminal and the terminal does not receive an activation command from the network device; or in the case where the network device configures an SCell for the terminal and the terminal receives an activation command from the network device; or in the case where the network device configures an SCell for the terminal, the terminal receives an activation command from the network device, and the terminal completes activation of the SCell, the first indication information is used to activate transmission of the SSB and / or indicate transmission resources of the SSB; wherein the activation command is used to indicate activation of an SCell; in the case where the network device configures an SCell for the terminal while the SCell is activated, the first indication information is used to indicate transmission resources of the SSB; in the case where the terminal completes measurement and synchronization; or in the case where the terminal completes activation of an SCell, the first indication information is used to deactivate transmission of the SSB.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein, In the case where the first indication information is used to indicate transmission resources of the SSB, before receiving the first indication information from the network device, the method further comprises: receiving an index of an SCell and configuration information of the SCell from the network device, the index of the SCell being used to indicate the SCell configured by the network device for the terminal, and the configuration information of the SCell being used to indicate that the SCell corresponding to the index of the SCell is activated.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein, The transmission resources of the SSB comprise one or more of the following: an index of the SCell, the index of the SCell being used to indicate the SCell configured by the network device for the terminal; a subcarrier spacing of the SSB; one or more SSB periods; a number of transmissions of the SSB period; an absolute radio frequency channel number, ARFCN, corresponding to a frequency domain resource of the SSB; the frequency domain resource of the SSB; a time domain resource of the SSB; a type of the SSB.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein, The time domain resource of the SSB includes at least one of the following: a starting position of the time domain resource of the SSB, a length of the time domain resource of the SSB, a time domain offset value of the SSB, a pattern of the time domain resource of the SSB, and an SSB opportunity valid within an SSB burst.

9. The method according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that, The first indication information is used to indicate one SSB period, and a number of transmissions of the SSB period is N or infinite, N being a positive integer; wherein, in a case where the first indication information is used to activate transmission of the SSB, the number of transmissions of the SSB period being N is used to indicate that N SSB periods of the SSB are received, and the number of transmissions of the SSB period being infinite is used to indicate that the SSB is received according to the SSB period.

10. The method according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that, The first indication information is used to indicate a plurality of SSB periods, the plurality of SSB periods including a first SSB period and a second SSB period; wherein, in a case where the first indication information is used to activate transmission of the SSB, after the SSB is received according to the first SSB period, the SSB is switched to be received according to the second SSB period.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein, The number of transmissions of the first SSB period is N, and the number of transmissions of the second SSB period is infinite; and the switching, in the case where the first indication information is used to activate transmission of the SSB, after the SSB is received according to the first SSB period, to receive the SSB according to the second SSB period, includes: in the case where the first indication information is used to activate transmission of the SSB, after N first SSB periods of the SSB are received, the SSB is switched to be received according to the second SSB period.

12. A communication method characterized by comprising: The method applied to a network device, the method comprising: sending first indication information, the first indication information being used to activate transmission of a synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel block, SSB, and / or indicate transmission resources of the SSB, or the first indication information being used to deactivate transmission of the SSB.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein, The first indication information is also used to indicate a transmission state of the SSB, the transmission state including an activated state or a deactivated state; in a case where the transmission state is the activated state, the first indication information is used to activate transmission of the SSB; in a case where the transmission state is the deactivated state, the first indication information is used to deactivate transmission of the SSB.

14. The method according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that, The method further comprises: in a case where the first indication information is used to activate transmission of the SSB and / or indicate transmission resources of the SSB, sending the SSB; in a case where the first indication information is used to deactivate transmission of the SSB, stopping sending the SSB.

15. The method of any one of claims 12-14, characterized in that, the first indication information is carried in radio resource control (RRC) signaling; or, the first indication information is carried in a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE); or, the first indication information is carried in downlink control information (DCI).

16. The method of any one of claims 12-15, characterized in that, in a case where the network device configures a secondary cell (SCell) for the terminal and the terminal does not receive an activation command from the network device; or in a case where the network device configures an SCell for the terminal and the terminal receives an activation command from the network device; or in a case where the network device configures an SCell for the terminal, the terminal receives an activation command from the network device, and the terminal completes activation of the SCell, the first indication information is used to activate transmission of the SSB and / or indicate transmission resources of the SSB; wherein the activation command is used to indicate activation of an SCell; in a case where the network device configures an SCell for the terminal and has activated the SCell, the first indication information is used to indicate transmission resources of the SSB; in a case where the terminal completes measurement and synchronization; or in a case where the terminal completes activation of an SCell, the first indication information is used to indicate deactivation of transmission of the SSB.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein, in a case where the first indication information is used to indicate transmission resources of the SSB, before sending the first indication information, the method further comprises: sending an index of an SCell and configuration information of the SCell, the index of the SCell being used to indicate the SCell configured by the network device for the terminal, and the configuration information of the SCell being used to indicate that the SCell corresponding to the index of the SCell has been activated.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein, The transmission resources of the SSB include one or more of the following: the index of the SCell, the index of the SCell being used to indicate the SCell configured by the network device for the terminal; a subcarrier spacing of the SSB; one or more SSB periods; a number of transmissions of the SSB period; an absolute radio frequency channel number (ARFCN) corresponding to a frequency domain resource of the SSB; the frequency domain resource of the SSB; a time domain resource of the SSB; a type of the SSB.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein, The time domain resource of the SSB includes at least one of the following: a starting position of the time domain resource of the SSB, a length of the time domain resource of the SSB, a time domain offset value of the SSB, a pattern of the time domain resource of the SSB, and an SSB opportunity valid within an SSB burst.

20. The method of claim 18 or 19, wherein, The first indication information is used to indicate one SSB period, and the number of transmissions of the SSB period is N or infinity, N being a positive integer. In a case where the first indication information is used to activate transmission of the SSB, the transmission number of the SSB period is N, indicating that N SSB periods of the SSB are transmitted; and the transmission number of the SSB period is infinity, indicating that the SSB is transmitted according to the SSB period.

21. The method of claim 18 or 19, wherein, The first indication information is used to indicate a plurality of SSB periods, and the plurality of SSB periods include a first SSB period and a second SSB period. In a case where the first indication information is used to activate transmission of the SSB, after the SSB is transmitted according to the first SSB period, the SSB is switched to be transmitted according to the second SSB period.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein, The transmission number of the first SSB period is N, and the transmission number of the second SSB period is infinity; and in the case where the first indication information is used to activate transmission of the SSB, after the SSB is transmitted according to the first SSB period, the SSB is switched to be transmitted according to the second SSB period. In a case where the first indication information is used to activate transmission of the SSB, after N first SSB periods of the SSB are transmitted, the SSB is switched to be transmitted according to the second SSB period.

23. A communications device, characterized by The communication apparatus comprises a processing unit and a transceiver unit, and is configured to execute programs or instructions of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, or the method according to any one of claims 12 to 22.

24. A communications device, characterized by The communication apparatus comprises a processor coupled with a memory, and the memory stores programs or instructions for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, or the method according to any one of claims 12 to 22.

25. A computer readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program or instructions, characterized in that, The computer programs or instructions, when executed, cause the computer to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, or 12 to 22.

26. A communication system, characterized by The communication apparatus according to claim 23.

27. A computer program product, characterised in that, The computer programs, when executed, cause the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, or 12 to 22 to be performed.

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