Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

The present application relates to the technical field of communications, and provides a communication method, comprising: a network device can allocate, to an A-IoT device, a dedicated resource for reporting a specified state, the A-IoT device satisfying a reporting condition reporting and carrying, by means of the dedicated resource, a second message associated with the specified state, and the second message having a dedicated preamble. The network device can simply identify, by means of the dedicated preamble, whether there is an A-IoT device in the specified state, for example, an A-IoT device having insufficient remaining power, or an A-IoT device of a specified device type, or an A-IoT device of a specified device priority. In the present application, by configuring a dedicated resource for reporting a specified state for an A-IoT device, the A-IoT device reports its own state when meeting a reporting condition, so that a network device can obtain A-IoT devices in the specified state in a timely manner, so as to determine whether to allocate corresponding resources to these devices in current or following round, improving resource utilization.

Description

Communication methods and devices

[0001] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202411589077.7, filed on November 7, 2024, entitled "Communication Method and Apparatus", the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

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

[0003] Current Ambient Internet of Things (A-IoT) related issues lack defined configurations and procedures for A-IoT devices that cannot fully participate in the random access process. Due to insufficient power, A-IoT devices may enter a sleep / shutdown state during a single round of random access and paging, while the network side still allocates time and frequency resources to these devices, resulting in wasted time and frequency resources. Alternatively, the network side may not know whether another round of random access is needed, leading to low access efficiency for A-IoT devices. Summary of the Invention

[0004] In view of the above, this application provides a communication method and apparatus to solve at least some of the above problems, and the disclosed technical solution is as follows:

[0005] Firstly, this application provides a communication method applied to a network device. The method includes: sending a first message to an A-IoT device, the first message indicating the location information of a first time-frequency resource for an A-IoT device that meets reporting conditions to report a second message; the second message carrying a proprietary preamble, the proprietary preamble being used to associate a specified state of the A-IoT device, and the proprietary preamble being different from the preamble of Msg1 in the random access procedure; and receiving the second message sent by the A-IoT device that meets the reporting conditions through the first time-frequency resource. For example, the specified state could be insufficient remaining battery power, a specific device type, a specific device priority, etc. Thus, this method, by configuring proprietary resources for A-IoT devices to report specified states, enables A-IoT devices to report their own state when they meet the reporting conditions, thereby allowing the network device to promptly know whether an A-IoT device is in the specified state, improving the efficiency of the network device in determining the existence of an A-IoT device in the specified state.

[0006] In one possible implementation of the first aspect, the first time-frequency resource includes a dedicated time-frequency resource. This satisfies the requirement that A-IoT devices meeting the reporting conditions report their status through a dedicated first time-frequency resource, without consuming excessive resources. It improves resource utilization while ensuring that network devices can detect the existence of A-IoT devices in a specified state.

[0007] In one possible implementation of the first aspect, the time-domain location and / or frequency-domain location of the first time-frequency resource differs from the time-frequency resource used by the network device to transmit Msg1 during random access for the A-IoT device. This ensures that the proprietary first time-frequency resource does not conflict with the resource used to transmit ordinary Msg1, improving the success rate of message transmission and reception.

[0008] In one possible implementation of the first aspect, the first message includes information for triggering random access by the A-IoT device. This allows the A-IoT device to reuse Msg1 to report its specified state, improving message utilization and consequently resource utilization.

[0009] In one possible implementation of the first aspect, the first message is also used to indicate that this round of messages is only used to count whether there are A-IoT devices that meet the reporting conditions. In this way, the network device can notify the A-IoT device through the first message that this round is only used to count specific A-IoT devices, without having to perform the random access step, thereby improving the efficiency of this round of message interaction and also improving the success rate of the next round of random access.

[0010] In one possible implementation of the first aspect, all second messages received by the network device through the first time-frequency resource carry the same proprietary preamble, which is associated with a specified state of the A-IoT device; alternatively, multiple second messages received by the network device through the first time-frequency resource carry different proprietary preambles, and the different proprietary preambles are associated with different specified states of the A-IoT device. This allows for setting the proprietary preamble and its associated specified state according to actual needs, improving flexibility.

[0011] In one possible implementation of the first aspect, a proprietary preamble is associated with the remaining battery power of the A-IoT device; different second messages carry the same proprietary preamble, which is associated with the remaining battery power of the A-IoT device being below a preset value; multiple second messages carry different proprietary preambles, which are associated with different ranges of the remaining battery power of the A-IoT device. In this way, the corresponding proprietary preamble can be configured according to the need to statistically analyze the remaining battery power of the A-IoT device, improving statistical efficiency.

[0012] In one possible implementation of the first aspect, the method further includes: counting whether a second message is received; if a second message is received, determining that an A-IoT device in a specified state exists; if no second message is received, determining that no A-IoT device in a specified state exists; and / or, counting the number of second messages received to obtain the number of A-IoT devices in a specified state; and / or, counting whether the received power on the first time-frequency resource is greater than or equal to an energy threshold; if it is greater than or equal to the energy threshold, determining that the number of A-IoT devices reporting the second message has reached a preset number; if it is less than the energy threshold, determining that the number of A-IoT devices reporting the second message has not reached the preset number.

[0013] In one possible implementation of the first aspect, the first message is further used to instruct each A-IoT device to report the group information of Msg1 and the location information of the time-frequency resources corresponding to each group. The time-frequency resources include a first time-frequency resource, and the second message is Msg1 carrying specified status information. In this way, A-IoT devices that meet the reporting conditions can report the corresponding message through the first time-frequency resource, and other A-IoT devices can report Msg1 through the time-frequency resources corresponding to other groups, thereby improving efficiency and utilization.

[0014] In one possible implementation of the first aspect, the first message is further used to instruct each A-IoT device to report Msg1 group information, including: the first message indicating the number of A-IoT devices' groups and grouping conditions; or, the first message indicating the total time domain length of Msg1 and Msg2 corresponding to each group, the total time domain length being used to enable the A-IoT device to determine the starting time domain position of Msg3. In this way, the A-IoT device can determine the starting time domain position for reporting Msg3 based on the time domain lengths of Msg1 and Msg2 in the first message, without needing to separately send a message for transmitting time-frequency resources for Msg3, thus improving communication efficiency.

[0015] In one possible implementation of the first aspect, after receiving a second message sent by an A-IoT device that meets the reporting conditions through a first time-frequency resource, the method further includes: the time-frequency resource corresponding to the first group is the first time-frequency resource; if multiple second messages are received on the first time-frequency resource, it is determined that a resource conflict has occurred among the A-IoT devices in the first group; a feedback message is sent to all A-IoT devices that have experienced resource conflicts, the feedback message being used to instruct all A-IoT devices that have experienced resource conflicts to resend the second message on the time-frequency resource corresponding to other groups. Thus, when a conflict exists in a dedicated first time-frequency resource, the network device can use the feedback message to inform the conflicting A-IoT devices to re-report the second message associated with their specified state on the resources of other groups, thereby enabling the network device to accurately identify A-IoT devices in the specified state.

[0016] In one possible implementation of the first aspect, the method further includes: sending a third message to the A-IoT device, the third message indicating the location information of the time-frequency resources for the A-IoT device that meets the reporting conditions to report the second message in the next round. In this way, the A-IoT device can know in advance the time-frequency resources for reporting the specified status information in the next round, thereby improving the timeliness of status reporting.

[0017] In one possible implementation of the first aspect, the third message is Msg0 and / or Msg2 in random access. This can improve efficiency and thus improve resource utilization.

[0018] In one possible implementation of the first aspect, the method further includes: after the current paging round ends, sending an inquiry message to the A-IoT device. The inquiry message inquires whether there are any unpaging A-IoT devices, and carries location information of the time-frequency resources from which the unpaging A-IoT devices send response messages. This improves the accuracy of configuring time-frequency resources in the next round, thereby increasing resource utilization.

[0019] In one possible implementation of the first aspect, the method further includes: determining whether to initiate the next round of random access based on whether there is a resource conflict in the first time-frequency resource, and / or configuring the resources required for the next round of random access for A-IoT devices that have a conflict in the first time-frequency resource in this round.

[0020] In one possible implementation of the first aspect, determining whether to initiate the next round of random access and / or configure the necessary resources for the next round of random access for A-IoT devices that have conflicting first time-frequency resources in the current round is based on whether resource conflicts exist on the first time-frequency resources. This includes: if resource conflicts exist on the first time-frequency resources, determining that the next round of random access needs to be initiated, and / or configuring the necessary resources for the next round of random access for A-IoT devices that have conflicting first time-frequency resources in the current round; if there are no resource conflicts on the first time-frequency resources, determining that the next round of random access does not need to be initiated. This improves the accuracy of resource configuration, thereby increasing resource utilization.

[0021] In one possible implementation of the first aspect, the method further includes sending a fourth message to all A-IoT devices that have reported the second message via the first time-frequency resource.

[0022] In one possible implementation of the first aspect, the fourth message is used to indicate whether the A-IoT device that reported the second message participates in the current or next paging round. This can improve paging efficiency.

[0023] Secondly, this application also provides a communication method applied to an A-IoT device. The method includes: receiving a first message sent by a network device, the first message indicating the location information of a first time-frequency resource for an A-IoT device that meets the reporting conditions to report a second message; and after determining that its own status meets the reporting conditions, reporting a second message through the first time-frequency resource, the second message carrying specified status information of the A-IoT device.

[0024] In one possible implementation of the second aspect, the process of determining that the state of the A-IoT device meets the reporting conditions includes at least one of the following: the remaining power of the A-IoT device is less than or equal to a preset value, which meets the reporting conditions; the device type of the A-IoT device is a specified device type, which meets the reporting conditions; the device priority of the A-IoT device is a specified priority, which meets the reporting conditions.

[0025] In one possible implementation of the second aspect, the second message has a proprietary preamble associated with the first time-frequency resource, and the first preamble is different from the preamble of Msg1 in the random access procedure.

[0026] In one possible implementation of the second aspect, there is one proprietary preamble, and the proprietary preamble is associated with a specified state of the A-IoT device; or, there are multiple proprietary preambles, and each proprietary preamble is associated with a different specified state of the A-IoT device.

[0027] In one possible implementation of the second aspect, the number of proprietary preambles is one, and the proprietary preamble is associated with a specified state of the A-IoT device, including: the proprietary preamble is associated with the remaining power of the A-IoT device being lower than a preset value; the proprietary preamble is associated with a specified device type of the A-IoT device; and the proprietary preamble is associated with a specified device priority of the A-IoT device.

[0028] In one possible implementation of the second aspect, there are multiple proprietary preambles, and each proprietary preamble is associated with a different specified state of the A-IoT device, including at least one of the following: different specified preambles are associated with different remaining power ranges of the A-IoT device; different specified preambles are associated with different device types of the A-IoT device; different specified preambles are associated with different device priorities of the A-IoT device.

[0029] In one possible implementation of the second aspect, the message bit of the second message is in a default state; or, the message bit of the same second message carries the specified state information of multiple A-IoT devices that meet the reporting conditions.

[0030] In one possible implementation of the second aspect, the message bits of the same second message carry specified status information of multiple A-IoT devices that meet the reporting conditions, including: different bits in the message bits of the same second message carry the remaining power insufficient identifier of different A-IoT devices that meet the reporting conditions.

[0031] In one possible implementation of the second aspect, after receiving the first message sent by the network device, the method further includes: the A-IoT device determining its own group and the time-frequency resources corresponding to the reported Msg1 based on its own state and the group information of A-IoT device group reporting Msg1 indicated by the first message and the location of the time-frequency resources corresponding to each group.

[0032] In one possible implementation of the second aspect, after determining that its own state meets the reporting conditions and reporting the second message through the first time-frequency resource, the method further includes: receiving a feedback message sent by the network device, the feedback message being generated after determining that a resource conflict has occurred in the first time-frequency resource, and used to instruct all A-IoT devices that have experienced resource conflicts in this round to resend the second message on the time-frequency resources corresponding to other groups.

[0033] In one possible implementation of the second aspect, the first message is further used to instruct each A-IoT device to report the packet information of Msg1 in a packet; after receiving the first message sent by the network device, the method further includes: determining the starting position of the time-frequency resource for sending Msg3 according to the total time domain length of Msg1 and Msg2 corresponding to each packet indicated by the first message.

[0034] In one possible implementation of the second aspect, the method further includes: receiving a third message sent by a network device, the third message being used for the location information of the second time-frequency resource of the A-IoT device that meets the reporting conditions to report the second message in the next round; and, if it is determined that it has been paged, reporting the second message to the network device through the second time-frequency resource after the current round of random access process ends.

[0035] In one possible implementation of the second aspect, after the current round of random access process ends, the method further includes: receiving an inquiry message sent by a network device at the time-domain offset position of the next round of random access, the inquiry message being used to inquire whether there are any unpaging A-IoT devices and carrying the location information of the time-frequency resources for the unpaging A-IoT devices to send response messages; if it is determined that it has been paging, sending a response message through the time-frequency resources corresponding to the response message indicated by the inquiry message, the response message being used to indicate that the A-IoT device has been paging.

[0036] In one possible implementation of the second aspect, the response message has a second preamble, which is different from the preamble of any existing message.

[0037] Thirdly, this application also provides an electronic device, which includes: one or more processors, a memory, and a touch screen; the memory is used to store program code; the processor is used to run the program code, so that the electronic device implements the communication method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 32.

[0038] Fourthly, this application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that it stores instructions thereon, which, when executed on an electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform a communication method as described in any possible implementation of the first and second aspects.

[0039] Fifthly, this application also provides a chip system, characterized in that it includes: at least one processor and an interface, the interface being used to receive code instructions and transmit them to the at least one processor; the at least one processor executes the code instructions to implement the communication method described in any possible implementation of the first and second aspects.

[0040] Sixthly, this application also provides a computer program product having instructions stored thereon, which, when the computer program product is run on an electronic device, cause the electronic device to implement the communication method as described in any possible implementation of the first and second aspects. Attached Figure Description

[0041] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0042] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of another communication system provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0043] Figure 3 is a flowchart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0044] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a time-frequency resource provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0045] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of another time-frequency resource provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0046] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of another time-frequency resource provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0047] Figure 7 is a flowchart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0048] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of another time-frequency resource provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0049] Figure 9 is a flowchart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0050] Figure 10 is a schematic diagram of another time-frequency resource provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0051] Figure 11 is a flowchart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0052] Figure 12 is a schematic diagram of another time-frequency resource provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0053] The terms "first," "second," and "third," etc., used in this application specification, claims, and drawings are used to distinguish different objects, not to limit a specific order.

[0054] In the embodiments of this application, the terms "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate that something is an example, illustration, or description. Any embodiment or design that is described as "exemplary" or "for example" in the embodiments of this application should not be construed as being more preferred or advantageous than other embodiments or design. Specifically, the use of the terms "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present the relevant concepts in a specific manner.

[0055] The technical solutions of the embodiments of this application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of this application, and not all of them. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of this application without creative effort are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0056] To ensure clarity and conciseness in the description of the following embodiments, a brief introduction to the related technologies is given first:

[0057] Ambient Internet of Things (A-IoT) technology refers to A-IoT devices that can utilize energy harvested from the environment (such as radio waves, light, motion, heat, or any other available ambient energy source) to power the device, and then transmit signals via backscattering, low-power radio frequency to achieve low-bandwidth data transmission. A-IoT devices typically have low power consumption, and some have some energy storage capacity, thus reducing the energy storage requirements. For example, an A-IoT device may only contain an antenna and semiconductor components, and may not have a battery or may have a capacitor or battery with limited energy storage.

[0058] Please refer to Figure 1, which shows a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system provided in an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 1, the communication system includes a network device 101 and an A-IoT device 102.

[0059] The A-IoT device 102 can be used to receive excitation signals or backscattered signals. Optionally, the A-IoT device 102 may not be a power storage device and cannot independently generate or amplify signals. Optionally, the A-IoT device 102 can be a power storage device, but cannot independently generate or amplify signals. Optionally, the A-IoT device 102 can be a power storage device and can also independently generate or amplify signals. Optionally, the A-IoT device 102 can be a power storage device (capacitor) or a supercapacitor.

[0060] Network device 101 can provide data transmission services to A-IoT devices through a wireless interface, that is, wireless transmission can be performed between network device 101 and A-IoT devices. For example, network device 101 sends data or instructions to A-IoT device 102 through wireless communication, and A-IoT device 102 can report data through wireless communication.

[0061] Please refer to Figure 2, which shows a schematic diagram of the architecture of another communication system provided in an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 2, the communication system may include a network device 201, an intermediate node 202 (or an auxiliary node) and an A-IoT device 203.

[0062] In this architecture, A-IoT device 203 communicates wirelessly with network device 202 through intermediate node 202.

[0063] Among them, intermediate node 202 can be a relay, user equipment (UE), integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node, repeater or other device with relay capabilities.

[0064] In this embodiment, intermediate node 202 can provide data transmission services to A-IoT device 203 via a wireless interface, thus providing relay functionality for A-IoT device 203. For example, during uplink, A-IoT device 203 can send uplink data to network device 201 through intermediate node 202, or A-IoT device 203 can directly send uplink data to network node 201. During downlink, network device 201 can send downlink data to A-IoT device 203 through intermediate node 202, or network device 201 can directly send downlink data to A-IoT device 203. In other words, intermediate node 202 can assist network device and A-IoT device in achieving wireless communication during uplink and / or downlink processes.

[0065] In this application, the network device and intermediate node that provide wireless interface transmission for A-IoT devices can be collectively referred to as a reader.

[0066] The aforementioned terminal equipment, also known as user equipment (UE), mobile station (MS), or mobile terminal (MT), is a device that provides voice or data connectivity to a user. Specifically, it includes devices that provide voice connectivity, devices that provide data connectivity, or devices that provide both voice and data connectivity. For example, it may include handheld devices with wireless connectivity or processing devices connected to a wireless modem. This terminal equipment can communicate with the core network via a radio access network (RAN), exchanging voice or data with the RAN, or interacting with the RAN to exchange voice and data. Currently, terminal devices can include: mobile phones, tablets, laptops, PDAs, mobile internet devices (MIDs), wearable devices (such as smartwatches, smart bracelets, pedometers, etc.), in-vehicle devices (such as cars, bicycles, electric vehicles, airplanes, ships, trains, high-speed trains, etc.), virtual reality (VR) devices, augmented reality (AR) devices, wireless terminals in industrial control, smart home devices (such as refrigerators, televisions, air conditioners, electricity meters, etc.), smart robots, workshop equipment, wireless terminals in autonomous driving, wireless terminals in remote surgery, wireless terminals in smart grids, wireless terminals in transportation safety, wireless terminals in smart cities, or wireless terminals in smart homes, and flying equipment (such as smart robots, hot air balloons, drones, airplanes), etc.

[0067] Terminal devices can also be other devices with terminal functions. For example, a terminal device can also be a device that acts as a terminal in D2D communication. Terminal devices can also include vehicle-to-everything (V2X) terminal devices, machine-to-machine / machine-type communications (M2M / MTC) terminal devices, Internet of Things (IoT) terminal devices, light UEs, reduced capability UEs (REDCAP UEs), subscriber units, subscriber stations, mobile stations, remote stations, access points (APs), remote terminals, access terminals, user terminals, user agents, or user devices, drone equipment, etc.

[0068] For example, it can include mobile phones (or "cellular" phones), computers with mobile terminal devices, portable, pocket-sized, handheld, and computer-embedded mobile devices. Examples include personal communication service (PCS) phones, cordless phones, session initiation protocol (SIP) phones, wireless local loop (WLL) stations, and personal digital assistants (PDAs). It also includes limited devices, such as devices with low power consumption, limited storage capacity, or limited computing power. Examples include information sensing devices such as barcode scanners, radio frequency identification (RFID), sensors, global positioning systems (GPS), and laser scanners. In this application, terminal devices with wireless transceiver capabilities and chips that can be installed in the aforementioned terminal devices are collectively referred to as terminal devices.

[0069] It should be noted that the terminal device may be a device or apparatus with a chip, or a device or apparatus with integrated circuitry, or a chip, module or control unit in the device or apparatus shown above. This application does not limit the specific device.

[0070] The network devices in the architectures shown in Figures 1 and 2 can be access network devices for cellular systems related to the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). For example, fourth-generation (4G) mobile communication systems or 5G mobile communication systems. The network devices can also be access network devices in open RAN (O-RAN or ORAN) or cloud radio access network (CRAN). Alternatively, the network devices can be access network devices in a communication system resulting from the integration of two or more of the above communication systems.

[0071] Network equipment includes, but is not limited to: evolved Node B (eNB), radio network controller (RNC), Node B (NB), base station controller (BSC), base transceiver station (BTS), home base station (e.g., home evolved NodeB, or home Node B, HNB), baseband unit (BBU), access point (AP) in wireless fidelity (WIFI) systems, macro base station, micro base station, wireless relay node, donor node, radio controller in CRAN scenarios, wireless backhaul node, transmission point (TP), or transmission and receiving point (TRP). Network equipment can also be access network equipment in 5G mobile communication systems. For example, next-generation Node B (gNB), TRP, TP in new radio (NR) systems, or one or more antenna panels (including multiple antenna panels) of a base station in a 5G mobile communication system. Alternatively, network devices can also be network nodes constituting a gNB or transmission point. Examples include centralized units (CUs), distributed units (DUs), CU-control plane (CPs), CU-user plane (UPs), or radio units (RUs). CUs and DUs can be separate entities or included in the same network element, such as a BBU. RUs can be included in radio equipment or radio units, such as remote radio units (RRUs), active antenna units (AAUs), or remote radio heads (RRHs). Alternatively, network devices can also be servers, wearable devices, vehicles, or in-vehicle equipment. For example, in V2X technology, network devices can be roadside units (RSUs).

[0072] It should be noted that the network device can be the device or apparatus shown above, or a component (e.g., a chip), module, or unit in the device or apparatus shown above; this application does not limit the specifics.

[0073] However, in real-world applications, during data communication between network devices and A-IoT devices, insufficient power in the A-IoT devices can affect the overall communication performance between the A-IoT devices and network devices.

[0074] Example 1: Configure dedicated resources for A-IoT devices to report energy status. A-IoT devices that meet the reporting conditions report their energy status through Msg1, which is used by network devices to identify specific A-IoT devices.

[0075] Please refer to Figure 3, which shows a flowchart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application. This method can be applied to the above-described communication system architecture. Through this method, A-IoT devices can report their own energy status information, such as remaining battery power, to the network device. As shown in Figure 3, the method includes:

[0076] S101, the network device sends the first message. The first message instructs the A-IoT device to use its dedicated resources for reporting energy status information.

[0077] In the embodiments of this application, the first message indicates the location information of the dedicated resource for which the A-IoT device that meets the reporting conditions reports the message. For example, the location information includes the size of the dedicated resource, its starting position, and other information that can locate the resource. This embodiment uses the example of an A-IoT device with remaining power below a preset value reporting its own energy status through a dedicated resource. In other embodiments of this application, it can also be an A-IoT device of a specific device type reporting its own device type and other information through a dedicated resource, or an A-IoT device with a set priority (such as an A-IoT device with a priority lower than a preset level) reporting its own priority and other information through a dedicated resource. This application does not impose any special restrictions on the A-IoT devices that can report messages through dedicated resources.

[0078] For example, a network device can send a first message, such as Msg0, to an A-IoT device via broadcast.

[0079] In some embodiments, the first message includes location information for indicating the dedicated time-frequency resources used by the A-IoT device to report energy state information. For example, the first message may include a time-domain location and / or frequency-domain location dedicated to the A-IoT device reporting energy state information, which is not limited in this application.

[0080] In an exemplary embodiment, the first message may carry the temporal location of the proprietary resource, such as the frame-level offset, subframe-level offset, time slot offset, and symbol-level offset of the proprietary resource. Furthermore, the temporal location of the proprietary resource is the same as the frequency domain location of Msg1 in the RA process, but the temporal location is different.

[0081] In another exemplary embodiment, the first message may carry the frequency domain location of the proprietary resource. The time domain location of the proprietary resource may be the same as the time domain location of the ordinary Msg1 in the RA process, but the frequency domain location may be different.

[0082] Alternatively, the time-domain location and frequency-domain location of the proprietary resources may differ.

[0083] The proprietary resource may be a time-frequency resource allocated by the network device or a predefined time-frequency resource. This application does not limit the method of determining the proprietary resource.

[0084] Furthermore, the proprietary resource can be one or more fixed time-domain resources or frequency-domain resources. In some specific embodiments, the proprietary resource is configured with one fixed time-domain resource, but this application does not limit this.

[0085] In some embodiments, the first message may also include other information, such as information for triggering random access by the A-IoT device, such as Msg0. In other words, the network device may carry location information in Msg0 to indicate the location of dedicated time-frequency resources used by the A-IoT device to report specific information.

[0086] In other embodiments, the first message contains no other indication information other than information indicating the dedicated time-frequency resources used by the A-IoT device to report energy status information.

[0087] S102, A-IoT devices determine whether they need to report energy status information based on their own energy status.

[0088] In some embodiments, the energy status reporting conditions of A-IoT devices can be predefined in the protocol. For example, the energy status reporting condition may be that the remaining power of the A-IoT device is lower than the power threshold.

[0089] The A-IoT device determines whether its remaining power meets the conditions for reporting energy status. If so, it reports its energy status information to the network device, i.e., executes S103; otherwise, it does not report energy status information. In addition, in the scenario where the first message contains information for triggering the A-IoT device to perform a random access process, if the A-IoT device determines that it does not need to report energy status, it can execute S107, i.e., send a normal Msg1 on a non-dedicated resource.

[0090] S103, the A-IoT device sends a second message on the proprietary resource indicated by the first message, the second message being used to indicate the energy status of the A-IoT device.

[0091] In some embodiments, the second message may be Msg1 in the RA process.

[0092] Please refer to Figure 4, which illustrates a schematic diagram of a time-frequency resource provided in an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 4, the network device sends Msg0 on resource 1 to instruct the A-IoT device to report dedicated resource information for energy status information. The A-IoT device parses Msg0 to obtain the location information of the dedicated resource, such as resource 2. The A-IoT device can report its own energy status information through resource 2, such as Msg1 containing energy status information. In some embodiments, as shown in Figure 4, resource 2 reporting energy status may have the same time-domain location as the resources (such as resources 3 and 4) that the A-IoT device reports ordinary Msg1, but a different frequency-domain location. Alternatively, in other embodiments, the dedicated resource uploading energy status information has the same frequency-domain location as the resource reporting ordinary Msg1, but a different time-domain location. Or, the dedicated resource and the resource reporting ordinary Msg1 have different time-frequency locations. This application does not limit the positional relationship between the dedicated resource and the ordinary Msg1 resource.

[0093] In some embodiments, the preamble of the second message can be proprietary, meaning it can be distinguished from the preamble corresponding to an existing ordinary Msg1 resource. The proprietary preamble is only associated with messages sent using proprietary resources. In other words, after parsing the second message to obtain the proprietary preamble, the network device determines that the A-IoT device that sent the second message using proprietary resources is a specific device, such as an A-IoT device of a specific device type or an A-IoT device with insufficient power. For example, if the remaining power is below a preset value, such as 10%, the network device reports a Msg1 containing the proprietary preamble. The network device parses the received Msg1 to obtain the proprietary preamble and determines that there is an A-IoT device with remaining power less than or equal to 10%.

[0094] As shown in Figure 5, resource 2 is a dedicated resource used by the network device to report energy status information by the A-IoT device indicated by Msg0. This resource can include N bits, of which the first m bits carry a dedicated preamble and the remaining bits are message bits.

[0095] In some scenarios, such as when Msg0 instructs an A-IoT device to report Msg1 with a proprietary preamble and triggers random access of the A-IoT device, the preamble of Msg1 is a proprietary preamble, and the message bits can be randomly inserted with relevant information, such as the random ID of the A-IoT device.

[0096] In other scenarios, the Msg1 message bit may not carry any information, such as when the message bit is in its default state. For example, if Msg0 indicates that the random access of A-IoT devices in this round is only used to count specific A-IoT devices (such as A-IoT devices of a specific device type, or A-IoT devices with remaining power below a threshold), then Msg1 may only include energy status information and not other information. For instance, in some specific examples, the Msg1 reported by eligible A-IoT devices only contains a proprietary preamble and does not contain message content, such as when the message bit of Msg1 is in its default state.

[0097] In other embodiments, A-IoT devices with different remaining battery levels can be grouped using different proprietary preambles. For example, multiple different proprietary preambles can be set to correspond to different remaining battery ranges. For instance, proprietary preamble 1 corresponds to a remaining battery level of less than or equal to 10%, proprietary preamble 2 corresponds to a remaining battery level of 11% to 20%, and proprietary preamble 3 corresponds to a remaining battery level of 21% to 30%. In this way, based on different proprietary preambles, the network side can determine whether there are A-IoT devices with corresponding remaining battery ranges.

[0098] In other embodiments, different proprietary preambles may also correspond to different states of other parameters of the A-IoT device, such as different device types or different device priorities. This application does not impose any special limitations on this.

[0099] In other embodiments, the Msg1 message reported by A-IoT devices through dedicated resources includes a dedicated preamble and energy identifiers for multiple A-IoT devices. That is, it supports multiple A-IoT devices reporting whether they have insufficient power through different bits of dedicated time-domain resources. As shown in Figure 6, resource 2 is a dedicated resource indicated by the network device. Bits 1 to m of this dedicated resource carry the dedicated preamble, and the remaining bits are message bits that can carry energy identifiers for multiple A-IoT devices.

[0100] For example, the energy identifier of an A-IoT device occupies 2 bits. "0" is the default state of the message bits, and "01" indicates that the A-IoT device is low on energy. A low-energy A-IoT device can report an energy identifier of "01" using any two consecutive bits of the remaining preamble. That is, the Msg1 uploaded through this proprietary resource can simultaneously carry the energy identifiers of multiple A-IoT devices. Network devices can parse the number of "01"s in the message bit portion of the Msg1 with the proprietary preamble to determine whether there are low-energy A-IoT devices and the range of their number.

[0101] S104, the second message received on the network device's statistical private resources.

[0102] Optionally, after receiving Msg1 with a proprietary preamble reported by an A-IoT device, the network device can count the number of specific A-IoT devices, such as A-IoT devices of a specific device type, or A-IoT devices with insufficient remaining power. Furthermore, the network device can decide on subsequent processing procedures based on the statistical results.

[0103] For example, in some embodiments, the network device can count whether an A-IoT device has reported energy status information. For instance, if it receives Msg1 containing a proprietary preamble, it determines that an A-IoT device has reported energy status information.

[0104] In other embodiments, the network device can also count the number of received energy state information messages (i.e., count the number of received Msg1 messages containing proprietary preambles, which can be one or more) to determine whether a resource conflict has occurred on the proprietary resource. In a scenario where the proprietary resource is a single time-domain resource, if multiple Msg1 messages containing proprietary preambles are received, it is determined that a conflict exists on the proprietary resource. For example, if the proprietary resource is a single time-domain resource, but the network device receives a messages containing proprietary preambles (where a > 1), then a conflict exists on the proprietary resource.

[0105] In some other embodiments, the network device can also count whether the number of A-IoT devices reporting energy status information has reached a certain number. For example, by counting the received energy (such as received power) on dedicated resources, it can determine whether the received energy exceeds the energy threshold. If so, it can be determined that the number of A-IoT devices reporting energy status has reached a certain number.

[0106] S105, if the network device determines that there is a conflict on proprietary resources based on statistical information, it can determine that the next round of random access needs to be started and / or configure the resources required for the next round of random access for the A-IoT device that has a conflict on proprietary resources in this round.

[0107] Optionally, network devices can determine whether there is a conflict of dedicated resources in this round based on statistical information, and further determine whether to initiate the next round of random access and / or configure the resources required for the next round of random access for the A-IoT devices that have a conflict of dedicated resources in this round.

[0108] For example, if multiple Msg1 values ​​containing energy state information are received through dedicated resources in this round, it is determined that there is a conflict in the dedicated resources. Therefore, it is determined that a next round of random access needs to be initiated, and / or the resources required for the next round of random access need to be configured for the A-IoT devices with conflicting dedicated resources in this round. If it is determined that there is no conflict in the dedicated resources in this round, it is determined that a next round of random access does not need to be initiated, and / or the resources required for the next round of random access do not need to be configured for the A-IoT devices with conflicting dedicated resources in this round.

[0109] Optionally, the network device can also respond to all A-IoT devices that report a proprietary preamble Msg1, regardless of RN ID, and return a response message (such as Msg2) indicating whether these preambles participate in the current / next paging round. Alternatively, the network device may not respond to Msg1 reported by the A-IoT devices, i.e., it may not return Msg2, even if there is a conflict on proprietary resources. This process is as described in S106:

[0110] S106, the network device responds by reporting a second message carrying a proprietary preamble to all A-IoT devices, and then returns a third message.

[0111] Optionally, after receiving Msg1 reported through proprietary resources, the network device can respond to all A-IoT devices that reported Msg1 carrying proprietary preamble, such as all A-IoT devices that reported Msg1 containing energy status information, and return a response message (such as Msg2). This response message can be used to indicate whether these A-IoT devices participate in the current or next paging round.

[0112] For example, the rules for determining whether an A-IoT device participates in the current or next paging process may include the following:

[0113] In scenarios where multiple proprietary preambles are configured, and different proprietary preambles correspond to different remaining battery levels of A-IoT devices, network devices can instruct A-IoT devices with remaining battery levels greater than 10% to participate in the current or next paging process, while A-IoT devices with remaining battery levels less than 10% do not participate in the current or next paging process. In this way, there is no need to configure response resources for A-IoT devices that do not participate in the current or next paging process, thereby improving the utilization rate of time and frequency resources.

[0114] In a scenario where only one dedicated preamble is configured, the network device can instruct all A-IoT devices that report energy status information not to participate in the current or next paging round. Therefore, there is no need to allocate paging resources for these A-IoT devices in the current or next round, thus saving resources.

[0115] Furthermore, both S105 and S106 are optional steps, and they represent two different scenarios. S105 occurs when multiple A-IoT devices report energy state information via the same time-frequency resource, leading to a conflict. S106 occurs in a scenario where there is no conflict using dedicated resources.

[0116] S107, A-IoT devices send ordinary Msg1 on non-proprietary resources.

[0117] If an A-IoT device determines that its energy status does not meet the energy status reporting conditions, such as the remaining power being greater than the reporting threshold, it can send a normal Msg1 on the time-frequency resource corresponding to Msg1.

[0118] The communication method provided in this embodiment allows a network device to allocate dedicated resources for A-IoT devices to report specified states. A-IoT devices that meet the reporting conditions can report a second message associated with the specified state through these dedicated resources, and this second message has a dedicated preamble. The network device can identify the existence of an A-IoT device in a specified state, such as an A-IoT device with insufficient remaining power, or an A-IoT device of a specific device type, through the dedicated preamble.

[0119] Furthermore, based on the statistical information of eligible A-IoT devices, the paging resources to be allocated in the current or next round can be determined, thereby improving resource utilization. Also, based on the statistical information of eligible A-IoT devices, it can be determined whether to initiate the next round of random access, and / or whether to configure the resources required for the next round of random access for these A-IoT devices, thereby improving the access efficiency of A-IoT devices.

[0120] Moreover, this communication method can distinguish different A-IoT devices through different proprietary preambles, which can accurately identify A-IoT devices under different conditions and perform different steps for devices under different conditions, thereby improving the control efficiency of the devices.

[0121] Example 2: Network device instructs A-IoT device to report energy status in packets.

[0122] Please refer to Figure 7, which shows a flowchart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of this application. The method may include the following steps:

[0123] S201, the network device sends a first message, which instructs the A-IoT device to report the location information of the resource corresponding to Msg1 in a group.

[0124] In one exemplary embodiment, the network device can indicate to the A-IoT device the number of packets (which can be one or more), the grouping rules (such as the resource quantity X corresponding to Msg1, remaining power, etc.), and the location information of the resources corresponding to each packet (such as size, starting position, etc.) via Msg0. For example, the number of packets is equal to the resource quantity X of a normal Msg1, or the remaining power is divided into three levels, with each level corresponding to one packet. Furthermore, the grouping rules can be predefined, and this application does not limit the configuration method of the grouping rules.

[0125] In another exemplary embodiment, Msg0 may indicate the corresponding temporal resource lengths of Msg1 and Msg2 for each group, or the total temporal lengths of Msg1 and Msg2 for all groups. Further, the A-IoT device can determine the number of groups and the location information of the resources corresponding to each group based on the message transmission interval of the total temporal lengths of Msg1 and Msg2 for all groups indicated by Msg0.

[0126] S202, the A-IoT device determines whether it needs to report to Msg1 via dedicated resources based on its own status. If reporting is required, proceed to S203; otherwise, proceed to S209.

[0127] In one exemplary embodiment, the reporting condition could be that the remaining battery power of the A-IoT device is below a battery threshold, for example, 30%. If the A-IoT device detects that its remaining battery power is below 30%, it reports a Msg1 containing its energy status to the network device; if its remaining battery power is not below 30%, it does not need to report its energy status to the network device. Alternatively, A-IoT devices of a specific device type can report a Msg1 containing device type information through dedicated resources. Or, A-IoT devices with a device priority lower than a set level can report a Msg1 containing their own priority through dedicated resources.

[0128] S203, A-IoT devices determine their own group and the dedicated resources corresponding to that group based on their own situation and grouping rules.

[0129] In one exemplary embodiment, for a scenario with one group, Msg1 corresponds to one time-domain resource. For a scenario with multiple groups, Msg1 corresponds to multiple time-domain resources, and the first group can correspond to one time-domain resource. The time-domain resource corresponding to the first group is a dedicated resource used by eligible A-IoT devices to report Msg1. Of course, the number of dedicated resources can be flexibly adjusted, and this application does not impose any special restrictions on this.

[0130] For example, an A-IoT device determines its group and the corresponding resources based on its device type, remaining battery power, priority, and specific information reporting conditions (such as a specific device type, remaining battery power below a preset value, or priority below a preset level). For instance, if an A-IoT device meets the specific information reporting conditions, it is determined to belong to the first group and reports Msg1 using the dedicated resources corresponding to the first group. If the A-IoT device does not meet the specific information reporting conditions, it is determined to belong to another group, such as the second group, and reports Msg1 using the resources corresponding to that other group. Among the resources corresponding to multiple groups, all resources except dedicated resources are non-dedicated resources, meaning all A-IoT devices can report Msg1 through non-dedicated resources.

[0131] S204, A-IoT devices that meet the reporting conditions for specific information send a second message (such as Msg1) on proprietary resources, the second message having a proprietary preamble.

[0132] This proprietary preamble is used to distinguish it from the existing preamble corresponding to a regular Msg1 message. For example, a proprietary preamble for Msg1 indicates that the A-IoT device reporting the Msg1 message meets preset conditions, such as having a remaining battery level below a preset value, being a specific device type, or having a priority level below a set level.

[0133] For example, configure two groups: group 1 corresponds to the dedicated preamble1, and group 2 corresponds to the preamble of the existing Msg1.

[0134] S205, after the network device determines that there is a conflict in Msg1 reported through proprietary resources, it returns a third message to the A-IoT device in the first group. The third message indicates whether the A-IoT device in the first group should report Msg1 carrying proprietary preamble again.

[0135] Network devices count the number of Msg1 messages containing proprietary preambles received through dedicated resources. If the number of Msg1 messages is greater than 1, a conflict is determined to exist in the dedicated resource. Furthermore, a third message (such as Msg2) can be used to instruct the A-IoT devices in the first group whether to report the energy status again. For example, after a conflict exists in the dedicated resource, the A-IoT devices in the first group can be instructed to report Msg1 messages carrying proprietary preambles again on resources corresponding to other groups.

[0136] For example, as shown in Figure 8, there are n groups. The dedicated resource corresponding to the first group (group-1) is resource #2, the non-dedicated resource corresponding to the second group (group-2) is resource #3, and the resource corresponding to the nth group is resource #n. In this example, resource #2 contains one time-domain resource, and resource #3 includes multiple time-domain resources, such as two time-domain resources.

[0137] In this example, Devices 1 and 2 belong to group-1, and Devices 3 and 5 belong to group-2. Devices 1 and 2, meeting the reporting criteria, both send Msg1 containing a proprietary preamble on resource #2. Device 3 sends a regular Msg1 on one time-domain resource of resource #3, and Device 5 sends a regular Msg1 on another time-domain resource of resource #3. After receiving two Msg1 messages containing proprietary preambles on resource #2, the network device determines that there is a conflict in the proprietary resources of group-1. In this case, the network device can return Msg2 to Devices 1 and 2. This Msg2 instructs Devices 1 and 2 to resend Msg1 containing proprietary preambles on resources in other groups, thereby enabling the network device to identify the energy status information reported by each device. For example, Msg2 can instruct Devices 1 and 2 to resend Msg1 carrying proprietary preambles on the resources corresponding to group-2.

[0138] S206, the A-IoT device determines the resource corresponding to the second message based on the third message, and then sends the second message carrying the proprietary preamble on the determined resource.

[0139] Based on the Msg2 feedback from the network device, the A-IoT devices in the first group determine that they need to report Msg1 carrying a proprietary preamble again, and send Msg1 with a proprietary preamble on the resources corresponding to the second group.

[0140] Furthermore, the second group here can be any group other than the first group, and this application does not limit it in this regard.

[0141] S207, the A-IoT device determines the time-domain resource location range for sending the fourth message based on the grouping indication in the first message.

[0142] The A-IoT device determines the starting position of the fourth message (i.e., Msg3) based on the packet indication contained in Msg0 sent by the network device. For example, the starting position of Msg3 can be the first available opportunity after the last packet's Msg2 is received. For instance, the time domain resource location range for sending Msg3 can be determined based on the total time domain length of all packets' corresponding Msg1 and Msg2 and the message interval.

[0143] S208, the A-IoT device sends the fourth message within a defined time-domain resource location range.

[0144] In some embodiments, during random access, the A-IoT device sends its own device ID to the network device via Msg3.

[0145] As shown in Figure 8, the A-IoT device sends Msg3 within the time-domain location interval of the first available opportunity after receiving the last packet Msg2.

[0146] Furthermore, the network device counts the Msg1 with a proprietary preamble reported again by the A-IoT devices in the first group, and further determines whether to initiate the next round of random access and / or whether to configure proprietary resources for the next round of random access based on the statistical results. This process can be referred to the relevant content in the embodiment shown in Figure 3, and will not be repeated here.

[0147] The communication method provided in this embodiment allows network devices to indicate the group information of A-IoT devices with insufficient energy through Msg0, such as the number of groups, grouping rules, and dedicated resources for each group to report its energy status. A-IoT devices determine their own group based on their actual situation and report their own energy status through the dedicated resources corresponding to that group. This enables network devices to instruct different execution steps based on the different energy statuses of each A-IoT device, thereby achieving precise instructions for different devices and improving instruction efficiency.

[0148] Example 3: The network device can indicate in Msg2 and / or Msg0 the resources for A-IoT devices that meet the reporting conditions to report specific information in a new round. As shown in Figure 9, the communication method provided in this embodiment may include the following steps:

[0149] S301, the network device sends the first message (Msg0), which is used to trigger A-IoT devices to perform random access.

[0150] S302, the A-IoT device responds to the first message by sending a second message (Msg1), which carries a random ID.

[0151] S303, the network device responds to the second message by sending a third message (Msg2) to the A-IoT device, which instructs the A-IoT device to use its dedicated resources to report specific information (such as device type, energy status, or priority).

[0152] In this embodiment, the network device can instruct the A-IoT device in Msg2 on the location information of the proprietary resources for the next round of reporting specific information.

[0153] In other embodiments, the network device may also indicate in Msg0 the dedicated resources for reporting specific information in the next round. Alternatively, dedicated resources for reporting specific information in both Msg0 and Msg2 may be indicated.

[0154] For example, the location information of a proprietary resource may include the time-domain location and / or frequency-domain location of the proprietary resource.

[0155] In addition, in other embodiments of this application, the network device may send a message for a proprietary resource that reports specific information separately after the current round of random access process ends, that is, the indication information of the proprietary resource is different from the messages of Msg0 and Msg2.

[0156] S304, the A-IoT device determines whether it has been paged; if it has been paged, proceed to S306; if it has not been paged, proceed to S305.

[0157] S305, the A-IoT device sends a fourth message (Msg3), which carries the device ID of the A-IoT device.

[0158] S306, After the current round of random access process is completed, the A-IoT device sends the fifth message (i.e., Msg1 of the next round) through dedicated resources. The fifth message has a dedicated preamble.

[0159] The proprietary preamble is used to distinguish the preamble of the ordinary Msg1, so that network devices can identify the energy status information of the Msg1 associated device reported by the A-IoT device through the proprietary preamble.

[0160] For example, as shown in Figure 10, the network device sends the dedicated resource for reporting the energy status in the next round through Msg2 during the current RA process, and the A-IoT device sends Msg1 carrying its own energy status through the dedicated resource for the next round indicated by Msg2.

[0161] S307, Network device statistics on the fifth message received on proprietary resources.

[0162] S308: After determining that there is a resource conflict on the dedicated resources based on the statistical information, the network device determines whether to start the next round of random access and / or whether to configure the resources required for the next round of random access for the A-IoT devices with conflicts.

[0163] S309, the network device responds by reporting a fifth message carrying a proprietary preamble to all A-IoT devices, which then return a sixth message. The sixth message indicates whether the A-IoT device participates in the current or next paging round.

[0164] The implementation process of S307 to S309 in this embodiment can be referred to the relevant content of S104 to S106 in the embodiment shown in Figure 3, which will not be repeated here.

[0165] The communication method provided in this embodiment allows network devices to send location information of proprietary resources for the next round of reporting specific information by A-IoT devices in Msg2 during the current round of random access. For example, Msg0 in the current round carries information about proprietary resources for reporting specific information in the current round, while Msg2 in the current round carries information about proprietary resources for reporting specific information in the next round. This improves message utilization and the efficiency of reporting specific information.

[0166] Example 4: After the current round of random access process is completed, the network device sends a separate query message to inquire whether there are any unpaged devices. As shown in Figure 11, the communication method provided in this example may include the following steps:

[0167] S401, after a round of access process is completed, the network device sends a paging message to the A-IoT device.

[0168] The query message is used to paging whether there are any unpaging A-IoT devices, and the query message includes resource allocation information for the A-IoT device to return a response message, that is, the location information of the resources configured for the A-IoT device to respond to the query message, such as the time domain and / or frequency domain location of the resources.

[0169] For example, a network device can send the query message to each IoT device via broadcast.

[0170] S402, the A-IoT device receives the query message at the offset position before the next round begins.

[0171] S403, the A-IoT device determines whether it has been paged; if not, it executes S404.

[0172] S404, the A-IoT device sends a response message to the network device, which carries a proprietary preamble.

[0173] This proprietary preamble is used to characterize that the A-IoT device that sent the response message was not paged.

[0174] S405: The network device counts the number of response messages received and determines whether to initiate the next paging round based on the count.

[0175] The network device counts the number of messages containing the proprietary preamble received. If zero messages are received, no further paging is required. If one or more messages are received, a further paging is required.

[0176] The communication method provided in this embodiment, after one round of random access, involves the network device sending a query to inquire whether there are any unpaged A-IoT devices and instructing the A-IoT devices to send response messages, along with the location information of the time-frequency resources. Upon receiving the query message, the A-IoT device determines whether to return a response message based on whether it has been paged. Furthermore, the network device can determine whether to initiate the next round of paging based on whether it has received a response message. This method improves the efficiency of initiating paging by determining the criteria for initiating the next round of paging.

[0177] If the integrated unit is implemented as a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of this embodiment, in essence, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or all or part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) or processor to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media capable of storing program code, such as flash memory, portable hard disk, read-only memory, random access memory, magnetic disk, or optical disk.

[0178] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of this application, but the scope of protection of this application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed in this application should be included within the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be determined by the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, Applied to network devices, the method includes: Send a first message to the A-IoT device. The first message is used to indicate the location information of the first time-frequency resource of the A-IoT device that meets the reporting conditions to report the second message. The second message carries a proprietary preamble. The proprietary preamble is used to associate the specified state of the A-IoT device. The proprietary preamble is different from the preamble of Msg1 in the random access procedure. Receive the second message sent by the A-IoT device that meets the reporting conditions through the first time-frequency resource.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first time-frequency resource occupies one time-frequency resource.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The time-domain location and / or frequency-domain location of the first time-frequency resource are different from the time-frequency resource that the network device sends Msg1 during the random access process configured for the A-IoT device.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The first message includes information for triggering the A-IoT device to perform random access.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The first message is also used to indicate that this round of messages is only used to count whether there are A-IoT devices that meet the reporting conditions.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that, All the proprietary preambles carried in the second messages received by the network device through the first time-frequency resource are the same, and the proprietary preambles are associated with a specified state of the A-IoT device. Alternatively, the network device may receive multiple second messages through the first time-frequency resource that carry different proprietary preambles, and the different proprietary preambles may be associated with different specified states of the A-IoT device.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that, The proprietary preamble is associated with the remaining battery power of the A-IoT device; The proprietary preamble carried in the second message is different from the proprietary preamble carried in the second message. The proprietary preamble is associated with the remaining battery power of the A-IoT device being lower than a preset value. The proprietary preamble carried by the multiple second messages is different, and the different proprietary preambles are associated with different ranges of the remaining battery power of the A-IoT device.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that, The method further includes: It counts whether the second message has been received. If the second message has been received, it is determined that an A-IoT device in the specified state exists. If the second message has not been received, it is determined that an A-IoT device in the specified state does not exist. And / or, count the number of second messages received to obtain the number of A-IoT devices in a specified state; And / or, count whether the received power on the first time-frequency resource is greater than or equal to an energy threshold. If it is greater than or equal to the energy threshold, determine that the number of A-IoT devices reporting the second message has reached a preset number. If it is less than the energy threshold, determine that the number of A-IoT devices reporting the second message has not reached a preset number.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that, The first message is also used to instruct each A-IoT device to report the group information of Msg1 and the location information of the time-frequency resources corresponding to each group, wherein the time-frequency resources include the first time-frequency resources, and the second message is Msg1 carrying the specified status information.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that, The first message is also used to instruct each A-IoT device to report the packet information of Msg1, including: The first message is used to indicate the number of groups and grouping conditions for A-IoT devices; Alternatively, the first message may be used to indicate the total time domain length of Msg1 and Msg2 corresponding to each group, and the total time domain length may be used to enable the A-IoT device to determine the starting time domain position of Msg3.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that, After receiving the second message sent by an A-IoT device that meets the reporting conditions via the first time-frequency resource, the method further includes: The time-frequency resource corresponding to the first group is the first time-frequency resource. If multiple second messages are received on the first time-frequency resource, it is determined that the A-IoT devices in the first group have a resource conflict. A feedback message is sent to all A-IoT devices that have experienced resource conflicts. The feedback message is used to instruct all A-IoT devices that have experienced resource conflicts to resend the second message on the time-frequency resources corresponding to other groups.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that, The method further includes: sending a third message to an A-IoT device, the third message being used to indicate the location information of the time-frequency resources of the A-IoT device that meets the reporting conditions to report the second message in the next round.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that, The third message is Msg0 and / or Msg2 in random access.

14. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that, The method further includes: After this paging round ends, an inquiry message is sent to the A-IoT device. The inquiry message is used to inquire whether there are any unpaging A-IoT devices, and the inquiry message carries the location information of the time-frequency resources of the unpaging A-IoT devices that sent response messages.

15. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 14, characterized in that, The method further includes: Based on whether there is a resource conflict in the first time-frequency resource, determine whether it is necessary to start the next round of random access, and / or whether to configure the resources required for the next round of random access for A-IoT devices that have a conflict in the first time-frequency resource in this round.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that, The step of determining whether to initiate the next round of random access based on whether there is a resource conflict on the first time-frequency resource, and / or whether to configure the resources required for the next round of random access for A-IoT devices that have a conflict on the first time-frequency resource in this round, includes: If it is determined that there is a resource conflict in the first time-frequency resource, then it is determined that the next round of random access needs to be started, and / or, the resources required for the next round of random access are configured for the A-IoT devices that have a conflict in the first time-frequency resource in this round; If it is determined that there is no resource conflict in the first time-frequency resource, then it is determined that there is no need to start the next round of random access.

17. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 16, characterized in that, The method further includes sending a fourth message to all A-IoT devices that report the second message through the first time-frequency resource.

18. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that, The fourth message is used to indicate whether the A-IoT device that reported the second message participates in the current or next round of paging.

19. A communication method, characterized in that, Applied to A-IoT devices, the method includes: Receive a first message sent by a network device, the first message being used to indicate the location information of the first time-frequency resource that the A-IoT device that meets the reporting conditions reports a second message; After determining that its own status meets the reporting conditions, the device reports a second message through the first time-frequency resource. The second message carries the specified status information of the A-IoT device.

20. The method according to claim 19, characterized in that, The process of determining that one's own status meets the reporting conditions includes at least one of the following: The remaining battery power of the A-IoT device is less than or equal to a preset value, which meets the reporting conditions. The device type of the A-IoT device is a specified device type that meets the reporting conditions; The device priority of the A-IoT device is the priority that meets the reporting conditions.

21. The method according to claim 20, characterized in that, The second message has a proprietary preamble associated with the first time-frequency resource, and the first preamble is different from the preamble of Msg1 in the random access procedure.

22. The method according to claim 21, characterized in that, The number of proprietary preambles is one, and the proprietary preamble is associated with a specified state of the A-IoT device; Alternatively, there may be multiple proprietary preambles, and each proprietary preamble may be associated with a different specified state of the A-IoT device.

23. The method according to claim 22, characterized in that, The number of proprietary preambles is one, and the proprietary preamble is associated with a specified state of the A-IoT device, including: The proprietary preamble is associated with the A-IoT device having a remaining battery power that is below a preset value; The proprietary preamble is associated with a specified device type of the A-IoT device; The proprietary preamble is associated with a specified device priority of the A-IoT device.

24. The method according to claim 22, characterized in that, The number of proprietary preambles is multiple, and each proprietary preamble is associated with a different specified state of the A-IoT device, including at least one of the following: Different specified preambles are associated with different remaining battery ranges of the A-IoT device; Different specified preambles are associated with different device types of the A-IoT device; Different specified preambles are associated with different device priorities of the A-IoT devices.

25. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 24, characterized in that, The message bits for the second message are in the default state; Alternatively, the same message bit of the second message may carry specified status information of multiple A-IoT devices that meet the reporting conditions.

26. The method according to claim 25, characterized in that, The same second message carries specified status information of multiple A-IoT devices that meet the reporting conditions, including: Different bits in the message bits of the same second message carry the low remaining battery indicator of different A-IoT devices that meet the reporting conditions.

27. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 26, characterized in that, After receiving the first message sent by the network device, the method further includes: The A-IoT device determines its own group and the time-frequency resources corresponding to the reported Msg1 based on its own status, the group information of A-IoT device group reporting Msg1 indicated by the first message, and the location of the time-frequency resources corresponding to each group.

28. The method according to claim 27, characterized in that, After determining that its own state meets the reporting conditions, and after reporting the second message through the first time-frequency resource, the method further includes: The network device receives a feedback message, which is generated after determining that a resource conflict has occurred in the first time-frequency resource, and is used to instruct all A-IoT devices that have experienced resource conflicts in this round to resend the second message on the time-frequency resources corresponding to other groups.

29. The method according to claim 27 or 28, characterized in that, The first message is also used to instruct each A-IoT device to report the packet information of Msg1 in a packet; After receiving the first message sent by the network device, the method further includes: Based on the total time domain length of Msg1 and Msg2 corresponding to each group indicated by the first message, determine the starting position of the time-frequency resources for sending Msg3.

30. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 29, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receive a third message sent by the network device, the third message being used for the location information of the second time-frequency resource of the A-IoT device that meets the reporting conditions to be reported in the next round of the second message; Upon determining that it has been paged, the device reports the second message to the network device via the second time-frequency resource after the current round of random access process has ended.

31. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 30, characterized in that, After the current round of random access process has ended, the method further includes: At the time-domain offset position of the next round of random access, the network device sends an inquiry message, which is used to inquire whether there is an unpaging A-IoT device and carries the location information of the time-frequency resources of the unpaging A-IoT device sending a response message. Upon determining that it has been paged, the device sends a response message through the time-frequency resources corresponding to the response message indicated by the query message. The response message is used to indicate that the A-IoT device has been paged.

32. The method according to claim 31, characterized in that, The response message has a second preamble, which is different from the preamble of any existing message.

33. An electronic device, characterized in that, The electronic device includes: one or more processors, a memory, and a touch screen; the memory is used to store program code; the processor is used to run the program code, causing the electronic device to implement the communication method as described in any one of claims 1 to 32.

34. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, It stores instructions that, when executed on an electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform the communication method as described in any one of claims 1 to 32.

35. A chip system, characterized in that, include: At least one processor and an interface, the interface being used to receive code instructions and transmit them to the at least one processor; The at least one processor executes the code instructions to implement the communication method according to any one of claims 1-32.

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