Communication method and related apparatus

Abstract

A communication method and a related apparatus. In the method, a terminal device sends a plurality of preambles on PRACHs on a plurality of sub-resources, wherein the plurality of sub-resources belong to the same resource group, and each of the plurality of sub-resources comprises a plurality of PRACHs on one preamble sending occasion; and the terminal device receives first information, wherein the first information comprises at least one RAR message and first sub-information associated with each RAR message, the first message is used for feeding back the preambles carried on the same resource group, each RAR message in the first message is used for feeding back one preamble, each RAR message is associated with one piece of first sub-information, and each piece of first sub-information comprises an identifier of the sub-resource corresponding to one preamble; and the first sub-information is used for determining the preamble fed back by means of the RAR message associated with the first sub-information. In the present application, a terminal device sends a plurality of preambles to a network device, and the network device can indicate, to the terminal device, preambles fed back by the network device, thereby improving the random access efficiency.

Description

A communication method and related apparatus

[0001] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202411844970.X, filed on December 12, 2024, entitled "A Communication Method and Related Device", 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 related apparatus. Background Technology

[0003] In a wireless network, when a terminal device needs to initiate a random access procedure, it sends a preamble to the base station. This preamble is sent on the designated physical random access channel (PRACH). Upon receiving the preamble, the base station responds to the terminal device with a random access response (RAR) message.

[0004] When preambles sent by multiple terminal devices are carried in the same PRACH, the base station cannot identify which terminal device sent each preamble. This causes the base station to be unable to accurately send RAR messages to the terminal devices, thereby reducing the efficiency of random access by the terminal devices. Summary of the Invention

[0005] This application provides a communication method and related apparatus for improving communication efficiency.

[0006] Firstly, this application provides a communication method. This method can be applied to the terminal side, such as a terminal device or a communication / processing module within the terminal device, or circuits or chips in the terminal device responsible for communication functions (e.g., modem chips, also known as baseband chips, or system-on-chip (SoC) chips containing modem cores, or system-in-package (SIP) chips), or circuits or chips in the terminal device responsible for processing functions (e.g., graphics processing units (GPUs)). Taking the application of this method to a terminal device as an example, in this method, the terminal device sends multiple preambles to the network device via PRACH on multiple sub-resources. Correspondingly, the network device receives multiple preambles from the terminal device via PRACH on multiple sub-resources. Each preamble is carried in a different sub-resource among the aforementioned multiple sub-resources. The multiple sub-resources belong to the same resource group, and each sub-resource includes multiple PRACH on a preamble transmission time. A resource group comprises N sub-resources (N being an integer greater than 1) at N consecutive preamble transmission times. The sub-resources used to carry multiple preambles can be some or all of the sub-resources in the same resource group. In other words, the terminal device transmits multiple preambles on a resource group, where each preamble is carried on a different PRACH on a different sub-resource in that resource group.

[0007] The terminal device receives first information from the network device. The first information includes at least one RAR message and first sub-information associated with each RAR message. The first message is used to report various preambles carried on the same resource group. Each RAR message in the first message is used to report one preamble, and each RAR message is associated with one piece of first sub-information. Each piece of first sub-information includes the identifier of the sub-resource corresponding to a preamble. As can be seen, the terminal device sends multiple preambles via PRACH on multiple sub-resources. Therefore, when the terminal device receives the first sub-information, it can determine, based on the identifier of the sub-resource corresponding to the preamble, which the RAR message associated with the first sub-information reports on which preamble is carried. Since one preamble is sent at one time per sub-resource, meaning the terminal device only sends one preamble per sub-resource, the terminal device can determine the preamble reported by the RAR message associated with the first sub-information based on the identifier of the sub-resource corresponding to the preamble.

[0008] In this application, during a random access process, the terminal device sends multiple preambles to the network device, and the network device can indicate the preambles fed back by the network device to the terminal device, thereby improving the efficiency of random access.

[0009] On the other hand, since a network device may receive preambles from multiple terminal devices on a resource group, these preambles sent by the terminal devices may collide. In this application, the terminal device sends multiple preambles to the network device. In the event that some preambles collide with preambles sent by other terminal devices, the terminal device can still perform random access through other preambles that have not collided, thereby improving the success rate of random access.

[0010] Optionally, the multiple sub-resources used to carry multiple preambles can be continuous in the time domain, or they can be discontinuous.

[0011] In this application, a preamble transmission opportunity refers to the time-domain resources required for a terminal device to transmit a preamble. Within a resource group, the time-domain lengths of each sub-resource are equal. In other words, the time-domain lengths of the aforementioned N preamble transmission opportunities are equal. Optionally, a preamble transmission opportunity includes one or more time units, where the time unit can be an hour, minute, second, millisecond, microsecond, nanosecond, frame, subframe, slot, symbol, sampling time (Ts), or basic time unit (Tc), etc.

[0012] Optionally, PRACH in this application can be replaced with other descriptions, such as narrow band physical random access channel (NPRACH).

[0013] Based on the first aspect, in an optional implementation, the first information further includes second sub-information associated with each RAR message, and each second sub-information includes an identifier for a preamble. Specifically, the identifier for the preamble is the identifier of the subcarrier corresponding to the PRACH used to carry the preamble. In this scenario, each RAR message is associated with the first sub-information and the second sub-information. The first sub-information includes the identifier of the sub-resource corresponding to the preamble, so that the terminal device can determine on which sub-resource the preamble is carried by the RAR message feedback; that is, the first sub-information indicates the time-domain position of the preamble fed back by the RAR message. The second sub-information includes the identifier of the subcarrier corresponding to the PRACH used to carry the preamble, so that the terminal device can determine on which subcarrier the preamble is carried by the RAR message feedback; that is, the second sub-information indicates the frequency-domain position of the preamble fed back by the RAR message. In summary, based on the first and second sub-information associated with the RAR message, the terminal device can determine the time-domain and frequency-domain resources used to carry the preamble, thereby identifying the PRACH used to carry the preamble and ultimately determining a unique preamble. This improves the accuracy of the terminal device's preamble identification feedback and increases the success rate of random access.

[0014] Based on the first aspect, in one optional implementation, the terminal device receives the first information after the end time of the resource group. Specifically, the terminal device begins monitoring the PDCCH scrambled with the Random Access Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RA-RNTI) after X + Round-Trip Time (RTT) has elapsed at the end position of the resource group, in order to receive the first information carried on the PDCCH. Here, X is related to the data processing delay of the terminal device and / or the network device.

[0015] Based on the first aspect, in an optional implementation, the first information is scrambled based on the RA-RNTI corresponding to the initial SFN of the resource group. Specifically, the network device receives preambles from multiple terminal devices on a resource group. Each terminal device sends multiple preambles via PRACH on multiple sub-resources, so the network device receives a large number of preambles within a resource group's period. The network device sends RAR messages for each preamble to the terminal devices, with each RAR message used to return one preamble. These RAR messages for preambles can be carried in a PDCCH scrambled with the same RA-RNTI. In this application, the RA-RNTI is determined by the initial system frame number (SFN) of the resource group where the preamble resides. Therefore, for multiple preambles carried in the same resource group, even if these preambles come from different terminal devices and are carried on different sub-resources, the RA-RNTI corresponding to these preambles is the same, i.e., all are determined by the initial SFN of the resource group. In other words, RAR messages corresponding to preambles sent on the same resource group (i.e., the RAR messages in the first information) can be multiplexed into the same RAR medium access control (MAC) protocol data unit (PDU) and scrambled using the same RA-RANTI. This improves the feedback efficiency of RAR messages.

[0016] Secondly, this application provides a communication method. This method can be applied to the network side, such as a network device or a communication / processing module within a network device, or a circuit or chip in the network device responsible for communication functions (e.g., a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a system-on-a-chip (SoC) chip containing a modem core, or a system-in-package (SIP) chip), or a circuit or chip in the network device responsible for processing functions (e.g., a graphics processing unit (GPU)). Taking the application of this method to a network device as an example, in this method, the network device receives multiple preambles on the Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) over multiple sub-resources, wherein the multiple sub-resources belong to the same resource group, and each sub-resource includes multiple PRACHs at a preamble transmission time.

[0017] The network device sends first information, which includes at least one RAR message and first sub-information associated with each RAR message. The first sub-information includes the identifier of a sub-resource corresponding to a preamble. The first sub-information is used to determine the preamble fed back by the RAR message.

[0018] Based on the second aspect, in an optional implementation, the first information further includes second sub-information associated with each RAR message, the second sub-information including an identifier of a preamble.

[0019] Based on the second aspect, in an optional implementation, the identifier of the preamble is the identifier of the subcarrier corresponding to the PRACH used to carry the preamble.

[0020] Based on the second aspect, in one alternative implementation, multiple preambles originate from the same terminal device.

[0021] Based on the second aspect, in an optional implementation, the first information is scrambled based on the Random Access Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RA-RNTI) corresponding to the Start System Frame Number (SFN) of the resource group.

[0022] Thirdly, this application provides a communication device, which includes:

[0023] The transceiver unit is used to transmit multiple preambles on the Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) over multiple sub-resources, wherein the multiple sub-resources belong to the same resource group, and each sub-resource includes multiple PRACHs at a preamble transmission time.

[0024] The transceiver unit is also used to receive first information, which includes at least one RAR message and first sub-information associated with each RAR message. The first sub-information includes the identifier of a sub-resource corresponding to a preamble, and the first sub-information is used to determine the preamble fed back by the RAR message.

[0025] Based on the third aspect, in an optional implementation, the first information further includes second sub-information associated with each RAR message, the second sub-information including an identifier of a preamble.

[0026] Based on the third aspect, in an optional implementation, the identifier of the preamble is the identifier of the subcarrier corresponding to the PRACH used to carry the preamble.

[0027] Based on the third aspect, in one optional implementation, the transceiver unit is specifically configured to: receive first information after the end time of the resource group.

[0028] Based on the third aspect, in an optional embodiment, the communication device further includes a processing unit, which is configured to determine the preamble fed back by the RAR message based on the first message.

[0029] Based on the third aspect, in an optional implementation, the first information is scrambled based on the Random Access Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RA-RNTI) corresponding to the Start System Frame Number (SFN) of the resource group.

[0030] Fourthly, this application provides a communication device, which includes:

[0031] The transceiver unit is used to receive multiple preambles on the Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) over multiple sub-resources, wherein the multiple sub-resources belong to the same resource group, and each sub-resource includes multiple PRACHs at a preamble transmission time.

[0032] The transceiver unit is also used to send first information, which includes at least one RAR message and first sub-information associated with each RAR message. The first sub-information includes the identifier of a sub-resource corresponding to a preamble, and the first sub-information is used to determine the preamble fed back by the RAR message.

[0033] Based on the fourth aspect, in an optional implementation, the first information further includes second sub-information associated with each RAR message, the second sub-information including an identifier of a preamble.

[0034] Based on the fourth aspect, in an optional implementation, the identifier of the preamble is the identifier of the subcarrier corresponding to the PRACH used to carry the preamble.

[0035] Based on the fourth aspect, in one alternative implementation, multiple preambles originate from the same terminal device.

[0036] Based on the fourth aspect, in an optional implementation, the first information is scrambled based on the RA-RNTI corresponding to the starting system frame number (SFN) of the resource group.

[0037] The fifth aspect of this application provides a communication system, which includes the aforementioned terminal equipment and network equipment.

[0038] A sixth aspect of this application provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing one or more computer-executable instructions, which, when executed by a processor, perform the method as described in any possible implementation of any of the first to second aspects described above.

[0039] The seventh aspect of this application provides a computer program product (or computer program) that, when executed by a processor, performs the method described in any possible implementation of any of the first to second aspects described above.

[0040] The eighth aspect of this application provides a chip system including at least one processor for supporting a communication device in implementing the method described in any possible implementation of any of the first to second aspects.

[0041] In one possible design, the chip system may further include a memory for storing program instructions and data necessary for the communication device. The chip system may be composed of chips or may include chips and other discrete devices. Optionally, the chip system may also include interface circuitry that provides program instructions and / or data to the at least one processor.

[0042] The technical effects of any of the design methods in aspects two through eight can be found in the technical effects of the different design methods in aspect one above, and will not be repeated here. Attached Figure Description

[0043] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a possible, non-limiting system used in the communication method and related apparatus of this application;

[0044] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of another possible, non-limiting system used in the communication method and related apparatus of this application;

[0045] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a possible implementation of the communication method in this application;

[0046] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the transmission of the preamble in this application;

[0047] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of a possible structure of a RAR message;

[0048] Figures 6 and 7 are schematic diagrams of the communication device provided in this application. Detailed Implementation

[0049] The present application will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The terminology used in the embodiments section is for illustrative purposes only and is not intended to limit the scope of the application. Those skilled in the art will recognize that, with technological advancements and the emergence of new scenarios, the technical solutions provided in this application are equally applicable to similar technical problems.

[0050] First, some of the nouns or terms used in this application will be explained, and these nouns or terms are also part of the content of the invention.

[0051] (1) The terms “system” and “network” in this application are used interchangeably. “Multiple” refers to two or more. “And / or” describes the relationship between related objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, or B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character “ / ” generally indicates that the related objects before and after are in an “or” relationship. “At least one of the following” or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, “at least one of A, B and C” includes A, B, C, AB, AC, BC or ABC. Unless otherwise specified, the ordinal numbers such as “first” and “second” mentioned in this application are used to distinguish multiple objects and are not used to limit the order, sequence, priority or importance of multiple objects. Furthermore, the terms “comprising” and “having”, and any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, system, product, or apparatus that includes a series of steps or units is not necessarily limited to those steps or units that are explicitly listed, but may include other steps or units that are not explicitly listed or that are inherent to such process, method, product, or apparatus.

[0052] (2) 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, “terminal device sending information” can be understood as a terminal device sending information to another device (such as a network device), or it can be understood as logical module 1 in the terminal device sending information to logical module 2 in the network device.

[0053] 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, "terminal device receiving information" can be understood as a terminal device receiving information from another device (such as a network device), or it can be understood as logical module 1 in the terminal device receiving information from logical module 2 in the network device.

[0054] In this application, "sending information to... (e.g., a network device)" or the relevant illustrations in the accompanying drawings can be understood as the destination of the information being a network device. This can include sending information directly or indirectly to a network device. "Receiving information from... (e.g., a network device)" or "receiving information from... (e.g., a network device)" or "receiving information sent (e.g., by a network device)" or the relevant illustrations in the accompanying drawings can be understood as the source of the information being a network device. This can include receiving information directly or indirectly from a network device. Information may undergo necessary processing between the source and destination, such as format changes, encoding, modulation, 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.

[0055] (3) Configuration and Pre-configuration: In this application, both configuration and pre-configuration are used. Configuration refers to the network device or server sending configuration information or parameter values ​​to the terminal device via messages or signaling, so that the terminal device 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 ​​pre-negotiated between the network device / server and the terminal device, parameter information or parameter values ​​specified by standard protocols for use by the base station / network device or terminal device, or parameter information or parameter values ​​pre-stored in the base station / server or terminal device. This application does not limit this.

[0056] It should be understood that these values ​​and parameters can change or be updated.

[0057] (4) In this application, “instruction” may include direct instruction and indirect instruction, and may also include explicit instruction and implicit instruction. When a certain instruction information is used to instruct A, it can be understood that the instruction information carries A, directly instructs A, or indirectly instructs A.

[0058] In this application, the information indicated by the instruction information is called the information to be instructed. In specific implementations, there are many ways to indicate the information to be instructed, such as, but not limited to, directly indicating the information to be instructed, such as the information to be instructed itself or its index. It can also indirectly indicate the information to be instructed by indicating other information, where there is a relationship between the other information and the information to be instructed; or it can indicate only a part of the information to be instructed, while the other parts are known or pre-agreed upon, for example, by using a pre-agreed (e.g., protocol-predefined) arrangement of various information to indicate specific information, thereby reducing instruction overhead to some extent. This application does not limit the specific method of instruction. It is understood that for the sender of the instruction information, the instruction information can be used to indicate the information to be instructed, and for the receiver of the instruction information, the instruction information can be used to determine the information to be instructed.

[0059] (5) The Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) is a control channel used for the uplink in cellular communication systems. PRACH is used by terminal devices to initiate connection requests to the base station. PRACH is primarily used for initial access, access during handover, and when a terminal device has uplink data to send but has not been allocated resources. Network operators can configure PRACH parameters according to the characteristics and requirements of network deployment to optimize its performance. This includes setting the number of available preambles, their spacing, and other parameters. Furthermore, PRACH supports dynamic access control, allowing UEs to adjust their access attempts based on network conditions, load, and other factors. This flexibility helps to effectively utilize radio resources in the network.

[0060] In the PRACH operating principle, the terminal device selects a random access method and then sends the sequence to the base station on the specified time and frequency resources. Upon receiving this preamble, the base station responds with a random access response (RAR) message. Optionally, the RAR message includes a time advance command, a Cell-Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI), and other information. The terminal device completes the access process based on the information in the RAR message and prepares for subsequent data exchange.

[0061] Next, we will introduce the possible, non-limiting scenarios involved in this application.

[0062] Satellite communication offers unique advantages over terrestrial communication, such as wider coverage and the reduced vulnerability of satellite base stations to natural disasters or external damage. Future communication technologies incorporating satellite can provide services to areas inaccessible to terrestrial networks, such as oceans and forests; enhance communication reliability, ensuring higher-quality communication for users on airplanes, trains, and other modes of transportation; and provide more data transmission resources, increasing network speeds. Therefore, supporting both terrestrial and satellite communication is an inevitable trend for future communication, offering significant benefits in terms of wider coverage, reliability, connectivity, and high throughput.

[0063] Because satellite communication has a relatively large round-trip transmission delay, if a conflict occurs during terminal device access and a new access request needs to be initiated, the delay will be much greater than that on the ground. To reduce the complexity of random access, existing standards discuss allowing terminal devices to send multiple random access sequences at once during the random access process. As long as the network side receives one of them, it can initiate a response to the corresponding terminal device. Since the terminal device has multiple opportunities to send access signals, and the network side has multiple opportunities to successfully receive the terminal device's access signals, the overall probability of successful access for the terminal device on the first attempt is improved.

[0064] In a wireless network, when a terminal device needs to initiate a random access procedure, it sends a preamble to the base station. This preamble is sent on the designated physical random access channel (PRACH). Upon receiving the preamble, the base station responds to the terminal device with a random access response (RAR) message. Specifically, the terminal device can monitor the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) within the RAR time window to receive the RAR message carried on the PDCCH, which is scrambled with the Random Access-Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RA-RNT).

[0065] For example, the RA-RNTI associated with the PRACH containing a preamble transmission can be calculated as follows:

[0066] RA-RNTI=1+floor(SFN_id / 4);

[0067] If there are multiple carriers, the corresponding RA-RNTI is calculated as follows:

[0068] RA-RNTI=1+floor(SFN_id / 4)+256*carrier_id

[0069] Here, SFN_id is the index of the first System Frame Number (SFN) occupied by the PRACH resource. That is, as long as the index of the first System Frame Number of the PRACH used by different terminal devices is the same, the RAR messages of these terminal devices can be multiplexed into the same RAR Medium Access Control (MAC) Protocol Data Unit (PDU) and scrambled using the same RA-RANTI. The time-domain position of the preamble sent by a terminal device is determined. After successfully decoding the preamble, the base station obtains the time-domain position information of the preamble, and then determines the RA-RANTI to be used in the RAR message and sends the RAR message. After receiving the RAR message, the terminal device can determine whether the RAR message is a response corresponding to that terminal device based on the subcarrier index in the MAC header of the RAR message.

[0070] However, when preambles sent by multiple terminal devices are carried in the same PRACH, the base station cannot identify which terminal device sent each preamble, causing the base station to be unable to accurately send RAR messages to the terminal devices.

[0071] In view of this, this application provides a communication method and related apparatus for improving the efficiency of random access by terminal devices. The communication method and related apparatus provided in this application can be applied to various communication systems. For example, 5th generation (5G) mobile communication systems, new radio (NR) systems, long term evolution (LTE) systems, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) systems, LTE time division duplex (TDD) systems, future communication systems, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication systems, device-to-device (D2D) communication systems, Internet of Things (IoT) communication systems, industrial internet communication systems, or satellite communication systems, etc. The wireless communication systems involved in this application also include, but are not limited to, narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) systems.

[0072] For example, please refer to Figure 1, which is a possible, non-limiting system diagram of the communication method and related apparatus used in this application. As shown in Figure 1, the communication system 10 includes a radio access network (RAN) 100, a core network (CN) 200, and an Internet 300. Optionally, the communication system 10 may also include the Internet 300. The RAN 100 includes at least one RAN node (110a and 110b in Figure 1, collectively referred to as 110) and at least one terminal device (120a-120j in Figure 1, collectively referred to as 120). The RAN 100 may also include other RAN nodes, such as wireless relay devices and / or wireless backhaul devices (not shown in Figure 1). The terminal device 120 is wirelessly connected to the RAN node 110. The RAN node 110 is connected to the core network 200 wirelessly or via a wired connection. The core network equipment in core network 200 and RAN node 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. Terminal devices and RAN nodes can be interconnected via wired or wireless means.

[0073] RAN 100 can be a cellular system related to the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), such as a fourth-generation (4G) mobile communication system, a fifth-generation (5G) mobile communication system, or a future communication system. RAN 100 can also be an open RAN (O-RAN or ORAN), a cloud radio access network (CRAN), an evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) system, or a wireless fidelity (WiFi) system. RAN 100 can also be a communication system that integrates two or more of the above systems.

[0074] RAN node 110, sometimes also referred to as network equipment, access network equipment, RAN device, RAN entity, or access node, constitutes part of the communication system and is used to help terminal equipment 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 equipment 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 terminal equipment 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 equipment. RAN node 110 and terminal equipment 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 equipment functions.

[0075] 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), a next-generation NodeB (gNB), a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a WiFi system. Optionally, RAN node 110 can also 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 equipment 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). The RAN node 110 may also be equipped with communication modules, circuits, or chips that perform corresponding communication functions. The RAN node 110 may also be configured with program instructions for performing corresponding communication functions, as well as corresponding program instructions. The RAN node 110 in this application may also be a logic node, logic module, or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the RAN node 110.

[0076] In another possible scenario, multiple RAN nodes collaborate to assist terminal devices in achieving wireless access, with different RAN nodes each implementing a portion of the base station's functions. For example, RAN nodes can be central units (CUs), distributed units (DUs), CU-control plane (CPs), CU-user plane (UPs), or radio units (RUs), 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 frequency equipment or radio frequency units, such as remote radio units (RRUs), active antenna units (AAUs), or remote radio heads (RRHs).

[0077] 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.

[0078] Terminal equipment can be any device or module that connects to the communication system shown above and has corresponding communication functions. Terminal equipment can also be referred to as a terminal, user equipment (UE), mobile station (MS), mobile terminal (MT), fixed wireless access (FWA), or customer premises equipment (CPE), etc. Terminal equipment includes wireless communication functions (providing voice / data connectivity to users). Examples include handheld devices with wireless connectivity, in-vehicle devices, and machine-type communication (MTC) terminals. Currently, terminal devices can include: mobile phones, tablets, laptops, PDAs, mobile internet devices (MIDs), wearable devices, virtual reality (VR) devices, augmented reality (AR) devices, wireless terminals in industrial control, wireless terminals in self-driving (e.g., drones, vehicles), wireless terminals in remote medical surgery, wireless terminals in smart grids, wireless terminals in transportation safety, wireless terminals in smart cities, and wireless terminals in smart homes. For example, wireless terminals in self-driving can be drones, helicopters, or airplanes. For example, wireless terminals in vehicle-to-everything (V2X) can be in-vehicle equipment, vehicle-mounted equipment, in-vehicle modules, vehicles, or ships. Wireless terminals in industrial control can be cameras, robots, or robotic arms. Wireless terminals in smart homes can be televisions, air conditioners, robot vacuums, speakers, or set-top boxes. Terminal devices typically contain communication modules, circuits, or chips that perform corresponding communication functions, and they also contain program instructions for performing those functions.

[0079] Please refer to Figure 2, which is another possible, non-limiting system schematic diagram of the communication method and related apparatus used in this application. In the scenario shown in Figure 2, the terminal device accesses the network through a 5G New Radio interface, the 5G base station is deployed on a satellite, and is connected to the ground core network via a wireless link. Simultaneously, a wireless link exists between the satellites to complete signaling interaction and user data transmission between base stations.

[0080] Additionally, the 5G base station shown in Figure 2 can also be a 4G base station; there is no limitation. Base stations can be deployed not only on satellites but also at ground stations, with the satellite acting as a transparent node. In this scenario, satellites cannot communicate with each other, and there is no XN interface (the Xn interface is the interface between base stations). Furthermore, the interface between the satellite and the ground base station is not the NG interface but belongs to the air interface portion. Specifically, the Xn interface is the interface between base stations, mainly used for signaling interaction such as handover; the NG interface is the interface between the base station and the core network, mainly exchanging core network signaling and user service data.

[0081] The communication method and related apparatus of this application will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0082] In this application, the RAN node shown in Figure 1 can be replaced with other terms, such as "network device". For ease of description, unless otherwise specified, "network device" will be used throughout this application. It should be understood that the technical solutions provided in this application are also applicable to other different expressions or types of "network devices" (e.g., base stations).

[0083] Please refer to Figure 3, which is a schematic diagram of a possible implementation of the communication method in this application. It should be understood that this application uses a terminal device and a network device as examples to illustrate the method, but this application does not limit the execution subject of the interaction. For example, the terminal device shown in Figure 3 can also be implemented as a chip, baseband chip, modem chip, system-on-chip (SoC) chip containing a modem core, system-in-package (SIP) chip, communication module, chip system, processor, logic module, or software within the terminal device; similarly, the network device shown in Figure 3 can also be implemented as a chip, baseband chip, modem chip, system-on-chip (SoC) chip containing a modem core, system-in-package (SIP) chip, communication module, chip system, processor, logic module, or software within the network device. In this application, when referring to a terminal device, it may refer to the terminal device itself, or to the chip, communication module, integrated circuit, processor, logic module, or software in the terminal device used to implement the communication method provided in this application, and this application does not make any specific limitation; when referring to a network device, it may refer to the network device itself, or to the chip, communication module, integrated circuit, processor, logic module, or software in the network device used to implement the communication method provided in this application, and this application does not make any specific limitation.

[0084] As shown in Figure 3, the communication method of this application includes, but is not limited to, steps 401 to 402.

[0085] 401. The terminal device sends multiple preambles on multiple sub-resources via PRACH.

[0086] A terminal device sends multiple preambles to a network device via PRACH on multiple sub-resources. Correspondingly, the network device receives multiple preambles from the terminal device via PRACH on multiple sub-resources. Each preamble is carried on a different sub-resource within the aforementioned multiple sub-resources. The multiple sub-resources belong to the same resource group, and each sub-resource includes multiple PRACHs on a single preamble transmission timing. A resource group includes N sub-resources (N is an integer greater than 1) on N consecutive preamble transmission timings. The multiple sub-resources used to carry the multiple preambles can be some or all of the sub-resources within the same resource group. In other words, the terminal device sends multiple preambles on a resource group, where each preamble is carried on PRACH on a different sub-resource within that resource group.

[0087] Optionally, the multiple sub-resources used to carry multiple preambles can be continuous in the time domain, or they can be discontinuous.

[0088] Optionally, when the terminal device initiates random access, it selects a resource group, randomly selects multiple sub-resources in the resource group, selects a PRACH (subcarrier) on each selected sub-resource, and then sends a preamble on the PRACH.

[0089] In this application, a preamble transmission opportunity refers to the time-domain resources required for a terminal device to transmit a preamble. Within a resource group, the time-domain lengths of each sub-resource are equal. In other words, the time-domain lengths of the aforementioned N preamble transmission opportunities are equal. Optionally, a preamble transmission opportunity includes one or more time units, where the time unit can be an hour, minute, second, millisecond, microsecond, nanosecond, frame, subframe, slot, symbol, sampling time (Ts), or basic time unit (Tc), etc.

[0090] Optionally, PRACH in this application can be replaced with other descriptions, such as narrow band physical random access channel (NPRACH).

[0091] Optionally, prior to step 401, the network device configures multiple periodic resource groups corresponding to a coverage level. Then, the network device indicates the resource groups corresponding to that coverage level to each terminal device under that coverage level. Thus, the terminal devices can send preambles on those resource groups. The resources (including time-domain and / or frequency-domain resources) used by a terminal device to send a preamble are determined by the format and number of repetitions of the preamble. The resources used for sending a preamble are the same for all terminal devices under the same coverage level.

[0092] In one possible implementation, the network device receives a preamble from multiple terminal devices on a resource group, wherein each terminal device sends multiple preambles on multiple sub-resources via PRACH, i.e., each terminal device performs step 401.

[0093] Please refer to Figure 4, which is a schematic diagram of preamble transmission in this application. The example in Figure 4 shows two periodic resource groups. Each resource group includes four sub-resources, and each sub-resource includes eight PRACHs at a given preamble transmission time. As shown in Figure 4, UE1 and UE2 transmit preambles on each sub-resource of the first resource group. The preambles transmitted by UE1 and UE2 collide on the first sub-resource.

[0094] 402. The network device sends the first information to the terminal device, and the terminal device receives the first information from the network device accordingly.

[0095] After receiving multiple preambles from the terminal device via PRACH on multiple sub-resources, the network device sends first information to the terminal device. The first information includes at least one RAR message and first sub-information associated with each RAR message. The first message is used to report each preamble carried on the same resource group. Each RAR message in the first message is used to report one preamble, and each RAR message is associated with one piece of first information. Each piece of first information includes the identifier of the sub-resource corresponding to a preamble. As can be seen, the terminal device sends multiple preambles via PRACH on multiple sub-resources. Therefore, when the terminal device receives the first sub-information, it can determine, based on the identifier of the sub-resource corresponding to the preamble, which is reported by the RAR message associated with that first sub-information. Since one preamble is sent at one time per sub-resource, meaning the terminal device sends only one preamble per sub-resource, the terminal device can determine the preamble reported by the RAR message associated with the first sub-information based on the identifier of the sub-resource corresponding to the preamble.

[0096] In this application, during a random access process, the terminal device sends multiple preambles to the network device, and the network device can indicate the preambles fed back by the network device to the terminal device, thereby improving the efficiency of random access.

[0097] On the other hand, since a network device may receive preambles from multiple terminal devices on a resource group, these preambles sent by the terminal devices may collide. In this application, the terminal device sends multiple preambles to the network device. In the event that some preambles collide with preambles sent by other terminal devices, the terminal device can still perform random access through other preambles that have not collided, thereby improving the success rate of random access.

[0098] Optionally, since preambles sent by multiple terminal devices may collide, the network device can send the RAR message and the first sub-information associated with the RAR message only for preambles that do not collide. This reduces resource overhead.

[0099] Optionally, the terminal device receives the first information after the end time of the resource group. Specifically, the terminal device begins monitoring the RA-RNTI scrambled PDCCH after X + Round-Trip Time (RTT) has elapsed at the end position of the resource group, in order to receive the first information carried on the PDCCH. Here, X is related to the data processing latency of the terminal device and / or the network device.

[0100] Optionally, the first information is scrambled based on the RA-RNTI corresponding to the initial SFN of the resource group. Specifically, the network device receives preambles from multiple terminal devices on a resource group. Each terminal device sends multiple preambles via PRACH on multiple sub-resources, resulting in the network device receiving numerous preambles within a resource group's period. The network device sends RAR messages for each preamble to the terminal devices, with each RAR message used to return one preamble. These RAR messages for preambles can be carried in a PDCCH scrambled using the same RA-RNTI. In this application, the RA-RNTI is determined by the initial system frame number (SFN) of the resource group containing the preamble. Therefore, for multiple preambles carried in the same resource group, even if these preambles come from different terminal devices and are carried on different sub-resources, the RA-RNTI corresponding to these preambles is the same, i.e., determined by the initial SFN of that resource group. In other words, RAR messages corresponding to preambles sent on the same resource group (i.e., the RAR messages in the first information) can be multiplexed into the same RAR medium access control (MAC) protocol data unit (PDU) and scrambled using the same RA-RANTI. This improves the feedback efficiency of RAR messages.

[0101] Optionally, the first information also includes second sub-information associated with each RAR message, each second sub-information including an identifier for a preamble. Specifically, the identifier for the preamble is the identifier of the subcarrier corresponding to the PRACH used to carry the preamble. In this scenario, each RAR message is associated with the first and second sub-information. The first sub-information includes the identifier of the sub-resource corresponding to the preamble, enabling the terminal device to determine on which sub-resource the preamble is carried by the RAR message feedback; that is, the first sub-information indicates the time-domain location of the preamble fed back by the RAR message. The second sub-information includes the identifier of the subcarrier corresponding to the PRACH used to carry the preamble, enabling the terminal device to determine on which subcarrier the preamble is carried by the RAR message feedback; that is, the second sub-information indicates the frequency-domain location of the preamble fed back by the RAR message. In summary, based on the first and second sub-information associated with the RAR message, the terminal device can determine the time-domain and frequency-domain resources used to carry the preamble, thereby determining the PRACH used to carry the preamble, and thus identifying a unique preamble. This improves the accuracy of terminal devices in recognizing preamble feedback and increases the success rate of random access.

[0102] The preamble identifier can be replaced with other descriptions, such as the Random Access Preamble Identifier (RAPID).

[0103] For example, in the scenario shown in Figure 4, taking the preamble carried by the second sub-resource as an example, UE1 transmits the preamble on subcarrier 4 of the second sub-resource, and UE2 transmits the preamble on subcarrier 3 of the second sub-resource. Accordingly, the first sub-information associated with the RAR message of the preamble transmitted by UE1 includes the identifier of the second sub-resource, and the second sub-information associated with the RAR message of the preamble transmitted by UE1 includes the identifier of subcarrier 4; the first sub-information associated with the RAR message of the preamble transmitted by UE2 includes the identifier of the second sub-resource, and the second sub-information associated with the RAR message of the preamble transmitted by UE2 includes the identifier of subcarrier 3.

[0104] In one possible implementation, the first sub-information in this application can be indicated in multiple ways. The following describes the various possible content forms of the first sub-information.

[0105] Implementation Method 1: Additional bits can be added to the RAPID or RAR message to indicate the first sub-information;

[0106] Implementation Method 2: Use the idle bits in RAPID to indicate the first sub-information. Optionally, to reduce network complexity, 8 or 16 subcarriers can be limited as subcarriers available for the terminal device to send the preamble. If there are 8 subcarriers, then each sub-resource occupies 8 subcarriers (or, each sub-resource includes 8 PRACHs). The network device can then use 3 bits to indicate the subcarrier identifier, and then use the remaining 3 bits in RAPID to indicate the identifier of the sub-resource associated with the RAR message.

[0107] Implementation Method 3: For preambles of formats 0 and 1, Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) RAR messages have some free bits. Refer to Figure 5, which illustrates a possible structure of a RAR message. As shown in Figure 5, these free bits can be used to indicate the first sub-information (i.e., the identifier of the sub-resource). For example, there are 5 free bits in Octet 4 of the RAR message, which can be used to indicate 32 sub-resources. Alternatively, 5 bits from OCT4 and 1 free bit from OCT1 can be combined to indicate 64 sub-resources.

[0108] Implementation Method 4: Combine the idle bits in the RAPID and RAR messages to indicate the first sub-information (i.e., the identifier of the sub-resource).

[0109] Accordingly, this application also provides related apparatus for implementing the above-described solutions. Please refer to Figure 6, which is a schematic diagram of a communication device 500 provided in an embodiment of this application. This communication device 500 can realize the functions of the terminal device or network device in the above method embodiments, and therefore can also achieve the beneficial effects of the above method embodiments. In this application embodiment, the communication device 500 can be, or can be, an internal integrated circuit or component, such as a chip, baseband chip, modem chip, SoC chip containing a modem core, system-in-package (SIP) chip, communication module, chip system, processor, etc.

[0110] As shown in Figure 6, the communication device 500 includes a transceiver unit 501 and a processing unit 502. Optionally, the transceiver unit 501 may include a transmitting unit and a receiving unit, which are used to perform transmitting and receiving, respectively.

[0111] In one possible implementation, when the communication device 500 is used to execute the method performed by the terminal device in the embodiment corresponding to FIG3, the communication device 500 includes a transceiver unit 501 and a processing unit 502; the transceiver unit 501 is used to send multiple preambles on the Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) on multiple sub-resources, wherein the multiple sub-resources belong to the same resource group, and each of the multiple sub-resources includes multiple PRACHs at a preamble transmission time; the transceiver unit 501 is also used to receive first information, the first message including at least one RAR message and first sub-information associated with each RAR message, the first sub-information including an identifier of a sub-resource corresponding to the preamble, the first sub-information being used to determine the preamble fed back by the RAR message; the processing unit 502 is used to determine the preamble fed back by the RAR message according to the first message.

[0112] In one possible implementation, when the communication device 500 is used to execute the method performed by the network device in the corresponding embodiment of FIG3, the communication device 500 includes a transceiver unit 501; the transceiver unit 501 is used to receive multiple preambles on the Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) on multiple sub-resources, wherein the multiple sub-resources belong to the same resource group, and each sub-resource includes multiple PRACHs at a preamble transmission time; the transceiver unit 501 is also used to send first information, the first message including at least one RAR message and first sub-information associated with each RAR message, the first sub-information including the identifier of the sub-resource corresponding to a preamble, the first sub-information being used to determine the preamble fed back by the RAR message.

[0113] It should be noted that the information interaction and execution process between the modules / units in the communication device 500 are based on the same concept as the method embodiment corresponding to Figure 3 in this application. For details, please refer to the description in the method embodiment shown above in this application, which will not be repeated here.

[0114] Please refer to Figure 7, which is a schematic diagram of the structure of the communication device involved in the above embodiments provided in the embodiments of this application.

[0115] It is understood that the communication device 600 includes, for example, modules, units, elements, circuits, or interfaces, which are appropriately configured together to execute the technical solutions provided in this application. The communication device 600 may be the terminal device or network device described above, or a component (e.g., a chip) within these devices, used to implement the methods described in the following method embodiments. The communication device 600 includes one or more processors 601. The processor 601 may be a general-purpose processor or a dedicated processor, for example, a baseband processor or a central processing unit. The baseband processor can be used to process communication protocols and communication data, and the central processing unit can be used to control the communication device (e.g., a RAN node, terminal, or chip), execute software programs, and process data from the software programs.

[0116] Optionally, in one design, processor 601 may include program 603 (sometimes also referred to as code or instructions), which may be executed on processor 601 to cause communication device 600 to perform the methods described in the embodiments below. In yet another possible design, communication device 600 includes circuitry (not shown in FIG7).

[0117] Optionally, the communication device 600 may include one or more memories 602 storing a program 604 (sometimes referred to as code or instructions), which can be run on the processor 601 to cause the communication device 600 to perform the methods described in the above method embodiments.

[0118] Optionally, the processor 601 and / or memory 602 may include AI modules 607 and 608, which are used to implement AI-related functions. The AI ​​modules can be implemented through software, hardware, or a combination of both. For example, the AI ​​module may include a radio intelligence control (RIC) module. For instance, the AI ​​module may be a near real-time RIC or a non-real-time RIC.

[0119] Optionally, the processor 601 and / or memory 602 may also store data. The processor and memory may be configured separately or integrated together.

[0120] Optionally, the communication device 600 may further include a transceiver 605 and / or an antenna 606. The processor 601, sometimes referred to as a processing unit, controls the communication device (e.g., a RAN node or terminal). The transceiver 605, sometimes referred to as a transceiver unit, transceiver, transceiver circuit, or transceiver, is used to implement the transmission and reception functions of the communication device through the antenna 606.

[0121] In Figure 6, the processing unit 502 can be a processor 601. The transceiver unit 501 in Figure 6 can be a communication interface, which can be the transceiver 605 in Figure 7. The transceiver 605 can include an input interface and an output interface. Alternatively, the transceiver 605 can also be a transceiver circuit, which can include an input interface circuit and an output interface circuit.

[0122] This application also provides a chip device, including a processor, for calling computer programs or computer instructions stored in the memory to cause the processor to execute the method provided in the embodiment shown in FIG3 above.

[0123] In one possible implementation, the input of the chip device corresponds to the receiving operation in any of the embodiments shown in FIG3 above, and the output of the chip device corresponds to the sending operation in any of the embodiments shown in FIG3 above.

[0124] Optionally, the processor is coupled to the memory via an interface.

[0125] Optionally, the chip device may also include a memory that stores computer programs or computer instructions.

[0126] The processor mentioned above can be a general-purpose central processing unit, a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits used to control the execution of a program for controlling the methods provided in any of the embodiments shown above and in Figure 3. The memory mentioned above can be read-only memory (ROM) or other types of static storage devices capable of storing static information and instructions, such as random access memory (RAM).

[0127] Those skilled in the art will understand that embodiments of this application can be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Therefore, this application can take the form of a completely hardware embodiment, a completely software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, this application can take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, optical storage, etc.) containing computer-usable program code.

[0128] This application is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to this application. It should be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in one or more blocks of the flowchart illustrations and / or one or more blocks of the block diagrams.

[0129] These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable storage medium that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing device to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable storage medium produce an article of manufacture including instruction means that implement the functions specified in one or more flowcharts and / or one or more block diagrams.

[0130] These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer-implemented process, such that the instructions, which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus, provide steps for implementing the functions specified in one or more flowcharts and / or one or more block diagrams.

[0131] In the embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, apparatuses, and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative; for instance, the division of units is only a logical functional division, and in actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not executed. Furthermore, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed may be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection between devices or units, and may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms. Whether a function is implemented 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.

[0132] It should be understood that the device embodiments described above are merely illustrative. The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units; that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of the modules can be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs. Furthermore, in the accompanying drawings of the device embodiments provided in this application, the connection relationships between modules indicate that they have communication connections, which can be specifically implemented as one or more communication buses or signal lines.

[0133] Furthermore, the functional units in the various embodiments of this application can be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit can exist physically separately, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit. The integrated unit can be implemented in hardware or as a software functional unit.

[0134] If the integrated unit is implemented as a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of this application, in essence, or the part that contributes to it, or all or part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of this application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media capable of storing program code, such as USB flash drives, portable hard drives, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disks, or optical disks.

[0135] In the various embodiments of this application, unless otherwise specified or in case of logical conflict, the terminology and / or descriptions between different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced by each other. Technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments based on their inherent logical relationships.

[0136] The above-described embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of this application, and are not intended to limit it. Although this application has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that modifications can still be made to the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments, or equivalent substitutions can be made to some of the technical features. Such modifications or substitutions do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, include: Multiple preambles are transmitted via the Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) on multiple sub-resources, wherein the multiple sub-resources belong to the same resource group, and each of the multiple sub-resources includes multiple PRACHs at a preamble transmission time. Receive first information, the first message including at least one RAR message and first sub-information associated with each RAR message, the first sub-information including an identifier of a sub-resource corresponding to the preamble, the first sub-information being used to determine the preamble fed back by the RAR message.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first information also includes second sub-information associated with each of the RAR messages, the second sub-information including an identifier of the preamble.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, The identifier of the preamble is the identifier of the subcarrier corresponding to the PRACH used to carry the preamble.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The receiving of the first information includes: The first message is received after the end time of the resource group.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that, The method further includes: Based on the first message, determine the preamble returned by the RAR message.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that, The first information is scrambled based on the Random Access Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RA-RNTI) corresponding to the Start System Frame Number (SFN) of the resource group.

7. A communication method, characterized in that, include: Multiple preambles are received on the Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) over multiple sub-resources, wherein the multiple sub-resources belong to the same resource group, and each of the multiple sub-resources includes multiple PRACHs at a preamble transmission time. Send first information, the first message including at least one RAR message and first sub-information associated with each RAR message, the first sub-information including an identifier of a sub-resource corresponding to the preamble, the first sub-information being used to determine the preamble fed back by the RAR message.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that, The first information also includes second sub-information associated with each of the RAR messages, the second sub-information including an identifier of the preamble.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that, The identifier of the preamble is the identifier of the subcarrier corresponding to the PRACH used to carry the preamble.

10. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 9, characterized in that, The multiple preambles originate from the same terminal device.

11. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 10, characterized in that, The first information is scrambled based on the Random Access Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RA-RNTI) corresponding to the Start System Frame Number (SFN) of the resource group.

12. A communication device, characterized in that, It includes at least one processor coupled to a memory; the at least one processor is used to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 11.

13. The communication device according to claim 12, characterized in that, The communication device is a chip or chip system.

14. A readable storage medium, characterized in that, The storage medium stores a computer program or instructions, which, when executed by a communication device, implement the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 11.

15. A computer program product, characterized in that, When the computer program product is run on a computer, it causes the computer to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 11.

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