Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

The present application discloses a communication method and apparatus, applied to the technical field of communications. The method comprises: receiving first indication information, the first indication information being used for indicating a number N_i of redundancy versions of data required to be scheduled by each of a number P of hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) processes, P being an integer greater than 0, N_i being an integer greater than 0, and i being a positive integer less than or equal to P; on the basis of the first indication information, receiving data blocks of the N_i redundancy versions that each HARQ process needs to schedule. Using the present application, it is possible to reduce transmission delay.

Description

A communication method and apparatus

[0001] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202411505493.4, filed on October 25, 2024, entitled "A Communication Method and Apparatus", the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0002] This application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method and apparatus. Background Technology

[0003] With the continuous development of communication technology, in new radio (NR) systems, a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) retransmission mechanism can be used for communication transmission in a multi-process environment. More specifically, multiple processes send data sequentially. After sending a data packet, each process stops and waits for an acknowledgement (ACK) or negative acknowledgement (NACK) response before deciding whether to transmit new data or retransmit existing data. In actual transmission, the same process cannot retransmit data before receiving an ACK / NACK response, leading to a decrease in throughput. Furthermore, data is only retransmitted upon receiving a NACK response, and each retransmitted data needs to carry a different redundancy version (RV), resulting in significant transmission delays during retransmissions. For example, four retransmissions require four round-trip times (RTTs) to complete. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This application provides a communication method and apparatus that can reduce transmission latency.

[0005] In a first aspect, embodiments of this application provide a communication method. This method can be executed by a terminal device, or by a module applied to the terminal device (e.g., a processor, chip, or chip system), or by a logical node, logical module, or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the terminal device. The method includes:

[0006] Receive first indication information, which is used to indicate N_i redundant versions of data that each HARQ process in P Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) processes needs to schedule, where P is an integer greater than 0, N_i is an integer greater than 0, and i is a positive integer less than or equal to P.

[0007] Based on the first indication information, the N_i redundant versions of data blocks that each HARQ process needs to schedule are received.

[0008] By receiving the first instruction information, the terminal device is informed in advance of the N_i redundant versions of the data that each HARQ process needs to schedule. By receiving the data blocks of the N_i redundant versions that each HARQ process needs to schedule, the terminal device can merge and decode some or all of the redundant versions of the data blocks, thereby determining whether the data that each HARQ process needs to schedule has been successfully received. This can reduce transmission latency, improve transmission efficiency, and increase the success rate of merging and decoding by the terminal device.

[0009] In one possible design, a second indication message is sent. This second indication message indicates whether the merging and decoding of data blocks from M_i redundant versions out of the N_i redundant versions that each HARQ process needs to schedule has been successful. The second indication message includes relevant information about the M_i redundant versions and acknowledgment information. The acknowledgment information indicates that the merging and decoding of data blocks from the M_i redundant versions has been successful. Alternatively, the second indication message may include negative information indicating that the merging and decoding of data blocks from the N_i redundant versions has failed. M_i is a positive integer less than or equal to N_i. By sending the second indication message, the network device can better determine the ACK / NACK feedback corresponding to each HARQ process. Furthermore, the relevant information about the M_i redundant versions, the acknowledgment information, and / or the negative information carried in the second indication message helps the network device to perform downlink scheduling more accurately.

[0010] In another possible design, the first indication information is also used to indicate the merging order of the N_i redundant versions of the data blocks that each HARQ process needs to schedule. This is beneficial for both improving the success rate of merging and decoding by the terminal device and for the terminal device to provide feedback to the network device on the redundant version information corresponding to successful merging and decoding.

[0011] In another possible design, the relevant information for the M_i redundant versions is the last redundant version among the M_i redundant versions. This helps network devices determine the redundant version information corresponding to successful merging and decoding, thereby assisting network devices in performing downlink scheduling more accurately.

[0012] In another possible design, the second indication information also includes the identifier of each HARQ process. This helps network devices distinguish the ACK / NACK feedback corresponding to different HARQ processes.

[0013] In another possible design, the merging order is determined based on the bitrate of the transmitted data blocks. This allows the terminal device to decode in the optimal merging order, thereby improving the success rate of merging and decoding.

[0014] In another possible design, the data blocks of the M_i redundant versions out of the N_i redundant versions are merged and decoded. By merging and decoding some or all of the data blocks of the N_i redundant versions that each HARQ process needs to schedule, the terminal device can determine whether it has successfully received the data that each HARQ process needs to schedule. This helps to improve the success rate of merging and decoding by the terminal device, reduce transmission latency, and improve transmission efficiency.

[0015] In another possible design, the first indication information is also used to indicate the frequency domain resource information and / or time domain resource information of the N_i redundant versions of the data block that each HARQ process needs to schedule. This facilitates the terminal device in subsequently receiving data blocks from the network device based on the corresponding frequency domain resource information and / or time domain resource information.

[0016] In another possible design, the frequency domain resource information and / or the time domain resource information includes multiple carriers; data blocks of the same or different redundancy versions from the N_i redundancy versions carried on the multiple carriers are received. By receiving data blocks of the same or different redundancy versions carried on multiple carriers, the multi-carrier scheduling capability of the terminal device can be fully utilized, which is beneficial to improving the utilization rate of large bandwidth frequency domain resources. Furthermore, the frequency diversity gain of different carriers can be fully utilized to improve the reliability of data transmission.

[0017] In another possible design, the first indication information includes X_i bits, each bit corresponding to one of the X_i redundant versions that each HARQ process can schedule. The X_i bits are used to indicate the N_i redundant versions that need to be scheduled from the X_i redundant versions, where X_i is an integer greater than or equal to N_i. This allows the terminal device to know in advance the N_i redundant versions of data that each HARQ process needs to schedule.

[0018] In another possible design, the first indication information includes Y_i bits, where the values ​​corresponding to the Y_i bits are used to indicate the N_i redundant versions that each HARQ process needs to schedule, and Y_i is an integer greater than 0. This allows the terminal device to know in advance the N_i redundant versions of data that each HARQ process needs to schedule.

[0019] Secondly, embodiments of this application provide a communication method, which can be executed by a network device, or by a module applied to the network device (e.g., a processor, chip, or chip system), or by a logical node, logical module, or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the network device. The method includes:

[0020] Send a first indication message, which is used to indicate that each of the P Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) processes needs to schedule N_i redundant versions of the data, where P is an integer greater than 0, N_i is an integer greater than 0, and i is a positive integer less than or equal to P.

[0021] Based on the first indication information, send the N_i redundant versions of data blocks that each HARQ process needs to schedule.

[0022] By sending the first instruction information, the auxiliary terminal device can know in advance the N_i redundant versions of the data that each HARQ process needs to schedule. By sending the data blocks of the N_i redundant versions that each HARQ process needs to schedule, the terminal device can merge and decode some or all of the data blocks of the N_i redundant versions that each HARQ process needs to schedule, thereby determining whether the data that each HARQ process needs to schedule has been successfully received. This can reduce transmission latency, improve transmission efficiency, and increase the success rate of merging and decoding by the terminal device.

[0023] In one possible design, a second indication is received. This second indication indicates whether the merging and decoding of data blocks from M_i redundant versions out of the N_i redundant versions to be scheduled by each HARQ process was successful. The second indication includes relevant information and acknowledgment information for the M_i redundant versions. The acknowledgment information indicates that the merging and decoding of data blocks from the M_i redundant versions was successful. Alternatively, the second indication includes negative information indicating that the merging and decoding of data blocks from the N_i redundant versions failed. M_i is a positive integer less than or equal to N_i. By receiving the second indication, the network device obtains ACK / NACK feedback corresponding to each HARQ process. Furthermore, the relevant information, acknowledgment information, and / or negative information for the M_i redundant versions carried in the second indication helps the network device perform downlink scheduling more accurately.

[0024] In another possible design, the first indication information is also used to indicate the merging order of the N_i redundant versions of the data blocks that each HARQ process needs to schedule. This is beneficial for both improving the success rate of merging and decoding by the terminal device and for the terminal device to provide feedback to the network device on the redundant version information corresponding to successful merging and decoding.

[0025] In another possible design, the relevant information for the M_i redundant versions includes the last redundant version among the M redundant versions. This helps network devices obtain the redundant version information corresponding to successful merging and decoding, thereby assisting network devices in performing downlink scheduling more accurately.

[0026] In another possible design, M_i is a positive integer less than N_i; based on the channel state, K redundant versions of the data to be scheduled next are determined, where K is a positive integer less than N_i. By using the information about the M_i redundant versions carried in the channel state and the second indication information, the network device can dynamically and flexibly schedule the number of redundant versions of the data to be transmitted next, ensuring transmission reliability while reducing network resource consumption.

[0027] In another possible design, the second indication information also includes the identifier of each HARQ process. This helps network devices distinguish the ACK / NACK feedback corresponding to different HARQ processes.

[0028] In another possible design, the merging order is determined based on the bitrate of the transmitted data blocks. Determining the merging order allows the terminal device to decode in the optimal order, thereby improving the success rate of merging and decoding.

[0029] In another possible design, the first indication information is also used to indicate the frequency domain resource information and / or time domain resource information of the N_i redundant versions of the data block that each HARQ process needs to schedule. This facilitates the terminal device in subsequently receiving data blocks from the network device based on the corresponding frequency domain resource information and / or time domain resource information.

[0030] In another possible design, the frequency domain resource information and / or the time domain resource information includes multiple carriers; data blocks of the same or different redundancy versions among the N_i redundant versions of data blocks that each HARQ process needs to schedule are mapped onto the multiple carriers. By mapping data blocks of the same or different redundancy versions onto different carriers for transmission, the multi-carrier scheduling capability of the terminal device can be fully utilized, which is beneficial to improving the utilization rate of large bandwidth frequency domain resources. Furthermore, the frequency diversity gain of different carriers can be fully utilized to improve the reliability of data transmission.

[0031] In another possible design, the first indication information includes X_i bits, each bit corresponding to one of the X_i redundant versions that each HARQ process can schedule. The X_i bits are used to indicate the N_i redundant versions that need to be scheduled from the X_i redundant versions, where X_i is an integer greater than or equal to N_i. This allows the terminal device to know in advance the N_i redundant versions of data that each HARQ process needs to schedule.

[0032] In another possible design, the first indication information includes Y_i bits, where the values ​​corresponding to the Y_i bits are used to indicate the N_i redundant versions that each HARQ process needs to schedule, and Y_i is an integer greater than 0. This allows the terminal device to know in advance the N_i redundant versions of data that each HARQ process needs to schedule.

[0033] Thirdly, embodiments of this application provide a communication device configured to implement the methods and functions described in the first aspect. The communication device is implemented in hardware / software. It includes modules corresponding to the aforementioned functions. The communication device can be a terminal device, a chip, chip system, or processor that supports the implementation of the methods in the terminal device, or a logic node, logic module, or software capable of implementing all or part of the terminal device's functions.

[0034] Fourthly, embodiments of this application provide a communication device configured to implement the methods and functions described in the second aspect. The communication device is implemented in hardware / software. It includes modules corresponding to the aforementioned functions. The communication device can be a network device, a chip, chip system, or processor that supports the implementation of the methods in a network device, or a logical node, logical module, or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of a network device.

[0035] Fifthly, embodiments of this application provide a communication device, which includes one or more processors. The one or more processors enable the communication device to implement the methods in any possible design or implementation of the first aspect described above. The communication device can be a terminal device, a chip, chip system, or processor that supports the terminal device in implementing the above methods, or a logic node, logic module, or software capable of implementing all or part of the terminal device's functions.

[0036] In one possible design, the communication device may further include an interface circuit, wherein the processor is used to communicate with other devices or components through the interface circuit.

[0037] In one possible design, the communication device may further include a memory. The memory stores part or all of the computer program or instructions necessary to implement the functions described in the first aspect above. The one or more processors can execute the computer program or instructions, which, when executed, cause the communication device to implement the methods in any possible design or implementation of the first aspect above.

[0038] Sixthly, embodiments of this application provide a communication device, which includes one or more processors. The one or more processors enable the communication device to implement the methods in any possible design or implementation of the second aspect described above. The communication device can be a network device, a chip, chip system, or processor that supports the implementation of the above methods in a network device, or a logical node, logical module, or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of a network device.

[0039] In one possible design, the communication device may further include an interface circuit, wherein the processor is used to communicate with other devices or components through the interface circuit.

[0040] In one possible design, the communication device may further include the memory. The memory stores part or all of the computer program or instructions necessary to implement the functions described in the second aspect above. The one or more processors can execute the computer program or instructions, which, when executed, cause the communication device to implement the methods in any possible design or implementation of the second aspect above.

[0041] In a seventh aspect, embodiments of this application provide a communication system comprising at least one first device and at least one second device, wherein the first device is configured to perform the method described in the first aspect, and the second device is configured to perform the method described in the second aspect.

[0042] Eighthly, embodiments of this application provide a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the methods described above.

[0043] Ninthly, embodiments of this application provide a computer program product containing instructions that, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the methods described above.

[0044] In a tenth aspect, embodiments of this application provide a chip including a processor and a communication interface for communicating with external or internal devices, the processor enabling the chip to implement the methods described in the above aspects.

[0045] In one possible design, the chip may further include a memory storing computer programs or instructions, which the processor executes, either from the stored computer programs or instructions or derived from other programs or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are executed, the processor causes the chip to implement the methods described above.

[0046] In another possible design, the chip can be integrated into terminal devices or network devices. Attached Figure Description

[0047] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application or the background art, the accompanying drawings used in the embodiments of this application or the background art will be described below.

[0048] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system applicable to the communication method of this application embodiment;

[0049] Figure 2 is a timing diagram of HARQ process transmission;

[0050] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a data transmission method;

[0051] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of frequency domain resource scheduling;

[0052] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of another data transmission method;

[0053] Figure 6 is a flowchart illustrating a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0054] Figure 7 is a flowchart illustrating another communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0055] Figure 8 is an example diagram of data transmission provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0056] Figure 9 is a flowchart illustrating another communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0057] Figure 10 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0058] Figure 11 is a schematic diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0059] Figure 12 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0060] The following explanations of some of the terms used in this application are provided to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art.

[0061] 1. Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) process: A technology that combines forward error correction (FEC) and automatic repeat request (ARQ) for channel transmission fault tolerance. FEC corrects errors by adding redundant version information. For errors that FEC cannot resolve, ARQ follows up and continues to retransmit.

[0062] 2. Redundancy version (RV): The parser can merge data blocks carrying different redundant parts to increase the merging gain. Different redundant versions complement each other, making the merged information more comprehensive.

[0063] The embodiments of this application are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0064] It should be understood that in the description of this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "multiple" means two or more. In addition, the words "first," "second," etc., unless otherwise stated, are used only for the purpose of distinguishing descriptions and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or order.

[0065] It should be understood that in the description of this application, the indication includes direct indication (also known as explicit indication) and implicit indication. Direct indication information A refers to information A being included; implicit indication information A refers to information A being indicated through the correspondence between information A and information B, and the direct indication information B. The correspondence between information A and information B can be predefined, pre-stored, pre-burned, or pre-configured.

[0066] It should be understood that, in the description of this application, information C is used to determine information D, including both situations where information D is determined solely based on information C and situations where it is determined based on information C and other information. Furthermore, information C can also be used to determine information D indirectly, for example, where information D is determined based on information E, and information E is determined based on information C.

[0067] Furthermore, in this application, "network element A sends message A to network element B" can be understood as network element B being the destination of message A or an intermediate network element in the transmission path between the destination and network element B, which may include sending the message directly or indirectly to network element B. Similarly, "network element B receives message A from network element A" can be understood as network element A being the source of message A or an intermediate network element in the transmission path between the source and network element A, which may include receiving the message directly or indirectly from network element A. The message may undergo necessary processing between the source and destination, such as format changes, but the destination can understand a valid message from the source. Similar expressions in this application can be interpreted in a similar way and will not be elaborated further here.

[0068] The technical solutions provided in this application can be applied to various communication systems, such as 5th generation (5G) mobile communication systems, Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) systems, LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD) systems, Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) systems, or satellite communication systems. The technical solutions provided in this application can also be applied to device-to-device (D2D) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), and Internet of Things (IoT) communication systems or other communication systems. Furthermore, they can be applied to future communication systems or integrated systems of multiple systems.

[0069] The communication method described in this application can be applied to downlink signal transmission, uplink signal transmission, and D2D signal transmission. For downlink signal transmission, the transmitting device can be a network device, and the corresponding receiving device can be a terminal device. For uplink signal transmission, the transmitting device can be a terminal device, and the corresponding receiving device can be a network device. For D2D signal transmission, the transmitting device can be a terminal device, and the corresponding receiving device can also be a terminal device. This application does not limit the direction of signal transmission.

[0070] Optionally, network devices and terminal devices, as well as terminal devices, can communicate using licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or both.

[0071] Optionally, network devices and terminal devices, as well as terminal devices themselves, can communicate using spectrum below 6 GHz, spectrum above 6 GHz, or simultaneously using both. This application does not limit the spectrum resources used between network devices and terminal devices.

[0072] As exemplified, Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system applicable to the communication method of this application embodiment. The communication system may include at least one network device, such as network device 101 shown in Figure 1, and may also include at least one terminal device, such as terminal device 102 and terminal device 103 shown in Figure 1. The network device (e.g., network device 101) and the terminal devices (e.g., terminal device 102 and terminal device 103) can communicate via a wireless link. The communication devices in this communication system, for example, between network device 101 and terminal device 102, can communicate using multi-antenna technology.

[0073] It should be noted that Figure 1 is a simplified schematic diagram for ease of understanding. This communication system may also include other devices, such as wireless relay devices and / or wireless backhaul devices, which are not shown in Figure 1. In practical applications, this communication system may include multiple network devices or multiple terminal devices. This application embodiment does not limit the number of network devices and terminal devices in the communication system.

[0074] In the embodiments of this application, the terminal device may also be referred to as UE, access terminal, subscriber unit, user station, mobile station, mobile station (MS), remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal, wireless communication device, user agent, or user equipment.

[0075] Terminal devices can be devices that provide voice / data, such as handheld devices with wireless connectivity, in-vehicle devices, etc. Currently, some examples of terminals include: mobile phones, tablets, laptops, PDAs, mobile internet devices (MIDs), wearable devices, virtual reality (VR) devices, augmented reality (AR) devices, wireless terminals in industrial control, wireless terminals in self-driving cars, wireless terminals in remote medical surgery, wireless terminals in smart grids, wireless terminals in transportation safety, wireless terminals in smart cities, wireless terminals in smart homes, cellular phones, cordless phones, smartphones, wireless data cards, MTC terminals, session initiation protocol (SIP) phones, wireless local loop (WLL) stations, and personal digital assistants (PDAs). The embodiments of this application do not limit this to personal assistants (PDAs), handheld devices with wireless communication capabilities, computing devices or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem, wearable devices, terminal devices in 5G networks or terminal devices in future evolved public land mobile networks (PLMNs).

[0076] In this application embodiment, the communication device provided in the third aspect above can be understood as a device for implementing the functions of a terminal device. This device can be the terminal device itself, or a device capable of supporting the terminal device in implementing these functions, such as a chip, chip system, or processor. It can also be a logic node, logic module, or software capable of implementing all or part of the terminal device's functions. This device can be installed in the terminal device or used in conjunction with the terminal device. In this application embodiment, the chip system can be composed of chips or may include chips and other discrete devices. In this application embodiment, the terminal device is used as an example to illustrate the device for implementing the functions of the terminal device, and this does not constitute a limitation on the solution of this application embodiment.

[0077] The network side in this application embodiment may include network devices, which include devices for communicating with terminal devices. These network devices include access network devices or radio access network (RAN) devices, such as base stations, transmitting and receiving points (TRPs); or operation administration and maintenance (OAM) devices or core network (CN) devices. In this application embodiment, the access network device may refer to a RAN node (or device) that connects the terminal device to the wireless network. A base station can broadly encompass, or be replaced by, various names including: Node B, eNB, next generation node B (gNB), relay station, access point, TRP, transmitting point (TP), master station, auxiliary station, motor slide retainer (MSR) node, home base station, network controller, access node, wireless node, access point (AP), transmission node, transceiver node, baseband unit (BBU), remote radio unit (RRU), active antenna unit (AAU), remote radio head (RRH), central unit (CU), distributed unit (DU), radio unit (RU), positioning node, etc. A base station can be a macro base station, micro base station, relay node, donor node, or a combination thereof. A base station can also refer to a communication module, modem, or chip installed within the aforementioned equipment or apparatus. Base stations can also be mobile switching centers, devices that perform base station functions in D2D, V2X, and M2M communications, network-side devices in 6G networks, and devices that perform base station functions in future communication systems. Base stations can support networks using the same or different access technologies. Optionally, RAN nodes can also be servers, wearable devices, vehicles, or in-vehicle equipment. For example, access network equipment in V2X technology can be roadside units (RSUs). The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technologies or equipment forms used in the network devices.

[0078] In this application embodiment, the communication device provided in the fourth aspect above can be understood as a device for implementing the functions of a network device. This device can be a network device itself, or a device capable of supporting the network device in implementing these functions, such as a chip system, hardware circuit, software module, or a combination of hardware circuit and software module. It can also be a logical node, logical module, or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of a network device. This device can be installed in a network device or used in conjunction with a network device. In this application embodiment, only the network device as an example of a device for implementing the functions of a network device is used for illustration, and it does not constitute a limitation on the solutions of this application embodiment.

[0079] Network devices and / or terminal devices can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; they can also be deployed on water; and they can also be deployed in the air on airplanes, balloons, and satellites. This application does not limit the scenario in which the network devices and terminal devices are located. Furthermore, terminal devices and network devices can be hardware devices, or software functions running on dedicated hardware or general-purpose hardware, such as virtualization functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform), or entities that include dedicated or general-purpose hardware devices and software functions. This application does not limit the specific form of the terminal devices and network devices.

[0080] Currently, existing NR communication transmission mechanisms can employ HARQ retransmission in a multi-process environment. In this mechanism, multiple processes send data sequentially. After sending a data packet, each process pauses and waits for ACK / NACK feedback before deciding whether to transmit new data or retransmit existing data. In actual transmission, each HARQ process provides ACK / NACK feedback at a specified time on the network. Before receiving ACK / NACK feedback, the same process cannot send data again, leading to a decrease in throughput.

[0081] For example, as shown in Figure 2, which is a timing diagram of a HARQ process transmission, the NR system uses a 30 kHz sub-carrier space (SCS) for transmission in 8 HARQ processes. In Figure 2, "1-10" represents the slot number; "D" represents the downlink slot; "S" represents the special slot; "U" represents the uplink slot; "K1" represents the delay between the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) data and the corresponding ACK / NACK feedback, calculated in slots. For example, "K1=8" means that the delay between the PDSCH data and the ACK / NACK feedback is 8 slots.

[0082] In the transmission timing diagram in Figure 2, the terminal device receives the PDSCH data corresponding to HARQ process 1 in the downlink slot numbered "1". After a feedback delay of 8 slots, the terminal device sends the ACK / NACK feedback corresponding to HARQ process 1 in the uplink slot numbered "9". The terminal device receives the PDSCH data corresponding to HARQ process 2 in the downlink slot numbered "2". After a feedback delay of 7 slots, the terminal device sends the corresponding ACK / NACK feedback corresponding to HARQ process 2 in the uplink slot numbered "9". And so on, which will not be elaborated here.

[0083] Among them, the above 8 HARQ processes send data in sequence according to the downlink slot numbers "1-8".

[0084] It's important to note that the network device will only retransmit data if the terminal device sends a NACK response. Under the NR incremental redundancy retransmission merging mechanism, each retransmission carries a different redundant version, which can lead to significant transmission latency during retransmissions. For example, four retransmissions require four RTTs to complete.

[0085] For a set of physical uplink control channels (PUCCH) under carrier aggregation (CA) of FR1-FR2, since the FR2 carrier feedback is limited by the FR1 TDD pattern, under the current protocol which specifies a maximum of 16 HARQ processes, some FR2 slots cannot be scheduled and are wasted; however, more HARQ processes may lead to greater feedback delay.

[0086] Each HARQ process can only transmit one transport block (TB) at a time. In spatial division multiplexing, only when the number of antenna layers in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system is greater than four can two TB blocks be transmitted in parallel within a transmission time interval (TTI). Under high bandwidth and light network load conditions, this transmission method leads to underutilization of network spectrum resources, reducing network throughput.

[0087] In LTE systems and the NR Release 15 protocol, single-frequency network (SFN) technology can be used for data transmission. This means that in multi-TRP scenarios, a single dynamic control information (DCI) indicates a TB block, and two TRPs transmit the same data, resulting in a merging gain for the terminal at the physical layer. With the continuous development of communication technology, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Release 16 protocol introduced multi-DCI, multi-TRP transmission methods. More specifically, X DCIs schedule X PDSCH channels respectively; currently, the 3GPP Release-16 protocol supports X=2. When two DCIs schedule two PDSCHs respectively, the scheduling information for different TRPs is carried in different PDCCH scheduling.

[0088] Figure 3 illustrates a data transmission method. Specifically, TRP1 sends DCI1 and data1 to the terminal device, and TRP2 sends DCI2 and data2 to the terminal device. DCI1 and DCI2 are downlink (DL) control information transmitted via the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). One PDCCH schedules one TRP's PDSCH. data1 and data2 are DL data transmitted via the PDSCH. TRP1 and TRP2 can transmit the same or different data (i.e., data1 and data2 can be the same or different), and the terminal device demodulates the data independently.

[0089] Figure 4 shows a schematic diagram of frequency domain resource scheduling. The frequency domain resource scheduling of the two PDSCHs in Figure 3 can be completely non-overlapping, partially overlapping, or completely overlapping.

[0090] When multiple TRPs are transmitted, the terminal device can still only send and receive data on the same active Bandwidth Part (BWP). The SCS of multiple PDSCHs must be the same. At the same time, the number of code words (CW) that the terminal device can support is consistent with the Release-15 protocol, with a maximum of 2 code words.

[0091] Release-16 also introduces five transmission methods for single DCI and multi-TRP under ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC) enhancement to improve transmission reliability. Multiple TRPs transmit multiple copies of the same TB block, effectively achieving diversity gain and significantly enhancing channel reliability. Figure 5 illustrates another data transmission method. Figure 5 includes the five URLLC-enhanced single DCI and multi-TRP transmission methods mentioned above, namely method 1a, method 2a, method 2b, method 3, and method 4. Details are as follows:

[0092] (1) Method 1a: Based on the space division multiplexing (SDM) algorithm, two transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states are indicated in the same slot. Different streams occupy overlapping time and frequency resources. Each TRP can transmit a maximum of 2 streams. That is, the possible multi-stream combination transmission methods are: Rank 1+1, 1+2, 2+1, 2+2. The modulation and coding scheme (MCS) between different streams is the same. Each stream set is associated with one TCI and a set of demodulation reference signal (DMRS) ports. One redundant version is used in the stream set.

[0093] (2) Method 2a: Based on the frequency division multiplexing (FDM) algorithm, multiple TCI states are indicated within the same slot, and the frequency domain resources do not overlap. Resource allocation is associated with TCI, and a single redundant version is used between different frequency domain resource allocations.

[0094] (3) Method 2b: Based on the FDM algorithm, multiple TCI states are indicated within the same slot, and the frequency domain resources do not overlap. Resource allocation is associated with TCI, and multiple redundant versions can be used between different frequency domain resource allocations. For example, two redundant versions can be {0,2}, {2,3}, {3,1} or {1,0}.

[0095] (4) Method 3: Based on the time-division transmission algorithm, multiple TCIs are configured in one slot and the resource allocation does not overlap in the time domain. Each transmission occasion has the same TCI and redundant version. The redundant version and TCI between different transmission occasions can be the same or different. All transmission occasions have the same one or more DMRS ports and the same MCS.

[0096] (5) Method 4: Based on the time-division transmission algorithm, multiple TCI states are configured in multiple different slots; each transmission occasion has the same TCI and redundant version, and the redundant version and TCI between different transmission occasions can be the same or different; all transmission occasions have the same one or more DMRS ports and the same MCS.

[0097] Among them, the above five single DCI and multi-TRP transmission methods can be applied to URLLC services.

[0098] Regarding the ACK / NACK feedback of the HARQ process, compared to the normal HARQ feedback timing in the Release-15 protocol, which is based on the PDSCH scheduling order, the Release-16 protocol relaxes the scheduling time limit between two TRPs to solve the out-of-order problem caused by multiple TRPs under non-ideal transmission delays. The gNB does not need to closely coordinate scheduling decisions, which means it supports out-of-order scheduling of mDCI and PDSCH, as well as out-of-order HARQ-ACK feedback. However, the HARQ-ACK codebook format has not changed, and the actual HARQ-ACK feedback is still per TB per HARQ process.

[0099] Furthermore, the 3GPP protocol defines scheduling based on the transmission and feedback of each HARQ process data block under each component carrier (CC). Different data blocks are scheduled to be transmitted on different CCs, and each CC has independent HARQ-ACK feedback.

[0100] However, the above data transmission methods have the following disadvantages: (1) They are mainly designed for multi-TRP scenarios; (2) When multiple DCIs are scheduled, at the same time, a maximum of two CWs can be transmitted under two DCIs, and the corresponding HARQ-ACK feedback codebook is the same as that of single DCI scheduling; (3) When single DCIs are scheduled, without the configuration of code block group (CBG) transmission, it mainly transmits multiple copies of a TB, and there is only one HARQ-ACK feedback to indicate the final transmission result; (4) The UE can only transmit and receive data on the same active BWP. When single CC is scheduled, the SCS of multiple PDSCHs must be the same; (5) When the UE can support the simultaneous scheduling of multiple carriers, it generally does not schedule multiple CCs to transmit the same or different redundant versions of the same data blocks at the same time.

[0101] To address the aforementioned technical problems, the embodiments of this application provide the following solutions.

[0102] The embodiments of this application can be applied to single TRP scenarios or multiple TRP scenarios, and this application does not limit them. In addition, terminal device can refer to one of multiple terminal devices, and network device can refer to one of multiple network devices. The embodiments of this application only use terminal devices and network devices as examples for illustration, and do not limit the number or type of terminal devices and network devices.

[0103] As shown in Figure 6, Figure 6 is a flowchart illustrating a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application. This communication method includes, but is not limited to, the following steps:

[0104] S601: The network device sends a first indication information to the terminal device. The first indication information is used to indicate N_i redundant versions of the data that each HARQ process in the P HARQ processes needs to schedule, where P is an integer greater than 0, N_i is an integer greater than 0, and i is a positive integer less than or equal to P.

[0105] The N_i redundant versions may include at least one of the following: RV0 version, RV1 version, RV2 version, or RV3 version. The first indication information can be carried and transmitted by signaling, and the first indication information can also be predefined by the protocol. The signaling here can be physical layer signaling or higher layer signaling, which is not limited in this application.

[0106] In one possible implementation, N_i is an integer greater than 1. For example, the first indication information can be used to indicate two redundant versions of the data that HARQ process 1 needs to schedule and three redundant versions of the data that HARQ process 2 needs to schedule. The two redundant versions corresponding to HARQ process 1 can include RV0 version and RV2 version, and the three redundant versions corresponding to HARQ process 2 can include RV0 version, RV2 version and RV3 version.

[0107] In one possible implementation, the network device sends a first indication message to the terminal device. The first indication message may include N_i redundant versions of the data that each of the P HARQ processes needs to schedule.

[0108] In another possible implementation, the network device and the terminal device obtain a mapping relationship between redundant version combinations and indexes. The mapping relationship includes multiple redundant version combinations, with different redundant version combinations corresponding to different indexes. Each redundant version combination includes at least one redundant version. The network device sends first indication information to the terminal device. The first indication information may include the index of the redundant version combination of data to be scheduled by each of the P HARQ processes. After receiving the index of the redundant version combination of data to be scheduled by each HARQ process, the terminal device determines the N_i redundant versions of the data to be scheduled by each HARQ process through the mapping relationship between the redundant version combinations and the indexes.

[0109] The index can be replaced by an index; the mapping relationship between redundant version combinations and the index can be predefined, pre-stored, pre-burned, or pre-configured. Predefined can include predefined terms, such as protocol definitions. Alternatively, the mapping relationship can be configured or pre-configured. Pre-configuration can be achieved by pre-saving the corresponding code, tables, or other means that can be used to indicate relevant information in the device. This application does not limit the specific implementation method.

[0110] Optionally, the network device may arbitrarily select a redundant version combination from the mapping relationship between redundant version combinations and indexes as N_i redundant versions of the data that one or more HARQ processes in P HARQ processes need to schedule. Alternatively, it may select N_i redundant versions of the data that each HARQ process in P HARQ processes needs to schedule from the mapping relationship between redundant version combinations and indexes according to actual application requirements. This application does not impose any restrictions.

[0111] For example, the mapping relationship between redundant version combinations and indices can be shown in Table 1. This mapping relationship includes multiple redundant version combinations, such as redundant version combination 1, redundant version combination 2, and so on. Specifically, the index of redundant version combination 1 is "1", and the N_i redundant versions corresponding to redundant version combination 1 include version RV0; the index of redundant version combination 2 is "2", and the N_i redundant versions corresponding to redundant version combination 2 include versions RV0 and RV2; the index of redundant version combination 3 is "3", and the N_i redundant versions corresponding to redundant version combination 3 include versions RV0, RV2, and RV3; the index of redundant version combination 4 is "4", and the N_i redundant versions corresponding to redundant version combination 4 include versions RV0, RV2, RV3, and RV1; the index of redundant version combination 5 is "5", and the N_i redundant versions corresponding to redundant version combination 5 include versions RV0 and RV3. Other combinations are similar and will not be elaborated here.

[0112] Table 1

[0113] For example, if the redundant version combination of data to be scheduled by HARQ process 1 in P HARQ processes is the redundant version combination 2 in Table 1, then the network device sends a first indication information to the terminal device. The first indication information includes index "2". After receiving the first indication information, the terminal device determines the two redundant versions of the data to be scheduled by HARQ process 1 according to index "2". The two redundant versions include RV0 version and RV2 version.

[0114] Optionally, the first indication information may also include Y_i bits, the values ​​corresponding to Y_i bits being used to indicate the N_i redundant versions that each HARQ process needs to schedule, where Y_i is an integer greater than 0.

[0115] For example, multiple redundant version combinations include {0}, {0,2}, {0,2,3}, and {0,2,3,1}, where {0} is the first redundant version combination, {0,2} is the second, {0,2,3} is the third, and {0,2,3,1} is the fourth. The first indication information includes 2i bits. If the value of the 2i bits is "00", then the first indication information is used to indicate {0}, that is, the i-th HARQ process among P HARQ processes needs to schedule one redundant version, and the one redundant version is RV0 version. If the 2i bits are all 00, then the first indication information is used to indicate {0}, that is, the i-th HARQ process among P HARQ processes needs to schedule one redundant version, and the one redundant version is RV0 version. If the value of the 2_i bits is "01", then the first indication information is used to indicate {0,2}, that is, the i-th HARQ process needs to schedule 2 redundant versions, including RV0 and RV2; if the value of the 2_i bits is "10", then the first indication information is used to indicate {0,2,3}, that is, the i-th HARQ process needs to schedule 3 redundant versions, including RV0, RV2 and RV3; if the value of the 2_i bits is "11", then the first indication information is used to indicate {0,2,3,1}, that is, the i-th HARQ process needs to schedule 4 redundant versions, including RV0, RV1, RV2 and RV3.

[0116] Optionally, the first indication information may also include X_i bits, where each bit corresponds to one of the X_i redundant versions that each HARQ process can schedule. The X_i bits are used to indicate the N_i redundant versions that need to be scheduled from the X_i redundant versions, where X_i is an integer greater than or equal to N_i.

[0117] For example, in P HARQ processes, the i-th HARQ process can schedule four redundant versions, including RV0, RV1, RV2, and RV3. The first indication information can include 4_i bits. If the 4_i bits are "1000", the first indication information indicates that the i-th HARQ process needs to schedule one redundant version, which is RV0. If the 4_i bits are "1010", the first indication information indicates that the i-th HARQ process needs to schedule two redundant versions. There are two redundant versions, namely RV0 and RV2. If the 4_i bits are "1011", the first indication information is used to indicate that the i-th HARQ process needs to schedule three redundant versions, namely RV0, RV2 and RV3. If the 4_i bits are "1111", the first indication information is used to indicate that the i-th HARQ process needs to schedule four redundant versions, namely RV0, RV1, RV2 and RV3.

[0118] S602: Based on the first instruction information, the network device sends the N_i redundant versions of the data block that each HARQ process needs to schedule to the terminal device.

[0119] The N_i redundant versions of data blocks that each HARQ process needs to schedule are determined based on a TB block under that HARQ process.

[0120] Specifically, network devices send data blocks in two main ways: Case 1, the network device can send multiple redundant versions of a data block for a single HARQ process; Case 2, the network device can send multiple redundant versions of a data block for a single data block for each of multiple HARQ processes.

[0121] The specific process of the network device sending data blocks can be referred to the corresponding description in the method embodiments shown in Figures 7-9, and will not be described in detail here.

[0122] It should be noted that if the method shown in Figure 6 is applied to a single TRP scenario, then all HARQ processes and data blocks with different redundancy versions have the same TCI state. The first indication information is also used to indicate a single TCI state within the same slot. Compared with the single DCI and multi-TRP transmission methods in the prior art (as shown in modes 1a, 2a, 2b, 3 and 4 in Figure 5), the terminal device only needs to track a single TCI state to receive data blocks with different redundancy versions of all HARQ processes, which helps to reduce the operational complexity of the terminal device.

[0123] In this embodiment, by sending a first indication message, the network device helps the terminal device to know in advance the N_i redundant versions of the data that each HARQ process needs to schedule. By sending the data blocks of the N_i redundant versions that each HARQ process needs to schedule, the network device helps the terminal device to merge and decode some or all of the data blocks of the N_i redundant versions that each HARQ process needs to schedule, thereby determining whether the data that each HARQ process needs to schedule has been successfully received. This can improve the success rate of merging and decoding by the terminal device, reduce transmission latency, and improve transmission efficiency.

[0124] As shown in Figure 7, Figure 7 is a flowchart illustrating another communication method provided in an embodiment of this application. The details are as follows.

[0125] In this scenario, network devices transmit multiple redundant versions of a TB block under a single HARQ process in parallel. The terminal device merges and decodes the data blocks of different redundant versions and returns ACK / NACK feedback for the process, instead of the traditional method of feeding back the decoding results of different redundant versions of the data blocks according to the order of their transmission time. This helps to reduce transmission latency.

[0126] The steps in the embodiments of this application include at least the following:

[0127] S701: The network device sends a first indication message to the terminal device. The first indication message is used to indicate N redundant versions of data that a certain HARQ process needs to schedule, where N is an integer greater than 0.

[0128] For example, the first indication information can be used to indicate four redundant versions of the data that HARQ process 1 needs to schedule, and the four redundant versions may include RV0 version, RV1 version, RV2 version and RV3 version.

[0129] The specific implementation of step S701 is the same as that of step S601 in the previous embodiment, and can be referred to step S601, which will not be repeated here.

[0130] S702: Based on the first instruction information, the network device sends the N redundant versions of data blocks that the HARQ process needs to schedule to the terminal device.

[0131] Optionally, the first indication information is also used to indicate the frequency domain resource information and / or time domain resource information of the N redundant versions of data blocks that the HARQ process needs to schedule.

[0132] The frequency domain resource information and / or time domain resource information may include the frequency domain range and / or time domain range of the N redundant versions of data blocks that the HARQ process needs to schedule and the corresponding allocation strategy. Alternatively, the frequency domain resource information and / or time domain resource information may also include the frequency domain range and / or time domain range of each redundant version of data block that the HARQ process needs to schedule. This application does not limit this.

[0133] Optionally, network devices can also determine frequency domain resource information based on the frequency band currently hosted by the terminal device and the supported transmission bandwidth.

[0134] For example, if the terminal device is currently camped on the n1 frequency band and supports a maximum transmission bandwidth of 30MHz, the network device can transmit data blocks of HARQ process 1 within the 1920MHz–1950MHz frequency domain of the n1 band. If HARQ process 1 needs to schedule three redundant versions of data blocks, the frequency domain resource information can include the 1920MHz–1950MHz frequency domain range and an allocation strategy that divides the frequency domain range evenly from low to high. Alternatively, the frequency domain resource information can also include the three frequency domain ranges of 1920MHz–1930MHz, 1930MHz–1940MHz, and 1940MHz–1950MHz.

[0135] Optionally, the time-domain resource information may include the starting point of the redundant version data block transmission, the total length of all redundant version data block transmissions, and the allocation strategy for each redundant version to evenly divide the time-domain range. This allocation method is suitable for continuous transmission of data blocks with different redundant versions. Alternatively, the time-domain resource information may also include the starting point and transmission duration of each redundant version data transmission. This allocation method is suitable for continuous and / or non-continuous transmission of data blocks with different redundant versions.

[0136] Optionally, the frequency domain resource information and / or time domain resource information may also include multiple carriers; the network device may map data blocks of the same or different redundancy versions among the N redundancy versions of data blocks that the HARQ process needs to schedule to multiple carriers.

[0137] As shown in Figure 8, which is an example diagram of data transmission provided in an embodiment of this application, the data block of RV0 version of HARQ process 1 can be transmitted via f2 / CC2 at time t1 and via f4 / CC4 at time t3. The data block of RV1 version of HARQ process 1 can be transmitted via f3 / CC3 at time t2. The data block of RV2 version of HARQ process 1 can be transmitted via f1 / CC1 at time t1 and via f3 / CC3 at time t3. The data block of RV3 version of HARQ process 1 can be transmitted via f4 / CC4 at time t2. By mapping different redundant versions of data blocks onto different carriers for transmission at different times, and utilizing the frequency domain diversity of different carriers and the time diversity gain at different transmission times, a more reliable transmission effect can be obtained.

[0138] S703: The terminal device merges and decodes the data blocks of M redundant versions out of the N redundant versions that the HARQ process needs to schedule, where M is a positive integer less than or equal to N.

[0139] Optionally, the first indication information is also used to indicate the merging order of the N redundant versions of data blocks that the HARQ process needs to schedule. The merging order can be predefined or preconfigured, or it can be determined by the network device based on the bit rate of the transmitted data blocks.

[0140] For example, HARQ process 1 needs to schedule four redundant versions of data blocks. If the bit rate of the data blocks transmitted by the network device to HARQ process 1 is less than or equal to 4 / 9, the merging order is {0,3,2,1}. If the bit rate of the data blocks transmitted by the network device to HARQ process 1 is greater than 4 / 9, the merging order is {0,2,3,1}.

[0141] Specifically, after receiving a data block, the terminal device can decode some or all of the redundant versions of the data block from the N redundant versions that the HARQ process needs to schedule, according to the merging order, so as to obtain the ACK / NACK feedback corresponding to the HARQ process.

[0142] For example, HARQ process 1 needs to schedule data blocks of versions RV0, RV2, and RV3. The merging order for HARQ process 1 is {0,3,2}. Following the {0,3,2} merging order, the terminal device can directly decode the received data block of version RV0 from HARQ process 1. If decoding fails, it merges and decodes the received data blocks of versions RV0 and RV3 from HARQ process 1. If merging and decoding still fails, it merges and decodes the received data blocks of versions RV0, RV3, and RV2 from HARQ process 1 again. If merging and decoding still fails, then HARQ process 1... The terminal device can either respond with a NACK feedback or directly merge and decode the received data blocks of RV0 and RV3 from HARQ process 1. If merging and decoding fails, it can then merge and decode the received data blocks of RV0, RV3, and RV2 from HARQ process 1. If merging and decoding still fails, HARQ process 1 can respond with a NACK feedback.

[0143] S704: The terminal device sends a second instruction message to the network device.

[0144] Here, the second indication information is used to indicate whether the merging and decoding of data blocks from M redundant versions out of the N redundant versions that the HARQ process needs to schedule has been successful. The second indication information may include relevant information about the M redundant versions and confirmation information. The relevant information about the M redundant versions may be the last redundant version among the M redundant versions, and the confirmation information is used to indicate that the merging and decoding of data blocks from the M redundant versions has been successful. Alternatively, the second indication information may also include negative information, which is used to indicate that the merging and decoding of data blocks from the N redundant versions has failed, where M is a positive integer less than or equal to N.

[0145] Specifically, based on the ACK / NACK feedback corresponding to the HARQ process, the terminal device generates a second indication message. By sending the second indication message, the network device determines whether the terminal device has successfully received the data that the HARQ process needs to schedule.

[0146] For example, HARQ process 1 needs to schedule 4 redundant versions of data blocks, and the merging order of HARQ process 1 is {0,3,2,1}. If the terminal device successfully decodes 3 redundant versions of data blocks of HARQ process 1, then the relevant information of the M redundant versions is RV2 version.

[0147] Optionally, the relevant information for the M redundant versions can also be for each of the M redundant versions.

[0148] For example, HARQ process 1 needs to schedule 4 redundant versions of data blocks, and the merging order of HARQ process 1 is {0,3,2,1}. If the terminal device successfully decodes 3 redundant versions of data blocks of HARQ process 1, then the relevant information of the M redundant versions is RV0 version, RV3 version and RV2 version.

[0149] Optionally, the feedback format for the second indication information can be {RV,ACK / NACK}.

[0150] For example, HARQ process 1 needs to schedule RV0, RV2, and RV3 versions. If the terminal device successfully merges and decodes the data blocks of RV0 version, the second indication information includes {RV0,ACK}. If the terminal device fails to merge and decode the data blocks of RV0, RV2, and RV3 versions, the second indication information includes {NACK}. Here, NACK means that the terminal device has failed to merge and decode all data blocks of the three redundant versions that HARQ process 1 needs to schedule. In other words, the terminal device has failed to receive the data that HARQ process 1 needs to schedule, and the network device needs to retransmit the data.

[0151] Optionally, if M is a positive integer less than N, then the network device can schedule K redundant versions of the data next time, where K is a positive integer less than N.

[0152] For example, HARQ process 1 needs to schedule redundant versions of data including RV0, RV2, RV3 and RV1. If the terminal device successfully merges and decodes the data blocks of RV0, RV2 and RV3 in HARQ process 1, the network device can choose to schedule fewer data blocks of RV1 in the next scheduling based on the channel status of the terminal device, so as to save network resources.

[0153] In this embodiment, under high bandwidth conditions, network devices can fully utilize network resources and reduce transmission latency by transmitting different redundant versions of data blocks. Terminal devices can provide feedback on the corresponding redundant version and ACK corresponding to successful merging and decoding, instead of the traditional method of providing ACK / NACK feedback for different redundant versions of data blocks in the order they were sent. This reduces feedback latency and helps network devices perform more accurate downlink scheduling. Furthermore, for terminal devices supporting multi-carrier scheduling, the success of the HARQ process is determined by transmitting the same or different redundant versions of data blocks on multiple carriers at the same or different times, and by partially / fully merging and decoding the redundant versions of data blocks transmitted on different carriers. This is in contrast to the traditional method of transmitting completely different data on different carriers without the ability to merge and decode, which improves frequency domain resource utilization and transmission reliability.

[0154] It should be noted that the method shown in Figure 7 is for network devices to transmit multiple redundant versions of a TB block under a single HARQ process. In addition, network devices can also transmit multiple redundant versions of a TB block under each of multiple HARQ processes.

[0155] As shown in Figure 9, Figure 9 is a flowchart illustrating another communication method provided in an embodiment of this application. The details are as follows.

[0156] In this scenario, network devices transmit multiple redundant versions of a TB block in each of the multiple HARQ processes in parallel. To ensure timely feedback, the ACK / NACK feedbacks of the corresponding multiple HARQ processes can be sent simultaneously in one slot, which helps to improve data transmission efficiency and reduce feedback latency.

[0157] The steps in the embodiments of this application include at least the following:

[0158] S901: The network device sends a first indication message to the terminal device. The first indication message is used to indicate N_i redundant versions of the data that each HARQ process in the P HARQ processes needs to schedule, where P is an integer greater than 1, N_i is an integer greater than 0, and i is a positive integer less than or equal to P.

[0159] The specific implementation of step S901 is the same as that of step S601 in the above embodiment, and can be referred to step S601, which will not be repeated here.

[0160] S902: Based on the first instruction information, the network device sends the N_i redundant versions of the data block that each HARQ process needs to schedule to the terminal device.

[0161] Optionally, the first indication information is also used to indicate the frequency domain resource information and / or time domain resource information of the N_i redundant versions of data blocks that each HARQ process needs to schedule.

[0162] For example, P HARQ processes include HARQ process 1 and HARQ process 2. The first indication information can indicate the frequency domain resource information and / or time domain resource information of the N_1 redundant versions of data blocks that HARQ process 1 needs to schedule, and the frequency domain resource information and / or time domain resource information of the N_2 redundant versions of data blocks that HARQ process 2 needs to schedule.

[0163] Optionally, the frequency domain resource information and / or time domain resource information may also include multiple carriers; the network device may map the same or different redundant versions of data blocks from the N_i redundant versions of data blocks that each HARQ process needs to schedule to multiple carriers at the same time or at different times.

[0164] S903: The terminal device merges and decodes the data blocks of M_i redundant versions out of the N_i redundant versions that need to be scheduled for each HARQ process, where M_i is a positive integer less than or equal to N_i.

[0165] Optionally, the first indication information is also used to indicate the merging order of the N_i redundant versions of data blocks that each HARQ process needs to schedule.

[0166] For example, P HARQ processes include HARQ process 1, HARQ process 2, and HARQ process 3. HARQ process 1 needs to schedule 3 redundant versions of data blocks, HARQ process 2 needs to schedule 4 redundant versions of data blocks, and HARQ process 3 needs to schedule 3 redundant versions of data blocks. The first indication information can indicate that the merge order corresponding to HARQ process 1 is {0,3,2}, the merge order corresponding to HARQ process 2 is {0,3,2,1}, and the merge order corresponding to HARQ process 3 is {0,3,2}.

[0167] Specifically, after receiving data blocks of different redundant versions, the terminal device can decode some or all of the data blocks of the N_i redundant versions that each HARQ process needs to schedule, according to the merging order corresponding to each HARQ process, so as to obtain the ACK / NACK feedback corresponding to each HARQ process.

[0168] S904: The terminal device sends a second instruction message to the network device.

[0169] Here, the second indication information is used to indicate whether the data block merging and decoding of M_i redundant versions out of the N_i redundant versions that each HARQ process needs to schedule is successful; the second indication information may include relevant information and confirmation information of the M_i redundant versions, the relevant information of the M_i redundant versions may be the last redundant version among the M_i redundant versions, the confirmation information is used to indicate that the data block merging and decoding of the M_i redundant versions is successful, and / or the second indication information includes negative information, the negative information is used to indicate that the data block merging and decoding of the N_i redundant versions fails, and M_i is a positive integer less than or equal to N_i.

[0170] Specifically, the terminal device generates a second indication message based on the ACK / NACK feedback corresponding to each HARQ process. By sending the second indication message, the network device can determine whether the terminal device has successfully received the data that each HARQ process needs to schedule.

[0171] Optionally, the relevant information for the M_i redundant versions can also be for each of the M_i redundant versions.

[0172] Optionally, in order to distinguish the ACK / NACK feedback corresponding to different HARQ processes, the second indication information may also include the identifier of each HARQ process.

[0173] For example, the ACK / NACK feedback for each HARQ process in multiple HARQ processes can be as shown in Table 2. For instance, multiple HARQ processes may include HARQ process 0, HARQ process 1, ... Specifically, the ACK / NACK feedback after decoding the RV0 version data block of HARQ process 0 is ACK; the ACK / NACK feedback after decoding the RV0 version data block of HARQ process 1 is NACK; and the ACK / NACK feedback after merging and decoding the RV0 version data block and the RV2 version data block of HARQ process 1 is ACK. Here, ACK feedback indicates successful merging and decoding, while NACK feedback indicates merging and decoding failure.

[0174] The ACK / NACK feedback after decoding the RV0 version data block of HARQ process 2 is NACK. The ACK / NACK feedback after merging and decoding the RV0 version data block and the RV2 version data block of HARQ process 2 is NACK. The ACK / NACK feedback after merging and decoding the RV0 version data block, the RV2 version data block and the RV3 version data block of HARQ process 2 is ACK.

[0175] The ACK / NACK feedback after decoding the RV0 version data block of HARQ process 3 is NACK. The ACK / NACK feedback after merging and decoding the RV0 version data block and the RV2 version data block of HARQ process 3 is NACK. The ACK / NACK feedback after merging and decoding the RV0 version data block, the RV2 version data block and the RV3 version data block of HARQ process 3 is NACK. The ACK / NACK feedback after merging and decoding the RV0 version data block, the RV2 version data block, the RV3 version data block and the RV1 version data block of HARQ process 3 is ACK.

[0176] The ACK / NACK feedback after decoding the RV0 version data block of HARQ process 4 is NACK. The ACK / NACK feedback after merging and decoding the RV0 version data block and the RV2 version data block of HARQ process 4 is NACK. The ACK / NACK feedback after merging and decoding the RV0 version data block, the RV2 version data block, and the RV3 version data block of HARQ process 4 is NACK. The ACK / NACK feedback after merging and decoding the RV0 version data block, the RV2 version data block, the RV3 version data block, and the RV1 version data block of HARQ process 4 is NACK. Other similar processes will not be elaborated here.

[0177] Table 2

[0178] For example, the feedback format for each HARQ process in Table 2 above can be {HARQ ID, RV, ACK / NACK}. That is, the second indication information can include {HARQ 0, RV0, ACK}, {HARQ 1, RV2, ACK}, {HARQ 2, RV3, ACK}, {HARQ 3, RV1, ACK}, and {HARQ 4, NACK}. Here, NACK means that the terminal device has failed to merge and decode all data blocks in the four redundant versions that HARQ process 4 needs to schedule, and the network device needs to retransmit the data that HARQ process 4 needs to schedule.

[0179] Optionally, the ACK / NACK feedback for multiple HARQ processes can also be a "sequence of bit string". Here, the "sequence" size represents the number of HARQ processes, and the "bit string" has the same format as the redundant version indicated by the first indication information, such as {0}, {0,2}, {0,2,3}, or {0,2,3,1}. The "bit" corresponding to each redundant version is set to NACK by default. When the terminal device sends the merged and decoded ACK / NACK feedback to the network device, the network device needs to check the ACK / NACK corresponding to each redundant version. If the "bit" corresponding to a certain redundant version is ACK, it can be considered that the terminal device has successfully merged and decoded the data block corresponding to that redundant version and the previous redundant versions. If the "bits" corresponding to all redundant versions are NACK, it is considered that the decoding of this TB block has failed, and the network device needs to retransmit the TB block.

[0180] Optionally, if M_i is a positive integer less than N_i, then the network device can schedule K redundant versions of the data next time, where K is a positive integer less than N_i.

[0181] In this embodiment, compared to transmitting multiple redundant versions of data blocks from a single HARQ process, by scheduling multiple redundant versions of data blocks from multiple HARQ processes at once, and simultaneously providing ACK / NACK feedback for different redundant versions of data blocks from different HARQ processes, data transmission efficiency can be improved, feedback latency can be reduced, and network devices can be assisted in performing more accurate downlink scheduling.

[0182] The methods of the embodiments of this application have been described in detail above, and the apparatus of the embodiments of this application is provided below.

[0183] As shown in Figure 10, Figure 10 is a structural schematic diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. This communication device can be a terminal device, or a chip or processing system within a terminal device. This device can be used to implement any method and function of the terminal device involved in any of the foregoing embodiments. The device may include a receiving module 1001, a processing module 1002, and a transmitting module 1003. The detailed descriptions of each module are as follows.

[0184] The receiving module 1001 is used to receive first indication information, which is used to indicate N_i redundant versions of data that each HARQ process in the P Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) processes needs to schedule, where P is an integer greater than 0, N_i is an integer greater than 0, and i is a positive integer less than or equal to P.

[0185] The receiving module 1001 is also used to receive N_i redundant versions of data blocks that each HARQ process needs to schedule, based on the first indication information.

[0186] Optionally, the sending module 1003 is used to send second indication information, which is used to indicate whether the data block merging and decoding of M_i redundant versions out of the N_i redundant versions that each HARQ process needs to schedule is successful. The second indication information includes relevant information of the M_i redundant versions and confirmation information. The confirmation information is used to indicate that the data block merging and decoding of the M_i redundant versions is successful, and / or the second indication information includes negative information, which is used to indicate that the data block merging and decoding of the N_i redundant versions fails. M_i is a positive integer less than or equal to N_i.

[0187] Optionally, the first indication information is also used to indicate the merging order of the N_i redundant versions of data blocks that each HARQ process needs to schedule.

[0188] Optionally, the relevant information for the M_i redundant versions is the last redundant version among the M_i redundant versions.

[0189] Optionally, the second indication information may also include the identifier of each HARQ process.

[0190] Optionally, the merging order is determined based on the bit rate of the transmitted data blocks.

[0191] Optionally, the processing module 1002 is used to merge and decode the data blocks of M_i redundant versions out of N_i redundant versions.

[0192] Optionally, the first indication information is also used to indicate the frequency domain resource information and / or time domain resource information of the N_i redundant versions of data blocks that each HARQ process needs to schedule.

[0193] Optionally, the frequency domain resource information and / or time domain resource information include multiple carriers; the receiving module 1001 is also used to receive data blocks of the same or different redundancy versions from N_i redundancy versions of data blocks carried on multiple carriers.

[0194] Optionally, the first indication information includes X_i bits, where each bit corresponds to one of the X_i redundant versions that each HARQ process can schedule. The X_i bits are used to indicate the N_i redundant versions that need to be scheduled from the X_i redundant versions, where X_i is an integer greater than or equal to N_i.

[0195] Optionally, the first indication information includes Y_i bits, the values ​​corresponding to Y_i bits are used to indicate the N_i redundant versions that each HARQ process needs to schedule, where Y_i is an integer greater than 0.

[0196] It should be noted that the implementation of each module can also refer to the corresponding descriptions of the method embodiments shown in Figures 6-9, and execute the methods and functions performed by the terminal device in the above embodiments.

[0197] As shown in Figure 11, Figure 11 is a schematic diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. This communication device can be a network device, or a chip or processing system within a network device. This device can be used to implement any method and function of the network device involved in any of the foregoing embodiments. The device may include a receiving module 1101, a processing module 1102, and a transmitting module 1103. The detailed descriptions of each module are as follows.

[0198] The sending module 1103 is used to send first indication information, which is used to indicate N_i redundant versions of the data that each HARQ process in the P Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) processes needs to schedule, where P is an integer greater than 0, N_i is an integer greater than 0, and i is a positive integer less than or equal to P.

[0199] The sending module 1103 is also used to send N_i redundant versions of data blocks that each HARQ process needs to schedule, based on the first indication information.

[0200] Optionally, the receiving module 1101 is used to receive second indication information, which is used to indicate whether the data block merging and decoding of M_i redundant versions out of the N_i redundant versions that each HARQ process needs to schedule is successful. The second indication information includes relevant information of the M_i redundant versions and confirmation information. The confirmation information is used to indicate that the data block merging and decoding of the M_i redundant versions is successful, and / or the second indication information includes negative information, which is used to indicate that the data block merging and decoding of the N_i redundant versions fails. M_i is a positive integer less than or equal to N_i.

[0201] Optionally, the first indication information is also used to indicate the merging order of the N_i redundant versions of data blocks that each HARQ process needs to schedule.

[0202] Optionally, the relevant information for the M_i redundant versions includes the last redundant version among the M redundant versions.

[0203] Optionally, M_i is a positive integer less than N_i; the processing module 1102 is used to determine K redundant versions of the data block to be scheduled next time based on the channel state, where K is a positive integer less than N_i.

[0204] Optionally, the second indication information may also include the identifier of each HARQ process.

[0205] Optionally, the processing module 1102 is also used to determine the merging order based on the bit rate of the transmitted data blocks.

[0206] Optionally, the first indication information is also used to indicate the frequency domain resource information and / or time domain resource information of the N_i redundant versions of data blocks that each HARQ process needs to schedule.

[0207] Optionally, the frequency domain resource information and / or time domain resource information include multiple carriers; the transmission module 1103 is also used to map the same or different redundant versions of data blocks in the N_i redundant versions of data blocks that each HARQ process needs to schedule to multiple carriers.

[0208] Optionally, the first indication information includes X_i bits, where each bit corresponds to one of the X_i redundant versions that each HARQ process can schedule. The X_i bits are used to indicate the N_i redundant versions that need to be scheduled from the X_i redundant versions, where X_i is an integer greater than or equal to N_i.

[0209] Optionally, the first indication information includes Y_i bits, the values ​​corresponding to Y_i bits are used to indicate the N_i redundant versions that each HARQ process needs to schedule, where Y_i is an integer greater than 0.

[0210] It should be noted that the implementation of each module can also refer to the corresponding descriptions of the method embodiments shown in Figures 6-9, and execute the methods and functions performed by the network device in the above embodiments.

[0211] Figure 12 is a schematic diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. The communication device can be a terminal device or a chip or processing system within a terminal device, or it can be a network device or a chip or processing system within a network device. The communication device can implement any of the methods and functions related to the terminal device and / or network device in any of the foregoing embodiments.

[0212] As shown in Figure 12, the communication device includes a processor 1201, which is configured to perform the actions described in the above method embodiments implemented by the terminal device and the network device. Optionally, the communication device also includes a transceiver 1202. Optionally, the communication device also includes a memory 1203, which is configured to store a computer program. The processor 1201 retrieves and runs the computer program from the memory 1203 to control the transceiver 1202 to transmit and receive signals. Optionally, the communication device may also include an antenna, which is configured to transmit uplink data or uplink control signaling output by the transceiver 1202 via a wireless signal.

[0213] The processor 1201, transceiver 1202 and memory 1203 can communicate with each other through internal connection channels to transmit control and / or data signals.

[0214] The processor 1201 and the memory 1203 can be combined into a single processing device. The processor 1201 is configured to execute the program code stored in the memory 1203 to achieve the above-mentioned functions. In specific implementations, the memory 1203 can be integrated into the processor 1201 or independent of the processor 1201.

[0215] The transceiver 1202 described above can also be referred to as a transceiver unit or transceiver module. The transceiver 1202 may include a receiver (or receiver circuit) and a transmitter (or transmitter circuit). The receiver is configured to receive signals, and the transmitter is configured to transmit signals.

[0216] It should be understood that the communication device shown in Figure 12 can implement the various processes involving the terminal device and network device in the method embodiments shown in Figures 6-9. The operation and / or function of each module in the communication device are respectively for implementing the corresponding processes in the above method embodiments. For details, please refer to the description in the above method embodiments; to avoid repetition, detailed descriptions are appropriately omitted here.

[0217] The processor 1201 can be a central processing unit, a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. It can implement or execute various exemplary logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the disclosure of this application. The processor 1201 can also be a combination that implements computing functions, such as a combination of one or more microprocessors, a combination of a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, etc. The communication bus 1204 can be a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus or an extended industry standard architecture (EISA) bus, etc. The bus can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of illustration, only one thick line is used in Figure 12, but this does not indicate that there is only one bus or one type of bus. The communication bus 1204 is configured to enable communication between these components. In this embodiment, the transceiver 1202 is configured to communicate with other node devices for signaling or data. The memory 1203 may include volatile memory, such as nonvolatile random access memory (NVRAM), phase change RAM (PRAM), magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM), etc., and may also include non-volatile memory, such as at least one disk storage device, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory devices, such as NOR flash memory or NAND flash memory, semiconductor devices, such as solid-state disks (SSDs), etc. The memory 1203 may also be at least one storage device located remotely from the aforementioned processor 1201. The memory 1203 may also store a set of computer program code or configuration information. The processor 1201 may also execute the program stored in the memory 1203. The processor 1201 can cooperate with the memory 1203 and the transceiver 1202 to perform any of the methods and functions of the terminal device and network device involved in the above-described embodiments.

[0218] This application also provides a chip including a processor and a communication interface, the communication interface communicating with external or internal devices, and the processor enabling the chip to implement the methods described above.

[0219] In one possible design, the chip may also include a processor and a memory storing computer programs or instructions. The processor executes the computer programs or instructions stored in the memory, or derived from other programs or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are executed, the processor causes the chip to implement the methods described above.

[0220] In another possible design, the chip can be integrated into terminal devices or network devices.

[0221] This application also provides a processor coupled to a memory, which executes any methods and functions of the terminal device or network device involved in any of the above embodiments.

[0222] This application also provides a computer program product containing instructions that, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform any method and function related to a terminal device or network device in any of the above embodiments.

[0223] This application also provides a communication device that performs any method and function of the terminal device or network device involved in any of the above embodiments.

[0224] This application also provides a communication system, which includes at least one terminal device and at least one network device involved in any of the above embodiments.

[0225] Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the sake of convenience and brevity, the specific working process of the communication device, the unit or module within the device described above can be referred to the corresponding process in the foregoing method embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0226] In the above embodiments, implementation can be achieved entirely or partially through software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented entirely or partially in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of this application are generated. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) means. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (e.g., floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., DVD), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., solid-state disk (SSD)).

[0227] It should be understood that the "and / or" appearing in the embodiments of this application is merely a description of the relationship between related objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, A and / or B can represent three situations: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone.

[0228] It should be understood that in the embodiments of this application, "B corresponding to A" means that B is associated with A, and B can be determined based on A. However, it should also be understood that determining B based on A does not mean that B is determined solely based on A; B can also be determined based on A and / or other information.

[0229] It should be understood that the symbol " / " appearing in the embodiments of this application can indicate that the preceding and following objects are in an "or" relationship. Additionally, the symbol " / " can also represent a division sign, i.e., performing a division operation. For example, A / B can mean A divided by B.

[0230] It is understood that in the embodiments of this application, the terminal device and the network device may execute some or all of the steps in the embodiments of this application. These steps or operations are merely examples. In the embodiments of this application, other operations or variations of various operations may also be performed. Furthermore, the steps may be executed in different orders as presented in the embodiments of this application, and it is not necessary to execute all the operations in the embodiments of this application.

[0231] The specific embodiments described above further illustrate the purpose, technical solution, and beneficial effects of this application. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, or improvements made within the principles of this application should be included within the scope of protection of this application.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, include: Receive first indication information, which is used to indicate N_i redundant versions of data that each HARQ process in P Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) processes needs to schedule, where P is an integer greater than 0, N_i is an integer greater than 0, and i is a positive integer less than or equal to P. Based on the first indication information, the N_i redundant versions of data blocks that each HARQ process needs to schedule are received.

2. The method as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The method further includes: Send a second indication message, which is used to indicate whether the data block merging and decoding of M_i redundant versions out of the N_i redundant versions that each HARQ process needs to schedule is successful. The second indication message includes relevant information of the M_i redundant versions and confirmation information. The confirmation information is used to indicate that the data block merging and decoding of the M_i redundant versions is successful. And / or the second indication message includes negative information, which is used to indicate that the data block merging and decoding of the N_i redundant versions fails. M_i is a positive integer less than or equal to N_i.

3. The method as described in claim 2, characterized in that, The first indication information is also used to indicate the merging order of the N_i redundant versions of the data blocks that each HARQ process needs to schedule.

4. The method as described in claim 3, characterized in that, The relevant information for the M_i redundant versions is the last redundant version among the M_i redundant versions.

5. The method according to any one of claims 2-4, characterized in that, The second indication information also includes the identifier of each HARQ process.

6. The method as described in claim 3 or 4, characterized in that, The merging order is determined based on the bitrate of the transmitted data blocks.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1-6, characterized in that, The method further includes: The data blocks of the M_i redundant versions out of the N_i redundant versions are merged and decoded.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1-7, characterized in that, The first indication information is also used to indicate the frequency domain resource information and / or time domain resource information of the N_i redundant versions of the data block that each HARQ process needs to schedule.

9. The method as described in claim 8, characterized in that, The frequency domain resource information and / or the time domain resource information include multiple carriers; receiving the N_i redundant versions of data blocks that each HARQ process needs to schedule includes: Receive data blocks of the same or different redundancy versions from the N_i redundant versions of data blocks carried on the plurality of carriers.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1-9, characterized in that, The first indication information includes X_i bits, one bit corresponding to one of the X_i redundant versions that each HARQ process can schedule. The X_i bits are used to indicate the N_i redundant versions that need to be scheduled from the X_i redundant versions, where X_i is an integer greater than or equal to N_i.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1-9, characterized in that, The first indication information includes Y_i bits, the values ​​corresponding to the Y_i bits are used to indicate the N_i redundant versions that each HARQ process needs to schedule, and Y_i is an integer greater than 0.

12. A communication method, characterized in that, include: Send first indication information, which is used to indicate N_i redundant versions of data that each HARQ process in P Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) processes needs to schedule, where P is an integer greater than 0, N_i is an integer greater than 0, and i is a positive integer less than or equal to P. Based on the first indication information, send the N_i redundant versions of data blocks that each HARQ process needs to schedule.

13. The method as described in claim 12, characterized in that, The method further includes: A second indication is received, which indicates whether the data block merging and decoding of M_i redundant versions out of the N_i redundant versions to be scheduled by each HARQ process is successful. The second indication includes relevant information of the M_i redundant versions and confirmation information. The confirmation information indicates that the data block merging and decoding of the M_i redundant versions is successful. And / or the second indication includes negative information, which indicates that the data block merging and decoding of the N_i redundant versions fails. M_i is a positive integer less than or equal to N_i.

14. The method as described in claim 13, characterized in that, The first indication information is also used to indicate the merging order of the N_i redundant versions of the data blocks that each HARQ process needs to schedule.

15. The method as described in claim 14, characterized in that, The relevant information for the M_i redundant versions includes the last redundant version among the M redundant versions.

16. The method according to any one of claims 13-15, characterized in that, The M_i is a positive integer less than the N_i; the method further includes: Based on the channel state, determine K redundant versions of the data that need to be scheduled next, where K is a positive integer less than N_i.

17. The method according to any one of claims 13-16, characterized in that, The second indication information also includes the identifier of each HARQ process.

18. The method as described in claim 14 or 15, characterized in that, The method further includes: The merging order is determined based on the bitrate of the transmitted data blocks.

19. The method according to any one of claims 12-18, characterized in that, The first indication information is also used to indicate the frequency domain resource information and / or time domain resource information of the N_i redundant versions of the data block that each HARQ process needs to schedule.

20. The method as described in claim 19, characterized in that, The frequency domain resource information and / or the time domain resource information include multiple carriers; the method further includes: The data blocks of the same or different redundancy versions among the N_i redundant versions that each HARQ process needs to schedule are mapped onto the multiple carriers.

21. The method according to any one of claims 12-20, characterized in that, The first indication information includes X_i bits, one bit corresponding to one of the X_i redundant versions that each HARQ process can schedule. The X_i bits are used to indicate the N_i redundant versions that need to be scheduled from the X_i redundant versions, where X_i is an integer greater than or equal to N_i.

22. The method according to any one of claims 12-20, characterized in that, The first indication information includes Y_i bits, the values ​​corresponding to the Y_i bits are used to indicate the N_i redundant versions that each HARQ process needs to schedule, and Y_i is an integer greater than 0.

23. A communication device, characterized in that, Includes a module for performing the method according to any one of claims 1-11.

24. A communication device, characterized in that, Includes a module for performing the method according to any one of claims 12-22.

25. A communication device, characterized in that, Includes a processor that causes the communication device to perform the method of any one of claims 1-11.

26. A communication device, characterized in that, Includes a processor that causes the communication device to perform the method of any one of claims 12-22.

27. A communication system, characterized in that, It includes a first device and a second device, wherein the first device is used to perform the method according to any one of claims 1-11, and the second device is used to perform the method according to any one of claims 12-22.

28. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium includes a computer program that, when executed by a processor, causes the method as claimed in any one of claims 1-11 or any one of claims 12-22 to be implemented.

29. A chip, characterized in that, The chip includes a processor and a communication interface for communicating with external or internal devices, and the processor enables the chip to implement the method as claimed in any one of claims 1-11 or any one of claims 12-22.

30. A computer program product, characterized in that, The computer program product includes a computer program that, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1-11 or any one of claims 12-22.

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