Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

A communication method and apparatus, which relate to the technical field of communications. In the method, before cell handover or during the cell handover, a CSI-RS resource / CSI-RS resource set of a candidate cell is configured for a terminal by means of a serving cell, such that the terminal can perform measurement on the basis of the CSI-RS resource / CSI-RS resource set of the candidate cell configured by the serving cell and report a measurement result. Therefore, a network-side device (e.g., a second access network apparatus) learns about the measurement result of the CSI-RS resource of the candidate cell in advance, and thus can select an appropriate data scheduling manner to schedule uplink and downlink data for a target cell after the cell handover is completed. In this way, an improvement in the reliability and efficiency of data transmission after the cell handover (i.e., after handing over from the serving cell (alternatively referred to as a source cell) to the target cell) is facilitated.

Description

Communication methods and devices

[0001] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202411589216.6, 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 communication technology, and in particular to a communication method and apparatus. Background Technology

[0003] Currently, access network devices can configure reference signal resources (RSRs) for one or more candidate cells for a terminal. The terminal can then measure these RSRs and report the measurement results for each candidate cell. The measurement results for each candidate cell include the RSR index and corresponding signal strength information (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP)). Therefore, the access network device can determine whether the terminal should perform a cell handover and which candidate cell (i.e., the target cell) to hand over to based on the measurement results reported by the terminal. However, currently, besides signal strength information, it does not support obtaining more channel state information (CSI) information from candidate cells before or during cell handover. This prevents the access network device from employing appropriate scheduling methods to schedule data to the target cell, thus negatively impacting the reliability and efficiency of data transmission. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This application provides a communication method and apparatus that helps improve the reliability and efficiency of data transmission.

[0005] The present application is described below from different aspects. It should be understood that the different implementation methods and beneficial effects described below can be referenced from each other.

[0006] Firstly, this application provides a communication method that can be applied to a terminal-side communication device, such as a terminal or a communication module / processing module within a terminal, or a circuit or chip in the terminal responsible for communication functions (such as a modem chip, a baseband chip, or a system-on-chip (SoC) chip or system-in-package (SIP) chip containing a modem core), or a circuit or chip in the terminal responsible for processing functions (such as a graphics processing unit (GPU), an artificial intelligence (AI) processor, or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)). Taking the application of this method to a terminal as an example, in this method, the terminal receives first configuration information, which includes one or more reporting configurations of a serving cell, wherein one reporting configuration is associated with one or more sets of reference signal resources, and the one or more sets of reference signal resources include reference signal resources of one or more candidate cells. The terminal receives first information, which is used to trigger the measurement of reference signal resources of at least one candidate cell and / or the reporting of measurement results, wherein the one or more candidate cells include at least one candidate cell. The terminal transmits measurement results of reference signal resources for at least one candidate cell. For example, the following description primarily uses CSI-RS resources as reference signal resources.

[0007] Optionally, the aforementioned first information used to trigger the measurement and / or reporting of the CSI-RS resources of the candidate cell can also be described as the first information used to trigger the terminal to perform the measurement and / or reporting of the CSI-RS resources of the candidate cell, or as the first information used to trigger the measurement and / or reporting of the CSI-RS resources of at least one candidate cell, or as the first information used to trigger the terminal to perform the measurement and / or reporting of the CSI-RS resources of at least one candidate cell, or as the first information used to trigger the measurement and / or reporting of the CSI-RS resources of the candidate cell after receiving cell handover signaling, or as the first information used to trigger the terminal to perform the measurement and / or reporting of the CSI-RS resources of the candidate cell after receiving cell handover signaling, or as the first information used to trigger the measurement and / or reporting of the CSI-RS resources of the candidate cell after receiving cell handover signaling and before actually handing over to the target cell, or as the first information used to trigger the terminal to perform the measurement and / or reporting of the CSI-RS resources of the candidate cell. After receiving cell handover signaling but before actually handing over to the target cell, the terminal performs CSI-RS resource measurement and / or reports the measurement results of the candidate cell. Alternatively, this can be described as the first information used to trigger the measurement and / or reporting of CSI-RS resource measurement and / or measurement results of the candidate cell during cell handover; or as the first information used to trigger the terminal to perform CSI-RS resource measurement and / or reporting of measurement results of the candidate cell during cell handover; or as the first information used to trigger the measurement and / or reporting of CSI-RS resource measurement and / or measurement results of the candidate cell before cell handover; or as the first information used to trigger the terminal to perform CSI-RS resource measurement and / or reporting of measurement results of the candidate cell before cell handover; or as the first information used to trigger the measurement of CSI-RS resource measurement of the candidate cell before cell handover and reporting of measurement results during cell handover; or as the first information used to trigger the terminal to perform CSI-RS resource measurement of the candidate cell before cell handover and report the measurement results during cell handover. "Actually handing over to the target cell" as described in this application refers to the terminal successfully accessing the target cell. Optionally, "truly handing over to the target cell" as described in this application refers to the terminal successfully accessing the target cell. Optionally, "truly handing over to the target cell" can also be described as the terminal sending an RRC reconfiguration complete message to the second access network device, or as LTM cell handover completion, or cell handover completion, or handover completion, or as the terminal sending its first uplink transmission to the target cell / second access network device. "Before cell handover" as described in this application can be understood as before receiving cell handover signaling.The "cell handover process" described in this application can be understood as after receiving the cell handover signaling and before actually handing over to the target cell.

[0008] Optionally, the first information involved in this application that triggers the measurement of CSI-RS resources of candidate cells and / or the reporting of measurement results specifically includes three cases:

[0009] The first scenario is that the first information triggers the measurement of CSI-RS resources of the candidate cell. The second scenario is that the first information triggers the reporting of the measurement results of CSI-RS resources of the candidate cell. The third scenario is that the first information triggers the measurement of CSI-RS resources of both the candidate cell and the target cell, and the reporting of the measurement results of CSI-RS resources of both the candidate cell and the target cell. In other words, the first information may trigger only the measurement of the candidate cell (for ease of description, it can be simply described as triggering only the measurement), or the first information may trigger only the reporting of the measurement results of the candidate cell (for ease of description, it can be simply described as triggering only the reporting), or the first information may trigger both the measurement of the candidate cell and the reporting of the measurement results of the candidate cell (for ease of description, it can be simply described as triggering both the measurement and the reporting).

[0010] Optionally, the first information is carried in downlink control information (DCI) or medium access control control element (MAC CE). More specifically, the first information is carried in downlink control information that schedules the cell handover signaling, or the first information is carried in the cell handover signaling, or the first information is carried in downlink control information that schedules the first uplink transmission of the target cell.

[0011] Optionally, in this embodiment, the measurement result of the cell's reference signal resources can be CSI information, such as one or more of the following: channel quality indicator (CQI), precoding matrix indicator (PMI), layer indicator (LI), rank indicator (RI), layer 1 reference signal received power (L1-RSRP), layer 1 signal to interference plus noise ratio (L1-SINR), codebook index i1, etc. The aforementioned L1-RSRP is also called reference signal received power (RSRP), and the aforementioned L1-SINR is also called signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR).

[0012] In this embodiment, unlike the current implementation where the measurement results (e.g., CQI, PMI, LI, RI, i1, etc.) of the reference signal resources of the new serving cell (i.e., the target cell) can only be obtained after cell handover is completed, this embodiment proposes that the CSI-RS resources / CSI-RS resource set of candidate cells can be configured for the terminal by the serving cell before or during cell handover. Then, the terminal can perform measurements based on the CSI-RS resources / CSI-RS resource set of candidate cells configured by the serving cell and report the measurement results. Therefore, the network-side equipment (e.g., the second access network device) can know the measurement results of the CSI-RS resources of the candidate cells in advance. Then, after cell handover is completed, an appropriate data scheduling method can be selected to schedule uplink and downlink data of the target cell. This is beneficial to improving the reliability and efficiency of data transmission after cell handover (i.e., after handover from the serving cell (or source cell) to the target cell).

[0013] In one possible implementation, the report configuration is associated with a set of reference signal resources, including:

[0014] A report configuration is associated with a set of reference signal resources, and this set of reference signal resources includes the reference signal resources of one or more candidate cells. For ease of description, this will be referred to as Method 1. Optionally, there is a special case of Method 1, namely, "a report configuration is associated with a set of reference signal resources, and this set of reference signal resources includes the reference signal resources of only one candidate cell." For ease of description, this special case will be referred to as "Method 2".

[0015] In this application, if the design of Method 1 is adopted, the measurement and / or reporting of multiple candidate cells can be triggered simultaneously, so that the receiver of the measurement results can quickly compare the channel quality of each candidate cell. In addition, this configuration method, in which a reference signal resource set includes the reference signal resources of one or more candidate cells, is beneficial to reducing configuration overhead. If the design of Method 2 is adopted, the measurement and / or reporting of a candidate cell can be triggered on demand, which is beneficial to reducing the measurement overhead of the terminal.

[0016] In one possible implementation, the reference signal resource set includes one or more candidate cell indices and one or more reference signal resource indices, and the number of candidate cell indices is the same as the number of reference signal resource indices, with the i-th candidate cell index corresponding to the i-th reference signal resource index, where i is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0017] In the first design, the reference signal resource index and candidate cell index in the reference signal resource set are further designed to correspond one-to-one, which helps to improve the flexibility of reference signal resource allocation. For ease of description, this implementation method can be referred to as implementation method 1.1 below.

[0018] In one possible implementation, the reference signal resource set includes the number of reference signal resources corresponding to each candidate cell, one or more candidate cell indices, and one or more reference signal resource indices, where the i-th candidate cell index corresponds to Ki reference signal resource indices, and Ki is the number of reference signal resources corresponding to the i-th candidate cell corresponding to the i-th candidate cell, where i is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1, and Ki is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1. Optionally, the reference signal resource set may further include the number of candidate cells, where the number of candidate cell indices is equal to the number of candidate cells.

[0019] In the design of Method 1, the reference signal resource set is further designed to include the number of candidate cells and the number of reference signal resources for each candidate cell. This approach, where one candidate cell index may correspond to multiple reference signal resource indices, helps reduce configuration overhead. For ease of description, this implementation method can be referred to as Implementation Method 1.2 below.

[0020] In one possible implementation, the reference signal resource set includes one or more candidate cell indices that are identical.

[0021] Under the above implementation method 1.1, it is possible to further restrict that one or more candidate cell indices included in a reference signal resource set associated with a report configuration are the same, that is, to restrict a report configuration to be associated with one or more reference signal resources of a candidate cell. This can enable the measurement and / or reporting of a candidate cell to be triggered on demand, which is beneficial to reduce the measurement overhead of the terminal.

[0022] In one possible implementation, the reference signal resource set includes only one candidate cell index. The descriptions "only includes" and "at most / maximum includes" are interchangeable in this application.

[0023] Under the above implementation method 1.2, it is possible to further restrict a report configuration to include only one candidate cell index in a set of reference signal resources. That is, a report configuration is restricted to be associated with only one or more reference signal resources of a candidate cell. This enables the measurement and / or reporting of a candidate cell to be triggered on demand, which helps to reduce the measurement overhead of the terminal.

[0024] In one possible implementation, the report configuration is associated with one or more sets of reference signal resources, including:

[0025] A report configuration is associated with one or more reference signal resource sets, and each reference signal resource set includes the reference signal resources of a candidate cell.

[0026] In this implementation, a measurement report is designed to associate a set of reference signal resources for one or more candidate cells, with each resource set containing only the reference signal resources of one candidate cell, thus reducing configuration complexity. For ease of description, this design will be referred to as "Method Three" below.

[0027] In one possible implementation, the report configuration is associated with one or more sets of reference signal resources, and each set of reference signal resources includes reference signal resources of a candidate cell, including:

[0028] A report configuration associates one or more reference signal resource set indices and one or more candidate cell indices, and the number of candidate cell indices is the same as the number of reference signal resource set indices. The i-th candidate cell index corresponds to the i-th reference signal resource set index, where i is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0029] In the design of Method 3, more specifically, a report configuration is associated with one or more reference signal resource set indices and one or more candidate cell indices, and the reference signal resource set indices and candidate cell indices correspond one-to-one, which helps to improve the flexibility of reference signal resource set configuration.

[0030] In one possible implementation, the one or more candidate cell indices associated with the report configuration are the same.

[0031] Under the above method three, it is possible to further restrict one or more candidate cell indices associated with a report configuration to be the same, that is, to restrict one report configuration to be associated with one or more reference signal resources of a candidate cell. This can enable the measurement and / or reporting of a candidate cell to be triggered on demand, which helps to reduce the measurement overhead of the terminal.

[0032] In one possible implementation, a report configuration is associated with reference signal resources of at most one candidate cell when one or more of the following conditions are met:

[0033] The reported quantity included in the reported configuration is not empty; or, the reported quantity does not include the reference signal received power and / or the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio; or, the reported quantity includes any one or more of the following: channel quality indicator, precoding matrix indicator, layer indicator, rank indicator, and codebook index; or...

[0034] The maximum number of candidate cells that the terminal supports for measurement is 1; or...

[0035] The reported quantities included in the reported configuration include reference signal received power and / or signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio, and the terminal supports beam measurement for at most one candidate cell; or,

[0036] The reported quantity included in the reported configuration is not empty, or the reported quantity does not include the reference signal received power and / or the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio, or the reported quantity includes any one or more of the channel quality indicator, precoding matrix indicator, layer indicator, rank indicator, and codebook index, and the terminal supports non-beam measurement of at most one candidate cell.

[0037] In this implementation, when one or more of the above conditions are met, a report configuration is constrained to associate only one or more reference signal resources of a candidate cell. This allows for on-demand triggering of measurements and / or reporting for a candidate cell. For example, if the first access network device determines a target cell that may be handed over, the first access network device can trigger only the measurement and / or reporting of that target cell.

[0038] In one possible implementation, when a report configuration includes any one or more of the following in its reported quantity: channel quality indicator, precoding matrix indicator, layer indicator, rank indicator, and codebook index, the report configuration is associated with one or more sets of reference signal resources; or,

[0039] When a report configuration includes reference signal received power and / or signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio in the reported quantities, the report configuration is associated with at most one set of reference signal resources.

[0040] In this implementation, by constraining the impact of the reporting amount in the report configuration on the set of reference signal resources associated with the report configuration, it is beneficial to save measurement and / or reporting overhead.

[0041] In one possible implementation, the first information includes first indication information;

[0042] The first indication information indicates a report configuration index, and the report configuration index corresponds to a set of report configuration associated reference signal resources; or,

[0043] The first indication information indicates the trigger status information, and the trigger status information is associated with one or more report configurations, wherein one report configuration is associated with one or more reference signal resource sets.

[0044] In this implementation, the reference signal resources to be measured and / or the reference signal resources for which measurement results need to be reported are determined by indicating the report configuration index and combining the association between the report configuration corresponding to the report configuration index and the reference signal resource set, which is highly operable. Alternatively, the reference signal resources to be measured and / or the reference signal resources for which measurement results need to be reported are determined by indicating the trigger status information (e.g., trigger status index) and combining the association between the trigger status information and the report configuration, as well as the association between the report configuration and the reference signal resource set, which is easy to implement and highly operable.

[0045] In one possible implementation, after receiving the first information, the method further includes:

[0046] Based on the report configuration index, measure the reference signal resources in the reference signal resource set associated with the report configuration corresponding to the report configuration index and / or report the corresponding measurement results; or,

[0047] Based on the information of the trigger state, the trigger state corresponding to the information of the trigger state is associated with one or more reference signal resources in the reference signal resource set associated with the report configuration and / or the corresponding measurement results are reported.

[0048] In one possible implementation, the first information includes second indication information, which indicates one or more of the following:

[0049] Candidate cell index, reference signal resource set index, or reference signal resource index;

[0050] Wherein, the reference signal resources of the candidate cell corresponding to the candidate cell index, or the reference signal resources in the reference signal resource set corresponding to the reference signal resource set index, or the reference signal resources corresponding to the reference signal resource index are included in the reference signal resource set associated with the report configuration corresponding to the report configuration index; or,

[0051] The reference signal resources of the candidate cell corresponding to the candidate cell index, or the reference signal resources in the reference signal resource set corresponding to the reference signal resource set index, or the reference signal resources corresponding to the reference signal resource index, are included in the reference signal resource set associated with one or more report configurations associated with the trigger state information.

[0052] In this implementation, based on the information of the indicated report configuration index or trigger status, the candidate cell index, reference signal resource set index, or reference signal resource index are further indicated. This can further limit the reference signal resources that the terminal needs to measure and / or the reference signal resources that need to report the measurement results, which helps to save measurement and / or reporting overhead.

[0053] In one possible implementation, after receiving the first information, the method further includes:

[0054] Measure the reference signal resources of the candidate cells corresponding to the candidate cell index and / or report the corresponding measurement results; or,

[0055] Measure the reference signal resources in the reference signal resource set corresponding to the reference signal resource set index and / or report the corresponding measurement results; or,

[0056] Measure the reference signal resources corresponding to the reference signal resource index and / or report the corresponding measurement results.

[0057] Secondly, this application provides a communication method that can be applied to network-side communication devices, such as network-side access network devices, modules (e.g., circuits, chips, or chip systems) within the access network device, or logical nodes, logical modules, or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the access network device. Taking the application of this method to a first access network device as an example, in this method, the first access network device is an access network device serving a cell. The first access network device sends first configuration information, which includes one or more reporting configurations for the serving cell, wherein one reporting configuration is associated with one or more sets of reference signal resources, and the one or more sets of reference signal resources include reference signal resources of one or more candidate cells. The first access network device sends first information, which is used to trigger the measurement of reference signal resources of at least one candidate cell and / or the reporting of measurement results, wherein the one or more candidate cells include the at least one candidate cell.

[0058] In one possible implementation, the report configuration is associated with a set of reference signal resources, including:

[0059] A report configuration is associated with a set of reference signal resources, and the set of reference signal resources includes reference signal resources of one or more candidate cells.

[0060] In one possible implementation, the reference signal resource set includes one or more candidate cell indices and one or more reference signal resource indices, and the number of candidate cell indices is the same as the number of reference signal resource indices, with the i-th candidate cell index corresponding to the i-th reference signal resource index, where i is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0061] In one possible implementation, the reference signal resource set includes the number of reference signal resources corresponding to each candidate cell, one or more candidate cell indices, and one or more reference signal resource indices, where the i-th candidate cell index corresponds to Ki reference signal resource indices, and Ki is the number of reference signal resources corresponding to the i-th candidate cell corresponding to the i-th candidate cell, where i is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1, and Ki is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1. Optionally, the reference signal resource set may further include the number of candidate cells, where the number of candidate cell indices is equal to the number of candidate cells.

[0062] In one possible implementation, the reference signal resource set includes one or more candidate cell indices that are identical.

[0063] In one possible implementation, the reference signal resource set includes only one candidate cell index.

[0064] In one possible implementation, the report configuration is associated with one or more sets of reference signal resources, including:

[0065] A report configuration is associated with one or more reference signal resource sets, and each reference signal resource set includes the reference signal resources of a candidate cell.

[0066] In one possible implementation, the report configuration is associated with one or more sets of reference signal resources, and each set of reference signal resources includes reference signal resources of a candidate cell, including:

[0067] A report configuration associates one or more reference signal resource set indices and one or more candidate cell indices, and the number of candidate cell indices is the same as the number of reference signal resource set indices. The i-th candidate cell index corresponds to the i-th reference signal resource set index, where i is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0068] In one possible implementation, the one or more candidate cell indices associated with the report configuration are the same.

[0069] In one possible implementation, a report configuration is associated with reference signal resources of at most one candidate cell when one or more of the following conditions are met:

[0070] The reported quantity included in the reported configuration is not empty; or, the reported quantity does not include the reference signal received power and / or the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio; or, the reported quantity includes any one or more of the following: channel quality indicator, precoding matrix indicator, layer indicator, rank indicator, and codebook index; or...

[0071] The maximum number of candidate cells that the terminal supports for measurement is 1; or...

[0072] The reported quantities included in the reported configuration include reference signal received power and / or signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio, and the terminal supports beam measurement for at most one candidate cell; or,

[0073] The reported quantity included in the reported configuration is not empty, or the reported quantity does not include the reference signal received power and / or the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio, or the reported quantity includes any one or more of the channel quality indicator, precoding matrix indicator, layer indicator, rank indicator, and codebook index, and the terminal supports non-beam measurement of at most one candidate cell.

[0074] In one possible implementation, when a report configuration includes any one or more of the following in its reported quantity: channel quality indicator, precoding matrix indicator, layer indicator, rank indicator, and codebook index, the report configuration is associated with one or more sets of reference signal resources; or,

[0075] When a report configuration includes reference signal received power and / or signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio in the reported quantities, the report configuration is associated with at most one set of reference signal resources.

[0076] In one possible implementation, the first information includes first indication information;

[0077] The first indication information indicates a report configuration index, and the report configuration index corresponds to a set of report configuration associated reference signal resources; or,

[0078] The first indication information indicates the trigger status information, and the trigger status information is associated with one or more report configurations, wherein one report configuration is associated with one or more reference signal resource sets.

[0079] In one possible implementation, after sending the first information, the method further includes:

[0080] Receive the measurement results of the reference signal resources in the reference signal resource set associated with the report configuration corresponding to the report configuration index; or,

[0081] The trigger state information received corresponds to the measurement results of reference signal resources in the reference signal resource set associated with one or more report configurations.

[0082] In one possible implementation, the first information includes second indication information, which indicates one or more of the following:

[0083] Candidate cell index, reference signal resource set index, or reference signal resource index;

[0084] Wherein, the reference signal resources of the candidate cell corresponding to the candidate cell index, or the reference signal resources in the reference signal resource set corresponding to the reference signal resource set index, or the reference signal resources corresponding to the reference signal resource index are included in the reference signal resource set associated with the report configuration corresponding to the report configuration index; or,

[0085] The reference signal resources of the candidate cell corresponding to the candidate cell index, or the reference signal resources in the reference signal resource set corresponding to the reference signal resource set index, or the reference signal resources corresponding to the reference signal resource index, are included in the reference signal resource set associated with one or more report configurations associated with the trigger state information.

[0086] In one possible implementation, after sending the first information, the method further includes:

[0087] Receive the measurement results of the reference signal resources of the candidate cells corresponding to the candidate cell index; or,

[0088] Receive the measurement results of the reference signal resources in the reference signal resource set corresponding to the reference signal resource set index; or,

[0089] Receive the measurement results of the reference signal resource corresponding to the reference signal resource index.

[0090] Thirdly, this application provides a communication device comprising units, modules, or means for implementing any of the methods in the first to second aspects, or any possible implementations of any of the aspects, wherein the modules, units, or means may be implemented by software, by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware.

[0091] Fourthly, this application provides a communication device including a processor. The processor is configured to cause the communication device to implement the methods shown in any of the first to second aspects, or any possible implementation thereof.

[0092] Optionally, the communication device further includes a transceiver for sending and receiving information.

[0093] Optionally, the communication device further includes a memory storing computer programs or instructions; the processor and transceiver are used to invoke the computer programs or instructions in the memory, causing the communication device to implement the methods shown in any of the first or second aspects, or any possible implementation of any of the aspects.

[0094] In one possible design, the communication device can be a chip that implements the above method or a device containing a chip.

[0095] Fifthly, this application provides a communication device comprising one or more processors, which implement, via logic circuits or execution code instructions, any of the methods described in the first or second aspects, or any possible implementation thereof.

[0096] Optionally, the communication device further includes an interface circuit for receiving signals from other communication devices outside the communication device and transmitting them to the processor, or sending signals from the processor to other communication devices outside the communication device.

[0097] Optionally, the communication device may further include a memory for storing part or all of the computer programs or instructions necessary to implement the functions involved in the first aspect above.

[0098] The aforementioned communication device may be a terminal, a communication module in a terminal, or a chip in a terminal that is responsible for communication functions, such as a modem chip (also known as a baseband chip) or a SoC or SIP chip that contains a modem module.

[0099] The aforementioned communication device may be an access network device, a module (e.g., a circuit, chip, or chip system) within the access network device, or a logic node, logic module, or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the access network device.

[0100] Sixthly, this application provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program or instructions that, when executed by a computer, implement the method shown in any of the first to second aspects, or any possible implementation thereof.

[0101] In a seventh aspect, this application provides a computer program product, including a computer program or instructions, which, when read and executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform any of the methods of the first aspect to the second aspect, or any possible implementation thereof.

[0102] Eighthly, this application provides a chip system including at least one processor and an interface, the processor being configured to read and execute a computer program or instructions in a memory, wherein when the computer program or instructions are executed, the chip performs the method as described in any one of the first or second aspects, or the method shown in any possible implementation of either aspect.

[0103] Ninthly, this application provides a communication system that may include a terminal and an access network device. The terminal is used to perform the method shown in the first aspect or any possible implementation thereof. The access network device is used to perform the method shown in the second aspect or any possible implementation thereof. Attached Figure Description

[0104] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of the communication system used in the embodiments of this application;

[0105] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of the O-RAN system provided in this application;

[0106] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the network element function division and protocol layer structure of an O-RAN device provided in this application;

[0107] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the MAC CE for cell handover signaling provided in this application;

[0108] Figure 5 is a flowchart illustrating a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0109] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a possible communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0110] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a possible communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0111] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a possible communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0112] The technical solutions in the embodiments of this application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0113] In the description of this application, terms such as "first" and "second" are used only to distinguish different objects, not to describe a specific order. Furthermore, unless otherwise stated, " / " means "or," for example, A / B can mean A or B. "And / or" in this document is merely a description of the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: A alone, A and B simultaneously, and B alone. Additionally, "at least one" refers to one or more, and "multiple" refers to two or more. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or multiple items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can represent: a, b, c; a and b; a and c; b and c; or a and b and c. Where a, b, and c can be single or multiple.

[0114] The terms “comprising” and “having”, and any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, system, product, or apparatus that includes a series of steps or units is not limited to the steps or units listed, but may optionally include steps or units not listed, or may optionally include other steps or units inherent to such process, method, product, or apparatus.

[0115] In this application, the words "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate that something is an example, illustration, or illustration. Any embodiment or design described as "exemplary," "for example," or "for example" in this application should not be construed as being more preferred or advantageous than other embodiments or designs. Rather, the use of the words "exemplary," "for example," or "for example" is intended to present the relevant concepts in a specific manner.

[0116] It is understood that in this application, "when," "if," and "if" all refer to the device making a corresponding action under certain objective circumstances, and are not time-limited, nor do they require the device to make a judgment when it is implemented, nor do they imply any other limitations.

[0117] In this application, the use of singular pronouns for elements is intended to indicate "one or more," rather than "one and only one," unless otherwise specified. The terms "system" and "network" in the embodiments of this application are used interchangeably.

[0118] It is understood that in the embodiments of this application, "B corresponding to A" means that there is a correspondence between A and B, and B can be determined based on A. Determining B based on A does not mean that B can be determined solely based on A; B can also be determined based on A and / or other information.

[0119] To better understand the embodiments of this application, the system architecture involved in the embodiments of this application will be described first below:

[0120] The technical solutions of the embodiments of this application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) systems, and LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD) systems. The technical solutions of the embodiments of this application can also be applied to other communication systems, such as Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) systems, LTE Advanced (LTE-A) systems, the 5th generation (5G) systems, New Radio (NR) systems, Machine-to-Machine (M2M) systems, or other future communication systems, or other wireless communication systems employing wireless access technologies, all of which can adopt the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application.

[0121] Please refer to Figure 1, which is a schematic diagram of the architecture of the communication system applied in the embodiments of this application. It should be noted that Figure 1 is a possible, non-limiting system schematic diagram. As shown in Figure 1, the communication system 10 includes a radio access network (RAN) 100 and a core network (CN) 200. Optionally, the communication system 10 may also include an Internet 300. RAN 100 includes at least one RAN node (110a and 110b in Figure 1, collectively referred to as 110) and at least one terminal (120a-120j in Figure 1, collectively referred to as 120). RAN 100 may also include other RAN nodes, such as wireless relay devices and / or wireless backhaul devices (not shown in Figure 1). Terminal 120 is wirelessly connected to RAN node 110. RAN node 110 is connected to core network 200 wirelessly or via a wired connection. The core network elements in core network 200 and RAN nodes 110 in RAN 100 can be different physical devices, or they can be the same physical device integrating core network logical functions and radio access network logical functions, or they can be a single physical device integrating some core network element functions and some RAN node 110 functions. Terminals can be interconnected with each other, and RAN nodes 110 can be interconnected with each other via wired or wireless means. Figure 1 is only a schematic diagram. This communication system may also include other network devices, such as wireless relay devices and wireless backhaul devices. Each device may also include different functional units, which are not shown in Figure 1.

[0122] RAN 100 can be a cellular system related to the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), such as 4G, 5G mobile communication systems, or future-oriented evolution systems. RAN 100 can also be an open RAN (O-RAN or ORAN), a cloud radio access network (CRAN), or a wireless fidelity (WiFi) system. RAN 100 can also be a communication system that integrates two or more of the above systems.

[0123] RAN node 110, sometimes also referred to as a radio access network device, access network apparatus, RAN entity, or access node, constitutes part of the communication system and is used to help terminals achieve wireless access. Multiple RAN nodes 110 in communication system 10 can be of the same type or different types. In some scenarios, the roles of RAN node 110 and terminal 120 are relative. For example, network element 120i in Figure 1 can be a helicopter or drone, which can be configured as a mobile base station. For terminals 120j accessing RAN 100 through network element 120i, network element 120i is a base station; but for base station 110a, network element 120i is a terminal. RAN node 110 and terminal 120 are sometimes both referred to as communication devices. For example, network elements 110a and 110b in Figure 1 can be understood as communication devices with base station functions, and network elements 120a-120j can be understood as communication devices with terminal functions.

[0124] In one possible scenario, RAN node 110 can be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), an access point (AP), a transmission reception point (TRP) or transmit / receive point (TRP), a next-generation NodeB (gNB), a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a WiFi system. RAN node 110 can be a macro base station (as shown in Figure 1, 110a), a micro base station or indoor station (as shown in Figure 1, 110b), a relay node or donor node, or a radio controller in a CRAN scenario. Optionally, RAN node 110 can also be a server, a wearable device, a vehicle, or in-vehicle equipment. For example, the access network device in vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology can be a roadside unit (RSU). All or part of the functions of RAN node 110 in this application can also be implemented through software functions running on hardware, or through virtualization functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform). In this application, RAN node 110 can also be a logical node, logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of RAN node 110.

[0125] In another possible scenario, multiple RAN nodes 110 collaborate to assist the terminal in achieving wireless access, with each RAN node 110 implementing a portion of the base station's functions. For example, a RAN node 110 can be a centralized unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU), etc. CUs and DUs can be set up separately or included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (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).

[0126] In different systems, CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU, or RU may have different names, but those skilled in the art will understand their meaning. For example, in an ORAN system, CU can also be called O-CU (open CU), DU can also be called O-DU, CU-CP can also be called O-CU-CP, CU-UP can also be called O-CU-UP, and RU can also be called O-RU. For ease of description, this application uses CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU, and RU as examples. Any of the units among CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU, and RU in this application can be implemented through software modules, hardware modules, or a combination of software and hardware modules.

[0127] For example, please refer to Figure 2, which is a schematic diagram of the architecture of the O-RAN system provided in this application. Figure 2 is only a schematic diagram, and the O-RAN system may also include other components besides those shown in Figure 2. As shown in Figure 2, the access network device (e.g., it may be an eNB, gNB, or next-generation access network device) communicates with the core network elements in the CN through a backhaul link and communicates with the terminal through the air interface.

[0128] Specifically, the BBU in the access network device communicates with the core network elements in the CN via a backhaul link, and the RU in the access network device communicates with at least one terminal via an air interface. The BBU communicates with at least one RU via a fronthaul link. The BBU and RU may or may not be co-located. The BBU includes at least one CU and at least one DU, which can communicate via at least one midhaul link.

[0129] Figure 3 illustrates a schematic diagram of the network element function division and protocol layer structure of an O-RAN device. In some examples, the CU is a logical node carrying the radio resource control (RRC) layer, service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer, packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, and other control functions of the access network device. The CU connects to network nodes such as the core network through interfaces, which can be interfaces such as E2 interfaces. Optionally, the CU can have some of the functions of the core network. The CU (e.g., the PDCP layer and higher layers) connects to the DU (e.g., the RLC layer and lower layers) through interfaces, which can be interfaces such as F1 interfaces. In some examples, these interfaces (e.g., the F1 interface) can provide control plane (C-Plane) and user plane (U-Plane) functions (e.g., interface management, system information management, UE context management, RRC message transmission, etc.). F1AP is the application protocol of the F1 interface, and in some examples, it defines the signaling procedures of F1. The F1 interface supports the control plane F1-C and the user plane F1-U.

[0130] In some examples, the CU can be split into CU-CP (control unit-control plane) and CU-UP (control unit-user plane). CU-CP is a logical node carrying the RRC layer and PDCP-C (control plane part of PDCP) layer, used to implement the CU's control plane functions. CU-CP can interact with network elements in the core network used to implement control plane functions. These network elements in the core network can be access and mobility function (AMF) network elements, such as the access and mobility management function (AMF) in a 5G system. The AMF network element is responsible for mobility management in the mobile network, such as terminal location updates, terminal registration with the network, and terminal handover. CU-UP is a logical node carrying the SDAP layer and PDCP-U (user plane part of PDCP) layer, used to implement the CU's user plane functions. CU-UP can interact with network elements in the core network used to implement user plane functions. These network elements in the core network, such as the user plane function (UPF) in a 5G system, are responsible for data forwarding and receiving in the terminal. The above CU and DU configurations are merely examples; the functions of the CU and DU can be configured as needed. For instance, the CU or DU can be configured to have more protocol layer functions, or only some protocol layer processing functions. For example, some RLC layer functions and protocol layer functions above the RLC layer can be placed in the CU, while the remaining RLC layer functions and protocol layer functions below the RLC layer can be placed in the DU. Furthermore, the functions of the CU or DU can be divided according to service type or other system requirements, such as by latency. Functions that require low latency can be placed in the DU, while functions that do not require low latency can be placed in the CU.

[0131] In some examples, a DU is a logical node that carries the radio link control (RLC) layer, medium access control (MAC) layer, higher physical layer (Higher PHY) layer, and other functions. In some examples, a DU can control at least one RU. The DU connects to the RU through interfaces, which can be fronthaul interfaces. In some examples, the Higher PHY layer includes the physical (PHY) layer processing, such as forward error correction (FEC) encoding and decoding, scrambling, modulation, and demodulation.

[0132] In some examples, the RU is a logical node that carries both lower physical layer (PHY) and radio frequency (RF) processing. In some examples, the RU can be a 3GPP transmission reception point (TRP), a remote radio head (RRH), or other similar entities. In some examples, the Low-PHY includes PHY processing functions such as Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT), digital beamforming, and filtering. The RU communicates with one or more terminals via a wireless link.

[0133] The DU and RU can be co-located or not. The DU and RU exchange control plane and user plane information via a fronthaul link through the Lower-Layer Split CUS-Plane (LLS-CUS) interface. LLS-CUS may include LLS-C and LLS-U interfaces providing the control plane (C-Plane) and user plane (U-Plane), respectively. In some examples, the control plane (C-Plane) refers to real-time control between the DU and RU. The DU and RU exchange management information via an LLS-M interface on the fronthaul link; the management plane (M-Plane) refers to non-real-time management operations between the DU and RU.

[0134] DU and RU can cooperate to implement the functions of the PHY layer. A DU can be connected to one or more RUs. The functions of DU and RU can be configured in various ways depending on the design. For example, a DU can be configured to implement baseband functions, and an RU can be configured to implement mid-RF functions. Another example is that a DU can be configured to implement higher-level functions in the PHY layer, and an RU can be configured to implement lower-level functions in the PHY layer, or to implement both lower-level and RF functions. Higher-level functions in the physical layer can include a portion of the physical layer's functions that are closer to the MAC layer, while lower-level functions in the physical layer can include another portion of the physical layer's functions that are closer to the mid-RF side.

[0135] A terminal is a device or module that connects to the aforementioned communication system and possesses corresponding communication functions. Terminals can also be referred to as terminal equipment, user equipment (UE), user devices, access terminals, user units, user stations, mobile stations, mobile stations (MS), remote stations, remote terminals, mobile devices, user terminals, terminal units, terminal stations, terminal devices, wireless communication equipment, user agents, or user devices, etc. Terminals typically contain communication modules, circuits, or chips that perform the corresponding communication functions. They can also be configured with program instructions for performing these functions. Terminals can be widely used in various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), the Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grids, smart furniture, smart offices, smart wearables, smart transportation, and smart cities. The terminal can be a mobile phone, tablet computer, computer with wireless transceiver function, wearable device, vehicle, drone, helicopter, airplane, ship, robot, robotic arm, smart home device, transportation vehicle with wireless communication function, communication module, roadside unit (RSU) with terminal function, etc. The embodiments of this application do not limit the device form of the terminal.

[0136] For ease of description, the following description uses a base station as an example of RAN node 110. Base stations and terminals can be fixed or mobile. Base stations and terminals can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; they can also be deployed on water; and they can be deployed on aircraft, balloons, and satellites. The embodiments of this application do not limit the application scenarios of the base stations and terminals.

[0137] The roles of base stations and terminals can be relative. For example, the helicopter or drone 120i in Figure 1 can be configured as a mobile base station. For terminals 120j that access the wireless access network 100 through 120i, terminal 120i is a base station; however, for base station 110a, 120i is a terminal, meaning that 110a and 120i communicate via a wireless air interface protocol. Of course, 110a and 120i can also communicate via a base station-to-base station interface protocol. In this case, relative to 110a, 120i is also a base station. Therefore, both base stations and terminals can be collectively referred to as communication devices. 110a and 110b in Figure 1 can be called communication devices with base station functions, and 120a-120j in Figure 1 can be called communication devices with terminal functions.

[0138] Communication between base stations and terminals, between base stations, and between terminals can be conducted using licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or both simultaneously. Communication can be conducted using spectrum below 6 GHz, spectrum above 6 GHz, or both simultaneously. The embodiments of this application do not limit the spectrum resources used for wireless communication.

[0139] In the embodiments of this application, the functions of the base station can be executed by modules (such as chips) within the base station, or by a control subsystem that includes base station functions. This control subsystem, including base station functions, can be a control center in the aforementioned application scenarios such as smart grids, industrial control, intelligent transportation, and smart cities. Similarly, the functions of the terminal can be executed by modules (such as chips or modems) within the terminal, or by a device that includes terminal functions.

[0140] In this application, the base station sends downlink signals or downlink information to the terminal, with the downlink information carried on the downlink channel; the terminal sends uplink signals or uplink information to the base station, with the uplink information carried on the uplink channel. To communicate with the base station, the terminal needs to establish a radio connection on a cell controlled by the base station. The cell with which the terminal has established a radio connection is called the terminal's serving cell. When the terminal communicates with this serving cell, it is also susceptible to interference from signals from neighboring cells.

[0141] In this application, "sending information" can be understood as one device sending information to another device, or it can also be understood as one logical module within a device sending information to another logical module. For example, "base station sending information" can be understood as the base station sending information to another device (such as a terminal), or it can be understood as logical module 1 in the base station sending information to logical module 2 in the base station.

[0142] In this application, "receiving information" can be understood as one device receiving information from another device, or it can also be understood as a logical module within a device receiving information from another logical module. For example, "base station receiving information" can be understood as the base station receiving information from another device (such as a terminal), or it can be understood as logical module 1 in the base station receiving information from logical module 2 in the base station.

[0143] The communication between different devices involved in this application can refer to direct communication between different devices (i.e., without the need for relaying or forwarding by other devices), or communication between different devices through other devices (i.e., requiring relaying or forwarding by other devices), or communication between a functional unit within a device and other devices through another functional unit. In other words, "sending information to… (e.g., a terminal)" or the relevant illustrations in the accompanying drawings can be understood as the destination of the information being the terminal. This can include sending information directly or indirectly to the terminal. "Receiving information from… (e.g., a terminal)" or "receiving information from… (e.g., a terminal)" or "receiving information sent (e.g., by a terminal)" or the relevant illustrations in the accompanying drawings can be understood as the source of the information being the terminal. This can include receiving information directly or indirectly from the terminal. Information may undergo necessary processing between the source and destination, such as format changes, analog-to-digital conversion, amplification, filtering, etc., but the destination can understand the valid information from the source. Similar expressions in this application can be understood in a similar way, and will not be elaborated further here.

[0144] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of this application, some knowledge / terms used in the solutions of this application are introduced below. It should be noted that these explanations are for the purpose of making the embodiments of this application easier to understand, and should not be regarded as limiting the scope of protection claimed by this application.

[0145] 1. Transmission Configuration Indicator-State (TCI-state)

[0146] Access network devices can generate different beams pointing in different transmission directions. During downlink data transmission, when an access network device sends data to a terminal using a specific beam, it needs to inform the terminal of the transmitted beam information so that the terminal can use the corresponding received beam to receive the data sent by the access network device. In the 3GPP R15 / R16 protocol, the access network device indicates the relevant information of the transmitted beam used to the terminal through the TCI field in the downlink control information (DCI). Specifically, the TCI field is 3 bits in size and can represent 8 different field values ​​(codepoints). Each value of the TCI field corresponds to a TCI-state index, which uniquely identifies a TCI-state. The TCI-state includes several parameters that determine the relevant information of the transmitted beam. Optionally, in this application, the TCI-state can also be represented as TCI state. The TCI-state is configured by the access network device for each terminal, and its structure is as follows:

[0147] Each TCI-state includes its own index tci-StateId and two QCL-Infos. Each QCL-Info includes a cell field and a bwp-Id, indicating which cell and bandwidth part (BWP) the TCI-state applies to. Different cells or different BWPs within the same cell can be configured with different QCL-Infos. Each QCL-Info also includes a reference signal, indicating which reference signal resource it forms a quasi-co-location (QCL) relationship with. In the R15 / R16 protocols, the term "beam" is generally not used directly; it is usually replaced by other terms. For example, in data transmission and channel measurements, beams correspond to reference signal resources, with one beam corresponding to one reference signal resource. Therefore, when we say that a QCL relationship is formed with a reference signal resource, we are essentially referring to which beam it forms a QCL relationship with. A QCL relationship means that two reference signal resources (or two antenna ports, with a one-to-one correspondence between antenna ports and reference signal resources) share certain spatial parameters. Which spatial parameters are identical depends on the type of the QCL-Info, specifically its other field, qcl-Type. qcl-Type can have four values: {typeA, typeB, typeC, typeD}. Taking typeD as an example, typeD indicates that two reference signal resources have the same spatial reception parameter information, meaning the two beams have the same receiving beam. At most one of the two QCL-Info values ​​included in the TCI-state can be typeD.

[0148] 2. Unified TCI

[0149] Release 17 introduces Unified TCI, a unified beam indication framework. Access network devices can indicate a common beam for a terminal, which can be used simultaneously for multiple channels and / or reference signals. The common beam can be an uplink common beam, a downlink common beam, or an uplink-downlink common beam, which the terminal can use in subsequent transmissions. That is, the access network device can indicate an uplink common beam for the terminal to transmit multiple uplink channels and / or uplink reference signals. It can also indicate a downlink common beam for the terminal to transmit multiple downlink channels and / or downlink reference signals. Alternatively, it can indicate an uplink-downlink common beam for the terminal to transmit multiple uplink channels and / or uplink reference signals, as well as multiple downlink channels and / or downlink reference signals. In other words, the uplink-downlink common beam can be used for both uplink and downlink transmissions.

[0150] In Release 17 and later, terminals can be configured with two TCI states: joint / DL TCI and UL TCI. Here, DL stands for Downlink and UL stands for Uplink.

[0151] The terminal can be configured with joint / DL TCI states (up to 128) and UL TCI states (up to 64) simultaneously.

[0152] In the RRC signaling configuration (serving cell config), the access network device can configure the TCI mode currently used by the terminal as either joint mode or separate mode. In joint mode, it indicates that one joint TCI state can be used for uplink and downlink transmission simultaneously; in separate mode, the access network device needs to indicate that the DL TCI state and UL TCI state are used for uplink and downlink transmission respectively.

[0153] When the terminal receives the TCI state activation signaling indicated by MAC-CE, which includes the TCI state ID, the terminal determines which TCI is activated by MAC-CE according to the RRC configuration.

[0154] 3. Configuration and Pre-configuration

[0155] The application uses both configuration and pre-configuration. Configuration refers to the access network device sending configuration information or parameter values ​​of certain parameters to the terminal via messages or signaling, so that the terminal can determine the communication parameters or resources for transmission based on these values ​​or information. Pre-configuration is similar to configuration; it can be parameter information or parameter values ​​that the access network device and the terminal have negotiated in advance, or it can be parameter information or parameter values ​​that the access network device or the terminal uses as specified by standard protocols, or it can be parameter information or parameter values ​​that are pre-stored in the access network device or the terminal. This application does not limit this. Furthermore, these values ​​and parameters can be changed or updated.

[0156] 4. Resources

[0157] In communication protocols, reference signals are configured in the form of resources. Access network devices configure various reference signals to terminals in the form of resources. Each resource is a configuration information unit, which typically includes parameters related to a reference signal, such as the time-frequency resource location of the reference signal, the number of ports, the time domain type (periodic / semi-static / aperiodic), etc.

[0158] Resources can be either uplink or downlink signal resources. Uplink signals include, but are not limited to, sounding reference signals (SRS) and demodulation reference signals (DMRS). Downlink signals include, but are not limited to, channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), cell specific reference signals (CS-RS), user equipment specific reference signals (US-RS), demodulation reference signals (DMRS), and synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block (SS / PBCH block). The SS / PBCH block can be abbreviated as synchronization signal block (SSB).

[0159] In this application, the terms "reference signal" and "reference signal resource" are interchangeable. Similarly, the terms "reference signal index" and "reference signal resource index" are interchangeable.

[0160] 5. Reference signal

[0161] The reference signal can be the reference signal of the serving cell. For example, the serving cell can be a primary cell (Pcell), a secondary cell (Scell), or a primary secondary cell (PScell). Among them, a cell with a primary component carrier (PCC) can be called a Pcell, and a cell with a secondary component carrier (SCC) can be called an Scell.

[0162] The reference signal can be the reference signal of the neighboring cells of the serving cell (such as the reference signal of the cell corresponding to the additional physical cell identifier (additional PCI)).

[0163] Reference signals can also be reference signals associated with the handover candidate cell configuration. Handover candidate cells can also be called candidate cells or neighboring cells. Handover candidate cells can be the current serving cell or a non-serving cell. The physical cell identifier (PCI) of the handover candidate cell is different from that of the current primary cell (PCell).

[0164] The terminal can be configured with one or more candidate cells. The configuration of each candidate cell can include the configuration of reference signal resources. The reference signal can be SSB or CSI-RS, etc. In this embodiment, the reference signal is mainly CSI-RS as an example for illustrative explanation.

[0165] Currently, in mobile communication systems, access network devices configure reference signal resources for one or more candidate cells for terminals. Terminals measure these configured reference signal resources and report the measurement results, which is a common method to help access network devices determine transmission parameters. For example, an access network device may transmit multiple reference signals, which can be transmitted using different time-frequency domain resources or different beams. By measuring and reporting the measurement results of these multiple reference signals, the terminal can help the access network device determine the transmission parameters (such as beam, channel coding rate, etc.) for subsequent communication transmission.

[0166] In scenarios involving terminal movement between multiple cells, the access network device needs to decide whether the terminal should prepare for handover, whether to perform a handover, or which candidate cell to handover to, based on the measurement results of the reference signals of candidate cells (not only geographically but also logically) fed back by the terminal. If the access network device needs to instruct the terminal to handover to a candidate cell, the access network device sends a cell handover signaling to the terminal. Specifically, this involves the following steps:

[0167] Step 1: The access network device sends measurement resources and reports configuration information.

[0168] The access network device sends a report configuration (ReportConfig), which is associated with the reference signal resources of one or more candidate cells. The report configuration also includes the content information to be reported, such as the number of candidate cells L for which the terminal reports measurement results, the number of reference signals M reported by each cell, and whether to report the measurement results of the current serving cell.

[0169] Step 2: The terminal measures the reference signal and reports the measurement results.

[0170] The measurement results include measurements from L cells, with each cell containing measurements of M reference signals. Each reference signal measurement includes a reference signal resource index (e.g., SSBRI) and corresponding signal strength information (e.g., RSRP or differential RSRP). Currently, only SSB resources of candidate cells are supported for measurement, reporting the SSB's RSRP or differential RSRP (i.e., the difference from the reported maximum RSRP).

[0171] Step 3: The access network device sends a cell handover signaling message, instructing the terminal to hand over to the target candidate cell. The cell handover signaling message is a type of MAC CE signaling message, as shown in Figure 4. The cell handover signaling message includes the following information:

[0172] (1) C: Indicates whether the MAC-CE includes contention-free random access (CFRA) related fields (such as Random Access Preamble index, Synchronization Signal Block / Physical Broadcast Channel index (SSB / PBCH index), Physical Random Access Channel Mask index (PRACH Mask index), Secondary Uplink / Normal Uplink (S / U), Repetition Number).

[0173] (2) Target Config ID: Candidate cell index (ltm-CandidateId), indicating that you want to switch to the target candidate cell corresponding to ltm-CandidateId.

[0174] (3) TA command: Timing advance (TA) for the target candidate cell. A value of all 1s in this field indicates invalidity (i.e., no valid TA is indicated).

[0175] (4) TCI state ID: Indicates the TCI state of the target candidate cell (indicates one from the TCI-state list in ltm-candidate);

[0176] (5) UL TCI state ID: Indicates the UL TCI state of the target candidate cell (one is indicated from the UL TCI-state list in ltm-candidate). It exists only in separate mode.

[0177] (6) Random Access Preamble index: Indicates the preamble ID of CFRA, used to trigger CFRA.

[0178] (7) SSB / PBCH index: Indicates the SSB corresponding to CFRA.

[0179] (8) PRACH Mask index: Used to indicate an RO from the random access channel occasion (RACH occasion, RO) associated with the above SSB. When the repetition number is non-zero, the terminal ignores this field.

[0180] (9) Repetition number: The number of times the CFRA preamble is repeated (the field value k indicates that 2 were sent). k (0 indicates no repeated transmission). This field is 2 bits long.

[0181] (10) S / U: Indicates the uplink subcarrier of CFRA. 1 indicates supplementary uplink (SUL), and 0 indicates normal uplink (NUL).

[0182] (11)R: Reserved field.

[0183] This application focuses on three fields (2), (4) and (5) in the cell handover signaling. These will be explained in detail later.

[0184] Currently, it only supports obtaining the RSRP of candidate cells based on SSB measurements before cell handover (the RSRP is generally used to determine one or more beam strengths of candidate cells), but does not support obtaining other CSI information (such as SINR, PMI, RI, LI, CQI, i1, etc.) of candidate cells before or during cell handover. This results in the access network device being unable to use a suitable scheduling method to schedule data to the target cell after cell handover, which is detrimental to the reliability and efficiency of data transmission.

[0185] Based on this, this application proposes a communication method and apparatus that, during cell handover, acquires measurement results of reference signal resources (such as one or more of RSRP, SINR, PMI, RI, LI, CQI, i1, etc.) of candidate cells that serve as the target cell, thereby determining the data scheduling method for the target cell. This is beneficial for improving the reliability and efficiency of data transmission after cell handover.

[0186] It should be noted that in the description of this application, "including" can also be replaced by "instruction" or "configuration," etc. "Instruction" can include direct and indirect instructions, as well as explicit and implicit instructions. The information indicated by a certain piece of information (such as the first information, second information, (instruction) information of the first sub-band, instruction information of the number of sub-bands configuring feedback phase deviation, instruction information of the second sub-band, or instruction information of the number of sub-band intervals, etc., as described below) is called the information to be instructed. In specific implementations, there are many ways to indicate the information to be indicated. For example, the information to be indicated can be directly indicated, where the information to be indicated itself or its index is mentioned. Alternatively, the information to be indicated can be indirectly indicated by indicating other information, where there is a correlation between the other information and the information to be indicated. Another example is that only a part of the information to be indicated can be indicated, while the other parts are known, pre-agreed, or deducible. Furthermore, the instruction of specific information can be achieved by using a pre-agreed (e.g., protocol-defined) arrangement order of various pieces of information, thereby reducing the instruction overhead to some extent.

[0187] In this application, the descriptions of "message" and "signaling" can be used interchangeably; for example, an RRC message can also be called an RRC signaling.

[0188] As described above, in this application, the terms "reference signal" and "reference signal resource" are interchangeable. Similarly, the terms "reference signal index" and "reference signal resource index" are interchangeable. For example, the reference signal resource involved in this application can be a CSI-RS resource, CS-RS resource, US-RS resource, DMRS resource, SSB resource, etc. For ease of understanding, the following description will primarily use CSI-RS resources as the reference signal resource and a CSI-RS resource set as the example for illustrative purposes. Optionally, a reference signal resource set can also be called a reference signal resource list; for example, a CSI-RS resource set can also be called a CSI-RS resource list.

[0189] Optionally, "during cell handover" as described in this application can also be referred to as "during cell handover," and "after cell handover" can also be referred to as "after cell handover." Cell handover as described in this application can also be referred to as handover, or L1 / L2 triggered mobility (LTM) cell handover, etc. RSRP can also be referred to as layer 1 reference signal received power (L1-RSRP), and SINR can also be referred to as layer 1 signal to interference plus noise ratio (L1-SINR).

[0190] Optionally, the reporting configuration of the serving cell in this application can also be simply described as reporting configuration, and the triggering state of the serving cell can also be simply described as triggering state. In this application, "trigger" can also be replaced by "enable", "activate", or "indicate", etc., without limitation.

[0191] The communication method and apparatus provided in this application will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is understood that this application uses an access network device and a terminal as examples to illustrate the execution of the interaction, but this application does not limit the execution subject of the interaction. For example, the method executed by the access network device in this application can also be implemented by a module (e.g., a circuit, chip, or chip system) in the access network device, or a logical node, logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the access network device; the method executed by the terminal in this application can also be implemented by a communication / processing module in the terminal, or a circuit or chip (such as a modem chip (also known as a baseband chip), or a SoC chip / SIP chip containing a modem core, or a GPU / AI processor / ASIC) in the terminal responsible for communication / processing functions.

[0192] Please refer to Figure 5, which is a flowchart illustrating a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 5, the communication method may include the following steps:

[0193] S500: The terminal sends capability information to the first access network device. Correspondingly, the first access network device receives the capability information from the terminal.

[0194] Step S500 is optional. The capability information reported by the terminal can instruct the terminal to support the measurement and / or reporting of the CSI-RS resources of candidate cells triggered by the serving cell, or the capability information can be used to instruct the terminal to support measuring the CSI-RS resources of candidate cells and obtaining the CSI of candidate cells before receiving cell handover signaling, or the capability information can be used to instruct the terminal to support measuring the CSI-RS resources of candidate cells and obtaining the CSI of candidate cells during cell handover, or the capability information can be used to instruct the terminal to support the measurement of CSI acquisition of candidate cells triggered by the serving cell, or the capability information can be used to instruct the terminal to support the measurement and reporting of CSI acquisition of candidate cells triggered by the serving cell, or the capability information can be used to instruct the terminal to support the maximum number of candidate cells for obtaining CSI before or during cell handover, or the maximum number of candidate cells that can be simultaneously triggered to obtain CSI through CSI-RS resource measurement. In the embodiments of this application, CSI can be understood as any one or more of RSRP, SINR, PMI, RI, LI, CQI, and i1.

[0195] Optionally, the determination of terminal capabilities can be as follows: if the terminal reports capability information, it indicates that the terminal supports the capability; if the terminal does not report capability information, it indicates that the terminal does not support the capability. In other words, whether or not the terminal reports capability information indicates whether the terminal supports the corresponding capability. Alternatively, if the terminal reports support for the capability, it indicates that the terminal supports the capability; if the terminal reports no support for the capability, it indicates that the terminal does not support the capability. Alternatively, if the terminal supports certain capabilities, then the terminal must also support another capability; that is, even if the terminal does not report the capability information corresponding to a certain capability, it still indicates that the terminal supports that capability. This application does not impose any limitations.

[0196] In this application, the first access network device is the access network device corresponding to the serving cell. Optionally, in the embodiments of this application, the serving cell may also be referred to as the source cell, or the cell before cell handover, or the cell currently providing services to the terminal, or the cell currently accessed by the terminal. The access network device corresponding to the serving cell may also be referred to as the access network device where the serving cell is located, or the access network device of the serving cell, or the access network device of the source cell, or the source access network device, or the source base station, etc., and is not limited thereto. The number of serving cells may be one or more; this application uses one serving cell as an illustrative example.

[0197] Optionally, the descriptions of the first access network device and the serving cell in this application can be interchanged.

[0198] S501, the first access network device sends first configuration information to the terminal. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the first configuration information from the first access network device.

[0199] For example, the first configuration information can be carried in RRC signaling. This first configuration information includes one or more reporting configurations for the serving cell. For instance, the reporting configuration could be an LTM-CSI-ReportConfig, which is used to configure relevant parameters for CSI reporting by candidate cells during cell handover. One reporting configuration of the serving cell can be associated with one or more CSI-RS resource sets, and these sets include CSI-RS resources for one or more candidate cells.

[0200] Specifically, the report configuration can be associated with the CSI-RS resources of the candidate cells using any one or more of the following methods:

[0201] Method 1: A report configuration is associated with a CSI-RS resource set, which includes the CSI-RS resources of one or more candidate cells.

[0202] Regarding method one, it can specifically include the following two implementation methods:

[0203] Implementation 1.1: A report configuration is associated with a CSI-RS resource set. This CSI-RS resource set includes one or more candidate cell indexes and one or more CSI-RS resource indexes, with the number of candidate cell indexes being the same as the number of CSI-RS resource indexes. The i-th candidate cell index corresponds to the i-th CSI-RS resource index, where i is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1. In other words, CSI-RS resource indexes and candidate cell indexes correspond one-to-one. In this application, one CSI-RS resource set index corresponds to one CSI-RS resource set, one candidate cell index corresponds to one candidate cell, and one CSI-RS resource index corresponds to one CSI-RS resource. For example, one possible configuration of this CSI-RS resource set (referred to as configuration structure 1 for ease of distinction) is as follows:

[0204] In configuration structure 1, LTM-CSI-RS-ResourceSet is a set of CSI-RS resources, ltm-CSI-RS-ResourceList contains X CSI-RS resource indexes, and ltm-CandidateIdList contains X candidate cell indexes, where X is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1. The first NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceId in ltm-CSI-RS-ResourceList corresponds to the first LTM-CandidateId in ltm-CandidateIdList, the second NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceId corresponds to the second LTM-CandidateId in ltm-CandidateIdList, and so on, with the Xth NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceId in ltm-CSI-RS-ResourceList corresponding to the Xth LTM-CandidateId in ltm-CandidateIdList.

[0205] For a concrete example, let's take the serving cell's report configuration as report configuration 1. Report configuration 1 is associated with CSI-RS resource set 1, which includes 5 candidate cell indexes and 5 CSI-RS resource indexes, i.e., X = 5. The 5 candidate cell indexes are candidate cell index 1, candidate cell index 2, candidate cell index 3, candidate cell index 4, and candidate cell index 5, i.e., ltm-CandidateIdList = {candidate cell index 1, candidate cell index 2, candidate cell index 3, candidate cell index 4, candidate cell index 5}, where candidate cell index 1 corresponds to candidate cell 1, candidate cell index 2 corresponds to candidate cell 2, candidate cell index 3 corresponds to candidate cell 3, candidate cell index 4 corresponds to candidate cell 4, and candidate cell index 5 corresponds to candidate cell 5. The 5 CSI-RS resource indexes are CSI-RS resource index 1, CSI-RS resource index 2, CSI-RS resource index 3, CSI-RS resource index 4, CSI-RS resource index 5, CSI-RS resource index 5, CSI-RS resource index 6, CSI-RS resource index 7, CSI-RS resource index 8, CSI-RS resource index 9, CSI-RS resource index 10, CSI-RS resource index 11, CSI-RS resource index 12, CSI-RS resource index 13, CSI-RS resource index 14, CSI-RS resource index 15, CSI-RS resource index 16, CSI-RS resource index 17, CSI-RS resource index 18, CSI-RS resource index 19, CSI-RS resource index 10, CSI-RS resource index 11, CSI-RS resource index 12, CSI-RS resource index 13, CSI-RS resource index 14, CSI-RS resource index 15, CSI-RS resource index 16, CSI-RS resource index 17, CSI-RS resource index 18, RS resource index 3, CSI-RS resource index 4, and CSI-RS resource index 5, i.e., ltm-CSI-RS-ResourceList = {CSI-RS resource index 1, CSI-RS resource index 2, CSI-RS resource index 3, CSI-RS resource index 4, CSI-RS resource index 5}, where CSI-RS resource index 1 corresponds to CSI-RS resource 1, CSI-RS resource index 2 corresponds to CSI-RS resource 2, CSI-RS resource index 3 corresponds to CSI-RS resource 3, CSI-RS resource index 4 corresponds to CSI-RS resource 4, and CSI-RS resource index 5 corresponds to CSI-RS resource 5. CSI-RS resource 1 belongs to candidate cell 1, CSI-RS resource 2 belongs to candidate cell 2, CSI-RS resource 3 belongs to candidate cell 3, CSI-RS resource 4 belongs to candidate cell 4, and CSI-RS resource 5 belongs to candidate cell 5.

[0206] In implementation method 1.2, a report configuration is associated with a CSI-RS resource set. This CSI-RS resource set includes the number of CSI-RS resources corresponding to each candidate cell, one or more candidate cell indices, and one or more CSI-RS resource indices. The i-th candidate cell index corresponds to Ki CSI-RS resource indices, where Ki is the number of CSI-RS resources corresponding to the i-th candidate cell, i is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1, and Ki is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1. Optionally, the CSI-RS set may also include the number of candidate cells, in which case the number of candidate cell indices is equal to the number of candidate cells.

[0207] Understandably, the statement "the CSI-RS resource set includes the number of CSI-RS resources corresponding to each candidate cell" may have the following two scenarios: Scenario 1: The number of CSI-RS resources for each candidate cell is directly configured in the CSI-RS resource set, and the number of CSI-RS resources for different candidate cells is the same as the configured number; that is, the number of CSI-RS resources for each candidate cell is the same. Scenario 2: The number of CSI-RS resources for each candidate cell is configured independently, meaning the resource count for each candidate cell is configured separately. In this case, the number of CSI-RS resources for each candidate cell can be the same or different. For example, a list indicating the number of CSI-RS resources corresponding to each candidate cell can be configured, containing one or more values, each value corresponding to the number of CSI-RS resources for one candidate cell.

[0208] For example, taking the reporting configuration of the serving cell as report configuration 1, report configuration 1 is associated with CSI-RS resource set 1. CSI-RS resource set 1 includes 10 CSI-RS resource indexes (CSI-RS resource index 1 to CSI-RS resource index 10) and 2 candidate cell indexes (candidate cell index 1 and candidate cell index 2). Each candidate cell corresponds to 5 CSI-RS resources. Therefore, candidate cell index 1 corresponds to the first 5 CSI-RS resource indexes (CSI-RS resource index 1 to CSI-RS resource index 5), and candidate cell index 2 corresponds to the last 5 CSI-RS resource indexes (CSI-RS resource index 5 to CSI-RS resource index 10). That is, CSI-RS resource 1, CSI-RS resource 2, CSI-RS resource 3, CSI-RS resource 4 and CSI-RS resource 5, and candidate cell 2 corresponds to CSI-RS resource 6, CSI-RS resource 7, CSI-RS resource 8, CSI-RS resource 9 and CSI-RS resource 10, which belong to candidate cell 1.

[0209] Optionally, the CSI-RS resources for each candidate cell can be different, meaning the number of CSI-RS resources for each candidate cell can be configured independently. For example, taking the serving cell's report configuration as report configuration 1, report configuration 1 is associated with CSI-RS resource set 1. This CSI-RS resource set 1 includes 10 CSI-RS resource indices (CSI-RS resource index 1 to CSI-RS resource index 10) and 2 candidate cell indices (candidate cell index 1 and candidate cell index 2). Candidate cell 1 corresponds to 6 CSI-RS resources, and candidate cell 2 corresponds to 4 CSI-RS resources. Therefore, candidate cell index 1 corresponds to the first 6 CSI-RS resource indices (…). That is, CSI-RS resource index 1 to CSI-RS resource index 6), and candidate cell index 2 corresponds to the last 4 CSI-RS resource indices (i.e., CSI-RS resource index 7 to CSI-RS resource index 10). In other words, CSI-RS resource 1, CSI-RS resource 2, CSI-RS resource 3, CSI-RS resource 4, CSI-RS resource 5 and CSI-RS resource 6 belong to candidate cell 1; CSI-RS resource 7, CSI-RS resource 8, CSI-RS resource 9 and CSI-RS resource 10 belong to candidate cell 2.

[0210] For example, one possible configuration of the CSI-RS resource set in Case 1 above is as follows:

[0211] Wherein, LTM-CSI-RS-ResourceSet is the CSI-RS resource set, ltm-CSI-RS-ResourceList contains X CSI-RS resource indexes, and ltm-CandidateIdList contains K candidate cell indexes, where X and K are positive integers greater than or equal to 1, and K is a positive integer less than or equal to X. nrOfRS-PerCell is the number of CSI-RS resources corresponding to each candidate cell, and the number of CSI-RS resources for different candidate cells is the number configured. The first to nrOfRS-PerCell NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceIds in ltm-CSI-RS-ResourceList correspond to the first LTM-CandidateId in ltm-CandidateIdList, the nrOfRS-PerCell+1 to 2*nrOfRS-PerCell NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceIds in ltm-CSI-RS-ResourceList correspond to the second LTM-CandidateId in ltm-CandidateIdList, and so on. The (K-1)*nrOfRS-PerCell to K*nrOfRS-PerCell NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceIds in ltm-CSI-RS-ResourceList correspond to the Kth LTM-CandidateId in ltm-CandidateIdList.

[0212] For example, one possible configuration of the CSI-RS resource set in Case 1 above is as follows:

[0213] Among them, LTM-CSI-RS-ResourceSet is a set of CSI-RS resources, ltm-CSI-RS-ResourceList contains X CSI-RS resource indexes, ltm-CandidateIdList contains K candidate cell indexes, and nrOfRS-PerCellList contains K values, which can be denoted as w1, w2, ..., w KEach value corresponds to the number of CSI-RS resources for a candidate cell. X and K are both positive integers greater than or equal to 1, and K is a positive integer less than or equal to X. Specifically, the 1st to w1st NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceIds in ltm-CSI-RS-ResourceList correspond to the 1st LTM-CandidateId in ltm-CandidateIdList, the w1+1st to w1+w2th NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceIds in ltm-CSI-RS-ResourceList correspond to the 2nd LTM-CandidateId in ltm-CandidateIdList, and so on. K-1 +1 to the wth K-1 +w K Each NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceId corresponds to the Kth LTM-CandidateId in the ltm-CandidateIdList.

[0214] Method 2: A report configuration is associated with a CSI-RS resource set, which includes only the CSI-RS resources of one candidate cell. Method 2 can be understood as a special case of Method 1. Optionally, a CSI-RS resource set including only the CSI-RS resources of one candidate cell can also be described as a CSI-RS resource set including at most one candidate cell's CSI-RS resources.

[0215] For Method 2, a report configuration is associated with a CSI-RS resource set, which includes only the CSI-RS resources of one candidate cell. Specifically, this can be understood as: a report configuration is associated with a candidate cell index and the corresponding CSI-RS resource set index, for example, the CSI-RS resource set index is NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceSetId. One possible configuration for this report configuration (for ease of distinction, referred to as configuration structure 2) is as follows:

[0216] In configuration structure 2, LTM-CSI-ReportConfig is the report configuration, which is associated with a candidate cell index LTM-CandidateId and a CSI-RS resource set index NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceSetId.

[0217] Method 3: A report configuration associates one or more CSI-RS resource sets, each CSI-RS resource set including only one or more CSI-RS resources of a candidate cell. Optionally, each CSI-RS resource set including only one or more CSI-RS resources of a candidate cell can also be described as each CSI-RS resource set including at most one or more CSI-RS resources of a candidate cell.

[0218] For Method 3, a report configuration is associated with one or more CSI-RS resource sets, and each CSI-RS resource set includes the CSI-RS resources of a candidate cell. Specifically, this can be achieved as follows: a report configuration is associated with one or more CSI-RS resource set indices and one or more candidate cell indices, where the number of candidate cell indices is the same as the number of CSI-RS resource set indices. The i-th candidate cell index corresponds to the i-th CSI-RS resource set index, where i is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1. In other words, the CSI-RS resource set indices and candidate cell indices correspond one-to-one. A possible configuration for one or more CSI-RS resource sets associated with this report configuration (referred to as configuration structure 3 for ease of distinction) is as follows:

[0219] In configuration structure 3, LTM-CSI-RS-ResourceConfig is the CSI-RS resource configuration, ltm-CSI-RS-ResourceSetList contains Y CSI-RS resource set indices, and ltm-CandidateIdList contains Y candidate cell indices, where Y is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1. The first NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceSetId in ltm-CSI-RS-ResourceSetList corresponds to the first LTM-CandidateId in ltm-CandidateIdList, the second NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceSetId corresponds to the second LTM-CandidateId in ltm-CandidateIdList, and so on, with the Yth NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceSetId in ltm-CSI-RS-ResourceSetList corresponding to the Yth LTM-CandidateId in ltm-CandidateIdList.

[0220] For example, taking the reporting configuration of the serving cell as Report Configuration 1, Report Configuration 1 is associated with CSI-RS resource set index 1 and CSI-RS resource set index 2, as well as candidate cell index 1 and candidate cell index 2. Candidate cell index 1 corresponds to CSI-RS resource set index 1, and candidate cell index 2 corresponds to CSI-RS resource set index 2. In other words, CSI-RS resource set 1 includes one or more CSI-RS resources of candidate cell 1, and CSI-RS resource set 2 includes one or more CSI-RS resources of candidate cell 2.

[0221] Optionally, the phrase "report configuration associated with CSI-RS resource set" in this application embodiment can be interpreted in three ways: 1. The report configuration includes an index of the CSI-RS resource set (or a CSI-RS resource set index); 2. The association between the report configuration index (or report configuration index) and the CSI-RS resource set index is indicated by other signaling or additional signaling; 3. The association between the report configuration index and the CSI-RS resource set index is predefined, such as protocol predefined. Alternatively, the association between the report configuration index and the CSI-RS resource index or the CSI-RS resource set index can be configured or pre-configured. To make the solution provided in this application embodiment clearer, this application can be understood as including a CSI-RS resource set index in the report configuration, that is, the first configuration information configures the association between the report configuration and the CSI-RS resource set. Optionally, since one XXX index corresponds to one XXX in this application (i.e., there is a one-to-one correspondence between the XXX index and XXX), "XXX index" is sometimes abbreviated as "XXX" in this application.

[0222] Optionally, the first configuration information may further include information about the triggering state of the serving cell, or in other words, the first configuration information may further include the association between the triggering state of the serving cell and the reporting configuration of the serving cell. Optionally, the association between the triggering state and the reporting configuration may also be carried in other configuration information / messages / signaling, or the association between the triggering state and the reporting configuration may be predefined, such as protocol predefined. Alternatively, the association between the triggering state and the reporting configuration may be pre-configured or configured, and the association between the reporting configuration and CSI-RS resources or a set of CSI-RS resources may also be configured or pre-configured. Optionally, in this embodiment, a triggering state may be associated with one or more reporting configurations, and a reporting configuration may be associated with one or more CSI-RS resources or one or more sets of CSI-RS resources. Each set of CSI-RS resources may include one or more CSI-RS resources.

[0223] Optionally, the report configurations associated with different trigger states may overlap, meaning that different trigger states may be associated with the same report configuration. Optionally, the CSI-RS resource sets associated with different report configurations may also overlap, meaning that different report configurations may be associated with the same CSI-RS resource set.

[0224] Optionally, the report configuration may also include a report quantity, which indicates which CSI information the terminal should report. For example, the report quantity may include one or more of CQI, PMI, CSI Reference Signal Resource Indicator (CSI-RS resource indicator, CRI), SSB Index, LI, RI, L1-RSRP, L1-SINR, i1, etc. In one possible scenario, the report quantity can also be configured as "None," indicating that no reporting is required. Optionally, configuring the report quantity as "None" can also be described as the report quantity being empty (Null), or the report quantity being default, etc., without limitation. Some possible report quantity configurations are as follows:

[0225] Optionally, the first configuration information may also include one or more of the following constraints.

[0226] Constraint 1: A report configuration can only be associated with one or more CSI-RS resources of a candidate cell.

[0227] Specifically, for Method 1, it can be understood that one report configuration is associated with one CSI-RS resource set, where one CSI-RS resource set includes one or more candidate cell indexes and one or more CSI-RS resource indexes, and the one or more candidate cell indexes included in this one CSI-RS resource set are the same. For example, for implementation 1.1, in the aforementioned configuration structure 1, all candidate cell indexes in ltm-CandidateIdList are the same. Optionally, for implementation 1.2, this one CSI-RS resource set includes only one candidate cell index. Further optionally, if the CSI-RS set also includes candidate cells, then the number of candidate cells is 1.

[0228] For method three, one or more candidate cell indices associated with a report configuration are the same, or in other words, the candidate cell indices corresponding to one or more CSI-RS resource sets associated with a report configuration are all the same. For example, the candidate cell indices in ltm-CandidateIdList are the same. Another possibility is that a report configuration is associated with only one CSI-RS resource set and only one candidate cell index. For example, in the aforementioned configuration structure 3, ltm-CSI-RS-ResourceSetList has only one CSI-RS resource set index, and ltm-CandidateIdList has only one candidate cell index.

[0229] Optionally, constraint 1 above may apply when one or more of the following conditions are met (or described as follows: when one or more of the following conditions are met, a report configuration may be associated with the CSI-RS resources of at most one candidate cell / a report configuration may be associated with the CSI-RS resources of only one candidate cell):

[0230] Condition 1: A report configuration includes a non-empty reported quantity, or the reported quantity does not include the reference signal received power and / or signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio, or the reported quantity includes any one or more of the channel quality indicator, precoding matrix indicator, layer indicator, rank indicator, and codebook index. Optionally, Condition 1 can also be described as the reported quantity in the report configuration not including any one of "None", "RSRP", or "SINR". Alternatively, Condition 1 can also be described as a report configuration not used for reporting beam measurement results.

[0231] Condition 2 states that the maximum number of candidate cells the terminal supports for measurement is 1. Optionally, Condition 2 can also be described as the terminal supporting only one candidate cell measurement or CSI measurement, or the terminal supporting at most one candidate cell measurement or CSI measurement. Alternatively, Condition 2 can also be described as the terminal not supporting multiple candidate cell measurements or CSI measurements.

[0232] Condition 3: A report configuration includes reported quantities including reference signal received power and / or signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (or, the reported quantities in the report configuration include either "RSRP" or "SINR"), and the terminal supports beam measurement for at most one candidate cell. Optionally, beam measurement can be understood as RSRP measurement and / or SINR measurement.

[0233] Condition 4: The reported data in a report configuration is not empty; or, the reported data does not include the reference signal received power and / or signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio; or, the reported data includes any one or more of the channel quality indicator, precoding matrix indicator, layer indicator, rank indicator, and codebook index, and the terminal supports at most one candidate cell's non-beam measurement. Optionally, non-beam measurement can be understood as non-RSRP measurement and / or non-SINR measurement, or as any one or more of the channel quality indicator measurement, precoding matrix indicator measurement, layer indicator measurement, rank indicator measurement, and codebook index measurement.

[0234] Constraint 2: When a report configuration includes one or more of the following in its reporting parameters: channel quality indicator, precoding matrix indicator, layer indicator, rank indicator, and codebook index, the report configuration is associated with one or more CSI-RS resource sets. When a report configuration includes reference signal received power and / or signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SNR), the report configuration is associated with at most one CSI-RS resource set. Alternatively, when a report configuration does not include the channel quality indicator, precoding matrix indicator, layer indicator, rank indicator, and codebook index in its reporting parameters, the report configuration is associated with only one CSI-RS resource set.

[0235] S502, the first access network device sends first information to the terminal. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the first information from the first access network device.

[0236] The first information is used to trigger the measurement and / or reporting of the CSI-RS resources of the candidate cell, or it can be described as the first information triggering the terminal to perform the measurement and / or reporting of the CSI-RS resources of the candidate cell, or it can be described as the first information triggering the measurement and / or reporting of the CSI-RS resources of at least one candidate cell, or it can be described as the first information triggering the terminal to perform the measurement and / or reporting of the CSI-RS resources of at least one candidate cell, or it can be described as the first information triggering the measurement and / or reporting of the CSI-RS resources of the candidate cell after receiving cell handover signaling, or it can be described as the first information triggering the terminal to perform the measurement and / or reporting of the CSI-RS resources of the candidate cell after receiving cell handover signaling, or it can be described as the first information triggering the terminal to perform the measurement and / or reporting of the CSI-RS resources of the candidate cell after receiving cell handover signaling and before actually handing over to the target cell, or it can be described as the first information triggering the terminal to perform the measurement and / or reporting of the CSI-RS resources of the candidate cell after receiving cell handover signaling and before actually handing over to the target cell. After receiving cell handover signaling and before the terminal actually hands over to the target cell, the measurement of CSI-RS resources of the candidate cell and / or the reporting of measurement results are performed. Alternatively, the first information may be used to trigger the measurement of CSI-RS resources of the candidate cell and / or the reporting of measurement results during cell handover, or the first information may be used to trigger the terminal to perform the measurement of CSI-RS resources of the candidate cell and / or the reporting of measurement results during cell handover, or the first information may be used to trigger the measurement of CSI-RS resources of the candidate cell and / or the reporting of measurement results before cell handover, or the first information may be used to trigger the terminal to perform the measurement of CSI-RS resources of the candidate cell and / or the reporting of measurement results before cell handover, or the first information may be used to trigger the measurement of CSI-RS resources of the candidate cell before cell handover and the reporting of measurement results during cell handover, or the first information may be used to trigger the terminal to perform the measurement of CSI-RS resources of the candidate cell before cell handover and the reporting of measurement results during cell handover.

[0237] Optionally, the first information involved in this application that triggers the measurement of CSI-RS resources of candidate cells and / or the reporting of measurement results specifically includes three cases:

[0238] In the first scenario, the first information triggers the measurement of CSI-RS resources of the candidate cell. For example, the first access network device may send the first information to the terminal before cell handover (or before sending cell handover signaling). This first information may be carried in DCI, MAC CE, or RRC signaling. For instance, the DCI may be a DCI carrying a CSI request field, or a MAC CE signaling carrying a CSI-RS resource set index or a CSI-RS resource index, or an RRC signaling configuring the CSI-RS resources of the candidate cell (e.g., configuring periodic candidate cell CSI-RS resources). This DCI, MAC CE, or RRC is sent through the serving cell. Optionally, in this first scenario, the first access network device may trigger the reporting of the measurement results of the candidate cell's CSI-RS resources during cell handover. For example, the first access network device may trigger the reporting of the measurement results of the candidate cell's CSI-RS resources through cell handover signaling, downlink control information used to schedule cell handover signaling, or downlink control information used to schedule the first uplink transmission of the target cell.

[0239] The second scenario involves the reporting of measurement results for the CSI-RS resources of a candidate cell triggered by the first information. For example, the first access network device can send the first information to the terminal before or during cell handover. If the first access network device sends the first information to the terminal before cell handover, the first information can be carried in DCI, MAC CE, or RRC signaling. For example, the DCI can be a DCI carrying a CSI request field, or a MAC CE signaling carrying a trigger status index or report configuration index, or an RRC signaling configuring the report configuration associated with the candidate cell's CSI-RS resources (e.g., configuring the report configuration for periodic reporting, which configures the candidate cell's CSI-RS resources associated with the period). The DCI, MAC CE, or RRC can be sent through the serving cell. If the first access network device sends the first information to the terminal during cell handover, the first information can be carried in DCI or MAC CE. For example, the first information can be carried in the downlink control information of the scheduling cell handover signaling, or in the cell handover signaling, or in the downlink control information of the scheduling target cell's first uplink transmission. Optionally, in the second scenario, the first access network device can trigger the measurement of CSI-RS resources of the candidate cell before cell handover, for example, by triggering the measurement of CSI-RS resources of the candidate cell through DCI, MAC CE, or RRC signaling. The DCI can be a DCI carrying a CSI request field, or a MAC CE signaling carrying a CSI-RS resource set index or a CSI-RS resource index, or an RRC signaling configuring the CSI-RS resources of the candidate cell (e.g., configuring periodic candidate cell CSI-RS resources). The DCI, MAC CE, or RRC is sent through the serving cell. In one possible scenario, an aperiodic report configuration is associated with the aperiodic CSI-RS resources of one or more candidate cells. Before cell handover, the measurement of the aperiodic CSI-RS resources of at least one of the candidate cells associated with the report configuration can be triggered by signaling (e.g., a DCI carrying a CSI request). During cell handover, the measurement results of the aperiodic CSI-RS resources of the target cell can be reported by signaling (e.g., cell handover signaling). This report configuration can be configured through a dedicated report configuration or can carry indication information to indicate that the measurement and reporting of this non-periodic CSI-RS resource are triggered by different signaling.

[0240] The third scenario involves the first information triggering the measurement of CSI-RS resources of the candidate cell and the reporting of the measurement results. For example, the first access network device can send the first information to the terminal before or during cell handover. If the first access network device sends the first information to the terminal before cell handover, the first information can be carried in DCI, MAC CE, or RRC signaling. For instance, the DCI can be a DCI carrying a CSI request field, or a MAC CE signaling carrying a trigger status index or report configuration index, or an RRC signaling configuring the report configuration associated with the candidate cell's CSI-RS resources (e.g., configuring the periodic report configuration, which associates the candidate cell's CSI-RS resources with the period). The DCI, MAC CE, or RRC can be sent through the serving cell. If the first access network device sends the first information to the terminal during cell handover, the first information can be carried in DCI or MAC CE. For example, the first information can be carried in the downlink control information of the cell handover signaling, or the first information can be carried in the cell handover signaling, or the first information can be carried in the downlink control information of the first uplink transmission of the target cell.

[0241] In other words, the first information may trigger only the measurement of the candidate cell (for ease of description, it can be simply described as triggering only the measurement), or the first information may trigger only the reporting of the measurement results of the candidate cell (for ease of description, it can be simply described as triggering only the reporting), or the first information may trigger both the measurement of the candidate cell and the reporting of the measurement results of the candidate cell (for ease of description, it can be simply described as triggering both the measurement and the reporting).

[0242] The term "actual handover to the target cell" as described in this application refers to the terminal successfully accessing the target cell. Optionally, "actual handover to the target cell" can also be described as the terminal sending an RRC Reconfiguration Complete message to the second access network device, or as LTM cell handover completion, or cell handover completion, or handover completion, or as the terminal sending its first uplink transmission to the target cell / second access network device. The term "before cell handover" as described in this application can be understood as before receiving cell handover signaling. The term "during cell handover" as described in this application can be understood as after receiving cell handover signaling, and before actually handing over to the target cell.

[0243] The target cell is the candidate cell corresponding to the candidate cell index in the cell handover signaling, or it can be understood as the candidate cell indicated by the cell handover signaling, or the candidate cell corresponding to the candidate cell index carried by the Target Config ID field in the cell handover signaling. Optionally, the target cell can also be called the target candidate cell, or the cell after the cell handover is completed, or the cell after the handover is completed, etc., and there is no limitation in this regard. Optionally, the target cell can be one or more candidate cells in the candidate cell list (or candidate cell set). For ease of description, the following text mainly uses one candidate cell in the candidate cell list as the target cell for illustrative purposes. For example, for the first access network device, it can select a cell from the candidate cell list as the target cell, such as the target cell being the cell with the best measurement result. For another example, the target cell can also be a cell randomly selected from the candidate cell list, and this application does not limit this. Optionally, the candidate cells included in the candidate cell list can be understood as cells that the first access network device may switch to. The number of candidate cells in the candidate cell list can be one or more. Typically, candidate cells in the candidate cell list can be neighboring cells of the serving cell, referred to as neighboring cells. Here, proximity is not only geographical but may also be logical. Optionally, the candidate cells in the candidate cell list may also include the current serving cell. Optionally, a candidate cell can be indicated by a candidate cell index (or candidate cell identifier, ID), such as the network-configured ltm-CandidateId or PCI, etc., without limitation.

[0244] It should be understood that the CSI-RS resources of at least one candidate cell triggered by the first information measurement and / or reporting belong to / are included in the CSI-RS resources or set of CSI-RS resources of one or more candidate cells configured by the first configuration information. In other words, the candidate cells triggered by the first information are a subset of the candidate cells configured by the first configuration information.

[0245] In some feasible implementations, after receiving the first information, the terminal can determine the CSI-RS resources or a set of CSI-RS resources of at least one candidate cell based on / according to the first indication information and / or the second indication information included in the first information. If the first information only triggers measurement, the terminal can measure the CSI-RS resources of the at least one candidate cell or the CSI-RS resources in the set of at least one candidate cell. If the first information only triggers reporting, the terminal can report the measurement results of the CSI-RS resources of the at least one candidate cell or the CSI-RS resources in the set of at least one candidate cell. If the first information triggers both measurement and reporting, the terminal can measure the CSI-RS resources of the at least one candidate cell or the CSI-RS resources in the set of at least one candidate cell to obtain the measurement results of the CSI-RS resources of at least one candidate cell, and then report the measurement results of the CSI-RS resources of at least one candidate cell.

[0246] The following describes how the terminal can determine the CSI-RS resources or CSI-RS resource set of the candidate cell based on the first indication information and / or the second indication information in the first information.

[0247] Optionally, in one design ①, the first information includes first indication information (or, the first information includes first indication information but does not include second indication information). This first indication information indicates a report configuration index, where the report configuration corresponding to the report configuration index is associated with a set of CSI-RS resources. Therefore, after receiving the first information, the terminal can determine, based on the report configuration index, the CSI-RS resources in the set of CSI-RS resources associated with the report configuration corresponding to the report configuration index, and thus determine to measure these CSI-RS resources and / or report the measurement results of these CSI-RS resources. Alternatively, the first indication information indicates trigger state information, where the trigger state information corresponds to a trigger state associated with one or more report configurations, and one report configuration is associated with one or more sets of CSI-RS resources. Therefore, after receiving the first information, the terminal can determine, based on the trigger state information, the set of CSI-RS resources associated with the trigger state corresponding to the trigger state information, and thus determine to measure these CSI-RS resources in these sets of CSI-RS resources and / or report the measurement results of these CSI-RS resources.

[0248] Optionally, the trigger status information (or trigger status information) can be a trigger status index, where one trigger status index corresponds to one trigger status. Alternatively, the trigger status information can also be other values ​​used to indicate the trigger status, where one trigger status value corresponds to one trigger status. That is, the trigger status can be indicated by directly indicating the trigger status index. For example, a trigger status list can be configured, containing one or more trigger statuses, each corresponding to a trigger status index, which can be determined based on the trigger status's position in the trigger status list. Alternatively, the trigger status can be indicated by the value of the CSI request field. For example, the CSI request field can be indicated using N bits, configuring a trigger status list where the number of trigger statuses in the list is greater than 2. N -1. First, activate some trigger states in the trigger state list via MAC CE, then select an effective trigger state from the activated trigger states using the CSI request field. At this time, the value of CSI request corresponds to one trigger state; when the number of trigger states in the trigger state list is no more than 2... N -1, CSI request directly selects a trigger state from the trigger state list.

[0249] For example, when the first information is carried in MAC CE signaling (e.g., cell handover signaling), the MAC CE signaling may include a trigger state index or a CSI request field. As another example, when the first information is carried in DCI signaling, the DCI may include a CSI request field. For ease of description, the information indicating the trigger state of the serving cell will be illustrated illustratively below by indicating the trigger state of the serving cell.

[0250] Optionally, the number of trigger states of the serving cell indicated by the first indication information can be one or more, and the number of report configuration indexes of the serving cell can also be one or more; this application does not limit this. Optionally, the first information may also include information indicating the number of trigger states of the serving cell, or information indicating the number of report configuration indexes of the serving cell. For ease of description, the following description will mainly use the example of one trigger state of the serving cell indicated by the first indication information and one report configuration index of the serving cell.

[0251] Specifically, when the first indication information indicates the trigger status information of the serving cell, the terminal can determine one or more reporting configurations of the serving cell associated with the trigger status of the serving cell indicated by the first indication information based on the association between the configured or pre-configured trigger status and the reporting configuration. Then, based on the association between the configured or pre-configured reporting configuration and the CSI-RS resource set, the terminal can determine one or more CSI-RS resource sets associated with each of the one or more reporting configurations of the serving cell associated with the trigger status of the serving cell.

[0252] Specifically, when the first indication information indicates the report configuration index of the serving cell, the terminal can determine one or more CSI-RS resource sets associated with the report configuration corresponding to the report configuration index of the serving cell indicated by the first indication information based on the association between the configured or pre-configured report configuration and the CSI-RS resource set.

[0253] Specifically, when the first indication information indicates the reporting configuration index and trigger status information of the serving cell, the terminal can determine one or more CSI-RS resource sets associated with the reporting configuration corresponding to the indicated serving cell's reporting configuration index based on the configured or pre-configured association between the trigger status and the reporting configuration, and the reporting configuration index of the indicated serving cell. Optionally, the reporting configuration index of the serving cell can be a relative index of the reporting configuration associated with the indicated service trigger status. For example, if a trigger status is associated with K reporting configurations, then the reporting configuration index can be 0, 1, 2, ..., K-1.

[0254] Optionally, in another design ②, the first information includes second indication information (or the first information includes the second indication information but does not include the first indication information), and the second indication information indicates one or more of the following: candidate cell index, CSI-RS resource set index, or CSI-RS resource index. Optionally, the number of candidate cell indexes indicated by the second indication information can be one or more, the number of CSI-RS resource set indexes can be one or more, and the number of CSI-RS resource indexes can be one or more. Optionally, the first information may also include information indicating the number of candidate cell indexes, or the number of CSI-RS resource set indexes, or the number of CSI-RS resource indexes. For ease of description, the following text will mainly use the example of the number of candidate cell indexes, the number of CSI-RS resource set indexes, and the number of CSI-RS resource indexes indicated by the second indication information being 1.

[0255] In one possible implementation (I), the second indication information can indicate any one of the candidate cell index, the CSI-RS resource set index, and the CSI-RS resource index. For example, when the second indication information indicates the candidate cell index, after the terminal receives the first information, the terminal can determine the CSI-RS resources of the candidate cell corresponding to the candidate cell index / the CSI-RS resources in the CSI-RS resource set and / or report the corresponding measurement results based on the candidate cell index. When the second indication information indicates the CSI-RS resource set index, the terminal can determine the CSI-RS resources in the CSI-RS resource set corresponding to the CSI-RS resource set index based on the CSI-RS resource set index. When the second indication information indicates the CSI-RS resource set index, the terminal can determine the CSI-RS resources in the CSI-RS resources corresponding to the CSI-RS resource index based on the CSI-RS resource index, and then measure the CSI-RS resource and / or report its measurement results.

[0256] In one possible implementation (ⅠⅠ), the second indication information can indicate a combination of the above-mentioned information, such as the second indication information indicating the CSI-RS resource set index and the CSI-RS resource index. Specifically, when the second indication information indicates the CSI-RS resource set index and the CSI-RS resource index, the terminal can determine the corresponding CSI-RS resource set based on the CSI-RS resource set index, and then determine the CSI-RS resource corresponding to the CSI-RS resource index in the CSI-RS resource set based on the CSI-RS resource index, and then measure the CSI-RS resource and / or report its measurement results.

[0257] In one possible implementation (ⅠⅢⅠ), the second indication information can indicate a combination of the above-mentioned information, such as the second indication information indicating a candidate cell index and a CSI-RS resource set index. Specifically, when the second indication information indicates a candidate cell index and a CSI-RS resource set index, the terminal can determine one or more CSI-RS resource sets of the candidate cells corresponding to the candidate cell index based on the candidate cell index, and then determine the CSI-RS resource set corresponding to the CSI-RS resource set index from the one or more CSI-RS resource sets, and then measure the CSI-RS resource and / or report its measurement results.

[0258] In one possible implementation (IV), the second indication information can indicate a combination of the above-mentioned information, such as indicating a candidate cell index and a CSI-RS resource index. Specifically, when the second indication information indicates a candidate cell index and a CSI-RS resource index, the terminal can determine the CSI-RS resource of the candidate cell corresponding to the candidate cell index based on the candidate cell index, and then determine the corresponding CSI-RS resource based on the CSI-RS resource index, and then measure the CSI-RS resource and / or report its measurement results.

[0259] In one possible implementation (V), the second indication information can indicate a combination of the above-mentioned information, such as the second indication information indicating a candidate cell index, a CSI-RS resource set index, and a CSI-RS resource index. Specifically, when the second indication information indicates a candidate cell index, a CSI-RS resource set index, and a CSI-RS resource index, the terminal can determine one or more CSI-RS resource sets of the candidate cells corresponding to the candidate cell index based on the candidate cell index, then determine the CSI-RS resource set corresponding to the CSI-RS resource set index from the one or more CSI-RS resource sets, and finally determine the CSI-RS resource corresponding to the CSI-RS resource index from the CSI-RS resources contained in the CSI-RS resource set corresponding to the CSI-RS resource set index, and then measure the CSI-RS resource and / or report its measurement results.

[0260] Optionally, in another design ③, the first information includes first indication information and second indication information. The first indication information indicates a report configuration index, the report configuration corresponding to which is associated with one or more CSI-RS resource sets; or, the first indication information indicates trigger status information (for example, using a trigger status index as an example), the trigger status corresponding to which is associated with one or more report configurations, one of which is associated with one or more CSI-RS resource sets. The second indication information indicates one or more of the following: a candidate cell index, a CSI-RS resource set index, or a CSI-RS resource index.

[0261] Specifically, the CSI-RS resources of the candidate cell corresponding to the candidate cell index belong to / are included in the CSI-RS resource set associated with the report configuration corresponding to the report configuration index; or, the CSI-RS resources in the CSI-RS resource set corresponding to the CSI-RS resource set corresponding to the CSI-RS resource set corresponding to the report configuration index belong to / are included in the CSI-RS resource set associated with the report configuration index; or, the CSI-RS resources corresponding to the CSI-RS resource index belong to / are included in the CSI-RS resource set associated with the report configuration index. Alternatively, the CSI-RS resource set associated with the report configuration corresponding to the report configuration index includes the CSI-RS resources of the candidate cell corresponding to the candidate cell index; or, includes the CSI-RS resources in the CSI-RS resource set corresponding to the CSI-RS resource set corresponding to the CSI-RS resource set index; or, includes the CSI-RS resources corresponding to the CSI-RS resource index. In other words, the first access network device can specifically instruct the terminal to measure and / or report which CSI-RS resources in the CSI-RS resource set associated with the report configuration.

[0262] The CSI-RS resources of the candidate cell corresponding to the candidate cell index belong to / are included in the CSI-RS resource set associated with one or more reporting configurations associated with the trigger state corresponding to the trigger state index; or, the CSI-RS resources in the CSI-RS resource set corresponding to the CSI-RS resource set corresponding to the CSI-RS resource set belong to / are included in the CSI-RS resource set associated with one or more reporting configurations associated with the trigger state corresponding to the trigger state index; or, the CSI-RS resources corresponding to the CSI-RS resource index belong to / are included in the CSI-RS resource set associated with one or more reporting configurations associated with the trigger state index. Alternatively, the CSI-RS resource set associated with one or more reporting configurations associated with the trigger state index includes the CSI-RS resources of the candidate cell corresponding to the candidate cell index; or, includes the CSI-RS resources in the CSI-RS resource set associated with the CSI-RS resource set corresponding to the CSI-RS resource set index; or, includes the CSI-RS resources corresponding to the CSI-RS resource index. In other words, the first access network device can specifically instruct the terminal to measure and / or report which CSI-RS resources in the CSI-RS resource set associated with the trigger state-associated reporting configuration.

[0263] For example, when the first indication information indicates the report configuration index and the second indication information indicates the candidate cell index, it can be understood that the trigger is the reporting of CSI-RS resource measurements and / or the reporting results of the candidate cells corresponding to the candidate cell index in the CSI-RS resource set associated with the report configuration corresponding to the report configuration index. If the report configuration is also associated with the CSI-RS resources of other candidate cells, then the CSI-RS resource measurements and / or reporting of other candidate cells are not triggered. Specifically, in Method 1, only the reporting of CSI-RS resource measurements and / or the reporting results of the candidate cells corresponding to the candidate cell index in the CSI-RS resource set is triggered; in Method 3, only the reporting of CSI-RS resources and / or the reporting results of the CSI-RS resources in the CSI-RS resource set corresponding to the candidate cells corresponding to the candidate cell index in the CSI-RS resource set is triggered.

[0264] For example, when the first indication information indicates a trigger state index and the second indication information indicates a candidate cell index, the terminal can determine the CSI-RS resource set associated with the report configuration based on the trigger state associated with the trigger state corresponding to the trigger state index, and the association between the report configuration and the CSI-RS resource set. Then, based on the candidate cell corresponding to the candidate cell index, the terminal can determine the CSI-RS resource set or CSI-RS resource of the candidate cell corresponding to the candidate cell index from the CSI-RS resource set associated with the report configuration. In one possible scenario, the trigger state corresponding to the trigger state index is associated with one or more report configurations, and each report configuration is associated with only one candidate cell's CSI-RS resource. In this case, only the report configuration associated with the CSI-RS resource of the candidate cell corresponding to the candidate cell index is triggered. For example, if the trigger state index corresponds to trigger state #1, and trigger state #1 is associated with K reporting configurations, where reporting configuration #m is associated with the CSI-RS resources of the candidate cell corresponding to the candidate cell index, and reporting configuration #m belongs to one or more of the K reporting configurations, then the terminal device will report the CSI-RS resources of the candidate cell corresponding to the candidate cell index and / or its measurement results. Alternatively, if the trigger state index is associated with one or more reporting configurations, and one of these reporting configurations can be associated with the CSI-RS resources of one or more candidate cells, then only the reporting configuration for the CSI-RS resources of the candidate cell corresponding to the associated candidate cell index will be triggered. For example, the trigger state corresponding to the trigger state index is trigger state #1. This trigger state #1 is associated with K report configurations, where report configuration #m is associated with the CSI-RS resources of the candidate cell corresponding to the candidate cell index. Optionally, report configuration #m can also be associated with the CSI-RS resources of other candidate cells. Report configuration #m belongs to one or more of the K report configurations. Then, the terminal device measures and reports the CSI-RS resources of the candidate cell corresponding to the candidate cell index associated with report configuration #m and / or its measurement results. The method for determining the CSI-RS resources of the candidate cell corresponding to the candidate cell index in the report configuration is as follows: In Method 1, it is the CSI-RS resources of the candidate cell corresponding to the candidate cell index in the CSI-RS resource set associated with the report configuration; in Method 3, it is the CSI-RS resources of the CSI-RS resource set corresponding to the candidate cell corresponding to the candidate cell index in the CSI-RS resource set list associated with the report configuration.

[0265] For example, when the first indication information indicates a report configuration index and the second indication information indicates a CSI-RS resource set index, the terminal can determine the CSI-RS resource set associated with the report configuration based on the report configuration corresponding to the report configuration index and the association between the report configuration and the CSI-RS resource set. Then, it can determine the CSI-RS resource set corresponding to the CSI-RS resource set index from the CSI-RS resource set associated with the report configuration. For instance, in method three, the first access network device can indicate the CSI-RS resource set corresponding to the CSI-RS resource set index in the reference resource set list associated with the report configuration corresponding to the report configuration index. Here, the CSI-RS resource set index can be determined based on the position of the CSI-RS resource set in the CSI-RS resource set list.

[0266] For example, when the first indication information indicates a trigger state index and the second indication information indicates a candidate cell index and a CSI-RS resource set index, the terminal can determine the CSI-RS resource set associated with the report configuration based on the trigger state associated with the trigger state index and the association between the report configuration and the CSI-RS resource set. Then, based on the candidate cell corresponding to the candidate cell index, the terminal can determine the CSI-RS resource set of the candidate cell corresponding to the candidate cell index from the CSI-RS resource set associated with the report configuration. Finally, based on the CSI-RS resource set index, the terminal can determine the CSI-RS resource set corresponding to the CSI-RS resource set index from the determined CSI-RS resource set. In one possible scenario, the trigger state corresponding to the trigger state index is associated with one or more reporting configurations. These reporting configurations can be associated with one or more candidate cell CSI-RS resource sets. In this case, the reporting configuration that determines the CSI-RS resources of the candidate cell corresponding to the trigger-associated candidate cell index further measures only the CSI-RS resources and / or their measurement results in the CSI-RS resource set corresponding to the CSI-RS resource set index indicated in the candidate cell associated with the reporting configuration. For example, the trigger state corresponding to the trigger state index is trigger state #1. Trigger state #1 is associated with K report configurations, where report configuration #m is associated with one or more CSI-RS resource sets of the candidate cell corresponding to the indicated candidate cell index. The CSI-RS resource set corresponding to the CSI-RS resource set index is at least one of the one or more CSI-RS sets, denoted as CSI-RS resource set #l. Optionally, report configuration #m can also be associated with the CSI-RS resource sets of other candidate cells. Wherein, report configuration #m belongs to one or more of the K report configurations, then the terminal device reports the CSI-RS resources and / or the measurement results in the CSI-RS resource set #l of the candidate cell corresponding to the candidate cell index associated with the report configuration #m.

[0267] For example, when the first indication information indicates a report configuration index and the second indication information indicates a CSI-RS resource index, the terminal can determine the CSI-RS resource set associated with the report configuration based on the report configuration corresponding to the report configuration index and the association between the report configuration and the CSI-RS resource set. Then, it can determine the CSI-RS resource corresponding to the CSI-RS resource index from the CSI-RS resource set associated with the report configuration. For instance, in Method 1, the first access network device can indicate the CSI-RS resource index in the reference resource set associated with the report configuration corresponding to the trigger report configuration index. This CSI-RS resource index can be determined based on the position of the CSI-RS resource in the CSI-RS resource set.

[0268] Optionally, the first and / or second instruction information mentioned above in this application may be for measurement only, for reporting only, or for both measurement and reporting. Optionally, when for measurement and reporting, instructions may be given separately. For example, the first instruction information may specifically include first instruction information 1 and first instruction information 2, where first instruction information 1 indicates the configuration for measurement, and first instruction information 2 indicates the configuration for reporting. As another example, the second instruction information may specifically include second instruction information 1 and second instruction information 2, where second instruction information 1 indicates the configuration for measurement, and second instruction information 2 indicates the configuration for reporting.

[0269] For example, taking the first indication information as indicating measurement and reporting respectively, assuming the first indication information 1 indicates measurement report configuration index 1 and report configuration index 2, and the first indication information indicates report configuration index 1, then during the measurement phase, the terminal needs to measure the CSI-RS resources in the CSI-RS resource set associated with report configuration 1 corresponding to report configuration index 1, and the CSI-RS resources in the CSI-RS resource set associated with report configuration 2 corresponding to report configuration index 2. During the reporting phase, the terminal can report the measurement results of the CSI-RS resources in the CSI-RS resource set associated with report configuration 1 corresponding to the measured report configuration index 1.

[0270] For example, if the first indication information simultaneously indicates measurement and reporting, assuming the first indication information 1 indicates measurement report configuration index 1, then during the measurement phase, the terminal needs to measure the CSI-RS resources in the CSI-RS resource set associated with the report configuration 1 corresponding to the measurement report configuration index 1. During the reporting phase, the terminal can report the measurement results of the CSI-RS resources in the CSI-RS resource set associated with the measurement report configuration index 1.

[0271] Optionally, in one implementation, the first information is a field used to indicate whether to trigger the measurement and / or reporting of the CSI-RS resources of the target cell after receiving cell handover signaling. For example, the field length can be 1 bit. For instance, when the value of the 1 bit is "1", it indicates that the measurement and / or reporting of the CSI-RS resources of the target cell is triggered; when the value of the 1 bit is "0", it indicates that the measurement and / or reporting of the CSI-RS resources of the target cell is not triggered. Alternatively, when the value of the 1 bit is "0", it indicates that the measurement and / or reporting of the CSI-RS resources of the target cell is triggered; when the value of the 1 bit is "1", it indicates that the measurement and / or reporting of the CSI-RS resources of the target cell is not triggered. Optionally, the field length can also be 2 bits or 3 bits, etc., and this application does not limit the field length.

[0272] Alternatively, in another implementation, the first information can also be understood as the TCI state index of the target cell in the cell handover signaling. That is, the TCI state index of the target cell in the cell handover signaling implicitly indicates the measurement and / or reporting of the reference signal resources of the target cell after receiving the cell handover signaling.

[0273] Alternatively, the first information can also be the first configuration information. For example, if the reporting configuration is a periodic reporting configuration and its associated CSI-RS resource is also a periodic CSI-RS resource, then after the terminal receives the first configuration information, it will start periodically reporting the measurement results.

[0274] S503, the terminal sends the measurement results of the CSI-RS resources of the candidate cells to the first access network device / second access network device. Correspondingly, the first access network device / second access network device receives the measurement results of the CSI-RS resources of the candidate cells from the terminal.

[0275] In some feasible implementations, when the measurement results are reported before cell handover (or before receiving cell handover signaling), the terminal can send the measurement results of the CSI-RS resources of the candidate cell to the first access network device. When the measurement results are reported during or after cell handover, the terminal can send the measurement results of the CSI-RS resources of the candidate cell to the second access network device.

[0276] The second access network device is the access network device corresponding to the target cell. The access network device corresponding to the target cell can also be called the access network device where the target cell is located, or the access network device of the target cell, or the target access network device, or the target base station, etc., and is not limited thereto. Optionally, the access network device corresponding to the serving cell and the access network device corresponding to the target cell can be the same access network device, that is, the first access network device and the second access network device can be the same; or, the access network device corresponding to the serving cell and the access network device corresponding to the target cell can be different access network devices, that is, the first access network device and the second access network device are different.

[0277] Optionally, the descriptions of the second access network device and the target cell in this application can be interchanged.

[0278] Understandably, after the terminal obtains the measurement results of the CSI-RS resources of the candidate cells, the terminal can send the measurement results of the CSI-RS resources of the candidate cells to the first access network device / second access network device. Optionally, the measurement results that trigger the reporting may be all the measurement results obtained by the terminal, or it may be a partial measurement result. For example, the terminal may measure the CSI-RS resources of W1 candidate cells and report the measurement results of the CSI-RS resources of W2 candidate cells, where W1 and W2 are both integers greater than or equal to 1, and W1 is greater than or equal to W2.

[0279] Optionally, the measurement results can also be referred to as CSI information. For example, the measurement results of the CSI-RS resources of the target cell in this application may include one or more of the following: RSRP, SINR, PMI, RI, LI, CQI, or i1. Optionally, the measurement results of the CSI-RS resources of the target cell may also include information such as CRI and / or SSB index. Generally, which CSI information the terminal feeds back can be determined by the configuration of the first access network device. For example, if the first information includes the reporting configuration index of the serving cell, then the reporting quantity in the corresponding reporting configuration can be used to determine which CSI information to report. As another example, if the first information includes the trigger state index of the serving cell, then the associated reporting configuration can be determined based on the trigger state index, and then the reporting quantity in the reporting configuration can be used to determine which CSI information to report. For example, if the TCI state is associated with the trigger state or reporting configuration of the serving cell, the trigger state or reporting configuration can be determined based on the TCI state indicated by the cell handover signaling. Then, the CSI information to be reported can be determined based on the reporting configuration associated with the trigger state or the report quantity in that reporting configuration. When the first information does not indirectly or directly indicate which CSI information to report (e.g., the report quantity in the reporting configuration is empty), the first access network device can configure or the protocol can specify which CSI information needs to be reported.

[0280] Optionally, after receiving the measurement results of the CSI-RS resources of the candidate cell, the first access network device can compare the channel quality of the candidate cell to determine whether to switch cells, and / or determine the target cell for the switch. Alternatively, after receiving the measurement results of the CSI-RS resources of the candidate cell, the first access network device can send the measurement results of the CSI-RS resources of the candidate cell to the corresponding candidate cell. If the cell switches to the corresponding candidate cell, i.e., the target cell, the second access network device can select an appropriate uplink / downlink data scheduling method for the terminal based on the measurement results of the CSI-RS resources of the target cell.

[0281] Optionally, after the second access network device receives the measurement results of the CSI-RS resources of the target cell, the second access network device can select a suitable uplink / downlink data scheduling method for the terminal based on the measurement results of the CSI-RS resources of the target cell. Alternatively, it can be described as using the measurement results of the CSI-RS resources of the target cell for uplink / downlink data scheduling of the target cell. For example, the second access network device can select the number of data transmission streams based on the reported RI. Even more exemplarily, the second access network device can select the modulation order, modulation scheme, coding scheme, etc., of the data transmission based on the reported CQI.

[0282] In this embodiment, before or during cell handover, the terminal is configured with the CSI-RS resources / CSI-RS resource set of candidate cells by the serving cell. The terminal then performs measurements based on the configured CSI-RS resources / CSI-RS resource set of candidate cells and reports the measurement results. This allows network-side devices (such as the second access network device) to know the measurement results of the CSI-RS resources of candidate cells in advance, which is beneficial to improving the reliability and efficiency of data transmission after cell handover (i.e., after handover from the serving cell to the candidate cell).

[0283] Optionally, the embodiments shown in Figure 5 above can also be applied to O-RAN scenarios. It should be understood that in O-RAN scenarios, the access network device (e.g., the first access network device or the second access network device) involved in Figure 5 can be replaced by CU (e.g., CU-CP or CU-UP) or DU or RU, etc.

[0284] The communication device provided in this application will now be described in detail with reference to Figures 6 to 8.

[0285] It is understood that, in order to achieve the functions in the above embodiments, the communication device includes hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to each function. Those skilled in the art should readily recognize that, based on the units and method steps described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed in this application, this application can be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed by hardware or by computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application scenario and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0286] Figures 6 to 8 are schematic diagrams illustrating possible communication devices provided in embodiments of this application. These communication devices can be used to implement the functions of the terminal or access network device (e.g., base station) in the above method embodiments, and thus also achieve the beneficial effects of the above method embodiments. In the embodiments of this application, the communication device can be one of the terminals 120a-120j shown in Figure 1, or it can be RAN node 110a or 110b shown in Figure 1. Optionally, it can also be a module (e.g., a chip) applied to the terminal or access network device.

[0287] As shown in Figure 6, the communication device 600 includes a processing unit 610 and a transceiver unit 620. The transceiver unit 620 and the processing unit 610 can be software, hardware, or a combination of both. Optionally, the communication device 600 may further include a storage unit 630 for storing device program code and / or data, not shown in Figure 6.

[0288] The transceiver unit 620 can implement sending and / or receiving functions. Optionally, the transceiver unit 620 can also be referred to as a communication unit. The transceiver unit 620 may further include a receiving unit and / or a sending unit, wherein the receiving unit is used to implement the receiving function, and the sending unit is used to implement the sending function. Optionally, the transceiver unit 620 can be used to receive information sent by other devices, and can also be used to send information to other devices.

[0289] The communication device 600 is used to implement the functions of the terminal-side communication device in the method embodiment shown in FIG5 above. For example, the terminal-side communication device may be a terminal or a communication module in the terminal, or a circuit or chip in the terminal responsible for communication functions. Alternatively, the communication device 600 is used to implement the functions of the network-side communication device in the method embodiment shown in FIG5 above. For example, the network-side communication device may be an access network device, a module (e.g., a circuit, chip, or chip system) in the access network device, or a logic node, logic module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the access network device.

[0290] When the communication device 600 is used to implement the functions of the terminal in the method embodiment shown in FIG5:

[0291] The transceiver unit 620 is configured to receive first configuration information, the first configuration information including one or more report configurations of the serving cell, wherein one report configuration is associated with one or more reference signal resource sets, and the one or more reference signal resource sets include reference signal resources of one or more candidate cells;

[0292] The transceiver unit 620 is configured to receive first information, which is used to trigger the measurement of reference signal resources of at least one candidate cell and / or the reporting of measurement results, wherein the one or more candidate cells include the at least one candidate cell.

[0293] The transceiver unit 620 is used to transmit the measurement results of the reference signal resources of the at least one candidate cell.

[0294] In one possible implementation, the report configuration is associated with a set of reference signal resources, including:

[0295] A report configuration is associated with a set of reference signal resources, and the set of reference signal resources includes reference signal resources of one or more candidate cells.

[0296] In one possible implementation, the reference signal resource set includes one or more candidate cell indices and one or more reference signal resource indices, and the number of candidate cell indices is the same as the number of reference signal resource indices, with the i-th candidate cell index corresponding to the i-th reference signal resource index, where i is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0297] In one possible implementation, the reference signal resource set includes the number of reference signal resources corresponding to each candidate cell, one or more candidate cell indices, and one or more reference signal resource indices, where the i-th candidate cell index corresponds to Ki reference signal resource indices, and Ki is the number of reference signal resources corresponding to the i-th candidate cell corresponding to the i-th candidate cell, where i is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1, and Ki is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1. Optionally, the reference signal resource set may further include the number of candidate cells, where the number of candidate cell indices is equal to the number of candidate cells.

[0298] In one possible implementation, the reference signal resource set includes one or more candidate cell indices that are identical.

[0299] In one possible implementation, the reference signal resource set includes only one candidate cell index.

[0300] In one possible implementation, the report configuration is associated with one or more sets of reference signal resources, including:

[0301] A report configuration is associated with one or more reference signal resource sets, and each reference signal resource set includes the reference signal resources of a candidate cell.

[0302] In one possible implementation, the report configuration is associated with one or more sets of reference signal resources, and each set of reference signal resources includes reference signal resources of a candidate cell, including:

[0303] A report configuration associates one or more reference signal resource set indices and one or more candidate cell indices, and the number of candidate cell indices is the same as the number of reference signal resource set indices. The i-th candidate cell index corresponds to the i-th reference signal resource set index, where i is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0304] In one possible implementation, the one or more candidate cell indices associated with the report configuration are the same.

[0305] In one possible implementation, a report configuration is associated with reference signal resources of at most one candidate cell when one or more of the following conditions are met:

[0306] The reported quantity included in the reported configuration is not empty; or, the reported quantity does not include the reference signal received power and / or the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio; or, the reported quantity includes any one or more of the following: channel quality indicator, precoding matrix indicator, layer indicator, rank indicator, and codebook index; or...

[0307] The maximum number of candidate cells that the terminal supports for measurement is 1; or...

[0308] The reported quantities included in the reported configuration include reference signal received power and / or signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio, and the terminal supports beam measurement for at most one candidate cell; or,

[0309] The reported quantity included in the reported configuration is not empty, or the reported quantity does not include the reference signal received power and / or the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio, or the reported quantity includes any one or more of the channel quality indicator, precoding matrix indicator, layer indicator, rank indicator, and codebook index, and the terminal supports non-beam measurement of at most one candidate cell.

[0310] In one possible implementation, when a report configuration includes any one or more of the following in its reported quantity: channel quality indicator, precoding matrix indicator, layer indicator, rank indicator, and codebook index, the report configuration is associated with one or more sets of reference signal resources; or,

[0311] When a report configuration includes reference signal received power and / or signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio in the reported quantities, the report configuration is associated with at most one set of reference signal resources.

[0312] In one possible implementation, the first information includes first indication information;

[0313] The first indication information indicates a report configuration index, and the report configuration index corresponds to a set of report configuration associated reference signal resources; or,

[0314] The first indication information indicates the trigger status information, and the trigger status information is associated with one or more report configurations, wherein one report configuration is associated with one or more reference signal resource sets.

[0315] In one possible implementation, after receiving the first information, the processing unit 610 is configured to:

[0316] Based on the report configuration index, measure the reference signal resources in the reference signal resource set associated with the report configuration corresponding to the report configuration index and / or report the corresponding measurement results; or,

[0317] Based on the information of the trigger state, the trigger state corresponding to the information of the trigger state is associated with one or more reference signal resources in the reference signal resource set associated with the report configuration and / or the corresponding measurement results are reported.

[0318] In one possible implementation, the first information includes second indication information, which indicates one or more of the following:

[0319] Candidate cell index, reference signal resource set index, or reference signal resource index;

[0320] Wherein, the reference signal resources of the candidate cell corresponding to the candidate cell index, or the reference signal resources in the reference signal resource set corresponding to the reference signal resource set index, or the reference signal resources corresponding to the reference signal resource index are included in the reference signal resource set associated with the report configuration corresponding to the report configuration index; or,

[0321] The reference signal resources of the candidate cell corresponding to the candidate cell index, or the reference signal resources in the reference signal resource set corresponding to the reference signal resource set index, or the reference signal resources corresponding to the reference signal resource index, are included in the reference signal resource set associated with one or more report configurations associated with the trigger state information.

[0322] In one possible implementation, after receiving the first information, the processing unit 610 is configured to:

[0323] Measure the reference signal resources of the candidate cells corresponding to the candidate cell index and / or report the corresponding measurement results; or,

[0324] Measure the reference signal resources in the reference signal resource set corresponding to the reference signal resource set index and / or report the corresponding measurement results; or,

[0325] Measure the reference signal resources corresponding to the reference signal resource index and / or report the corresponding measurement results.

[0326] In one possible design, when the communication device 600 is a terminal or a communication module within a terminal, the functionality of the processing unit 610 can be implemented by one or more processors. Specifically, the processor may include a modem chip, or a system-on-a-chip (SoC) or SIP chip containing a modem core. The functionality of the transceiver unit 620 can be implemented by transceiver circuitry.

[0327] In one possible design, when the communication device 600 is a circuit or chip in a terminal responsible for communication functions, such as a modem chip or a system-on-a-chip (SoC) or SIP chip containing a modem core, the function of the processing unit 610 can be implemented by a circuit system in the aforementioned chip that includes one or more processors or processor cores. The function of the transceiver unit 620 can be implemented by the interface circuitry or data transceiver circuitry on the aforementioned chip.

[0328] When the communication device 600 is used to implement the function of the access network device in the method embodiment shown in FIG5:

[0329] The transceiver unit 620 is used to send first configuration information, the first configuration information including one or more report configurations of the serving cell, wherein one report configuration is associated with one or more reference signal resource sets, and the one or more reference signal resource sets include reference signal resources of one or more candidate cells;

[0330] The transceiver unit 620 is used to send first information, which is used to trigger the measurement of reference signal resources of at least one candidate cell and / or the reporting of measurement results, wherein the one or more candidate cells include the at least one candidate cell.

[0331] In one possible implementation, the report configuration is associated with a set of reference signal resources, including:

[0332] A report configuration is associated with a set of reference signal resources, and the set of reference signal resources includes reference signal resources of one or more candidate cells.

[0333] In one possible implementation, the reference signal resource set includes one or more candidate cell indices and one or more reference signal resource indices, and the number of candidate cell indices is the same as the number of reference signal resource indices, with the i-th candidate cell index corresponding to the i-th reference signal resource index, where i is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0334] In one possible implementation, the reference signal resource set includes the number of reference signal resources corresponding to each candidate cell, one or more candidate cell indices, and one or more reference signal resource indices, where the i-th candidate cell index corresponds to Ki reference signal resource indices, and Ki is the number of reference signal resources corresponding to the i-th candidate cell corresponding to the i-th candidate cell, where i is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1, and Ki is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1. Optionally, the reference signal resource set may further include the number of candidate cells, where the number of candidate cell indices is equal to the number of candidate cells.

[0335] In one possible implementation, the reference signal resource set includes one or more candidate cell indices that are identical.

[0336] In one possible implementation, the reference signal resource set includes only one candidate cell index.

[0337] In one possible implementation, the report configuration is associated with one or more sets of reference signal resources, including:

[0338] A report configuration is associated with one or more reference signal resource sets, and each reference signal resource set includes the reference signal resources of a candidate cell.

[0339] In one possible implementation, the report configuration is associated with one or more sets of reference signal resources, and each set of reference signal resources includes reference signal resources of a candidate cell, including:

[0340] A report configuration associates one or more reference signal resource set indices and one or more candidate cell indices, and the number of candidate cell indices is the same as the number of reference signal resource set indices. The i-th candidate cell index corresponds to the i-th reference signal resource set index, where i is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0341] In one possible implementation, the one or more candidate cell indices associated with the report configuration are the same.

[0342] In one possible implementation, a report configuration is associated with reference signal resources of at most one candidate cell when one or more of the following conditions are met:

[0343] The reported quantity included in the reported configuration is not empty; or, the reported quantity does not include the reference signal received power and / or the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio; or, the reported quantity includes any one or more of the following: channel quality indicator, precoding matrix indicator, layer indicator, rank indicator, and codebook index; or...

[0344] The maximum number of candidate cells that the terminal supports for measurement is 1; or...

[0345] The reported quantities included in the reported configuration include reference signal received power and / or signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio, and the terminal supports beam measurement for at most one candidate cell; or,

[0346] The reported quantity included in the reported configuration is not empty, or the reported quantity does not include the reference signal received power and / or the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio, or the reported quantity includes any one or more of the channel quality indicator, precoding matrix indicator, layer indicator, rank indicator, and codebook index, and the terminal supports non-beam measurement of at most one candidate cell.

[0347] In one possible implementation, when a report configuration includes any one or more of the following in its reported quantity: channel quality indicator, precoding matrix indicator, layer indicator, rank indicator, and codebook index, the report configuration is associated with one or more sets of reference signal resources; or,

[0348] When a report configuration includes reference signal received power and / or signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio in the reported quantities, the report configuration is associated with at most one set of reference signal resources.

[0349] In one possible implementation, the first information includes first indication information;

[0350] The first indication information indicates a report configuration index, and the report configuration index corresponds to a set of report configuration associated reference signal resources; or,

[0351] The first indication information indicates the trigger status information, and the trigger status information is associated with one or more report configurations, wherein one report configuration is associated with one or more reference signal resource sets.

[0352] In one possible implementation, after sending the first information, the transceiver unit 620 is used to:

[0353] Receive the measurement results of the reference signal resources in the reference signal resource set associated with the report configuration corresponding to the report configuration index; or,

[0354] The trigger state information received corresponds to the measurement results of reference signal resources in the reference signal resource set associated with one or more report configurations.

[0355] In one possible implementation, the first information includes second indication information, which indicates one or more of the following:

[0356] Candidate cell index, reference signal resource set index, or reference signal resource index;

[0357] Wherein, the reference signal resources of the candidate cell corresponding to the candidate cell index, or the reference signal resources in the reference signal resource set corresponding to the reference signal resource set index, or the reference signal resources corresponding to the reference signal resource index are included in the reference signal resource set associated with the report configuration corresponding to the report configuration index; or,

[0358] The reference signal resources of the candidate cell corresponding to the candidate cell index, or the reference signal resources in the reference signal resource set corresponding to the reference signal resource set index, or the reference signal resources corresponding to the reference signal resource index, are included in the reference signal resource set associated with one or more report configurations associated with the trigger state information.

[0359] In one possible implementation, after sending the first information, the transceiver unit 620 is used to:

[0360] Receive the measurement results of the reference signal resources of the candidate cells corresponding to the candidate cell index; or,

[0361] Receive the measurement results of the reference signal resources in the reference signal resource set corresponding to the reference signal resource set index; or,

[0362] Receive the measurement results of the reference signal resource corresponding to the reference signal resource index.

[0363] For a more detailed description of the processing unit 610 and the transceiver unit 620 described above, please refer to the relevant description in the method embodiment shown in Figure 5.

[0364] It is understood that the division of units in the above-described device is merely a logical functional division. Each function can correspond to a functional unit, or two or more functions can be integrated into one functional unit. In actual implementation, all or some units can be integrated into a single physical entity, or they can be distributed across different physical entities. Furthermore, the aforementioned functional units can be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of both. Whether a function is executed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0365] In one example, the functional unit in any of the above devices may be one or more integrated circuits configured to implement the above methods, such as: one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or one or more central processing units (CPUs), one or more microcontroller units (MCUs), one or more digital signal processors (DSPs), or one or more field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or a combination of at least two of these integrated circuit forms.

[0366] In one example, storage unit 630 may include random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory or electrically erasable programmable memory and / or registers, etc.

[0367] As shown in Figure 7, the communication device 700 includes a processor 710, and optionally, an interface circuit 720. The processor 710 and the interface circuit 720 are coupled to each other. It is understood that the interface circuit 720 can be a transceiver or an input / output interface. Optionally, the communication device 700 may also include a memory 730 for storing computer programs or instructions executed by the processor 710, or storing input data required by the processor 710 to execute instructions, or storing data generated by the processor 710 after executing computer programs or instructions.

[0368] When the communication device 700 is used to implement the method shown in FIG5, the processor 710 is used to implement the function of the processing unit 610, and the interface circuit 720 is used to implement the function of the transceiver unit 620.

[0369] When the aforementioned communication device is a chip applied to a terminal, the terminal chip implements the functions of the terminal in the above method embodiments. The terminal chip receives information sent to the terminal by the access network device through other modules (such as an RF module or antenna) in the terminal; or, the terminal chip sends information to other modules (such as an RF module or antenna) in the terminal, which is information sent by the terminal to the access network device.

[0370] When the aforementioned communication device is a module applied to an access network device, the access network device module implements the functions of the access network device in the above method embodiments. The access network device module receives information from other modules (such as radio frequency modules or antennas) in the access network device, which is information sent by the terminal to the access network device; or, the access network device module sends information to other modules (such as radio frequency modules or antennas) in the access network device, which is information sent by the access network device to the terminal. Here, the access network device module can be the baseband chip of the access network device, or a CU, DU, or other module, or a device under an open radio access network (O-RAN) architecture, such as an open CU, open DU, etc.

[0371] As shown in Figure 8, the communication device 800 includes a processor 810, a memory 820, and a transceiver 830. The processor 810 is mainly used for processing communication protocols and communication data; controlling terminal / access network devices; executing software programs; and processing data from software programs. The memory 820 can store computer program code, software programs, and data. The transceiver 830 includes a transmitter 831, a receiver 832, radio frequency circuitry (not shown in the figure), and an antenna 833.

[0372] The processor 810 can also be called a processing unit, processing board, processing module, or processing device. The transceiver 830 can also be called a transceiver unit, transceiver, or transceiver device.

[0373] Optionally, the devices in transceiver 830 used to implement the receiving function can be considered as receiving modules, and the devices in transceiver 830 used to implement the transmitting function can be considered as transmitting modules. That is, transceiver 830 includes a receiver and / or a transmitter. A transceiver may also be called a transceiver unit, transceiver module, or transceiver circuit, etc. A receiver may also be called a receiver unit, receiving module, or receiving circuit, etc. A transmitter may also be called a transmitter, transmitting module, or transmitting circuit, etc.

[0374] The processor 810 is used to execute the terminal-side processing actions in the embodiment shown in FIG. 5. The transceiver 830 is used to execute the terminal-side transmission and reception actions in the embodiment shown in FIG. 5. Alternatively, the processor 810 is used to execute the network-side processing actions in the embodiment shown in FIG. 5. The transceiver 830 is used to execute the network-side transmission and reception actions in the embodiment shown in FIG. 5.

[0375] When the communication device is a chip, the chip includes a processor and a transceiver. The transceiver can be an input / output circuit or a communication interface. The processor can be a processing module integrated on the chip, a microprocessor, or an integrated circuit. In the above method embodiments, the terminal's transmitting operation can be understood as the chip's output, and the terminal's receiving operation can be understood as the chip's input. Similarly, in the above method embodiments, the access network device's transmitting operation can be understood as the chip's output, and the access network device's receiving operation can be understood as the chip's input.

[0376] This application also provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program or instructions for implementing the methods executed by a terminal or access network device in the above-described method embodiments.

[0377] For example, when the computer program or instructions are executed by the computer, the computer can implement the method performed by the terminal or access network device in the above method embodiments.

[0378] This application also provides a computer program product containing a program or instructions, which, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to implement the method executed by the terminal or access network device in the above method embodiments.

[0379] This application also provides a communication system, which includes the terminal and the access network device described in the above embodiments. The terminal is used to perform some or all of the operations performed by the terminal in the above method embodiments, and the access network device is used to perform some or all of the operations performed by the access network device in the above method embodiments.

[0380] This application also provides a chip device, including a processor, for calling a computer program or computer instructions stored in the memory, so that the processor executes the method provided in the embodiment shown in FIG5 above.

[0381] In one possible implementation, the input of the chip device corresponds to the receiving operation in any of the embodiments shown in FIG5 above, and the output of the chip device corresponds to the sending operation in any of the embodiments shown in FIG5 above.

[0382] Optionally, the processor is coupled to the memory via an interface.

[0383] Optionally, the chip device further includes a memory storing computer programs or computer instructions.

[0384] It is understood that the processor in the embodiments of this application can be a central processing unit (CPU), or other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. A general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0385] The method steps in the embodiments of this application can be implemented in hardware or in software instructions executable by a processor. The software instructions can consist of corresponding software modules, which can be stored in random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, erasable programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, registers, hard disks, portable hard disks, CD-ROMs, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to a processor, enabling the processor to read information from and write information to the storage medium. The storage medium can also be a component of the processor. The processor and storage medium can reside in an ASIC. Alternatively, the ASIC can reside in an access network device or terminal. The processor and storage medium can also exist as discrete components in the access network device or terminal.

[0386] 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 programs or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of this application are performed entirely or partially. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, a network device, a user equipment, or other programmable device. The computer program or instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transferred from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer program or instructions can be transferred from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired or wireless 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, such as a floppy disk, hard disk, or magnetic tape; it can also be an optical medium, such as a digital video optical disc; or it can be a semiconductor medium, such as a solid-state drive. The computer-readable storage medium may be a volatile or non-volatile storage medium, or may include both types of storage media.

[0387] In the various embodiments of this application, unless otherwise specified or in case of logical conflict, the terminology and / or descriptions of different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced by each other. The technical features of different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationship.

[0388] It is understood that the various numerical designations used in the embodiments of this application are merely for descriptive convenience and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application. The order of the process numbers described above does not imply the order of execution; the execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, include: Receive first configuration information, the first configuration information including one or more report configurations of the serving cell, wherein one report configuration is associated with one or more reference signal resource sets, and the one or more reference signal resource sets include reference signal resources of one or more candidate cells; Receive first information, the first information being used to trigger the measurement of reference signal resources of at least one candidate cell and / or the reporting of measurement results, wherein the one or more candidate cells include the at least one candidate cell; Transmit the measurement results of the reference signal resources of the at least one candidate cell.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The aforementioned report configuration is associated with a set of reference signal resources, including: A report configuration is associated with a set of reference signal resources, and the set of reference signal resources includes reference signal resources of one or more candidate cells.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, The reference signal resource set includes one or more candidate cell indices and one or more reference signal resource indices, and the number of candidate cell indices is the same as the number of reference signal resource indices. The i-th candidate cell index corresponds to the i-th reference signal resource index, where i is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1.

4. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, The reference signal resource set includes the number of reference signal resources corresponding to each candidate cell, one or more candidate cell indices, and one or more reference signal resource indices. The i-th candidate cell index corresponds to Ki reference signal resource indices, where Ki is the number of reference signal resources corresponding to the i-th candidate cell corresponding to the i-th candidate cell index, i is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1, and Ki is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1.

5. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, The reference signal resource set includes one or more candidate cell indices that are the same.

6. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, A single reference signal resource set may contain at most one candidate cell index.

7. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The report configuration is associated with one or more sets of reference signal resources, including: A report configuration is associated with one or more reference signal resource sets, and each reference signal resource set includes the reference signal resources of a candidate cell.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that, The report configuration is associated with one or more reference signal resource sets, and each reference signal resource set includes the reference signal resources of a candidate cell, including: A report configuration associates one or more reference signal resource set indices and one or more candidate cell indices, and the number of candidate cell indices is the same as the number of reference signal resource set indices. The i-th candidate cell index corresponds to the i-th reference signal resource set index, where i is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that, The report configuration is associated with one or more candidate cell indexes that are identical.

10. The method according to any one of claims 2 or 5-9, characterized in that, A report configuration may be associated with reference signal resources of at most one candidate cell when one or more of the following conditions are met: The reported quantity included in the reported configuration is not empty; or, the reported quantity does not include the reference signal received power and / or the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio; or, the reported quantity includes any one or more of the following: channel quality indicator, precoding matrix indicator, layer indicator, rank indicator, and codebook index; or... The maximum number of candidate cells that the terminal can support for measurement is 1. or, The reported quantities included in the one-report configuration include reference signal received power and / or signal interference noise ratio, and the terminal supports beam measurement of at most one candidate cell; or, The reported quantity included in the reported configuration is not empty, or the reported quantity does not include the reference signal received power and / or the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio, or the reported quantity includes any one or more of the channel quality indicator, precoding matrix indicator, layer indicator, rank indicator, and codebook index, and the terminal supports non-beam measurement of at most one candidate cell.

11. The method according to claim 1 or 7, characterized in that, When a report configuration includes any one or more of the following in its reporting quantity: channel quality indicator, precoding matrix indicator, layer indicator, rank indicator, and codebook index, the report configuration is associated with one or more sets of reference signal resources. or, When a report configuration includes reference signal received power and / or signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio in the reported quantities, the report configuration is associated with at most one set of reference signal resources.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1-11, characterized in that, The first information includes first indication information; The first indication information indicates a report configuration index, and the report configuration index corresponds to a set of report configuration associated reference signal resources; or, The first indication information indicates the trigger status information, and the trigger status information is associated with one or more report configurations, wherein one report configuration is associated with one or more reference signal resource sets.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that, After receiving the first information, the method further includes: Based on the report configuration index, measure the reference signal resources in the reference signal resource set associated with the report configuration corresponding to the report configuration index and / or report the corresponding measurement results; or, Based on the information of the trigger state, the trigger state corresponding to the information of the trigger state is associated with one or more reference signal resources in the reference signal resource set associated with the report configuration and / or the corresponding measurement results are reported.

14. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that, The first information includes second indication information, which indicates one or more of the following: Candidate cell index, reference signal resource set index, or reference signal resource index; Wherein, the reference signal resources of the candidate cell corresponding to the candidate cell index, or the reference signal resources in the reference signal resource set corresponding to the reference signal resource set index, or the reference signal resources corresponding to the reference signal resource index are included in the reference signal resource set associated with the report configuration corresponding to the report configuration index; or, The reference signal resources of the candidate cell corresponding to the candidate cell index, or the reference signal resources in the reference signal resource set corresponding to the reference signal resource set index, or the reference signal resources corresponding to the reference signal resource index, are included in the reference signal resource set associated with one or more report configurations associated with the trigger state information.

15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that, After receiving the first information, the method further includes: Measure the reference signal resources of the candidate cells corresponding to the candidate cell index and / or report the corresponding measurement results; or, Measure the reference signal resources in the reference signal resource set corresponding to the reference signal resource set index and / or report the corresponding measurement results; or, Measure the reference signal resources corresponding to the reference signal resource index and / or report the corresponding measurement results.

16. A communication method, characterized in that, include: Send first configuration information, the first configuration information including one or more report configurations of the serving cell, wherein one report configuration is associated with one or more reference signal resource sets, and the one or more reference signal resource sets include reference signal resources of one or more candidate cells; Send a first message, which is used to trigger the measurement of reference signal resources of at least one candidate cell and / or the reporting of measurement results, wherein the one or more candidate cells include the at least one candidate cell.

17. A communication device, characterized in that, It includes units or modules for implementing the method as described in any one of claims 1-15, or includes units or modules for implementing the method as described in claim 16.

18. A communication device, characterized in that, Includes a processor for executing computer programs or instructions to cause the communication device to implement the method as described in any one of claims 1-15, or to cause the communication device to implement the method as described in claim 16.

19. A communication device, characterized in that, The device includes a processor and a transceiver, the transceiver being used to send and receive information, and the processor being used to execute a computer program or instructions to cause the communication device to implement the method as described in any one of claims 1-15, or to cause the communication device to implement the method as described in claim 16.

20. A communication device, characterized in that, The device includes a processor and an interface circuit. The interface circuit is used to receive signals from other communication devices besides the communication device and transmit them to the processor, or to send signals from the processor to other communication devices besides the communication device. The processor is used to execute computer programs or instructions to cause the communication device to implement the method as described in any one of claims 1-15, or to cause the communication device to implement the method as described in claim 16.

21. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The storage medium stores a computer program or instructions that, when executed by a communication device, implement the method as described in any one of claims 1-15, or implement the method as described in claim 16.

22. A computer program product, characterized in that, Includes a computer program or instructions that, when executed on a computer, implement the method of any one of claims 1-15, or implement the method of claim 16.

Images