Communication method and apparatus, and storage medium and program product

Abstract

A communication method and apparatus, and a storage medium and a program product. The method comprises: on the basis of the number X of carrier units in one time unit, a terminal and a network device determining L candidate PDSCH positions on a first resource set; the network device sending PDSCHs at the L candidate PDSCH positions; and the terminal sending an HARQ codebook to the network device, wherein the HARQ codebook comprises Y HARQ information bits, and Y≥L. By using the solution in the present application, an HARQ codebook is prevented from comprising excessive redundant bits, thereby reducing the load of uplink control information.

Description

Communication method, apparatus, storage medium and program product

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese Patent Application No. 202411359795.5, filed on September 26, 2024, and entitled "Communication method, apparatus, storage medium and program product", the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

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

[0003] Carrier aggregation (CA) refers to aggregating multiple component carriers (CCs) together, which can improve the peak rate of a terminal.

[0004] Hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) is a mechanism combining forward error correction (FEC) and automatic repeat request (ARQ) of error data units. A terminal can feedback the HARQ information of multiple transmission blocks (TBs) by multiplexing, and the multiple bits of HARQ information corresponding to the multiple TBs are referred to as a HARQ codebook.

[0005] When a terminal generates a HARQ codebook, one way is to determine a time unit set according to a value set of the time interval from the time slot where the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) is located to the time slot where the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) is located, and in the frequency domain, start from the lowest CC among all CCs, for each CC, traverse the time unit set in the time domain, determine the candidate PDSCH position on the CC, and then traverse all CCs to obtain the candidate PDSCH positions in all CCs. Each candidate PDSCH position corresponds to 1 bit or multiple bits in the HARQ codebook, which is used to feedback the PDSCH possibly received at the candidate PDSCH position.

[0006] However, in some cases, for example, when not all bits in the HARQ codebook are useful, there is a problem of redundancy of the bits in the HARQ codebook. SUMMARY

[0007] The application provides a communication method, device, storage medium and program product to reduce the redundancy of a HARQ codebook.

[0008] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided. Exemplarily, the method can be applied to a terminal side, for example, the method can be executed by a terminal, or executed by a module (such as a processor, a chip, a chip system, a circuit, etc.) in the terminal. The module can be a communication module in the terminal, or a circuit or chip responsible for communication functions in the terminal, such as a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a system on chip (SoC) chip or a system in package (SIP) chip containing a modem core.

[0009] The method comprises: determining L candidate PDSCH positions on a first resource set according to a number X of carrier units in one time unit, the first resource set comprising M time units and N carrier units, X, L, M and N are positive integers, and X≤N; receiving a PDSCH at the L candidate PDSCH positions; and transmitting a HARQ codebook, the HARQ codebook comprising Y HARQ information bits, the HARQ information bits being used to indicate whether the PDSCH is successfully received, Y being a positive integer, and Y≥L.

[0010] Exemplarily, in the present application, the number X of carrier units in one time unit can also be replaced by X carrier units in one time unit. The terminal can determine the candidate PDSCH positions based on the number X of carrier units or based on the X carrier units.

[0011] The first resource set comprising M time units and N carrier units can be replaced by a second resource set comprising M time units and X carrier units. Among them, the X carrier units are carrier units in the N carrier units (or the X carrier units are located in the N carrier units).

[0012] By using the method, the terminal and the network device determine the candidate PDSCH positions according to the number X of the carrier units for receiving the downlink signals in a time unit or according to the carrier units for receiving the downlink signals in a time unit, that is, when the terminal determines the L candidate PDSCH positions in the first resource set, the terminal determines the candidate PDSCH positions in each of the X carrier units in the N carrier units, and does not determine the candidate PDSCH positions in the carrier units outside the X carrier units in the N carrier units. Compared with determining the candidate PDSCH positions in each of the N carrier units, the number of the carrier units for determining the candidate PDSCH positions by the terminal is reduced, the number of the candidate PDSCH positions determined by the terminal is reduced, the HARQ codebook is generated by the terminal based on the L candidate PDSCH positions, one candidate PDSCH position corresponds to one (or more) HARQ bit, and the number of the bits included in the HARQ codebook is also reduced, which avoids including too many redundant bits in the HARQ codebook and reduces the load of the uplink control information.

[0013] With reference to the first aspect, in a possible design, the X carrier units are carrier units for receiving the downlink signals, and the X carrier units are carrier units in the N carrier units.

[0014] With reference to the first aspect, in a possible design, the X carrier units are carrier units for generating the HARQ codebook.

[0015] With reference to the first aspect, in another possible design, the N carrier units are configured by the network device.

[0016] With reference to the first aspect, in another possible design, the N is greater than or equal to the number of the carrier units configured by the network device.

[0017] With reference to the first aspect, in another possible design, the N carrier units are N downlink carrier units configured by the network device.

[0018] With reference to the first aspect, in another possible design, the N carrier units are N downlink carrier units configured by the network device, and the number of the uplink carrier units configured by the network device is less than or equal to N.

[0019] With reference to the first aspect, in another possible design, the N carrier units are activated carrier units. The terminal can receive in each of the N carrier units, but due to the limited downlink processing capability of the terminal, the terminal can only receive the downlink signals on the X carrier units.

[0020] With reference to the first aspect, in a possible design of the first aspect, the Y HARQ information bits are determined based on the L candidate PDSCH locations.

[0021] With reference to the first aspect, in another possible design of the first aspect, the method further includes: transmitting first information, where the first information indicates a maximum number W of carrier units in a time unit for receiving a downlink signal, X≤W, and / or the first information indicates at least one group of downlink carrier units, a number of downlink carrier units in the at least one group of downlink carrier units is less than or equal to the W, and the X is determined based on the at least one group of downlink carrier units; and the first information is capability information of the terminal.

[0022] With reference to the first aspect, in another possible design of the first aspect, the method further includes: receiving second information from the network device, where the second information indicates the X and / or at least one group of downlink carrier units, a number of different downlink carrier units in the at least one group of downlink carrier units is X, or a number of downlink carrier units in the at least one group of downlink carrier units is less than or equal to the X, or the X carrier units.

[0023] With reference to the first aspect, in yet another possible design of the first aspect, the method further includes: determining the L candidate PDSCH locations based on candidate PDSCH locations on the X carrier units.

[0024] With this design, the terminal determines the L candidate PDSCH locations as the candidate PDSCH locations on the X carrier units, the L candidate PDSCH locations do not include candidate PDSCH locations on carrier units other than the X carrier units in the N carrier units, one candidate PDSCH location corresponds to 1 bit (or multiple bits), the number of candidate PDSCH locations is reduced, and the number of HARQ bits included in the HARQ codebook is also reduced accordingly, which avoids including too many redundant bits in the HARQ codebook and reduces the load of uplink control information.

[0025] With reference to the first aspect, in yet another possible design of the first aspect, determining, according to the X carrier units in a time unit, the L candidate PDSCH locations on the first resource set includes: determining the L candidate PDSCH locations in a sequence of first traversing the X carrier units and then traversing the M time units.

[0026] With reference to the first aspect, in a possible design of the determining the L candidate PDSCH locations on the first set of resources according to the number X of the carrier components in one time unit, the determining the L candidate PDSCH locations includes: determining the candidate PDSCH locations in the X carrier components in a time unit with the smallest index among the M time units, and determining the candidate PDSCH locations on the X carrier components in each of the M time units in ascending order of the indices of the M time units, to obtain the L candidate PDSCH locations.

[0027] With this design, in the order of first traversing the frequency domain resources and then traversing the time domain resources (first traversing the carrier components in each time unit and then traversing the time units), if the order of first traversing the time domain resources and then traversing the frequency domain resources is to be adopted, the network device and the terminal can make a mistake in understanding the HARQ codebook when the carrier components used for receiving the downlink signals in different time units are switched. Since the upper limit of the number of the carrier components used for receiving the downlink signals in each time unit is determined, the number of the corresponding HARQ bits in each time unit is fixed. The mistake in understanding the mapping relationship between the HARQ information and the carrier components caused by the PDCCH miss detection in one time unit does not affect another time unit. Thus, the probability of misunderstanding between the network device and the terminal is reduced, and the robustness of the HARQ codebook is improved.

[0028] With reference to the first aspect, in a possible design of the determining the L candidate PDSCH locations on the first set of resources according to the number X of the carrier components in one time unit, the X carrier components are X carrier components with the largest number of candidate PDSCH locations among the N carrier components, and X≤N.

[0029] With this design, in the scenario where the carrier components can be dynamically switched, the number of the candidate PDSCH locations in the N carrier components in one time unit (the number of reserved bits) can be determined according to the X carrier components with the largest number of candidate PDSCH locations among the N carrier components. The number of the candidate PDSCH locations corresponding to the actually scheduled CCs can be smaller than the determined number of the candidate PDSCH locations, so that the terminal can have feedback resources for HARQ feedback.

[0030] With reference to the first aspect, in a possible design of the determining the L candidate PDSCH locations on the first set of resources according to the number X of the carrier components in one time unit, the X carrier components are X carrier components with the largest number of candidate PDSCH locations among the N carrier components, and X≤N.

[0031] Exemplarily, in this application, the i th bit in the N bits indicates whether the terminal receives PDSCH on the i th carrier unit in the N carrier units can also be replaced by the i th bit in the N bits indicating whether the i th carrier unit in the N carrier units is a carrier unit for the terminal to receive downlink signals. The downlink signals can include at least one of the following: control information (PDCCH), data information (PDSCH), reference signal, synchronization information, beam information. The terminal does not necessarily receive signals on the carrier unit for receiving downlink signals, whether to receive signals depends on the scheduling of the network device. But in the carrier unit not used for receiving downlink signals, the terminal will not receive the downlink signals on the carrier unit.

[0032] It can be understood that "receiving downlink signals" in this application can be "receiving downlink data and / or information". For example, it is emphasized here that "the i th bit in the N bits indicates whether the terminal receives on the i th carrier unit in the N carrier units", without limiting the content of the reception.

[0033] With this design, in the CA scenario, the terminal receives DCI, which can indicate whether to receive downlink signals on other carrier units, so that the terminal can explicitly determine the carrier unit to detect and receive signals. Even if the terminal misses the DCI indicating the carrier unit switching, it can still accurately receive PDSCH in the carrier unit, thereby improving the reliability of communication.

[0034] In combination with the first aspect, in yet another possible design, the method further includes: receiving DCI in the first time unit and the first carrier unit, the DCI being used for scheduling downlink signals; wherein the DCI includes a bit map, the bit map including N bits, the i th bit in the N bits indicating whether the terminal receives downlink signals on the i th carrier unit in the N carrier units in the first time unit, where 0≤i≤N-1 or 1≤i≤N.

[0035] Exemplarily, in this application, the i th bit in the N bits indicates whether the terminal receives a downlink signal on the i th carrier unit in the N carrier units within the first time unit, which can be replaced by that the i th bit in the N bits indicates whether the i th carrier unit in the N carrier units is a carrier unit for the terminal to receive a downlink signal within the first time unit. The downlink signal can include at least one of the following: control information (PDCCH), data information (PDSCH), reference signal, synchronization information, beam information. The terminal does not necessarily receive a signal on the carrier unit for receiving a downlink signal, and whether to receive a signal depends on the scheduling of the base station. But in the carrier unit not used for receiving a downlink signal, the terminal will not receive a downlink signal on the carrier unit.

[0036] In combination with the first aspect, in yet another possible design, the method further includes: receiving a DCI within the first carrier unit, the DCI including second information, the second information indicating that the terminal receives a downlink signal on a j th carrier unit in the N carrier units other than the first carrier unit within the first time unit, where 0≤j≤N-2 or 1≤j≤N-1.

[0037] Exemplarily, in this application, the second information indicating that the terminal receives a downlink signal on a j th carrier unit in the N carrier units other than the first carrier unit can be replaced by the second information indicating that the j th carrier unit in the N carrier units other than the first carrier unit is a carrier unit for the terminal to receive a downlink signal.

[0038] With this design, in the CA scenario, the terminal receives a DCI, which indicates whether to receive a downlink signal on other carrier units through cross indication, so as to ensure that the terminal can also determine its carrier unit for receiving a downlink signal in the case of missing the DCI, that is, even if the terminal does not receive its own DCI on other carrier units, it can also accurately receive a downlink signal on other carrier units, thereby improving the reliability of communication.

[0039] In combination with the first aspect, in yet another possible design, the method further includes: receiving a DCI within the first time unit and the first carrier unit, the DCI including second information, the second information indicating that the terminal receives a downlink signal on a j th carrier unit in the N carrier units other than the first carrier unit within the first time unit, where 0≤j≤N-2 or 1≤j≤N-1.

[0040] Exemplarily, in this application, the second information indicates that the terminal receives the downlink signal on the jth carrier frequency unit of the N carrier frequency units except the first carrier frequency unit in the first time unit. Alternatively, the second information indicates that the jth carrier frequency unit of the N carrier frequency units except the first carrier frequency unit is the carrier frequency unit for the terminal to receive the downlink signal in the first time unit.

[0041] With reference to the first aspect, in a further possible design of the method, the method further includes: receiving a DCI in the first carrier frequency unit, where the DCI includes third information, and the third information indicates that the first carrier frequency unit is the kth carrier frequency unit received by the terminal, where 0≤k≤X-1 or 1≤k≤X.

[0042] With reference to the first aspect, in a further possible design of the method, the method further includes: receiving a DCI in the first carrier frequency unit, where the DCI includes third information, and the third information indicates that the first carrier frequency unit is the kth carrier frequency unit received by the terminal in the first time unit, where 0≤k≤X-1 or 1≤k≤X.

[0043] With this design, the DCI sent by the network device carries the indication information, which is used to indicate the carrier frequency unit for the terminal to receive the downlink signal in a time unit. The terminal can know which carrier frequency units it should receive signals or channels in. Due to the channel quality or other reasons, the terminal may miss the DCI, which can cause that the network device sends a signal but the terminal fails to receive the signal successfully, and the terminal is not clear about which carrier frequency unit the network device sends the signal in, thereby causing the understanding confusion between the network device and the terminal. With this design, the network device carries the information indicating the carrier frequency unit for the terminal to receive the downlink signal when sending the signal, which explicitly indicates the carrier frequency unit for the terminal to receive the downlink signal, avoids the understanding confusion between the network device and the terminal, and thereby improves the reliability of communication.

[0044] With reference to the first aspect, in a further possible design of the method, the X carrier frequency units correspond to at least two subcarrier spacings, the at least two subcarrier spacings include a first subcarrier spacing and a second subcarrier spacing, where the first subcarrier spacing is smaller than the second subcarrier spacing, one time unit of the carrier frequency unit corresponding to the first subcarrier spacing corresponds to H time units of the carrier frequency units corresponding to the second subcarrier spacing; the carrier frequency unit corresponding to the first subcarrier spacing belongs to the X carrier frequency units corresponding to the first time unit of the H time units of the carrier frequency units corresponding to the second subcarrier spacing, or the carrier frequency unit corresponding to the first subcarrier spacing belongs to the X carrier frequency units corresponding to the last time unit of the H time units of the carrier frequency units corresponding to the second subcarrier spacing.

[0045] By using the design, in the case that X carrier units correspond to at least two subcarrier spacings, by determining the X carrier units corresponding to each time unit, the candidate PDSCH position can be accurately determined.

[0046] In combination with the first aspect, in yet another possible design, the candidate PDSCH positions in each time unit are the same or different.

[0047] The second aspect provides a communication method. Exemplarily, the method can be applied to a network device side, for example, the method can be executed by a network device, or executed by a module (for example, a processor, a chip, a chip system, a circuit, etc.) in the network device. The module can be a communication module in the network device, or a circuit or chip responsible for a communication function in the network device, such as a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a SOC chip or SIP chip containing a modem core.

[0048] The method comprises: determining L candidate PDSCH positions on a first resource set according to a number X of carrier units of a terminal in a time unit, the first resource set comprising M time units and N carrier units, X, L, M, and N are positive integers, and X≤N; transmitting a PDSCH at the L candidate PDSCH positions; and receiving a HARQ codebook, the HARQ codebook comprising Y HARQ information bits, the HARQ information bits being used to indicate whether the PDSCH is successfully received, Y being a positive integer, and Y≥L.

[0049] By using the method, the network device determines L candidate PDSCH positions in the first resource set according to the number X of carrier units of the terminal in a time unit or according to the carrier units used to receive a downlink signal in a time unit, but does not determine a candidate PDSCH position in each of the N carrier units in a time unit. The network device determines a candidate PDSCH position according to each of the X carrier units in the N carrier units, and does not determine a candidate PDSCH position in a carrier unit outside the X carrier units in the N carrier units. Compared with determining a candidate PDSCH position based on each of the N carrier units, the number of carrier units of the candidate PDSCH positions determined by the network device changes, so that the number of candidate PDSCH positions determined by the network device decreases, and then the terminal generates a HARQ codebook based on the L candidate PDSCH positions. One candidate PDSCH position corresponds to one (or more) HARQ bit, and the number of bits included in the HARQ codebook also decreases, which avoids including too many redundant bits in the HARQ codebook and reduces the load of uplink control information.

[0050] With reference to the second aspect, in a possible design of the second aspect, the X number of carriers are carriers for receiving downlink signals.

[0051] With reference to the second aspect, in a possible design of the second aspect, the X number of carriers are carriers for generating a HARQ codebook.

[0052] With reference to the second aspect, in another possible design of the second aspect, the N number of carriers are configured by the network device.

[0053] With reference to the second aspect, in a possible design of the second aspect, the N is greater than or equal to a number of carriers configured by the network device.

[0054] With reference to the second aspect, in another possible design of the second aspect, the N number of carriers are N number of downlink carriers configured by the network device.

[0055] With reference to the second aspect, in another possible design of the second aspect, the N number of carriers are N number of downlink carriers configured by the network device, and a number of uplink carriers configured by the network device is less than or equal to N.

[0056] With reference to the second aspect, in another possible design of the second aspect, the N number of carriers are active carriers. The terminal can receive in each of the N number of carriers, but due to limited downlink processing capability of the terminal, can only receive downlink signals in the X number of carriers.

[0057] With reference to the second aspect, in another possible design of the second aspect, the method further includes: receiving first information, the first information indicating a maximum number W of carriers for receiving downlink signals in a time unit, X≤W, and / or the first information indicating at least one group of downlink carriers, a number of downlink carriers in the at least one group of downlink carriers being less than or equal to the W, the X being determined based on the at least one group of downlink carriers; wherein the first information is capability information of the terminal.

[0058] With reference to the second aspect, in another possible design of the second aspect, the second information is transmitted, the second information indicating the X and / or at least one group of downlink carriers, a number of different downlink carriers in the at least one group of downlink carriers being X, or a number of downlink carriers in the at least one group of downlink carriers being less than or equal to the X, or the X number of carriers.

[0059] With reference to the second aspect, in another possible design of the second aspect, the method further includes: determining the L number of candidate PDSCH positions based on candidate PDSCH positions on the X number of carriers.

[0060] With reference to the second aspect, in a possible design of the method, the determining the L candidate PDSCH positions on the first resource set according to the number X of the carrier component units in one time unit includes: determining the candidate PDSCH positions in the X carrier component units in a time unit with the smallest index among the M time units; and determining the candidate PDSCH positions on the X carrier component units in each of the M time units in ascending order of the indices of the M time units, to obtain the L candidate PDSCH positions.

[0061] With this design, by traversing the frequency domain resources first and then traversing the time domain resources, since the upper limit of the number of CCs used for receiving the downlink signals in each time unit is determined, the number of HARQ bits corresponding to each time unit is fixed. The error in understanding the mapping relationship between the HARQ information and the CCs caused by the PDCCH miss detection in one time unit will not affect another time unit.

[0062] With reference to the second aspect, in a possible design of the method, the X carrier component units are X carrier component units with the largest number of candidate PDSCH positions among the N carrier component units, and X≤N.

[0063] With this design, in a scenario where the carrier component units can be dynamically switched, the number of candidate PDSCH positions in the N carrier component units in one time unit can be determined according to the X carrier component units with the largest number of candidate PDSCH positions among the N carrier component units. The number of candidate PDSCH positions corresponding to the actually scheduled CCs can be less than the determined number of candidate PDSCH positions, so that the terminal has enough HARQ feedback bits for HARQ feedback.

[0064] With reference to the second aspect, in a possible design of the method, the method further includes: transmitting a DCI in the first carrier component unit, where the DCI is used for scheduling the downlink signals; and the DCI includes a bit map, the bit map includes N bits, and an i-th bit in the N bits indicates whether the terminal receives the downlink signals on an i-th carrier component unit among the N carrier component units, where 0≤i≤N-1 or 1≤i≤N.

[0065] With reference to the second aspect, in a possible design of the method, the method further includes: transmitting a DCI in the first time unit and the first carrier component unit, where the DCI is used for scheduling the downlink signals; and the DCI includes a bit map, the bit map includes N bits, and an i-th bit in the N bits indicates whether the terminal receives the downlink signals on an i-th carrier component unit among the N carrier component units in the first time unit, where 0≤i≤N-1 or 1≤i≤N.

[0066] With reference to the second aspect, in a possible design of the method, the method further includes: receiving the DCI in the first time unit and the first carrier unit, where the DCI includes the second information, and the second information indicates that the terminal receives the downlink signal in the jthcarrier unit of the N carrier units other than the first carrier unit in the first time unit, where 0≤j≤N-2 or 1≤j≤N-1.

[0067] With reference to the second aspect, in a possible design of the method, the method further includes: receiving the DCI in the first time unit and the first carrier unit, where the DCI includes the second information, and the second information indicates that the terminal receives the downlink signal in the jthcarrier unit of the N carrier units other than the first carrier unit in the first time unit, where 0≤j≤N-2 or 1≤j≤N-1.

[0068] With reference to the second aspect, in a possible design of the method, the method further includes: receiving the DCI in the first carrier unit, where the DCI includes the third information, and the third information indicates that the first carrier unit is the kthcarrier unit received by the terminal, where 0≤k≤X-1 or 1≤k≤X.

[0069] With reference to the second aspect, in a possible design of the method, the method further includes: receiving the DCI in the first carrier unit, where the DCI includes the third information, and the third information indicates that the first carrier unit is the kthcarrier unit received by the terminal in the first time unit, where 0≤k≤X-1 or 1≤k≤X.

[0070] With reference to the second aspect, in a possible design of the method, the X carrier units correspond to at least two subcarrier spacings, the at least two subcarrier spacings include a first subcarrier spacing and a second subcarrier spacing, where the first subcarrier spacing is smaller than the second subcarrier spacing, one time unit of a carrier unit corresponding to the first subcarrier spacing corresponds to H time units of carrier units corresponding to the second subcarrier spacing; the carrier unit corresponding to the first subcarrier spacing belongs to X carrier units corresponding to a first time unit of the H time units of carrier units corresponding to the second subcarrier spacing, or the carrier unit corresponding to the first subcarrier spacing belongs to X carrier units corresponding to a last time unit of the H time units of carrier units corresponding to the second subcarrier spacing.

[0071] With this design, in the case where the X carrier units correspond to at least two subcarrier spacings, the candidate PDSCH position can be accurately determined by determining the X carrier units corresponding to each time unit.

[0072] With reference to the second aspect, in a possible design of the method, the candidate PDSCH positions in each time unit are the same or different.

[0073] The number of bits in the HARQ codebook corresponding to each time unit is fixed and does not affect each other. However, which X time units in the N time units are received by the terminal can change. When the terminal misses the PDCCH in a candidate PDSCH position, it will cause the terminal and the network device to understand the CC corresponding to the candidate PDSCH position in a time unit inconsistently, that is, the CC corresponding to the HARQ information bits in the HARQ codebook is understood inconsistently. Therefore, the following communication scheme is provided:

[0074] In a third aspect, a communication method is provided. Exemplarily, the method can be applied to the terminal side, for example, the method can be executed by the terminal or by a module (such as a processor, a chip, a chip system, a circuit, etc.) in the terminal. The module can be a communication module in the terminal or a circuit or chip responsible for communication functions in the terminal, such as a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a SoC chip or SIP chip containing a modem core.

[0075] The method comprises receiving a DCI, wherein the DCI indicates to receive a first downlink signal on a second carrier unit.

[0076] Exemplarily, in this application, the DCI indicating to receive a first downlink signal on a second carrier unit can be replaced by the DCI indicating at least one of X carrier units. Wherein the X carrier units are carrier units in the N carrier units. The X carrier units are carrier units for receiving downlink signals. The N carrier units are configured downlink carrier units.

[0077] By using this method, in the CA scenario, the terminal receives the DCI, which can indicate to receive the first data and / or information on the second carrier unit. Even if the terminal does not receive its own DCI on the second carrier unit, it can accurately receive the first data and / or information on the second carrier unit, thereby improving the reliability of communication.

[0078] In combination with the third aspect, in a possible design, the DCI indicates to receive a first downlink signal on the second carrier unit in the first time unit.

[0079] In combination with the third aspect, in another possible design, the receiving DCI comprises receiving the DCI on the first carrier unit, wherein the DCI indicates to receive a second downlink signal on the first carrier unit.

[0080] In combination with the third aspect, in another possible design, the receiving DCI comprises receiving the DCI on the first carrier unit in the first time unit, wherein the DCI further indicates to receive a second downlink signal on the first carrier unit in the first time unit.

[0081] In a fourth aspect, a communication method is provided. Exemplarily, the method can be applied to a network device side, for example, the method can be performed by a network device, or performed by a module (e.g., a processor, a chip, a chip system, a circuit, etc.) in the network device. The module can be a communication module in the network device, or a circuit or chip responsible for a communication function in the network device, such as a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a SOC chip or SIP chip containing a modem core.

[0082] The method comprises: transmitting DCI, the DCI indicating that a first downlink signal is transmitted on a second carrier unit.

[0083] Exemplarily, in this application, the DCI indicating that the first downlink signal is transmitted on the second carrier unit can be replaced by the DCI being used to indicate at least one of X carrier units. The X carrier units are carrier units in N carrier units. The X carrier units are carrier units used for transmitting downlink signals. The N carrier units are configured downlink carrier units.

[0084] With this method, in the CA scenario, the network device transmits the DCI, which can indicate that the first data and / or information is received on the second carrier unit. Even if the terminal does not receive its own DCI on the second carrier unit, it can accurately receive the first data and / or information on the second carrier unit, thereby improving the reliability of communication.

[0085] In combination with the fourth aspect, in a possible design, the DCI indicates that the first downlink signal is transmitted on the second carrier unit in the first time unit.

[0086] In combination with the fourth aspect, in another possible design, the transmitting DCI comprises: transmitting the DCI on the first carrier unit, the DCI further indicating that a second downlink signal is received on the first carrier unit.

[0087] In combination with the fourth aspect, in another possible design, the transmitting DCI comprises: transmitting the DCI on the first carrier unit in the first time unit, the DCI indicating that a second downlink signal is received on the first carrier unit in the first time unit.

[0088] In combination with the third aspect or the fourth aspect, in another possible design, the first carrier unit and the second carrier unit belong to N carrier units, N being a positive integer, the DCI comprising a bit map, the bit map comprising N bits, an i-th bit in the N bits indicating whether a terminal receives a downlink signal on an i-th carrier unit in the N carrier units, where 0≤i≤N-1 or 1≤i≤N.

[0089] With reference to the third aspect or the fourth aspect, in a further possible design of the third aspect or the fourth aspect, the first carrier unit and the second carrier unit belong to N carrier units, N is a positive integer, and the DCI includes a bit map, the bit map includes N bits, and an i-th bit in the N bits indicates whether the terminal receives a downlink signal on an i-th carrier unit in the N carrier units in the first time unit, where 0≤i≤N-1 or 1≤i≤N.

[0090] With the design, after receiving the DCI, the terminal can accurately know whether to receive the first downlink signal on the first time unit and the second carrier unit according to the DCI, thereby improving the reliability of communication.

[0091] With reference to the third aspect or the fourth aspect, in a further possible design of the third aspect or the fourth aspect, the first carrier unit and the second carrier unit belong to N carrier units, N is a positive integer, and the DCI includes second information, the second information indicates that the terminal receives a downlink signal on a j-th carrier unit in the N carrier units except the first carrier unit, where 0≤j≤N-2 or 1≤j≤N-1.

[0092] With reference to the third aspect or the fourth aspect, in a further possible design of the third aspect or the fourth aspect, the first carrier unit and the second carrier unit belong to N carrier units, N is a positive integer, and the DCI includes second information, the second information indicates that the terminal receives a downlink signal on a j-th carrier unit in the N carrier units except the first carrier unit in the first time unit, where 0≤j≤N-2 or 1≤j≤N-1.

[0093] With the design, the cross-checking manner can avoid the problem that the terminal misses the DCI indicating the carrier unit switching, and thus the terminal understands the carrier unit for receiving the downlink signal incorrectly, and avoids missing more information, thereby improving the communication efficiency.

[0094] With reference to the third aspect or the fourth aspect, in a further possible design of the third aspect or the fourth aspect, the DCI includes third information, the third information indicates that the second carrier unit is a k-th carrier unit received by the terminal, where 0≤k≤X-1 or 1≤k≤X, and X is a quantity of carrier units used by the terminal to receive a downlink signal in a time unit.

[0095] With reference to the third aspect or the fourth aspect, in a further possible design of the third aspect or the fourth aspect, the DCI includes third information, the third information indicates that the second carrier unit is a k-th carrier unit received by the terminal in the first time unit, where 0≤k≤X-1 or 1≤k≤X, and X is a quantity of carrier units used by the terminal to receive a downlink signal in a time unit.

[0096] With the design, after receiving the DCI, the terminal can accurately know whether to receive the first downlink signal in the first time unit and the second carrier unit according to the DCI, thereby improving the reliability of communication.

[0097] It can be understood that the DCI in the present application can be replaced by control information, and the PDSCH can be replaced by data transmission, and the control information is used for scheduling data transmission. In the present application, DCI and PDSCH are taken as examples for description.

[0098] In a fifth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided for implementing the communication method in the first aspect, the third aspect, or any design of the first aspect or the third aspect. The apparatus can be a terminal, a module (for example, a processor, a chip, a chip system, a circuit, etc.) applied to the terminal, and can also be a logic node, a logic module, or software capable of realizing all or part of the terminal functions.

[0099] In a sixth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided for implementing the communication method in the second aspect, the fourth aspect, or any design of the second aspect or the fourth aspect. The apparatus can be a network device, a module (for example, a processor, a chip, a chip system, a circuit, etc.) applied to the network device, and can also be a logic node, a logic module, or software capable of realizing all or part of the network device functions.

[0100] In a possible implementation, the communication apparatus in the fifth aspect to the sixth aspect includes units, modules, or means for performing the method in any of the first aspect to the fourth aspect or any design. The units, modules, or means can be implemented by software, or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware. For example, the communication apparatus can include a sending unit, a receiving unit, and a processing unit. The sending unit and the receiving unit can be independent or combined together (referred to as a "transceiving unit").

[0101] When the communication apparatus is used to implement the method in the first aspect or any design of the first aspect, the processing unit is configured to determine L candidate PDSCH positions on a first resource set according to the number X of carrier units in a time unit, the first resource set including M time units and N carrier units, X, L, M, and N being positive integers, and X≤N; the transceiving unit is configured to receive a PDSCH at the L candidate PDSCH positions; and the transceiving unit is further configured to send a HARQ codebook, the HARQ codebook including Y HARQ information bits, the HARQ information bits being used to indicate whether the PDSCH is successfully received, Y being a positive integer, and Y≥L.

[0102] Optionally, the X carriers are carriers for receiving downlink signals, and the X carriers are carriers in the N carriers.

[0103] Optionally, the X carriers are carriers for generating a HARQ codebook.

[0104] Optionally, the N carriers are configured by the network device.

[0105] Optionally, the N is greater than or equal to a number of carriers configured by the network device.

[0106] Optionally, the N carriers are N downlink carriers configured by the network device.

[0107] Optionally, the N carriers are N downlink carriers configured by the network device, and a number of uplink carriers configured by the network device is less than or equal to N.

[0108] Optionally, in yet another possible design, the N carriers are activated carriers. The terminal can receive in each of the N carriers, but due to limited downlink processing capability of the terminal, can only receive downlink signals in X carriers.

[0109] Optionally, the transceiver is further configured to send first information, the first information indicating a maximum number W of carriers in a time unit, the X being determined based on the W, and / or the first information indicating at least one group of downlink carriers, a number of downlink carriers in the at least one group of downlink carriers being less than or equal to the W, the X being determined based on the at least one group of downlink carriers; wherein the first information is capability information of the terminal; and / or the transceiver is further configured to receive second information from the network device, the second information indicating the X and / or at least one group of downlink carriers, a number of different downlink carriers in the at least one group of downlink carriers being X, or a number of downlink carriers in the at least one group of downlink carriers being less than or equal to the X, or the X carriers.

[0110] Optionally, the processing unit is configured to determine the L candidate PDSCH positions based on candidate PDSCH positions on the X carriers.

[0111] Optionally, the processing unit is further configured to determine candidate PDSCH positions in the X carriers in a time unit with a smallest index in the M time units, and determine candidate PDSCH positions on the X carriers corresponding to each of the M time units in an ascending order of indexes of the M time units, to obtain the L candidate PDSCH positions.

[0112] Optionally, the X carriers are X carriers with the largest number of candidate PDSCH positions in the N carriers, and X≤N.

[0113] Optionally, the transceiver is further configured to receive, in the first carrier, a DCI, the DCI scheduling the downlink signal; wherein the DCI comprises a bitmap, the bitmap comprising N bits, an i-th bit in the N bits indicating whether the terminal receives the downlink signal on an i-th carrier in the N carriers, where 0≤i≤N-1 or 1≤i≤N.

[0114] Optionally, the transceiver is further configured to receive, in the first time unit and the first carrier, a DCI, the DCI scheduling the downlink signal; wherein the DCI comprises a bitmap, the bitmap comprising N bits, an i-th bit in the N bits indicating whether the terminal receives the downlink signal on an i-th carrier in the N carriers in the first time unit, where 0≤i≤N-1 or 1≤i≤N.

[0115] Optionally, the transceiver is further configured to receive, in the first carrier, a DCI, the DCI comprising second information, the second information indicating that the terminal receives the downlink signal on a j-th carrier in the N carriers except the first carrier, where 0≤j≤N-2 or 1≤j≤N-1.

[0116] Optionally, the transceiver is further configured to receive, in the first time unit and the first carrier, a DCI, the DCI comprising second information, the second information indicating that the terminal receives the downlink signal on a j-th carrier in the N carriers except the first carrier in the first time unit, where 0≤j≤N-2 or 1≤j≤N-1.

[0117] Optionally, the transceiver is further configured to receive, in the first carrier, a DCI, the DCI comprising third information, the third information indicating that the first carrier is a k-th carrier received by the terminal, where 0≤k≤X-1 or 1≤k≤X.

[0118] Optionally, the transceiver is further configured to receive, in the first time unit and the first carrier, a DCI, the DCI comprising third information, the third information indicating that the first carrier is a k-th carrier received by the terminal in the first time unit, where 0≤k≤X-1 or 1≤k≤X.

[0119] Optionally, the X carriers correspond to at least two subcarrier spacings, the at least two subcarrier spacings including a first subcarrier spacing and a second subcarrier spacing, wherein the first subcarrier spacing is smaller than the second subcarrier spacing, one time unit of the carrier corresponding to the first subcarrier spacing corresponds to H time units of the carriers corresponding to the second subcarrier spacing; the carriers corresponding to the first subcarrier spacing belong to the X carriers corresponding to the first time unit of the H time units of the carriers corresponding to the second subcarrier spacing, or the carriers corresponding to the first subcarrier spacing belong to the X carriers corresponding to the last time unit of the H time units of the carriers corresponding to the second subcarrier spacing.

[0120] Optionally, the candidate PDSCH positions in each time unit are the same or different.

[0121] When the communication device is used to implement the method in the second aspect or any design of the second aspect, the processing unit is configured to determine L candidate PDSCH positions on a first resource set according to the number X of carriers of a terminal in a time unit, the first resource set including M time units and N carriers, X, L, M, and N are positive integers, and X≤N; the transceiver is configured to send a PDSCH at the L candidate PDSCH positions; and the transceiver is further configured to receive a HARQ codebook, the HARQ codebook including Y HARQ information bits, the HARQ information bits being used to indicate whether the PDSCH is successfully received, Y being a positive integer, and Y≥L.

[0122] Optionally, the X carriers are carriers for receiving a downlink signal, and the X carriers are carriers in the N carriers.

[0123] Optionally, the X carriers are carriers for generating a HARQ codebook.

[0124] Optionally, the N carriers are configured by a network device.

[0125] Optionally, the N is greater than or equal to the number of carriers configured by the network device.

[0126] Optionally, the N carriers are N downlink carriers configured by the network device.

[0127] Optionally, the N carriers are N downlink carriers configured by the network device, and the number of uplink carriers configured by the network device is less than or equal to N.

[0128] Optionally, in yet another possible design, the N carriers are active carriers. The terminal can receive in each of the N carriers, but due to the limited downlink processing capability of the terminal, the terminal can only receive downlink signals in X carriers.

[0129] Optionally, the transceiver is further configured to receive first information, the first information indicating a maximum number W of carriers for receiving downlink signals in a time unit, the X being determined based on the W, and / or the first information indicating at least one group of downlink carriers, a number of downlink carriers in the at least one group of downlink carriers being less than or equal to the W, the X being determined based on the at least one group of downlink carriers; wherein the first information is capability information of the terminal.

[0130] Optionally, the transceiver is further configured to send second information, the second information indicating the X and / or at least one group of downlink carriers, a number of different downlink carriers in the at least one group of downlink carriers being X, or a number of downlink carriers in the at least one group of downlink carriers being less than or equal to the X, or the X carriers.

[0131] Optionally, the processing unit is configured to determine the L candidate PDSCH positions based on candidate PDSCH positions in the X carriers.

[0132] Optionally, the processing unit is configured to determine candidate PDSCH positions in X carriers in a time unit with a smallest index among the M time units, determine candidate PDSCH positions in X carriers corresponding to each of the M time units in an ascending order of indices of the M time units, and obtain the L candidate PDSCH positions.

[0133] Optionally, the X carriers are X carriers with a largest number of candidate PDSCH positions in the N carriers, and X≤N.

[0134] Optionally, the transceiver is further configured to receive a DCI in a first carrier, the DCI scheduling a PDSCH; wherein the DCI includes a bit map, the bit map including N bits, an i-th bit in the N bits indicating whether the terminal receives the PDSCH in an i-th carrier in the N carriers, where 0≤i≤N-1 or 1≤i≤N.

[0135] Optionally, the transceiver is configured to receive the DCI in the first time unit and the first carrier unit, wherein the DCI schedules the PDSCH; and the DCI comprises a bit map, the bit map comprises N bits, and an i th bit in the N bits indicates whether the terminal receives the PDSCH in the first time unit and in an i th carrier unit of the N carrier units, where 0≤i≤N-1 or 1≤i≤N.

[0136] Optionally, the transceiver is further configured to receive the DCI in the first carrier unit, wherein the DCI comprises second information, and the second information indicates that the terminal receives the PDSCH in a j th carrier unit of the N carrier units other than the first carrier unit, where 0≤j≤N-2 or 1≤j≤N-1.

[0137] Optionally, the transceiver is configured to receive the DCI in the first time unit and the first carrier unit, wherein the DCI comprises second information, and the second information indicates that the terminal receives the PDSCH in the first time unit and in a j th carrier unit of the N carrier units other than the first carrier unit, where 0≤j≤N-2 or 1≤j≤N-1.

[0138] Optionally, the transceiver is further configured to receive the DCI in the first carrier unit, wherein the DCI comprises third information, and the third information indicates that the first carrier unit is a k th carrier unit received by the terminal, where 0≤k≤X-1 or 1≤k≤X.

[0139] Optionally, the transceiver is configured to receive the DCI in the first time unit and the first carrier unit, wherein the DCI comprises third information, and the third information indicates that the first carrier unit is a k th carrier unit received by the terminal in the first time unit, where 0≤k≤X-1 or 1≤k≤X. Optionally, the X carrier units correspond to at least two subcarrier spacings, the at least two subcarrier spacings comprise a first subcarrier spacing and a second subcarrier spacing, the first subcarrier spacing is smaller than the second subcarrier spacing, one time unit of a carrier unit corresponding to the first subcarrier spacing corresponds to H time units of carrier units corresponding to the second subcarrier spacing, and the carrier unit corresponding to the first subcarrier spacing belongs to X carrier units corresponding to a first time unit of the H time units of carrier units corresponding to the second subcarrier spacing, or the carrier unit corresponding to the first subcarrier spacing belongs to X carrier units corresponding to a last time unit of the H time units of carrier units corresponding to the second subcarrier spacing.

[0140] Optionally, the candidate PDSCH positions in each time unit are the same or different.

[0141] The communication device is configured to implement the method in the third aspect or any design of the third aspect. The transceiver is configured to receive the DCI, and the DCI indicates that the first data and / or information is received on the second carrier unit.

[0142] Optionally, the DCI indicates that the first data and / or information is received on the first time unit and the second carrier unit.

[0143] Optionally, the transceiver is further configured to receive the DCI on the first carrier unit, and the DCI further indicates that the second data and / or information is received on the first carrier unit.

[0144] Optionally, the transceiver is further configured to receive the DCI on the first time unit and the first carrier unit, and the DCI further indicates that the second data and / or information is received on the first time unit and the first carrier unit.

[0145] Optionally, the first carrier unit and the second carrier unit belong to N carrier units, N is a positive integer, the DCI includes a bit map, the bit map includes N bits, and the i th bit in the N bits indicates whether the terminal receives the downlink signal on the i th carrier unit in the N carrier units, where 0≤i≤N-1 or 1≤i≤N.

[0146] Optionally, the first carrier unit and the second carrier unit belong to N carrier units, N is a positive integer, the DCI includes a bit map, the bit map includes N bits, and the i th bit in the N bits indicates whether the terminal receives the downlink signal on the i th carrier unit in the N carrier units within the first time unit, where 0≤i≤N-1 or 1≤i≤N.

[0147] Optionally, the first carrier unit and the second carrier unit belong to N carrier units, N is a positive integer, the DCI includes second information, and the second information indicates that the terminal receives the downlink signal on the j th carrier unit in the N carrier units except the first carrier unit, where 0≤j≤N-2 or 1≤j≤N-1.

[0148] Optionally, the first carrier unit and the second carrier unit belong to N carrier units, N is a positive integer, the DCI includes second information, and the second information indicates that the terminal receives the downlink signal on the j th carrier unit in the N carrier units except the first carrier unit within the first time unit, where 0≤j≤N-2 or 1≤j≤N-1.

[0149] Optionally, the DCI includes third information, the third information indicating that the second carrier unit is a kth carrier unit received by the terminal, where 0≤k≤X-1 or 1≤k≤X, and X is a number of carrier units used by the terminal to receive the downlink signal in one time unit.

[0150] Optionally, the DCI includes third information, the third information indicating that the second carrier unit is a kth carrier unit received by the terminal in the first time unit, where 0≤k≤X-1 or 1≤k≤X, and X is a number of carrier units used by the terminal to receive the downlink signal in one time unit.

[0151] When the communication apparatus is used to implement the method in the fourth aspect or any one of the designs of the fourth aspect, the transceiver is configured to send the DCI, the DCI indicating that the first downlink signal is sent on the second carrier unit.

[0152] For example, in this application, the DCI indicating that the first downlink signal is received on the second carrier unit can be replaced by the DCI indicating at least one of X carrier units. The X carrier units are carrier units in N carrier units. The X carrier units are carrier units used to receive the downlink signal. The N carrier units are configured downlink carrier units. Optionally, the DCI further indicates that the first downlink signal is sent on the second carrier unit in the first time unit.

[0153] Optionally, the transceiver is further configured to send the DCI on the first carrier unit, the DCI further indicating that the second downlink signal is received on the first carrier unit.

[0154] Optionally, the transceiver is further configured to send the DCI on the first carrier unit in the first time unit, the DCI further indicating that the second downlink signal is received on the first carrier unit in the first time unit.

[0155] Optionally, the transceiver is further configured to receive the DCI in the first carrier unit, the DCI scheduling the downlink signal; wherein the DCI includes a bit map, the bit map including N bits, an i-th bit in the N bits indicating whether the terminal receives the downlink signal on an i-th carrier unit in the N carrier units, where 0≤i≤N-1 or 1≤i≤N.

[0156] Optionally, the transceiver is further configured to receive the DCI in the first time unit and the first carrier unit, wherein the DCI schedules the downlink signal; and the DCI comprises a bit map, the bit map comprises N bits, and an i th bit in the N bits indicates whether the terminal receives the downlink signal in the first time unit and in an i th carrier unit of the N carrier units, where 0≤i≤N-1 or 1≤i≤N.

[0157] Optionally, the transceiver is further configured to receive the DCI in the first carrier unit, wherein the DCI comprises second information, and the second information indicates that the terminal receives the downlink signal in a j th carrier unit of the N carrier units except the first carrier unit, where 0≤j≤N-2 or 1≤j≤N-1.

[0158] Optionally, the transceiver is further configured to receive the DCI in the first time unit and the first carrier unit, wherein the DCI comprises second information, and the second information indicates that the terminal receives the downlink signal in a j th carrier unit of the N carrier units except the first carrier unit in the first time unit, where 0≤j≤N-2 or 1≤j≤N-1.

[0159] Optionally, the transceiver is further configured to receive the DCI in the first carrier unit, wherein the DCI comprises third information, and the third information indicates that the first carrier unit is a k th carrier unit received by the terminal, where 0≤k≤X-1 or 1≤k≤X.

[0160] Optionally, the transceiver is further configured to receive the DCI in the first time unit and the first carrier unit, wherein the DCI comprises third information, and the third information indicates that the first carrier unit is a k th carrier unit received by the terminal in the first time unit, where 0≤k≤X-1 or 1≤k≤X.

[0161] In another possible implementation, the communication apparatus in the fifth aspect to the sixth aspect above comprises a processor; the processor is configured to implement the apparatus to perform the corresponding functions in the above communication method.

[0162] Optionally, the processor can be coupled with a memory for storing the necessary programs (instructions) and / or data of the apparatus. Optionally, the communication apparatus can further comprise a communication interface for realizing the communication between the apparatus and other network elements. Optionally, the memory can be located inside the communication apparatus or outside the communication apparatus.

[0163] Optionally, the communication apparatus can further comprise a transceiving device, the processor is coupled with the transceiving device, and the processor is configured to execute the computer program or the instruction to control the transceiving device to receive and send information; when the processor executes the computer program or the instruction, the processor is further configured to realize the above method through a logic circuit or an execution code instruction. The transceiving device can be a transceiver, a transceiving circuit or an input / output interface, which is configured to receive a signal from another communication apparatus outside the communication apparatus and transmit the signal to the processor or send a signal from the processor to another communication apparatus outside the communication apparatus. When the communication apparatus is a chip, the transceiving device is a transceiving circuit or an input / output interface.

[0164] When the communication apparatus in the fifth aspect to the sixth aspect is a chip, the sending unit can be an output unit, such as an output circuit or a communication interface; and the receiving unit can be an input unit, such as an input circuit or a communication interface. When the communication apparatus is a terminal, the sending unit can be a transmitter or a transmitter; and the receiving unit can be a receiver or a receiver.

[0165] In a seventh aspect, a computer readable storage medium is provided, and the computer readable storage medium stores a computer program or an instruction, and when the computer program or the instruction is executed, the method in the above aspects is realized.

[0166] In an eighth aspect, a computer program product containing instructions is provided, and when the instructions are run on a communication apparatus, the communication apparatus is caused to execute the method in the above aspects.

[0167] In a ninth aspect, a communication system is provided, which comprises the communication apparatus in the fifth aspect or any one of the designs in the fifth aspect, and the communication apparatus in the sixth aspect or any one of the designs in the sixth aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0168] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a possible, non-limiting communication system;

[0169] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of carrier aggregation;

[0170] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an example of determining candidate PDSCH positions to generate a HARQ codebook;

[0171] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0172] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a missed DCI according to an example of the present application;

[0173] FIGS. 6-7 are schematic diagrams of determining candidate PDSCH positions according to an example of the present application;

[0174] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram showing that the subcarrier spacings are different for the four carrier units in this application example;

[0175] Figure 9 is a flowchart illustrating another communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0176] Figures 10 and 11 are schematic diagrams of the communication device provided in the embodiments of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0177] The scheme of this application will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0178] The technical solution provided in this application can be applied to various communication systems, such as fifth-generation (5G) communication systems. th The technical solutions provided in this application can be used in various scenarios, including machine-to-machine (M2M), macro-micro communication, enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable and low-latency communication (uRLLC), and massive machine-type communication (mMTC). These scenarios may include, but are not limited to, communication between terminals, communication between network devices, and communication between network devices and terminals. Network devices include access network devices and core network devices. The following descriptions use examples of communication between network devices and terminals.

[0179] FIG. 1 shows a schematic illustration of a possible, non-limiting communication system. As shown in FIG. 1, the communication system 1000 includes a radio access network (RAN) 100 and a core network (CN) 200. The communication system 1000 can also include the Internet 300. The RAN 100 includes at least one RAN node (e.g., 110a and 110b in FIG. 1, collectively referred to as 110) and at least one terminal (e.g., 120a-120j in FIG. 1, collectively referred to as 120). Other RAN nodes, such as wireless relay devices and / or wireless backhaul devices (not shown in FIG. 1), etc., can also be included in the RAN 100. The terminals 120 are connected to the RAN nodes 110 wirelessly. The RAN nodes 110 are connected to the core network 200 wirelessly or wiredly. The core network devices in the core network 200 and the RAN nodes 110 in the RAN 100 can be different physical devices respectively, or can be the same physical device integrated with the logical functions of the core network and the RAN.

[0180] The RAN 100 can be a 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) related cellular system, such as a 4G, 5G mobile communication system, or a future communication network (or future evolved system). The RAN 100 can also be an open radio access network (O-RAN or ORAN), a cloud radio access network (CRAN), or a wireless fidelity (WiFi) system. The RAN 100 can also be a communication system that combines two or more of the above systems.

[0181] The RAN nodes 110 can also be referred to as network devices, access network devices, RAN entities, or access nodes, etc., which form part of the communication system to help terminals to access wirelessly. The RAN nodes 110 in the communication system 1000 can be nodes of the same type or nodes of different types. In some scenarios, the roles of the RAN nodes 110 and the terminals 120 are relative, e.g., the network element 120i in FIG. 1 can be a helicopter or a drone, which can be configured as a mobile base station. For a terminal 120j that accesses the RAN 100 through the network element 120i, the network element 120i is a base station; but for the base station 110a, the network element 120i is a terminal. The RAN nodes 110 and the terminals 120 are sometimes referred to as communication apparatuses, e.g., the network elements 110a and 110b in FIG. 1 can be understood as communication apparatuses with base station functions, and the network elements 120a-120j can be understood as communication apparatuses with terminal functions.

[0182] In a possible scenario, the RAN node can be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), an access point (AP), a transmission reception point (TRP), a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a WiFi system, etc. The RAN node can be a macro base station (such as 110a in FIG. 1), a micro base station or an indoor station (such as 110b in FIG. 1), a relay node or a donor node, or a wireless controller in a CRAN scenario. Optionally, the RAN node can also be a server, a wearable device, a vehicle or a vehicle-mounted device, etc. For example, the network device in a vehicle to everything (V2X) technology can be a road side unit (RSU).

[0183] In another possible scenario, a terminal is assisted by multiple RAN nodes to implement wireless access, and different RAN nodes respectively implement part of the functions of a base station. For example, the RAN node can be a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a central unit-control plane (CU-CP), a central unit-user plane (CU-UP), or a radio unit (RU), etc. The CU and the DU can be separately arranged, or can be included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in a radio frequency device or a radio frequency unit, such as a radio frequency remote unit (RRU), an active antenna processing unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH).

[0184] The CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU or RU can also have different names in different systems, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in an ORAN system, the CU can also be referred to as an open-central unit (O-CU), the DU can also be referred to as an open-distributed unit (O-DU), the CU-CP can also be referred to as an open-central unit-control plane (O-CU-CP), the CU-UP can also be referred to as an open-central unit-user plane (O-CU-UP), and the RU can also be referred to as an open-radio unit (O-RU). For the convenience of description, the CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU and RU are taken as examples for description in this application. Any of the CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU and RU in this application can be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0185] The terminal can also be referred to as a terminal device, user equipment (UE), mobile station, mobile terminal, etc. The terminal can be widely applied to various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D) communication, vehicle to everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), internet of things (IOT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, automatic driving, remote medical treatment, smart power grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wear, smart transportation, smart city, etc. The terminal can be a mobile phone, tablet computer, computer with wireless transceiver function, wearable device, vehicle, unmanned aerial vehicle, helicopter, airplane, ship, robot, mechanical arm, smart home device, etc. Embodiments of the present application do not limit the device form of the terminal.

[0186] The communication between the network device and the terminal follows a certain protocol layer structure. The protocol layer can include a control plane protocol layer and a user plane protocol layer. The control plane protocol layer can include at least one of a radio resource control (RRC) layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, a media access control (MAC) layer, or a physical (PHY) layer, etc. The user plane protocol layer can include at least one of a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer, a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, a MAC layer, or a physical layer, etc.

[0187] The base station and the terminal can be fixed in position or movable. The base station and the terminal can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; can also be deployed on water; can also be deployed on an airplane, a balloon, and a man-made satellite. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the application scenarios of the base station and the terminal.

[0188] The roles of the base station and the terminal can be relative, for example, the helicopter or the unmanned aerial vehicle 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 120i, the terminal 120i is a base station; but for the base station 110a, 120i is a terminal, that is, 110a and 120i communicate through a wireless air interface protocol. Of course, 110a and 120i can also communicate through a base station-to-base station interface protocol, at this time, relative to 110a, 120i is also a base station. Therefore, the base station and the terminal can be collectively referred to as a communication apparatus, 110a and 110b in FIG. 1 can be referred to as a communication apparatus with a base station function, and 120a-120j in FIG. 1 can be referred to as a communication apparatus with a terminal function.

[0189] In the embodiments of the present application, the base station is also referred to as a network device, and the apparatus for implementing the functions of the network device can be a network device; can also be an apparatus capable of supporting the network device to implement the functions, such as a chip system, a hardware circuit, a software module, or a hardware circuit plus a software module. The apparatus can be installed in the network device or used in combination with the network device. In the embodiments of the present application, only the apparatus for implementing the functions of the network device is taken as an example for description, and the scheme of the embodiments of the present application is not limited.

[0190] In addition, in the embodiments of the present application, the UE is also referred to as a terminal, and the apparatus for implementing the function of the terminal can be a terminal, or an apparatus capable of supporting the terminal to implement the function, such as a chip system, a hardware circuit, a software module, or a hardware circuit plus a software module. The apparatus can be installed in the terminal or used in combination with the terminal. In the embodiments of the present application, only the apparatus for implementing the function of the terminal is taken as an example for description, and the scheme of the embodiments of the present application is not limited in this way.

[0191] It should be understood that the number and type of each device in the communication system shown in FIG. 1 are only illustrative, and the present application is not limited thereto. In actual applications, more terminals, more access network devices, and other network elements, such as core network devices and / or network elements for implementing artificial intelligence functions, can also be included in the communication system.

[0192] It can be understood that all or part of the functions implemented by one or more of the terminal, the access network device, the core network device, or the network element for implementing the artificial intelligence function can be virtualized, that is, implemented by one or more of a special processor or a general processor and a corresponding software module. Among them, the terminal and the access network device involve the interface of the air interface transmission, and the transceiving function of the interface can be realized by hardware. The core network device, such as the operation administration and maintenance (OAM) network element, can be virtualized. Optionally, one or more functions of the virtualized terminal, access network device, core network device, or network element for implementing the artificial intelligence function can be implemented by a cloud device, such as a cloud device in an over the top (OTT) system.

[0193] The present application relates to carrier aggregation, and the concept of carrier aggregation is introduced as follows:

[0194] As shown in FIG. 2, it is a schematic diagram of carrier aggregation. In order to meet the requirement of improving the peak rate in some communication scenarios (such as the enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) scenario), it can be considered to increase the cell bandwidth. However, the maximum bandwidth of a single cell is fixed, and therefore multiple cell bandwidths are aggregated for the terminal, which is the technical idea of carrier aggregation. After aggregating multiple component carriers, the terminal can enjoy the sum of the bandwidths of the multiple carriers, and the peak rate can also be almost proportionally improved.

[0195] Among them, the carrier aggregation includes the following types:

[0196] (1) Intra-band contiguous carrier aggregation: the component carriers aggregated belong to the same frequency band, and the component carriers are contiguous in the frequency domain.

[0197] (2) Intra-band non-contiguous CA: The component carriers for aggregation belong to the same frequency band, and the component carriers are not contiguous in frequency domain.

[0198] (3) Inter-band CA: The component carriers for aggregation belong to different frequency bands.

[0199] In the CA scenario, the number of CCs in uplink is generally the same as that in downlink, or the number of CCs in downlink is greater than that in uplink. For example, a terminal supporting 4 UL CCs must also support 4 DL CCs or more than 4 DL CCs. Different scenarios have different requirements for uplink and downlink services. Decoupling the uplink and downlink capabilities can improve the uplink capability while avoiding improving the downlink capability. In other words, the terminal can support different numbers of uplink and downlink CCs. However, the uplink and downlink CCs can be configured together, and then some of the configured CCs are selected for uplink and some for downlink.

[0200] The scenarios involved in the present application include, for example, a terminal being unable to receive downlink information on each of the configured DL CCs, or the terminal being able to receive downlink information only in a subset of the configured DL CCs, or the terminal being able to receive downlink information only in a subset of the configured DL CCs in a certain time unit. For example, a terminal supports sending information on 4 UL CCs and only supports receiving information in 2 DL CCs.

[0201] The present application relates to HARQ, and the concept of HARQ is introduced as follows:

[0202] In the transmission over a wireless channel, errors are easily generated due to the change in the quality of the received signal. Such changes can be offset to some extent by link adaptation, but link adaptation cannot offset the receiver noise and unpredictable interference changes. Therefore, almost all wireless communication systems will adopt the form of forward error correction (FEC) to add redundant information to the transmitted signal, so that the receiver can correct errors.

[0203] HARQ is a combination of FEC and automatic repeat request (ARQ) mechanisms, and has been widely applied in many modern communication systems. For a data unit generated by error correction coding, if the receiver detects an error after error correction decoding, the transmitter will be requested to retransmit.

[0204] HARQ is the main way to handle retransmission in NR. When a data packet is not received correctly, retransmission needs to be requested. A decoded failed data packet still contains useful information, and simply discarding the decoded failed data packet will cause the loss of useful information. HARQ with soft combining solves this problem. HARQ with soft combining: the received error data packet is stored in the buffer and combined with the retransmitted data packet received later. The combined data packet contains more redundant bits, improving the reliability of decoding.

[0205] The terminal feeds back the HARQ multiplexing of multiple transport blocks. The multiple bits of HARQ information corresponding to the multiple transport blocks are called a HARQ codebook (also called a HARQ-ACK codebook).

[0206] One order in which the terminal generates the HARQ codebook is:

[0207] Determine the candidate PDSCH position in each CC, and then obtain the candidate PDSCH position in all CCs, generate the HARQ codebook based on the candidate PDSCH position. Specifically, first determine the candidate PDSCH position in the CC with the lowest index in all CCs in the frequency domain (i.e., the candidate PDSCH position in all time domain units in the CC), and then determine the candidate PDSCH position on each CC in ascending order of CC index, and then obtain the candidate PDSCH position in all CCs. The terminal generates the corresponding HARQ bit information according to the candidate PDSCH position.

[0208] This HARQ codebook generation method generates a codebook through the candidate PDSCH position, and the codebook size does not change dynamically with the actual data scheduling situation. It can be generally referred to as a semi-static codebook, or a semi-static codebook generation method. The following is described by taking the semi-static codebook as an example, and the name of the present application is not limited.

[0209] The semi-static codebook is determined according to at least one of the following parameters: the RRC configured {K1} set, the PDSCH time domain resource allocation table (time domain resource indication information), the ratio of uplink SCS and downlink SCS, the uplink and downlink ratio of the frame structure, and the number of carriers of carrier aggregation.

[0210] The generation steps of the semi-static codebook are:

[0211] Step 1: Determine whether the current time slot is before the downlink (downlink, DL) bandwidth part (bandwidth part, BWP) and uplink (uplink, UL) BWP switching, if yes, skip, if not, go to step 2.

[0212] Step 2: According to the uplink and downlink ratio of the time slot, traverse the PDSCH time domain resource allocation table to determine whether there is a possibility of PDSCH reception (i.e. whether there is a time domain resource allocation index that can be used) in a time slot. If there is a possibility of PDSCH reception, a candidate PDSCH position is determined. Assuming that the terminal has the ability to receive multiple PDSCHs in a time slot, the terminal can determine N candidate PDSCH positions according to the PDSCH time domain resource allocation table.

[0213] Step 3: According to {K1}, traverse all time slots to determine the candidate PDSCH position in a carrier.

[0214] Step 4: Traverse all carriers.

[0215] As shown in FIG. 3, which is a schematic diagram of an example of determining a candidate PDSCH position to generate a HARQ codebook, the terminal is configured with four CCs, namely CC0, CC1, CC2, and CC3. K1 is the time interval from the time slot where the PDSCH is located to the time slot where the PUCCH is located. The K1 set is configured as {2, 3, 4, 5, 6}, which means that the terminal receives the PDSCH in slot n and feeds back the HARQ information in slot n+K1. As shown in FIG. 3, the PDSCHs in slot n, slot n+1, slot n+2, slot n+3, and slot n+4 are all transmitted in slot n+6, and the PDSCHs generate the HARQ codebook in the order of first traversing the time domain and then traversing the frequency domain. The indexes 1-17 in FIG. 3 correspond to 17 candidate PDSCH positions that can be received, and the 17 candidate PDSCH positions correspond to 17 bits. The order from small to large of the indexes corresponds to the order of the HARQ information corresponding to the candidate PDSCH position in the HARQ codebook. The candidate PDSCH position of index 1 corresponds to the first ACK / NACK information in the HARQ codebook, the candidate PDSCH position of index 2 corresponds to the second ACK / NACK information in the HARQ codebook, the candidate PDSCH position of index 17 corresponds to the 17th ACK / ANCK information in the HARQ codebook, and so on.

[0216] In the above process, each CC included in the CA can generate PDSCH scheduling, and therefore the terminal determines the candidate PDSCH position for the PDSCH scheduling that can be generated on the CC.

[0217] Generally, the configuration of one UL CC is accompanied by the configuration of one DL CC, and the number of DL CCs configured by the network device is greater than or equal to the number of UL CCs. In the case of network live streaming and other uplink service requirements, the number of UL CCs needs to be increased to improve the uplink throughput. However, the increase of uplink capability requires an increase in the number of uplink CCs, which in turn passively increases the number of DL CCs. However, the downlink processing capability of the terminal may be limited. When the downlink processing capability of the terminal is limited, the number of DL CCs that can be processed by the terminal is less than the number of DL CCs configured by the network device, which in turn causes the number of DL CCs used by the terminal to receive downlink signals in a time unit to be less than the number of DL CCs configured by the network device.

[0218] For example, when the downlink receiving capability of the terminal is limited or the downlink receiving capability of the terminal is not strong enough, for example, the terminal is configured with CA of 4 CCs, and the terminal only wants to receive PDCCH / PDSCH on 2 DL CCs of the 4 DL CCs. Since the terminal only receives PDCCH / PDSCH on 2 CCs, the terminal does not need to determine the candidate PDSCH position for the CCs on which PDCCH / PDSCH is not received. Therefore, the above scheme will cause unnecessary reserved bits, causing bit redundancy and excessive uplink load.

[0219] Still taking FIG. 3 as an example, the terminal determines 17 candidate PDSCH positions, and the length of the HARQ codebook is 17 bits. However, due to the limited receiving capability of the terminal, the terminal will not receive PDSCH in part of the downlink slots on CC2 and CC3, and the terminal does not need to perform corresponding HARQ feedback. The HARQ information corresponding to the part of the candidate PDSCH positions is redundant information in the HARQ codebook. According to the above scheme, many meaningless redundant bits will be caused.

[0220] Therefore, the present application provides a communication scheme, which reduces the load of uplink control information.

[0221] In the present application, the time unit can be any one of the following: a sub-frame, a slot, a mini-slot, an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol, or a minimum scheduling unit in the time domain.

[0222] The carrier unit can be replaced by or understood as any one of the following: a CC, a band, a serving cell, a bandwidth, a bandwidth part (BWP), a resource block set, a frequency domain unit, or a minimum scheduling unit in the frequency domain.

[0223] The present application does not limit the units of the time unit and the carrier unit.

[0224] It can be understood that the DCI in the present application can be replaced by control information, and the PDSCH can be replaced by data transmission. The control information is used for scheduling data transmission. In the present application, the DCI and the PDSCH are taken as examples for description.

[0225] Based on the above communication system, a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application is described as follows:

[0226] As shown in FIG. 4, it is a flowchart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. The method can include the following steps:

[0227] S401a. The terminal determines L candidate PDSCH positions on the first resource set according to the number X of carrier elements in one time unit.

[0228] Wherein, there are positions of possible PDSCH transmission on the first resource set, and the candidate PDSCH positions on the first resource set need to be determined. The first resource set includes M time units and N carrier elements, and M and N are positive integers. The N carrier elements are downlink carrier elements supported by the terminal configured by the network device. For example, the N carrier elements are N downlink carrier elements configured by the network device.

[0229] In the embodiment, the terminal determines L candidate PDSCH positions on the first resource set according to the number X of carrier elements in one time unit. X and L are positive integers, and X≤N. The X carrier elements are carrier elements for receiving downlink signals, or the X carrier elements are carrier elements for generating a HARQ codebook, or the X carrier elements are carrier elements for determining candidate PDSCH positions, or the X carrier elements are carrier elements for determining the length of a HARQ codebook, or the X carrier elements are carrier elements for determining the number of candidate PDSCH positions, and the X carrier elements are carrier elements in the N carrier elements. For example, the X carrier elements can be understood as carrier elements for receiving downlink signals, or carrier elements that may have downlink transmission. Optionally, the number X is less than or equal to the downlink processing capability of the terminal.

[0230] Optionally, the N carrier elements are activated carrier elements or carrier elements in an activated state. The terminal can receive in each of the N carrier elements, but due to the limited downlink processing capability of the terminal, it can only receive downlink signals on the X carrier elements.

[0231] For example, the N carriers are configured by the network device. N is greater than or equal to the number of uplink carriers configured by the network device, that is, the number of downlink carriers configured by the network device is less than or equal to N. In this way, the number of UL CCs can be increased in the case that the configuration of one UL CC is accompanied by the configuration of one DL CC, that is, the number of DL CCs configured by the network device is greater than or equal to the number of UL CCs, but the terminal can process less than the number of DL CCs configured by the network device (that is, X carriers less than N carriers), thereby not increasing the burden of the downlink processing capability of the terminal.

[0232] The above step can be replaced by that the terminal determines L candidate PDSCH positions on the second resource set according to the number X of carriers used for receiving downlink signals in one time unit, and the second resource set includes M time units and X carriers.

[0233] The above step can be replaced by that the terminal determines L candidate PDSCH positions on the first resource set according to the carriers used for receiving downlink signals (or X carriers used for receiving downlink signals) in one time unit. That is, the terminal can determine L candidate PDSCH positions according to the carriers used for receiving downlink signals instead of X. The terminal obtains the carriers used for receiving downlink signals, that is, the number of carriers used for receiving. For example, in one time unit, the terminal receives data on CC1 and CC2, and X = 2. Or,

[0234] The above step can be replaced by that the terminal determines L candidate PDSCH positions on the second resource set, and the second resource set includes M time units and X carriers. The X carriers are located in the N carriers.

[0235] The X carriers in each time unit of the M time units are indicated or configured by the network device. The X carriers in each time unit of the M time units can be different or the same, and can be independently indicated by the network device or jointly indicated by the network device. The explanations of M, X and N are the same as those in S401a and S401b.

[0236] S401b. The network device determines L candidate PDSCH positions on the first resource set according to the number X of carriers of the terminal in one time unit.

[0237] Correspondingly, the above step can be replaced by that the network device determines L candidate PDSCH positions on the first resource set according to the carriers used for receiving downlink signals by the terminal in one time unit.

[0238] Alternatively, the above steps can be replaced by that the network device determines L candidate PDSCH positions on a second resource set, and the second resource set includes M time units and X carrier units. The X carrier units are carrier units in the N carrier units. The X carrier units in each time unit of the M time units are indicated or configured by the network device. For details, refer to the description in S401a and S401b.

[0239] The present application can be applied to the scenario of decoupling of uplink sending capability and downlink receiving capability, or the scenario of greater uplink sending capability than downlink receiving capability, or the scenario of limited downlink receiving capability, or the scenario of lower downlink receiving capability than downlink configuration, or the scenario of large uplink bandwidth, or the scenario of multiple carriers, or the scenario of downlink carrier switching. The present application does not constrain the scenario to which the technical solution is applied. Since the uplink resource can be less than the downlink resource, the terminal can concatenate the HARQ information of multiple PDSCHs scheduled by the network device for feedback. These PDSCHs can be scheduled by the network device for the terminal in different time domain resources and / or frequency domain resources. The HARQ information corresponding to these PDSCHs concatenated together is called a HARQ codebook. For example, the HARQ codebook is a 3-bit bit string "101", where "1" represents ACK and "0" represents NACK (or "0" represents ACK and "1" represents NACK. Here, the case of "1" representing ACK and "0" representing NACK is taken as an example for description). The 3 bits correspond to PDSCH1, PDSCH2, and PDSCH3 respectively, which means that the terminal successfully receives PDSCH1 and PDSCH3 and does not successfully receive PDSCH2. After the HARQ codebook is sent to the network device, the network device will schedule the retransmission of PDSCH2 to the terminal until the terminal successfully receives it. The generation rule of the HARQ codebook is the arrangement mode of ACK / NACK information. The mapping relationship between ACK / NACK and PDSCH needs to be consistent between the network device and the terminal, otherwise confusion will occur. One carrier unit can also be understood as an active downlink bandwidth part (BWP) in one carrier unit.

[0240] The M time units are determined according to the PUCCH slot (the slot in which the PUCCH carrying the HARQ information is located) and the K1 set in which the HARQ information is located. K1 is the time interval between the PDSCH slot and the PUCCH slot.

[0241] The candidate PDSCH position can also be replaced by a candidate PDSCH occasion, a candidate PDSCH opportunity, a candidate PDSCH resource, or an index corresponding to the candidate PDSCH position. The candidate PDSCH position is a position where PDSCH scheduling can occur. The candidate PDSCH position can also be understood as a time domain resource and / or a frequency domain resource where PDSCH scheduling can occur. Optionally, the network device does not schedule two PDSCHs that overlap in the time domain, and therefore the candidate PDSCH position can be a candidate PDSCH time domain resource. Each candidate PDSCH time domain resource in each carrier unit corresponds to one bit in the HARQ codebook. The candidate PDSCH position is replaced by an index corresponding to the candidate PDSCH position, and L candidate PDSCH positions can be understood as a set of L indexes corresponding to the L candidate PDSCH positions. In this embodiment, the terminal determines L candidate PDSCH positions on the first resource set according to the number X of carrier units used to receive downlink signals in a time unit. X and L are both positive integers, and X≤N. The terminal determines the L candidate PDSCH positions based on the candidate PDSCH positions on the X carrier units.

[0242] In a possible design, the above X can be obtained according to the terminal capability reported by the terminal to the network device. The value of X cannot exceed the terminal capability reported by the terminal to the network device.

[0243] In an example, the terminal sends first information to the network device, where the first information indicates the maximum number W of CCs used to receive downlink signals in a time unit. For example, if the terminal reports W=4, it means that the terminal can receive PDSCHs on at most 4 DL CCs in a time unit.

[0244] The network device receives the first information from the terminal. The network device sends configuration information to the terminal. The configuration information indicates the number X of CCs used by the terminal to receive downlink signals in a time unit, or the configuration information indicates X CCs used by the terminal to receive downlink signals in a time unit, or the configuration information indicates CCs used by the terminal to receive downlink signals, or the configuration information indicates CCs used by the terminal to receive downlink signals in M time units. The X is determined based on W. For example, when W=4, the network device can configure the terminal to receive information on 4 CCs or on 3 CCs, and X is less than or equal to W. The terminal determines the candidate PDSCH position according to the configuration information of the network device.

[0245] In another example, the first information can be a combination of CCs supported by the terminal. For example, the first information indicates at least one combination of CCs, and the number of CCs in the at least one combination of CCs is less than or equal to W. The network device receives the combination of CCs reported by the terminal, determines X CCs, and configures the terminal. For example, the terminal reports that it supports the combination of CC0 and CC1, and the combination of CC0, CC1 and CC2, and the terminal can receive PDSCH on at most 3 CCs (CC0, CC1 and CC2) in the same time unit.

[0246] For example, X = W, the terminal determines L candidate PDSCH positions or generates HARQ information or determines the number of bits of HARQ information based on W carriers in one time unit. That is, the terminal determines L candidate PDSCH positions or generates HARQ information or determines the number of bits of HARQ information based on the upper limit of its parallel receiving capability. That is, the terminal determines L candidate PDSCH positions based on the candidate PDSCH positions in W carriers. That is, the candidate PDSCH positions in W carriers in M time units are L candidate PDSCH positions. In this way, the terminal determines L candidate PDSCH positions according to the maximum capability, the network device performs data scheduling within the terminal capability, and the terminal can perform HARQ feedback for potential data scheduling. It should be known that the position and number of carriers in each time unit in M time units can be different. In this application, the first resource set is a set of time units and carrier units used by the terminal to receive downlink signals.

[0247] It should be known that the application does not constrain the way the terminal reports the terminal capability. The terminal reports the terminal capability to the network device. The network device indicates X carrier units used by the terminal to receive downlink signals. The scheduling of the network device does not exceed the terminal capability reported by the terminal.

[0248] In another possible design, the X is indicated by the network device or the X carriers are indicated by the network device; or the X or the X carriers can be determined by the terminal itself; or the X is a preset value or a preconfigured value. Specifically, the X can be a value configured by the network device to the terminal, or determined according to a parameter configured by the network device to the terminal, or the X carriers for receiving the downlink signal are indicated by signaling of the network device. The signaling of the network device can be RRC signaling, MAC CE signaling, or DCI signaling. For example, the network device sends second information to the terminal, the second information indicating the X or indicating the X carriers. Illustratively, the network device can configure a value of the X, or configure a combination of CCs, or indicate CCs used by the terminal to receive the downlink signal. Further, the value of the X can be less than or equal to a terminal capability reported by the terminal to the network device. Illustratively, the terminal reports to the network device a maximum number of supported and received CCs, and when the network device indicates the CCs used by the terminal to receive the downlink signal, the number of the CCs used to receive the downlink signal is less than or equal to the maximum number of supported and received CCs reported by the terminal to the network device.

[0249] For example, the CC for receiving a downlink signal can be understood as a CC for blindly detecting a PDCCH, or a CC for receiving a PDSCH, or a CC for receiving a PDCCH and a PDSCH, or a CC for receiving or measuring control information, or a CC for receiving all signals. The control information includes at least one of a PDCCH, a reference signal, a synchronization signal block (SSB), and a beam. For example, the reference signal is received or measured. The SSB is received or measured. The beam is received or measured. In this application, the control information is received according to the category of the control information. In the first implementation, for the first resource set, the terminal and the network device determine the candidate PDSCH position in the order of traversing the frequency domain resource first and then traversing the time domain resource, and generate the HARQ information according to the candidate PDSCH position. In other words, the terminal determines the candidate PDSCH position in the order of traversing the frequency domain resource first and then traversing the time domain resource. The terminal determines L candidate PDSCH positions in the order of traversing X carrier units in the frequency domain and then traversing M time units in the time domain. Specifically, the terminal determines the candidate PDSCH position in each time unit of the M time units, and combines the candidate PDSCH positions in the M time units in ascending order of the time domain. For example, in the time domain, the terminal generates the HARQ information in ascending order of the index of the time unit (or descending order, as long as the order is determined, it does not affect the essence of the application, and the ascending order is used in this embodiment). In the frequency domain, the terminal generates the HARQ information in ascending order of the index of the frequency domain unit (or descending order, as long as the order is determined, it does not affect the essence of the application, and the ascending order is used in this embodiment).

[0250] Here, the terminal does not need to determine the candidate PDSCH position for each carrier unit in the N carrier units. The terminal can determine the candidate PDSCH position for each carrier unit in the X carrier units in the N carrier units.

[0251] For example, the terminal determines the number of candidate PDSCH positions as L, where 0≤i≤M-1, 0≤j≤X i -1, where X i is the number of CCs (CCs for receiving a downlink signal, CCs for generating a HARQ codebook, or CCs for determining a candidate PDSCH position) in the i-th time unit. T i,j is the number of candidate PDSCH positions in the i-th time unit and the j-th CC. For example, the number of CCs in each time unit of the M time units is the same, then X i =X, L=X*M.

[0252] For example, the terminal can first determine the candidate PDSCH position in the X PRBs in the time unit with the smallest index in the M time units, then determine the candidate PDSCH position on the X PRBs corresponding to each of the M time units in the order of the index of the M time units from small to large, and finally obtain the L candidate PDSCH positions.

[0253] Determining the candidate PDSCH position in one PRB in one time unit includes that the terminal determines one candidate PDSCH position in the PRB in the time unit. In other words, when the terminal does not have the capability of receiving multiple PDSCHs in one time unit, there is one candidate PDSCH position corresponding to one PRB in one time unit. That is, when the terminal does not report the capability of receiving multiple PDSCHs in one time unit, the terminal receives at most one PDSCH in one PRB in one time unit, so there is one candidate PDSCH position in one PRB in one time unit. In other words, in combination with the description of S401a, one candidate PDSCH position is determined, that is, at least one index corresponding to the candidate PDSCH position is determined. Whether the specific position or the index corresponding to the position is used, the terminal can determine the length of the HARQ codebook.

[0254] When the terminal has the capability of receiving multiple PDSCHs in one time unit, the terminal determines one or more candidate PDSCH positions in the PRB in the time unit. The candidate PDSCH position can be the candidate PDSCH position corresponding to the maximum number of candidate PDSCH positions in the PRB in the time unit. In other words, in combination with the description of S401a, at least one index corresponding to at least one candidate PDSCH position in the PRB in the time unit is determined. The number of the at least one index is the maximum number in the PRB in the time unit.

[0255] Wherein, one candidate PDSCH position corresponds to one HARQ information bit (may also be multiple HARQ information bits, which does not affect the essence of the application, and one candidate PDSCH corresponds to one HARQ information bit is taken as an example here) in the HARQ codebook. By traversing the frequency domain resource first and then traversing the time domain resource, since the upper limit of the number of CCs used to receive downlink signals in each time unit is determined, the number of corresponding HARQ bits in each time unit is fixed. The error in understanding the mapping relationship between HARQ information and CC caused by the network device and the terminal due to the missed PDCCH in one time unit will not affect another time unit. As shown in FIG. 5, which is a schematic diagram of the missed DCI of the present application, the DCI on CC0 in time slot n+2 indicates that the PDSCH in the next time slot (i.e. time slot n+3) is received on CC2 from CC0. Assuming that the DCI on CC0 in time slot n+2 is missed, since the terminal traverses the frequency domain resource first and then traverses the time domain resource, the terminal first traverses the corresponding CC0-CC1 of time slot n+2 to determine the candidate PDSCH position and the number of bits in the HARQ codebook corresponding to the candidate PDSCH position. Then even if the DCI on CC0 in time slot n+2 is missed, the terminal will not determine time slot n+3, CC2 as the candidate PDSCH position, and will not determine the bits in the HARQ codebook for the candidate PDSCH position, but will not affect the mapping relationship between the HARQ information and the CC corresponding to the candidate PDSCH position in time slot n+2. Therefore, compared with the method of traversing multiple time units in one CC first and then traversing the CC, the scheme of the present embodiment is more robust.

[0256] As shown in FIG. 6, it is a schematic diagram for determining candidate PDSCH positions according to an example of the present application. Taking a time unit as a time slot as an example, where K1={2, 3, 4, 5, 6}, the terminal sends HARQ codebook information on CC0 in time slot n+6, the first resource set includes 5 time slots: time slot n to time slot n+4 and 2 CCs, i.e., CC0 and CC1 in time slot n, CC0 and CC1 in time slot n+1, CC0 and CC1 in time slot n+2, CC1 and CC2 in time slot n+3, and CC2 and CC3 in time slot n+4. The network device configures or indicates the terminal to use the CCs for receiving downlink signals according to the number of carrier units in a time unit reported by the terminal, and the terminal determines X=2. In FIG. 6, the terminal supports receiving at most one PDSCH on one CC and one time slot. The terminal starts from the time slot with the smallest index in the first resource set, i.e., time slot n in FIG. 6, and traverses the CCs for receiving downlink signals in time slot n (in the order of increasing index of CC). The network device configures 4 CCs: CC0-CC3, and the number of CCs for receiving downlink signals in a time slot X=2, i.e., the terminal receives PDCCH and PDSCH or receives PDSCH on 2 CCs. Assuming that time slot n in CC0 is a downlink time slot (which means that the network device can schedule PDSCH for the terminal in the time slot), the terminal determines the position as a candidate PDSCH position, and the candidate PDSCH position corresponds to 1 bit in the HARQ codebook, where the 1 bit is the HARQ information corresponding to the PDSCH. Similarly, the terminal determines the position corresponding to time slot n and CC1 as a candidate PDSCH position. The terminal determines 2 candidate PDSCH positions in time slot n, which correspond to 2 bits in the HARQ codebook. Similarly, there are 2 candidate PDSCH positions in each downlink time slot in FIG. 6, which correspond to 2 bits in the HARQ codebook, and 5 time slots correspond to 10 bits. Compared with the mode shown in FIG. 3, the terminal saves 17-10=7 bits.

[0257] As shown in FIG. 7, another schematic diagram for determining candidate PDSCH positions is shown in FIG. 7, which is another example of the present application. Different from FIG. 6, in FIG. 7, the terminal supports receiving multiple PDSCHs on 1 CC and 1 time slot. Accordingly, one candidate PDSCH position can correspond to multiple bits in the HARQ codebook. The terminal determines the candidate PDSCH positions in one time slot according to the time domain resource indication information of the PDSCH and the number or position of downlink symbols included in the downlink time slot. Since the number of downlink symbols included in each downlink time slot in each CC is not necessarily the same, the number of candidate PDSCH positions included in each downlink time slot is not necessarily the same, and the number of bits in the HARQ codebook corresponding to the downlink time slot is not necessarily the same. In FIG. 7, the CC0 and CC1 are traversed from the time slot n, wherein {CC0, time slot n} has 2 PDSCH candidate positions, corresponding to 2 bits in the HARQ codebook; {CC1, time slot n} has 4 PDSCH candidate positions, corresponding to 4 bits in the HARQ codebook; {CC0, time slot n+1} has 2 PDSCH candidate positions, corresponding to 2 bits in the HARQ codebook, {CC1, time slot n+1} has 4 PDSCH candidate positions, corresponding to 4 bits in the HARQ codebook; {CC0, time slot n+2} has 2 PDSCH candidate positions, corresponding to 2 bits in the HARQ codebook, {CC1, time slot n+2} has 4 PDSCH candidate positions, corresponding to 4 bits in the HARQ codebook; {CC1, time slot n+3} has 2 PDSCH candidate positions, corresponding to 2 bits in the HARQ codebook; {CC2, time slot n+3} has 1 PDSCH candidate position, corresponding to 1 bit in the HARQ codebook; {CC2, time slot n+4} has 2 PDSCH candidate positions, corresponding to 2 bits in the HARQ codebook; {CC3, time slot n+4} has 1 PDSCH candidate position, corresponding to 1 bit in the HARQ codebook. The 23 bits are called a HARQ codebook according to the generation order. In other words, the length of the HARQ codebook is 23 bits.According to the scheme in the background art, in addition to the 23 bits described above, the bits in the HARQ codebook also include the number of bits in the HARQ codebook corresponding to the following time-frequency domain positions: {CC2, time slot n} has 1 PDSCH candidate position, and the number of bits in the corresponding HARQ codebook is 1 bit; {CC3, time slot n} has 1 PDSCH candidate position, and the number of bits in the corresponding HARQ codebook is 1 bit; {CC2, time slot n+1} has 1 PDSCH candidate position, and the number of bits in the corresponding HARQ codebook is 1 bit; {CC3, time slot n+1} has 1 PDSCH candidate position, and the number of bits in the corresponding HARQ codebook is 1 bit; {CC2, time slot n+2} has 1 PDSCH candidate position, and the number of bits in the corresponding HARQ codebook is 1 bit; {CC3, time slot n+2} has 1 PDSCH candidate position, and the number of bits in the corresponding HARQ codebook is 1 bit; {CC0, time slot n+3} has 1 PDSCH candidate position, and the number of bits in the corresponding HARQ codebook is 1 bit; {CC3, time slot n+3} has 1 PDSCH candidate position, and the number of bits in the corresponding HARQ codebook is 1 bit. Therefore, compared with the scheme in the background art, 8 bits are saved in the present embodiment.

[0258] In another implementation, the terminal obtains X carrier units in a time unit (or the terminal obtains X carrier units in a time unit for receiving a downlink signal or for generating HARQ information or for determining candidate PDSCH positions or the number X of carrier units), and determines L candidate PDSCH positions on the first resource set. The X carrier units are X carrier units with the largest number of candidate PDSCH positions in the N carrier units. The terminal and the network device determine L candidate PDSCH positions on the first resource set according to the number X of CCs (or X CCs) for receiving a downlink signal in a time unit, as described above (in this application, the determination of a position, the index of a position, and the number of positions can be replaced, and the essence is to determine the length of a HARQ codebook, and the corresponding HARQ bit in the HARQ codebook performs HARQ feedback for the scheduling of the network device). However, the CCs scheduled by the network device can be dynamically switched, and the terminal can not be able to determine in advance which X CCs it will receive PDCCH / PDSCH. In the scenario where the carrier units can be dynamically switched, the number of candidate PDSCH positions in the N carrier units in a time unit can be determined according to the X carrier units with the largest number of candidate PDSCH positions in the N carrier units. The number of candidate PDSCH positions corresponding to the actually scheduled CCs can be less than the determined number of candidate PDSCH positions, so that the terminal has enough HARQ feedback bits for HARQ feedback. Therefore, the number of candidate PDSCH positions in the N carrier units in a time unit is the sum of the number of candidate PDSCH positions in the X carrier units, the X carrier units are X carrier units with the largest number of candidate PDSCH positions in the N carrier units, and X ≤ N. The terminal determines the candidate PDSCH positions in the N carrier units, that is, the candidate PDSCH positions in the X carrier units in the N carrier units. The terminal does not determine candidate PDSCH positions for carrier units that do not receive PDSCH.

[0259] For example, assuming that the network device configures 4 CCs, the positions of the candidate PDSCHs can be determined according to the above method. The terminal determines the positions of the candidate PDSCHs according to the 2 CCs with the largest number of candidate PDSCH positions in each time slot among the 4 CCs, or selects 2 CCs according to the descending order of the number of candidate PDSCH positions in each time slot among the 4 CCs (selects the 2 CCs with the largest number of candidate PDSCH positions). In the case where the terminal supports dynamically determining 2 CCs in the first resource set to receive the PDSCH, the number of bits in the HARQ codebook corresponding to the candidate PDSCH positions corresponding to the actually scheduled CC pair can be smaller than the number of bits in the HARQ codebook corresponding to the candidate PDSCH positions determined by selecting the 2 CCs with the largest number of candidate PDSCH positions. Assuming that the terminal determines 6, 6, 6, and 4 candidate PDSCH positions in time slot n~time slot n+3, respectively, corresponding to 6, 6, 6, and 4 HARQ information bits in the HARQ codebook. Taking time slot n as an example, since the number of bits in the HARQ codebook corresponding to the candidate PDSCH positions determined by selecting 2 CCs according to the descending order of the number of candidate PDSCH positions in each time slot, regardless of how the network device schedules in the 4 CCs, the terminal has enough bits for corresponding HARQ feedback.

[0260] By determining the number of candidate PDSCH positions in the N carrier units in a time unit according to the X carrier units with the largest number of candidate PDSCH positions in the N carrier units, the network device and the terminal can avoid inconsistent understanding of the received downlink CC, which leads to incorrect understanding of the mapping relationship between the HARQ information and the received CC in the time slot between the network device and the terminal. For example, the terminal has the largest number of candidate PDSCH positions in CC0 and CC1 in time slot n, which are 2 and 4, respectively, which corresponds to 6 bits in the HARQ codebook. In this way, even if the actual received CC is not CC0 and CC1, the terminal has enough bits in the HARQ codebook, and there is no network device scheduling but no feedback position in the HARQ codebook corresponding to the scheduling.

[0261] In the second implementation, the terminal and the network device determine L candidate PDSCH positions in the order of traversing time domain resources first and then traversing frequency domain resources for the first resource set. That is, the terminal first determines the candidate PDSCH positions in each carrier unit, and then determines the candidate PDSCH positions in the X carrier units. The terminal can arrange the candidate PDSCH positions in the X carrier units together in ascending order of the carrier units. Further, the terminal generates HARQ information according to the L candidate PDSCH positions. The X carrier units are in the N carrier units, and the N carrier units are the downlink carrier units supported by the terminal and configured by the network device. For example, the terminal generates the HARQ information in ascending order of the indexes of the time units (or in descending order, as long as the order is determined, the essence of the application is not affected, and the ascending order is used in this embodiment) in the time domain. In the frequency domain, the terminal generates the HARQ information in ascending order of the indexes of the frequency units (or in descending order, as long as the order is determined, the essence of the application is not affected, and the ascending order is used in this embodiment). Specifically, the candidate PDSCH positions in the M time units in the carrier unit with the smallest index in the X carrier units are first determined, then the candidate PDSCH positions in the M time units corresponding to each of the X carrier units are determined in the order of the indexes of the X carrier units from small to large, and finally the L candidate PDSCH positions are obtained.

[0262] Here, the terminal does not need to determine the candidate PDSCH positions for each of the N carrier units. The terminal can determine the candidate PDSCH positions in each of the X carrier units in the N carrier units. The terminal determines the HARQ codebook according to the candidate PDSCH positions. Therefore, the number of HARQ bits decreases, the overhead of the uplink control signaling decreases, and the transmission efficiency of the uplink signaling is effectively improved.

[0263] For example, the determination of the L candidate PDSCH positions in S401a / S401b can be replaced by the determination of the number of candidate PDSCH positions as L.

[0264] For example, the L candidate PDSCH positions can be replaced by L HARQ reservation bits. One HARQ reservation bit corresponds to one candidate PDSCH position. The X carrier units for determining the L HARQ reservation bits and the X carrier units for receiving the downlink signal are determined independently. That is, the terminal determines the L HARQ reservation bits based on the X carrier units, generates Y HARQ information bits based on the candidate PDSCH positions associated with the L HARQ reservation bits.

[0265] S402. The network device transmits a PDSCH at the L candidate PDSCH positions.

[0266] Alternatively, the step S402 can be that the network device sends the PDSCH.

[0267] Correspondingly, the terminal receives the PDSCH at the L candidate PDSCH positions.

[0268] The network device sends the PDCCH and the PDSCH scheduled by the PDCCH at the L candidate PDSCH positions. The terminal receives the PDCCH and the PDSCH scheduled by the PDCCH at the L candidate PDSCH positions.

[0269] Alternatively, the step can be that the network device sends the PDSCH on the first resource set, and correspondingly, the terminal receives the PDSCH on the first resource set. This step can be combined with “the number of the candidate PDSCH positions is determined as L”.

[0270] For example, in the scenario of dynamic carrier switching, the X carrier units in different time units in the M time units can be different. When the terminal determines the candidate PDSCH positions, the X carrier units are not necessarily the carrier units for receiving the downlink signal. In this case, the X carrier units can be understood as the carrier units for determining the candidate PDSCH positions. On the carrier units for determining the candidate PDSCH positions, the terminal does not necessarily receive the downlink signal on the carrier units. The candidate PDSCH positions in a time unit can be understood as the candidate PDSCH positions corresponding to one or more HARQ bits. That is, there is an association between the candidate PDSCH positions in a time unit and the carrier units for receiving the downlink signal.

[0271] For example, the terminal determines the L candidate PDSCH positions based on the candidate PDSCH positions in the X carrier units. In a time unit, the X carrier units (the X carrier units for determining the length of the HARQ codebook) and the X carrier units for receiving the downlink signal have a one-to-one mapping relationship or a corresponding relationship or an association relationship. The terminal generates the HARQ information based on the candidate PDSCH positions in the i-th carrier unit of the X carrier units, including that the terminal generates the HARQ information based on the candidate PDSCH positions in the i-th carrier unit of the X carrier units for receiving the downlink signal corresponding to the i-th carrier unit. That is, the candidate PDSCH positions in the i-th carrier unit of the X carrier units and the candidate PDSCH positions in the i-th carrier unit of the X carrier units for receiving the downlink signal have a one-to-one correspondence (the lengths can be different, and the mapping starts from the position with the smallest index or a preset starting position). The corresponding relationship can be based on the ascending order of the index, the descending order of the index, or a preset order. The order of the index can be to traverse the carrier units first and then traverse the time units, or to traverse the time units first and then traverse the carrier units.

[0272] For example, the terminal generates the HARQ information based on the candidate PDSCH positions in X carrier units for receiving the downlink signal in a time unit. The number of the candidate PDSCH positions in the X carrier units for receiving the downlink signal is less than or equal to L. In this way, even in the case of dynamic carrier switching, the terminal can perform the HARQ feedback regardless of how the network device switches, and the case that the terminal considers that the L candidate PDSCH positions can be received and the number of PDSCHs scheduled by the network device is greater than L does not occur.

[0273] For example, the steps S401a / S401b and S402 can be replaced by that the terminal generates the HARQ codebook (or generates Y HARQ information bits) based on X carrier units in a time unit. The X carrier units are carrier units in N carrier units, and the N carrier units are configured downlink carrier units.

[0274] S403. The terminal sends the HARQ codebook.

[0275] Correspondingly, the network device receives the HARQ codebook. Optionally, the HARQ codebook in the embodiment of the application can be replaced by the HARQ information.

[0276] The terminal generates the HARQ information corresponding to the PDSCH based on the received PDSCH after receiving the PDSCH at the candidate PDSCH position. If the terminal successfully receives the PDSCH sent by the network device, the positive response (ACK) information is generated; if the terminal does not successfully receive the PDSCH sent by the network device, the negative response (NACK) information is generated.

[0277] The terminal generates the NACK information if the PDSCH is not received at the candidate PDSCH position.

[0278] The terminal generates Y HARQ information bits according to the L candidate PDSCH positions. Each information bit in the Y HARQ information bits is ACK information or NACK information. One candidate PDSCH position in the L candidate PDSCH positions corresponds to at least one HARQ information bit.

[0279] The terminal generates the HARQ information, and sends the HARQ information to the network device. The PDCCH also indicates the time domain position for sending the HARQ information corresponding to the PDSCH, and the terminal sends the HARQ information at the indicated time domain position.

[0280] In this embodiment, the terminal receives the PDSCH at L candidate PDSCH positions, one candidate PDSCH position can receive one or more transmission blocks (TBs), and the HARQ codebook includes Y HARQ information bits, the description of the HARQ information bits is referred to the description above, Y is a positive integer, and Y≥L.

[0281] When one PDSCH includes one TB or includes 2 TBs and supports HARQ bundling (i.e., the HARQ information of the 2 TBs is logically ANDed, and the 2 HARQ information bits are both ACK information, then it is ACK information; one of the 2 HARQ information bits is NACK information or both are NACK information, then it is NACK information), and the terminal feeds back based on the TB, then Y=X.

[0282] When one PDSCH includes 2 TBs and does not support HARQ bundling, or the terminal feeds back based on the code block group (CBG), and one PDSCH corresponds to multiple HARQ information bits, then Y>L.

[0283] After the terminal generates the HARQ codebook, the terminal sends the HARQ codebook.

[0284] It can be understood that the scheme of this embodiment can be applied to the above-mentioned feedback based on the TB or the CBG. One TB can include multiple code blocks (CBs), and the multiple CBs can be divided into multiple CBGs. When the terminal feeds back based on the CBG, one TB corresponds to multiple HARQ information bits. For example, the network device configures that one TB includes 4 CBGs, and when one TB includes 10 CBs, the 10 TBs are divided into 4 CBGs, and the 4 CBGs include 3, 3, 2, and 2 CBs respectively, then the TB corresponds to 4 bits. When the feedback based on the CBG is configured on the CC, the number of HARQ bits corresponding to each candidate PDSCH position in one CC in one time slot increases. One PDSCH can include 1 TB or 2 TBs. When one PDSCH includes 2 TBs, and does not support HARQ bundling, then one TB corresponds to 2 HARQ information bits. That is, the number of bits corresponding to one candidate PDSCH position does not affect the essence of the application, and can be combined with the scheme in this application.

[0285] The above-mentioned embodiments are described by taking the example that X carrier units correspond to the same subcarrier spacing. In some communication scenarios, the subcarrier spacings of the above-mentioned X carrier units can be different.

[0286] In the embodiment, the X carriers correspond to at least two subcarrier spacings, and the at least two subcarrier spacings include a first subcarrier spacing and a second subcarrier spacing. The first subcarrier spacing is smaller than the second subcarrier spacing. Since the first subcarrier spacing is smaller than the second subcarrier spacing, one time unit of the carrier corresponding to the first subcarrier spacing can correspond to time units of carriers corresponding to the second subcarrier spacing. The embodiment assumes that one time unit of the carrier corresponding to the first subcarrier spacing corresponds to H time units of the carriers corresponding to the second subcarrier spacing.

[0287] In Table 1 below, values of the subcarrier spacing Δf are given. The subcarrier spacings are in a multiple relationship.

[0288] Table 1

[0289] For example, the first subcarrier spacing is 15 kHz, and the second subcarrier spacing is 30 kHz. Then, one time unit of the carrier corresponding to the first subcarrier spacing corresponds to 2 time units of the carriers corresponding to the second subcarrier spacing.

[0290] Since the time unit of the carrier corresponding to the first subcarrier spacing is not aligned with the time unit of the carrier corresponding to the second subcarrier spacing, how to determine which subcarrier spacing the carrier corresponding to a certain time unit belongs to? There are two possible designs for determining the X carriers:

[0291] In the first possible design, the carrier corresponding to the first subcarrier spacing belongs to the X carriers corresponding to the first time unit of the time units of the carriers corresponding to the H second subcarrier spacings, i.e., the carrier corresponding to the first subcarrier spacing belongs to the X carriers corresponding to the starting time domain position of the time domain positions of the carriers corresponding to the H second subcarrier spacings. That is, the carrier corresponding to the first subcarrier spacing is not included in the X carriers corresponding to the time units of the time units of the carriers corresponding to the H second subcarrier spacings except the first time unit.

[0292] In the second possible design, the carrier corresponding to the first subcarrier spacing belongs to the X carriers corresponding to the last time unit of the time units of the carriers corresponding to the H second subcarrier spacings, i.e., the carrier corresponding to the first subcarrier spacing belongs to the X carriers corresponding to the ending time domain position of the time domain positions of the carriers corresponding to the H second subcarrier spacings.

[0293] In a second possible design, the carrier units corresponding to the first subcarrier spacing belong to the X carrier units corresponding to the i th time unit of the time units of the carrier units corresponding to the H second subcarrier spacings, i.e., the carrier units corresponding to the first subcarrier spacing belong to the X carrier units corresponding to the ending time domain position of the time domain positions of the carrier units corresponding to the H second subcarrier spacings. 0≤i≤H-1. Here, i can be a fixed value, or a preset value, or a preconfigured value, or indicated by the network device.

[0294] As shown in FIG. 8, it is a diagram for illustrating different subcarrier spacings corresponding to four carrier units of the present application. CC0 corresponds to SCS1 (for example, SCS=15 kHz), and CC1-CC3 correspond to SCS2 (for example, SCS=30 kHz). K1={2, 3}, according to the time slot of sending the HARQ codebook, K1, and the number of CCs for receiving downlink signals in a time slot is 2, the candidate PDSCH position can be determined as shown in FIG. 8. The time slots of CC0 corresponding to SCS1 correspond to the time slots of CC1-CC3 corresponding to two SCS2.

[0295] According to the first possible design described above, the CCs corresponding to SCS1 belong to the maximum 2 carrier units corresponding to the first time slot of the time slots of the CCs corresponding to two SCS2. In FIG. 8, according to the numbers in the brackets, the CC (CC0) corresponding to number 1 corresponds to SCS1, the CC (CC1) corresponding to number 2 corresponds to SCS2, SCS1 is less than SCS2, the time slots of CC0 corresponding to SCS1 correspond to the time slots of CC1 corresponding to two SCS2, the CC (CC0) corresponding to number 1 belongs to the maximum 2 carrier units corresponding to the first time slot of the CC (CC1) corresponding to number 2, therefore, the CCs corresponding to numbers 1 and 2 are a group; the CC corresponding to number 3 is a separate group; the CC (CC0) corresponding to number 4 corresponds to SCS1, the CC (CC3) corresponding to number 5 corresponds to SCS2, SCS1 is less than SCS2, the time slots of CC0 corresponding to SCS1 correspond to the time slots of CC3 corresponding to two SCS2, the CC (CC0) corresponding to number 4 belongs to the maximum 2 carrier units corresponding to the first time slot of the CC (CC3) corresponding to number 5, therefore, the CCs corresponding to numbers 4 and 5 are a group; and the CC corresponding to number 6 is a separate group.

[0296] Corresponding to the second possible design described above, the SCS1 corresponding CC belongs to the second time slot corresponding 2 carrier units of the time slot of the 2 SCS2 corresponding CC, that is, when reserving bits for the maximum 2 CCs corresponding to each time slot, the bits are reserved according to the end position of the time slot of the SCS2 corresponding CC. In FIG. 8, according to the numbers in the brackets, the CC corresponding to the number 2 is a separate group; the CC (CC0) corresponding to the number 1 corresponds to SCS1, the CC (CC2) corresponding to the number 3 corresponds to SCS2, SCS1 is less than SCS2, the time slot of the SCS1 corresponding CC0 corresponds to the time slot of the 2 SCS2 corresponding CC2, the CC (CC0) corresponding to the number 1 belongs to the maximum 2 carrier units corresponding to the second time slot of the CC (CC2) corresponding to the number 2, therefore, the CCs corresponding to the numbers 1 and 3 are a group; the CC corresponding to the number 5 is a separate group; and the CC (CC0) corresponding to the number 4 corresponds to SCS1, the CC (CC3) corresponding to the number 6 corresponds to SCS2, SCS1 is less than SCS2, the time slot of the SCS1 corresponding CC0 corresponds to the time slot of the 2 SCS2 corresponding CC3, the CC (CC0) corresponding to the number 4 belongs to the maximum 2 carrier units corresponding to the second time slot of the CC (CC3) corresponding to the number 5, therefore, the CCs corresponding to the numbers 4 and 6 are a group.

[0297] In the case where the X carrier units correspond to at least two subcarrier spacings, by determining the X carrier units corresponding to each time unit, the candidate PDSCH position can be accurately determined.

[0298] According to the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application, the terminal and the network device determine L candidate PDSCH positions on the first resource set according to the number X of carrier units for receiving downlink signals in one time unit, so that the terminal can generate a HARQ codebook based on the L candidate PDSCH positions, avoid including too many redundant bits in the HARQ codebook, and reduce the load of the uplink control information.

[0299] According to the scheme described in the above embodiment, the number of bits in the HARQ codebook corresponding to each time unit of the terminal is fixed and does not affect each other. However, which X time units the terminal receives in the N time units can change. When the terminal misses a PDCCH on a candidate PDSCH position, it will cause the terminal and the network device to understand the CC corresponding to the candidate PDSCH position in one time unit inconsistently, that is, the CC corresponding to the HARQ information bits in the HARQ codebook is inconsistent. Therefore, the present application also provides the following embodiments:

[0300] As shown in FIG. 9, it is a flowchart of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. Exemplarily, the method can include the following steps:

[0301] S901. The network device transmits the DCI.

[0302] Correspondingly, the terminal receives the DCI.

[0303] Alternatively, the network device transmits control information. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the control information. Exemplarily, the control information is the DCI. The DCI is carried in the PDCCH.

[0304] In one possible implementation manner in this embodiment, the network device transmits the DCI in the first time unit and the first carrier unit, where the DCI instructs the terminal to receive the first downlink signal in the first time unit and the second carrier unit.

[0305] In one possible implementation manner in this embodiment, the network device transmits the DCI in the first carrier unit, where the DCI instructs the terminal to receive the first downlink signal (downlink signal) in the second carrier unit. The definition of the first time unit is an optional feature.

[0306] The terminal receiving the first downlink signal can be understood as the terminal receiving the PDCCH, or receiving the PDSCH, or receiving the PDCCH and the PDSCH, or receiving information. The form of the information is not restricted in this application.

[0307] Exemplarily, in this application, the DCI instructing the terminal to receive the first downlink signal in the second carrier unit can be replaced by the DCI instructing at least one carrier unit of X carrier units. The X carrier units are carrier units of N carrier units. The X carrier units are carrier units used for receiving the downlink signal. The N carrier units are configured downlink carrier units.

[0308] Exemplarily, the DCI instructs the terminal to use X carrier units in the first time unit for receiving the downlink signal. Alternatively, the DCI instructs the terminal to use at least one carrier unit of X carrier units in the first time unit for receiving the downlink signal.

[0309] Optionally, in the scheme combining S901 and S401a, S401b-S403, the first resource set includes M time units and N carrier units, and M and N are both positive integers. The first time unit is any one of the M time units, and the first carrier unit and the second carrier unit are any one of the N carrier units. That is, the terminal receives the DCI in the first time unit. The DCI instructs the terminal to receive the first downlink signal in the second carrier unit in addition to instructing the terminal to receive the second downlink signal (downlink signal) in the first carrier unit where the terminal is located. The number of the second carrier unit is greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to N-1.

[0310] Herein, the first downlink signal and the second downlink signal are used to describe that the DCI schedules the PDSCH, and the DCI is used to indicate that at least one of the X carriers in the N carriers is a carrier for receiving the downlink signal.

[0311] In this application, the first downlink signal and the second downlink signal can be the same downlink signal, or can be replaced by downlink signals.

[0312] In this way, even if the terminal does not receive the DCI of the second carrier on the second carrier (for example, the second carrier) in the first time unit, it can determine whether to receive the PDSCH on the second carrier according to the DCI received on the first carrier in the first time unit. In other words, the terminal can obtain the carrier for receiving the downlink signal information in the one time unit according to the DCI on the one carrier. In this application, the first carrier and the second carrier are taken as examples, and the number of carriers can be a positive integer, which is not restricted in this application.

[0313] Especially when the terminal misses the DCI indicating the CC switching, according to the above scheme, it can be accurately known whether the CC switching is performed and which CC the PDSCH is received in the next time unit. As shown in FIG. 5, which is a schematic diagram of the missed DCI in this application, the DCI on the time slot n+2, CC0 indicates that the PDSCH is received on the next time slot (i.e., time slot n+3) by switching from CC0 to CC2. According to the scheme in the background art, if the terminal misses the DCI on the time slot n+2, CC0, the terminal can miss the PDSCH received on the time slot n+3, CC2. According to the scheme of this embodiment, the DCI on the time slot n+3, CC1 indicates whether the PDSCH is received on the time slot n+3, CC0, CC2, CC3 in addition to indicating that the PDSCH is received on the time slot n+3, CC1, so the terminal will not miss the PDSCH on the time slot n+3, CC2.

[0314] In a possible implementation, the network device sends the DCI in the first time unit and the second carrier, and the DCI indicates the index or position of the second carrier in the X carriers for the terminal to receive the downlink signal. In this implementation, when the network device sends the DCI, it indicates the index or position of the carrier where the DCI is located in the X carriers for receiving the downlink signal.

[0315] Among them, there are several designs about the DCI:

[0316] One possible design is that the DCI includes a bitmap (a field in the DCI), which includes N bits, the i-th bit in the N bits indicates whether the terminal receives PDSCH (or receives a downlink signal) on the i-th carrier unit in the N carrier units, where 0≤i≤N-1 or 1≤i≤N. That is, the bitmap indicates X carrier units used by the terminal to receive a downlink signal.

[0317] One possible design is that the DCI includes a bitmap (a field in the DCI), which includes N bits, the i-th bit in the N bits indicates whether the terminal receives PDSCH (or receives a downlink signal) on the i-th carrier unit in the N carrier units in the first time unit, where 0≤i≤N-1 or 1≤i≤N. That is, the bitmap indicates X carrier units used by the terminal to receive a downlink signal in the first time unit. For example, the bitmap included in the DCI includes 4 bits, each bit indicates whether PDSCH is to be received on 1 CC in the time slot where the DCI is located. For example, the DCI on CC0 in time slot n and the DCI on CC1 in time slot n both indicate that PDSCH is to be received on CC0 and CC1 in time slot n, but not on CC2 and CC3 in time slot n. Assuming that the DCI on CC0 in time slot n+2 is missed, the missed DCI position can be known through the bitmap in the DCI on CC1 in time slot n+2.

[0318] Another possible design is that the DCI includes second information, which indicates that the terminal receives PDSCH (a downlink signal) on X-1 carrier units in the N carrier units other than the first carrier unit.

[0319] Another possible design is that the DCI includes second information, which indicates that the terminal receives PDSCH (a downlink signal) on the j-th carrier unit in the N carrier units other than the first carrier unit, where 0≤j≤N-2 or 1≤j≤N-1.

[0320] Another possible design is that the DCI includes second information, which indicates that the terminal receives PDSCH (a downlink signal) on X-1 carrier units in the X carrier units other than the first carrier unit, where 0≤j≤N-2 or 1≤j≤N-1.

[0321] Another possible design is that the DCI includes second information, the second information indicating that the terminal receives the PDSCH (downlink signal) on the jth carrier frequency unit of the N carrier frequency units other than the first carrier frequency unit in the first time unit, where 0≤j≤N-2 or 1≤j≤N-1. That is, the cross indication can be used to avoid the network device and the terminal from understanding the CC corresponding to the HARQ information bit in the HARQ codebook inconsistently. Taking FIG. 5 as an example, the network device configures 4 CCs, and 2 bits (second information) can be added in the DCI. Taking time slot n as an example, the DCI on the CC0 indicates “01”, indicating that the PDSCH is received on the CC1; correspondingly, the DCI on the CC1 indicates “00”, indicating that the PDSCH is received on the CC0. Taking time slot n+3 as an example, the DCI on the CC1 indicates “10”, indicating that the PDSCH is received on the CC2; correspondingly, the DCI on the CC2 indicates “01”, indicating that the PDSCH is received on the CC1. Here, the second information can be understood as indicating that the jth carrier frequency unit of the N carrier frequency units other than the first carrier frequency unit in the first time unit is one of the X carrier frequency units for receiving the downlink signal. The terminal blindly detects the PDCCH or receives the PDSCH on the jth carrier frequency unit. The jth carrier frequency unit is one of the X carrier frequency units for receiving the downlink signal by the terminal. Correspondingly, the DCI detected by the terminal on the jth carrier frequency unit indicates that the terminal receives the PDSCH on the first carrier frequency unit of the N carrier frequency units in the first time unit. Or, the DCI detected by the terminal on the jth carrier frequency unit indicates that the first carrier frequency unit of the N carrier frequency units in the first time unit is one of the X carrier frequency units for receiving the downlink signal.

[0322] For example, the DCI includes second information, the second information indicating that the terminal receives the PDSCH on the carrier frequency unit other than the first carrier frequency unit in the first time unit. The number of the carrier frequency units other than the first carrier frequency unit can be greater than or equal to 1.

[0323] For example, the DCI includes second information, the second information indicating that the terminal receives the PDSCH on the carrier frequency unit other than the first carrier frequency unit in the first time unit. The number of the carrier frequency units other than the first carrier frequency unit can be greater than or equal to 1.

[0324] For example, the DCI is received in a first time unit and a first carrier unit, the DCI indicates that a first downlink signal is received in the first time unit and a second carrier unit, and the DCI further indicates that a second downlink signal is received in the first time unit and the first carrier unit. That is, the carrier unit in which the PDSCH scheduled by the DCI is located is not limited. The second carrier unit in which the first downlink signal is received is another carrier unit used for receiving a downlink signal in addition to the first carrier unit. In this way, the terminal can avoid missing the DCI indicating the carrier unit switching, and thus the terminal can avoid misunderstanding the carrier unit used for receiving a downlink signal, and more information can be missed, thereby improving communication efficiency.

[0325] In another possible design, the network device sends the DCI in a first time unit and a second carrier unit, where the DCI indicates that a terminal receives a first downlink signal in the first time unit and the second carrier unit. In this method, the second carrier unit is the carrier unit in which the DCI is detected. Alternatively, the first carrier unit is the second carrier unit, and the terminal indicates the order of the carrier unit in which the current DCI is located in X carrier units used for receiving a downlink signal, and another carrier unit is not involved. The DCI includes third information, and the third information indicates that the second carrier unit is the kth carrier unit received by the terminal in the first time unit, where 0≤k≤X-1 or 1≤k≤X. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the network device configures four CCs, and one bit (the third information, which can be referred to as a counter DAI field) can be added to the DCI. The counter DAI field starts counting in each time slot. For example, in time slot n, the counter DAI field in the DCI on the CC0 is 0, and the counter DAI field in the DCI on the CC1 is 1, so that a maximum of two CCs can be determined. When the time slot is changed, the counter DAI field is cleared and starts counting again.

[0326] After the terminal receives the DCI, the terminal can accurately know whether to receive a PDSCH in the first time unit and the second carrier unit according to the DCI, thereby improving the reliability of communication.

[0327] In another possible implementation, the terminal receives at least one DCI (control information or PDCCH) in a second resource set, and the second resource set includes M time units and X carrier units. The terminal generates HARQ codebook information according to the at least one DCI. The X carrier units are X carrier units used by the terminal for receiving a downlink signal in N carrier units. For details, refer to the description of S401a / S401b.

[0328] The terminal receives the at least one DCI in the second resource set, and the method further includes that the terminal detects the DCI in the X carriers for receiving the downlink signal in each time unit in ascending order of the time domain index, starting from the first time unit of the M time units. That is, the DCI is detected in the first resource set in the order of frequency first and time second.

[0329] The terminal generates the HARQ codebook information according to the at least one DCI, and the method further includes that the terminal generates the HARQ codebook information according to the decoding result of the PDSCH scheduled by the detected DCI. That is, ACK information is generated when the PDSCH decoding is successful, and NACK information is generated when the PDSCH decoding fails. Through this generation manner of the HARQ codebook information, the carriers for detecting the DCI by the terminal are reduced, and thus the number of the DCI detected by the terminal can be reduced.

[0330] According to the communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application, the network device transmits the DCI on the first time unit and the first carrier, and the DCI can indicate that the first data and / or information is received on the first time unit and the second carrier. Thus, even if the terminal does not receive the DCI itself on the first time unit and the second carrier, the first data and / or information can be accurately received on the first time unit and the second carrier, thereby improving the reliability of the communication.

[0331] The embodiment shown in FIG. 9 can be independently implemented, or can be implemented in combination with the embodiment shown in FIG. 4.

[0332] It can be understood that the method and / or steps implemented by the network device in each of the above embodiments can also be implemented by a component (for example, a chip or a circuit) that can be used for the network device, and the method and / or steps implemented by the terminal can also be implemented by a component (for example, a chip or a circuit) that can be used for the terminal. When implemented by the component as described above, the receiving / sending can be understood as inputting / outputting, that is, the component communicates with other components of the network device / terminal. In addition, the method implemented by the network device can also be divided into being executed by a plurality of execution subjects, for example, being divided into being executed by at least one of the CU, the DU, the RU, and the like; and the method implemented by the terminal can also be divided into being executed by a plurality of execution subjects, for example, being divided into being executed by a plurality of components for the terminal. The execution subjects can be logically and / or physically separated.

[0333] The above describes the scheme provided by the embodiments of the present application from the perspective of interaction between the terminal and the network device. Accordingly, the embodiments of the present application further provide a communication apparatus for implementing the above various methods. The communication apparatus can be the network device in the above method embodiments, or a component applicable to the network device; or the communication apparatus can be the terminal in the above method embodiments, or a component applicable to the terminal. It can be understood that the communication apparatus contains the hardware structure and / or software module corresponding to each function in order to implement the above functions. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that, in combination with the units and algorithm steps of the examples described in the embodiments disclosed herein, the present application can be realized in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a certain function is realized in the form of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to realize the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of the present application.

[0334] The embodiments of the present application can divide the functions of the communication apparatus according to the above method embodiments, for example, each function module can be divided according to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated in one processing unit. The above integrated module can be realized in the form of hardware or software function module. It should be noted that the division of the modules in the embodiments of the present application is illustrative, and is only a logical function division. There can be another division manner in actual implementation.

[0335] Based on the same concept of the above communication method, the present application further provides the following communication apparatus:

[0336] As shown in FIG. 10, it is a structure schematic diagram of a communication apparatus provided by the embodiments of the present application. The communication apparatus 1000 includes a transceiver unit 1001 and a processing unit 1002. Wherein:

[0337] Exemplarily, the above transceiver unit 1001 can include a receiving unit and a sending unit, which can be an integral whole or independent units.

[0338] When the communication apparatus 1000 is used to implement the functions of the terminal, the transceiver unit 1001 is used to execute one or more operations of the terminal in steps S401a and S402 of the embodiment shown in FIG. 4; or the transceiver unit 1001 is used to execute the operation of the terminal in step S901 of the embodiment shown in FIG. 9.

[0339] The transceiver unit 1001 is configured to perform one or more operations of the network device in steps S401b and S402 of the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, or the transceiver unit 1001 is configured to perform the operation of the network device in step S901 of the embodiment shown in FIG. 9.

[0340] For the specific implementation of the transceiver unit 1001 and the processing unit 1002, refer to the related description in the embodiments shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 9.

[0341] The division of modules in the present application is illustrative, and is only a logical functional division. In actual implementation, another division manner can be used. In addition, each functional module in each example in the present application can be integrated in one processor, or can be physically separated, or two or more modules can be integrated in one module. The integrated module can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of a software functional module.

[0342] As shown in FIG. 11, FIG. 11 is a structural schematic diagram of another communication apparatus provided by an embodiment of the present application. The communication apparatus 1100 includes a processor 1101. Optionally, the communication apparatus 1100 can further include an interface circuit 1102 (indicated by a dashed line in the figure), and the processor 1101 and the interface circuit 1102 are coupled with each other. It can be understood that the interface circuit 1102 can be a transceiver or an input / output interface. Optionally, the communication apparatus 1100 can further include a memory 1103 (indicated by a dashed line in the figure), which is configured to store instructions executed by the processor 1101, or store input data required by the processor 1101 to run instructions, or store data generated after the processor 1101 runs instructions.

[0343] The interface circuit 1102 is configured to perform one or more operations of the terminal in steps S401a and S402 of the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, or the interface circuit 1102 is configured to perform the operation of the network device in step S901 of the embodiment shown in FIG. 9.

[0344] The interface circuit 1102 is configured to perform one or more operations of the network device in steps S401b and S402 of the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, or the interface circuit 1102 is configured to perform the operation of the network device in step S901 of the embodiment shown in FIG. 9.

[0345] For the specific implementation of the processor 1101, the interface circuit 1102 and the memory 1103, refer to the related description in the embodiments shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 9.

[0346] When the communication apparatus is a chip applied to a network device, the chip implements the functions of the network device in the method embodiments. The chip receives information from other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the network device, and the information is sent by a terminal to the network device; or the chip sends information to other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the network device, and the information is sent by the network device to the terminal.

[0347] When the communication apparatus is a chip applied to a terminal, the chip implements the functions of the terminal in the method embodiments. The chip receives information from other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the terminal, and the information is sent by a network device to the terminal; or the chip sends information to other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the terminal, and the information is sent by the terminal to the network device.

[0348] In addition, it should be noted that the aforementioned transceiver unit and / or processing unit can be implemented by a virtual module, for example, the processing unit can be implemented by a software function unit or a virtual device, and the transceiver unit can be implemented by a software function or a virtual device. Alternatively, the processing unit or the transceiver unit can also be implemented by an entity device, for example, if the device is implemented by a chip / chip circuit, the transceiver unit can be an input / output circuit and / or a communication interface, which performs an input operation (corresponding to the aforementioned receiving operation) and an output operation (corresponding to the aforementioned sending operation); and the processing unit is an integrated processor or a microprocessor or an integrated circuit.

[0349] It can be understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application can be a central processing unit (CPU), and can also be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0350] The embodiments of the present application also provide a computer readable storage medium, which stores a computer program or instructions, and when the computer program or instructions are executed, the method in the above embodiments is implemented.

[0351] The embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program product containing instructions, which, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method in the above embodiments.

[0352] The embodiment of the present application further provides a communication system comprising the communication device.

[0353] The embodiment of the present application further provides a circuit coupled with the memory, which is used to execute the method shown in the above embodiment. The circuit can comprise a chip circuit.

[0354] The embodiment of the present application further provides a chip device comprising a processor, which is used to invoke the computer degree or computer instruction stored in the memory, so that the processor executes the method provided in any of the above method embodiments.

[0355] In a possible implementation manner, the input of the chip device corresponds to the receiving operation in any of the above method embodiments, and the output of the chip device corresponds to the sending operation in any of the above method embodiments.

[0356] Optionally, the processor is coupled with the memory through an interface.

[0357] Optionally, the chip device further comprises a memory, and the memory stores the computer degree or computer instruction.

[0358] When the communication device is a module applied to a network device, the network device module implements the function of the network device in the above method embodiments. The network device module receives information from other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the network device, and the information is sent by the UE to the network device; or the network device module sends information to other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the network device, and the information is sent by the network device to the UE. The network device module herein can be a baseband chip of the network device, or a CU, a DU or other modules, or an apparatus under the O-RAN architecture, such as an open CU, an open DU and the like.

[0359] It should be noted that the above unit or one or more of the units can be realized by software, hardware or combination of both. When any of the above units is realized by software, the software exists in the form of computer program instructions and is stored in the memory, and the processor can be used to execute the program instructions and realize the above method flow.

[0360] In the present application, the processor can be a general processor, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, a discrete hardware component, and can realize or execute the methods, steps and logic block diagrams disclosed in the present application. The general processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor. The steps of the method disclosed in the present application can be directly embodied as hardware processor execution or executed by combination of hardware and software modules in the processor.

[0361] When the above units or units are implemented in hardware, the hardware can be any one or any combination of a CPU, a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP) chip, a microcontroller unit (MCU), an artificial intelligence processor, an ASIC, a SoC, a FPGA, a programmable logic device (PLD), a dedicated digital circuit, a hardware accelerator, or a non-integrated discrete device, which can run necessary software or not rely on software to perform the above method flows.

[0362] Optionally, the embodiments of the present application further provide a chip system, comprising: at least one processor and an interface, the at least one processor is coupled with a memory through the interface, when the at least one processor runs a computer program or instructions in the memory, the chip system executes the method in any of the above method embodiments. Optionally, the chip system can be composed of a chip, or can contain a chip and other discrete devices, the embodiments of the present application do not make specific limitations hereon.

[0363] The memory in the present application can also be a circuit or other any device capable of realizing storage function, used for storing program instructions and / or data. The memory can be any other medium capable of carrying or storing desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and accessible by a computer, but is not limited to this. For example, the memory can be a non-volatile memory such as a digital versatile disc (DVD), a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid-state drive (SSD), etc., and can also be a volatile memory such as a random-access memory (RAM).

[0364] It can be understood that, in this application, "indication" can include direct indication, indirect indication, display indication, and implicit indication. When describing that certain indication information is used to indicate A, it can be understood that the indication information carries A, directly indicates A, or indirectly indicates A. In this application, the information indicated by the indication information is referred to as to-be-indicated information. In the specific implementation process, there are many ways to indicate the to-be-indicated information, for example, but not limited to, the to-be-indicated information can be directly indicated, such as the to-be-indicated information itself or an index of the to-be-indicated information, or the to-be-indicated information can be indirectly indicated by indicating other information, where the other information and the to-be-indicated information have an association relationship. It can also only indicate a part of the to-be-indicated information, and the other part of the to-be-indicated information is known or agreed in advance. For example, the indication of a specific information can also be achieved by means of the arrangement order of each information agreed in advance (for example, specified by a protocol), thereby reducing the indication overhead to a certain extent. The to-be-indicated information can be sent as a whole, or can be sent separately into multiple sub-information, and the sending period and / or sending occasion of the sub-information can be the same or different. The specific sending method is not limited in this application. The sending period and / or sending occasion of the sub-information can be pre-defined, for example, pre-defined according to a protocol, or configured by a transmitting end device through sending configuration information to a receiving end device.

[0365] At least one (item) referred to in this application indicates one (item) or multiple (items). Multiple (items) refers to two (items) or more than two (items). "And / or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, which means that there can be three relationships, for example, A and / or B can represent the following three cases: A exists alone, A and B exist together, B exists alone, where A and B can be single or multiple. The character " / " generally represents an "or" relationship between the front and rear associated objects. In addition, it should be understood that although the terms first, second, etc. can be used to describe various objects in this application, these objects should not be limited to these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish each object from each other. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions are used to represent any combination of the listed items; for example, at least one of A, B, and (or) C can represent the following cases: A exists alone, B exists alone, C exists alone, A and B exist together, B and C exist together, A and C exist together, A, B, and C exist together, where A, B, C can be single or multiple.

[0366] The terms "comprises", "comprising", "includes", "including", "has", "having" and their conjugates, as used herein, are intended to cover the situation where individual elements have the stated characteristic, but also to cover the situation where the individual elements have the stated characteristic in combination with one or more other elements. The term "or" as used herein, refers to a non-exclusive "or", unless expressly indicated otherwise. For example, a combination of elements A or B can mean: A; or B; or A and B. The terms "example" and "exemplary" are used herein to mean an instance of something, and do not imply a preference as to one implementation over another. The terms "a" or "an", as used herein, mean "one or more" unless expressly stated otherwise. The term "another" as used herein, means "at least one", i.e. one or more. The term "about" as used herein, means approximately or nearly, for example, the term "about 90 degrees" means approximately 90 degrees. The term "based on" as used herein, means "based, at least in part, on", such that "based on" need not be based on both.

[0367] A network element in a communication system can send a signal to another network element or receive a signal from another network element. The signal can include information, signaling, data, etc. The network element can also be replaced by an entity, a network entity, a device, a UE, a communication module, a node, a communication node, etc. The network element is taken as an example in the present application. For example, the communication system can include at least one UE and at least one network device. The network device can send a downlink signal to the UE, and / or the UE can send an uplink signal to the network device. In addition, it can be understood that if the communication system includes multiple UEs, the multiple UEs can also send signals to each other, that is, the sending network element and the receiving network element of the signal can be UEs.

[0368] In the embodiments described above, all or some of the steps can be implemented by using software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented by using software, all or some of the steps can be implemented by using one or more computer programs. The computer program can be stored in a computer readable storage medium, or transmitted by using a computer readable storage medium. The computer readable storage medium can be a magnetic disk, a compact disk, a digital versatile disk, a Blu-ray disk, a memory, etc. The computer readable storage medium can also be a computer network and an optical fiber. The computer program can be directly read out from the computer readable storage medium, or transmitted by using the computer readable storage medium. The computer readable storage medium can be a website site, a computer, a server or a data center.

[0369] Although the present application is described in conjunction with the embodiments thereof, other changes and modifications to the described embodiments can be understood and effected by those skilled in the art in view of the foregoing description, the drawings and the appended claims. In the claims, the word "comprising" does not exclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite articles "a" or "an" do not exclude a plurality. A single processor or other unit can fulfil the functions of several items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage.

[0370] It can be understood that various digital numbers involved in the embodiments of the present application are only distinguished for convenience of description, and are not used to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. The size of the serial number of the above processes does not mean the order of execution, and the execution order of the processes should be determined according to its function and inherent logic.

[0371] In the above embodiments, the description of each embodiment is focused on, and the part not described in detail in a certain embodiment can be referred to the related description of other embodiments.

[0372] The components in the device of the embodiments of the present application can be combined, divided and deleted according to actual needs. Those skilled in the art can combine or combine the features of different embodiments and different embodiments described in the specification.

[0373] In the present application, the examples can be referred to each other without logical contradiction, for example, the methods and / or terms between the method embodiments can be referred to each other, for example, the functions and / or terms between the device embodiments can be referred to each other, for example, the functions and / or terms between the device examples and the method examples can be referred to each other.

Claims

A communication method characterized by comprising: The method comprises: determining L candidate physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) positions on a first resource set according to a number X of carrier units in a time unit, the first resource set comprising M time units and N carrier units, X, L, M and N are positive integers, and X≤N; receiving a PDSCH at the L candidate PDSCH positions; sending a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) codebook, the HARQ codebook comprising Y HARQ information bits, the HARQ information bits being used to indicate whether the PDSCH is successfully received, Y being a positive integer, and Y≥L. The method of claim 1, wherein The X carrier units are carrier units used for receiving a downlink signal, the X carrier units being carrier units in the N carrier units, and the N carrier units being configured by a network device. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein The X carrier units are carrier units used for generating a HARQ codebook. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The N is greater than or equal to a number of carrier units configured by the network device. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that The N carrier units are N downlink carrier units configured by the network device. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that The N carrier units are N downlink carrier units configured by the network device, and a number of uplink carrier units configured by the network device is less than or equal to N. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that The N carrier units are activated carrier units. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that The Y HARQ information bits are determined based on the L candidate PDSCH positions. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that The method further comprises: sending first information, the first information indicating a maximum number W of carrier units in a time unit, X≤W, and / or the first information indicating at least one group of downlink carrier units, a number of downlink carrier units in the at least one group of downlink carrier units being less than or equal to the W, the X being determined based on the at least one group of downlink carrier units; and / or receiving second information from the network device, the second information indicating the X and / or at least one group of downlink carrier units, a number of different downlink carrier units in the at least one group of downlink carrier units being X, or a number of downlink carrier units in the at least one group of downlink carrier units being less than or equal to the X. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that The method further comprises: determining the L candidate PDSCH positions based on candidate PDSCH positions on the X carrier units. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that The determining the L candidate PDSCH positions on the first resource set according to the X carrier units in a time unit comprises: determining the L candidate PDSCH positions in the order of traversing the X carrier units first and then traversing the M time units. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that The determining the L candidate PDSCH positions on the first resource set according to the X carrier units in a time unit comprises: determining candidate PDSCH positions in the X carrier units in a time unit with a smallest index in the M time units, determining candidate PDSCH positions on the X carrier units corresponding to each time unit in the M time units in the order of the indices of the M time units from small to large, and obtaining the L candidate PDSCH positions. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that The X carriers are X carriers with the largest number of candidate PDSCH positions in the N carriers, and X≤N. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that The method further comprises: receiving a downlink control information (DCI) in a first time unit and a first carrier, the DCI scheduling a downlink signal; wherein the DCI comprises a bit map, the bit map comprising N bits, an i-th bit in the N bits indicating whether the terminal receives the downlink signal in the first time unit and an i-th carrier in the N carriers, where 0≤i≤N-1; or the DCI comprises second information, the second information indicating that the terminal receives the downlink signal in the first time unit and a j-th carrier in the N carriers except the first carrier, where 0≤j≤N-2; or the DCI comprises third information, the third information indicating that the first carrier is a k-th carrier received by the terminal in the first time unit, where 0≤k≤X-1. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 14, characterized in that The method further comprises: receiving a DCI in a first time unit and a first carrier, the DCI comprising second information, the second information indicating that the terminal receives a downlink signal in a j-th carrier in the N carriers except the first carrier, where 0≤j≤N-2 or 1≤j≤N-1. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 15, characterized in that The method further comprises: receiving a DCI in a first carrier, the DCI comprising third information, the third information indicating that the first carrier is a k-th carrier received by the terminal, where 0≤k≤X-1 or 1≤k≤X. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 16, characterized in that The X carriers correspond to at least two subcarrier spacings, the at least two subcarrier spacings comprising a first subcarrier spacing and a second subcarrier spacing, wherein the first subcarrier spacing is smaller than the second subcarrier spacing, one time unit of a carrier corresponding to the first subcarrier spacing corresponds to H time units of carriers corresponding to the second subcarrier spacing; the carrier corresponding to the first subcarrier spacing belongs to X carriers corresponding to a first time unit of the H time units of carriers corresponding to the second subcarrier spacing, or the carrier corresponding to the first subcarrier spacing belongs to X carriers corresponding to a last time unit of the H time units of carriers corresponding to the second subcarrier spacing. The method of any one of claims 1-17, wherein The candidate PDSCH positions in each time unit are the same or different. The method of any one of claims 1-18, wherein One of the L candidate PDSCH positions corresponds to at least one HARQ information bit. A communication method characterized by comprising: The method comprises: determining L candidate physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) positions on a first resource set according to a number X of carriers of a terminal in a time unit, the first resource set comprising M time units and N carriers, X, L, M, and N are positive integers, and X≤N; sending a PDSCH in the L candidate PDSCH positions; receive a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) codebook, the HARQ codebook including Y HARQ information bits, the HARQ information bits being used to indicate whether the PDSCH is successfully received, Y being a positive integer, and Y≥L. The method of claim 20, wherein The X carriers are carriers used for receiving downlink signals, the X carriers being carriers in the N carriers, and the N carriers being carriers configured by a network device. The method of claim 20 or 21, wherein The X carriers are carriers used for generating a HARQ codebook. The method of any one of claims 20-22, wherein The N is greater than or equal to a number of carriers configured by the network device. The method of any one of claims 20-23, wherein The N carriers are N downlink carriers configured by the network device. The method of any one of claims 20-24, wherein The N carriers are N downlink carriers configured by the network device, and a number of uplink carriers configured by the network device is less than or equal to N. The method of any one of claims 20-25, wherein The N carriers are activated carriers. The method of any one of claims 20-26, wherein The method further includes: receiving first information, the first information indicating a maximum number W of carriers in a time unit, X≤W, and / or the first information indicating at least one group of downlink carriers, a number of downlink carriers in the at least one group of downlink carriers being less than or equal to the W, the X being determined based on the at least one group of downlink carriers; wherein the first information is capability information of a terminal; and / or sending second information, the second information indicating the X and / or at least one group of downlink carriers, a number of different downlink carriers in the at least one group of downlink carriers being X, or a number of downlink carriers in the at least one group of downlink carriers being less than or equal to the X. The method of any one of claims 20-27, wherein The method further includes determining the L candidate PDSCH positions based on candidate PDSCH positions on the X carriers. The method of any one of claims 20-28, wherein The determining the L candidate PDSCH positions on the first resource set based on the number X of carriers in a time unit of a terminal includes: determining candidate PDSCH positions in the X carriers in a time unit with a smallest index in the M time units, determining candidate PDSCH positions on the X carriers in each time unit in the M time units in ascending order of indexes of the M time units, to obtain the L candidate PDSCH positions. The method of any one of claims 20-29, wherein The X carriers are X carriers in which a number of candidate PDSCH positions is the largest in the N carriers, and X≤N. The method of any one of claims 20-30, wherein The method further includes: sending a downlink control information (DCI) in a first time unit and a first carrier, the DCI scheduling a downlink signal; wherein the DCI includes a bit map, the bit map including N bits, an i-th bit in the N bits indicating whether a terminal receives a downlink signal on an i-th carrier in the N carriers in the first time unit, where 0≤i≤N-1; or the DCI includes second information, the second information indicating that the terminal receives a downlink signal on a j-th carrier in the N carriers except the first carrier in the first time unit, where 0≤j≤N-2; or The DCI includes third information indicating that the first carrier unit is a kth carrier unit received by the terminal in the first time unit, where 0≤k≤X-1. The method of any one of claims 20-31, wherein The method further includes receiving DCI in the first time unit and the first carrier unit, the DCI including second information indicating that the terminal receives a downlink signal in a jth carrier unit of the N carrier units other than the first carrier unit in the first time unit, where 0≤j≤N-2 or 1≤j≤N-1. The method of any one of claims 20-32, wherein The method further includes receiving DCI in the first carrier unit, the DCI including third information indicating that the first carrier unit is a kth carrier unit received by the terminal, where 0≤k≤X-1 or 1≤k≤X. The method of any one of claims 20-33, wherein The X carrier units correspond to at least two subcarrier spacings, including a first subcarrier spacing and a second subcarrier spacing, where the first subcarrier spacing is smaller than the second subcarrier spacing, one time unit of a carrier unit corresponding to the first subcarrier spacing corresponds to H time units of carrier units corresponding to the second subcarrier spacing, and the carrier unit corresponding to the first subcarrier spacing belongs to X carrier units corresponding to a first time unit of the H time units of carrier units corresponding to the second subcarrier spacing, or the carrier unit corresponding to the first subcarrier spacing belongs to X carrier units corresponding to a last time unit of the H time units of carrier units corresponding to the second subcarrier spacing. The method of any one of claims 20-34, wherein The candidate PDSCH positions in each time unit are the same or different. The method of any one of claims 20-35, wherein One of the L candidate PDSCH positions corresponds to at least one HARQ information bit. A communication method characterized by comprising: The method includes: receiving downlink control information (DCI), the DCI indicating that a first downlink signal is received in a first time unit and a second carrier unit. The method of claim 37, wherein The receiving DCI includes: receiving the DCI in the first time unit and a first carrier unit, the DCI further indicating that a second downlink signal is received in the first time unit and the first carrier unit. A communication method characterized by comprising: The method includes: transmitting downlink control information (DCI), the DCI indicating that a first downlink signal is transmitted in a first time unit and a second carrier unit. The method of claim 39, wherein The transmitting DCI includes: transmitting the DCI in the first time unit and a first carrier unit, the DCI further indicating that a second downlink signal is received in the first time unit and the first carrier unit. The method of claim 38 or 40, wherein The first carrier unit and the second carrier unit belong to N carrier units, N being a positive integer, and the DCI includes a bit map including N bits, an ith bit of the N bits indicating whether a terminal receives a downlink signal in an ith carrier unit of the N carrier units in the first time unit, where 0≤i≤N-1. The method of claim 38 or 40, wherein The first carrier element and the second carrier element belong to N carrier elements, N is a positive integer, the DCI includes second information, the second information indicates that the terminal receives a downlink signal on a jth carrier element of the N carrier elements except the first carrier element in the first time unit, where 0≤j≤N-2. The method of any one of claims 37-40, wherein The DCI includes third information, the third information indicates that the second carrier element is a kth carrier element received by the terminal in the first time unit, where 0≤k≤X-1, X is the number of carrier elements used by the terminal to receive a downlink signal in a time unit. A communication device, characterized by A computer program product comprising program instructions for implementing the method of any one of claims 1-19, or the method of any one of claims 20-36, or the method of any one of claims 37-38, 41-43, or the method of any one of claims 39-43. A communication device, characterized by A computer program product comprising program instructions for implementing the method of any one of claims 1-19, or the method of any one of claims 20-36, or the method of any one of claims 37-38, 41-43, or the method of any one of claims 39-43. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized by The storage medium stores a computer program or instructions, when the computer program or instructions are executed, the method of any one of claims 1-19 is implemented, or the method of any one of claims 20-36 is implemented, or the method of any one of claims 37-38, 41-43 is implemented, or the method of any one of claims 39-43 is implemented. A computer program product, characterized in that The computer program product contains the program instructions involved, when the program instructions involved are executed, the method of any one of claims 1-19 is implemented, or the method of any one of claims 20-36 is implemented, or the method of any one of claims 37-38, 41-43 is implemented, or the method of any one of claims 39-43 is implemented.

Images