Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

The present application relates to the technical field of communications. Disclosed are a communication method and apparatus. The method comprises: a network apparatus sending first information to a terminal apparatus, wherein the first information indicates a first transmission set to which at least one first signal belongs, and a second transmission set to which at least one second signal belongs; and the terminal apparatus accessing the first transmission set, wherein the first transmission set is determined on the basis of the first information. By using the solution of the present application, a network apparatus indicates transmission sets to which sent signals belong, such that a terminal apparatus can acquire a signal from a corresponding transmission set on the basis of the indication, thereby obtaining a measurement result for the corresponding transmission set, and thus comprehensively determining a transmission set to be selected. Therefore, the terminal device accurately selects a transmission set to be accessed, such that the transmission set serves the terminal apparatus by means of joint transmission, thereby achieving a better transmission performance.

Description

Communication methods and devices

[0001] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202510088312.0, filed on January 20, 2025, 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] To mitigate inter-cell interference, multiple transmission reception points (TRPs) located in different cells can cooperate to suppress interference to users at the cell edge. These multiple TRPs form a cooperative cluster.

[0004] The existing method for selecting a cooperative set is as follows: the terminal device selects the serving transmission receiving point (serving TRP), which is equivalent to selecting the cooperative set to which the serving TRP belongs. However, the better transmission performance of the serving TRP does not necessarily mean that the joint transmission performance of multiple TRPs in its cooperative set is good. For example, if all the other TRPs in the cooperative set besides the serving TRP are far from the terminal device, the gain of multiple TRPs in the cooperative set serving the terminal device through joint transmission (JT) is limited.

[0005] Therefore, how to select a cooperative set so that multiple TRPs within the cooperative set can achieve better transmission performance through a joint transmission service terminal device is an urgent problem to be solved. Summary of the Invention

[0006] This application provides a communication method and apparatus to more accurately select a transmission set, enabling multiple TRPs within the transmission set to achieve better transmission performance through a joint transmission service terminal device.

[0007] Firstly, a communication method is provided, which can be executed by a terminal device. Without loss of generality, the terminal device here can refer to the terminal device itself, or to a module or chip within the terminal device that executes the method. The following description uses the terminal device as the executing entity as an example.

[0008] In this method, the terminal device receives first information indicating a transmission set to which at least one first signal belongs; receives first configuration information indicating a configuration for reporting measurement results based on the transmission set; and sends the measurement results based on the transmission set according to the first configuration information.

[0009] Using this method, the terminal device receives at least one transmission set to which a first signal belongs, as indicated by the network device, and receives a configuration report from the network device. The terminal device can then report measurement results based on this transmission set, allowing the network device to accurately obtain the measurement results based on the transmission set. Furthermore, based on the obtained measurement results based on the transmission set, the network device can select a transmission set with better transmission performance for the terminal device.

[0010] Alternatively, the terminal device receives first information indicating a grouping method for at least one first signal, each group of first signals corresponding to one of at least one transmission set, the at least one first signal originating from the at least one transmission set; receives first configuration information indicating the reporting of measurement results based on the at least one transmission set; and sends the measurement results based on the at least one transmission set according to the first configuration information.

[0011] In conjunction with the first aspect, in one possible design, the method further includes: receiving the at least one first signal.

[0012] Secondly, a communication method is provided, which can be executed by a network device. Without loss of generality, the network device can refer to the network device itself or a module or chip within the network device that executes the method. The following description uses the network device as the executing entity.

[0013] In this method, the network device sends first information indicating a transmission set to which at least one first signal belongs; sends first configuration information indicating a configuration for reporting measurement results based on the transmission set; and receives measurement results based on the transmission set.

[0014] Using this method, the network device indicates the transmission set to which at least one first signal belongs and configures the reporting, enabling the terminal device to report measurement results based on that transmission set. Thus, the network device can accurately obtain the measurement results of the transmission set. Furthermore, based on the obtained measurement results based on the transmission set, a transmission set with better transmission performance can be selected for the terminal device.

[0015] Alternatively, the network device sends first information indicating a grouping method for at least one first signal, each group of first signals corresponding to one of at least one transmission set, the at least one first signal originating from the at least one transmission set; sends first configuration information indicating the reporting of measurement results based on the at least one transmission set; and receives measurement results based on the at least one transmission set.

[0016] In conjunction with the second aspect, in one possible design, the method further includes: sending the at least one first signal.

[0017] In another possible design, in conjunction with the first or second aspect, the first information is carried in the at least one first signal.

[0018] With this design, the aforementioned first information can be carried in the first signal, eliminating the need to send the first information separately and simplifying the design.

[0019] In addition, the network device can also send the first information separately (i.e., the first information is decoupled from the first signal) without changing the design of the existing first signal.

[0020] In another possible design, in conjunction with the first or second aspect, the first information is carried in the physical broadcast channel (PBCH) of the synchronization signal block (SSB).

[0021] In another possible design, combining the first or second aspect, the first signal is a synchronization signal block.

[0022] In conjunction with the first or second aspect, in another possible design, the first information includes an identifier of the transmission set, or the first information includes an identifier of the synchronization signal block, or the first information includes an identifier of at least one physical cell belonging to the transmission set.

[0023] With this design, the identifier of the transmission set, or the identifier of the synchronization signal block, or the identifier of at least one physical cell, can be used to indicate the transmission set to which at least one first signal belongs, thereby enabling the terminal device to obtain the signal in the corresponding transmission set based on the indication, and thus obtain the measurement result of the corresponding transmission set.

[0024] In conjunction with the first or second aspect, in another possible design, the first signal is a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS), and the first information includes the identifier of the channel state information-reference signal.

[0025] By employing this design, by indicating the transmission set to which at least one first signal belongs, the terminal device can acquire signals from different transmission sets based on the indication, thereby obtaining measurement results for different transmission sets.

[0026] In another possible design, in conjunction with the first or second aspect, the measurement result includes an identifier of the transmission set and / or a first measurement quantity.

[0027] In another possible design, in conjunction with the first or second aspect, the measurement result includes at least one set of identifiers corresponding to the first signal, and / or, the first measurement quantity.

[0028] In conjunction with the first or second aspect, in another possible design, the first signal is a synchronization signal block, and the identifier corresponding to the at least one set of first signals is the identifier of a physical cell or the identifier of a synchronization signal block; or, the first signal is a channel state information reference signal, and the identifier corresponding to the at least one set of first signals is the identifier of a channel state information reference signal.

[0029] In conjunction with the first or second aspect, in another possible design, the identifier corresponding to the at least one set of first signals includes the identifier corresponding to each set of first signals.

[0030] In conjunction with the first or second aspect, in another possible design, the identifier corresponding to each group of first signals includes the identifier corresponding to each first signal in that group.

[0031] In conjunction with the first or second aspect, in another possible design, the first measurement includes at least one of the following: reference signal receiving power (RSRP) based on the transmission set, reference signal receiving quality (RSRQ) based on the transmission set, and signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) based on the transmission set.

[0032] Thirdly, a communication method is provided, which can be executed by a terminal device or a module applied to a terminal device. The following description uses a terminal device as the executing entity.

[0033] In this method, the terminal device receives first information indicating a first transmission set to which at least one first signal belongs and a second transmission set to which at least one second signal belongs; and accesses the first transmission set, which is determined based on the first information.

[0034] Alternatively, the terminal device receives first information indicating a first transmission set to which at least one first signal belongs; and receives the at least one first signal, the first transmission set being determined based on the first information.

[0035] It is understood that this application does not limit the number of transmission sets indicated by the first information. The first information may indicate only the first transmission set to which at least one first signal belongs, or it may indicate the first transmission set to which at least one first signal belongs and the second transmission set to which at least one second signal belongs, or it may indicate the transmission sets to which more signals belong. This application does not impose any limitations on this.

[0036] Using this method, the terminal device can obtain signals from different transmission sets based on the transmission set to which the transmitted signal belongs, as indicated by the network device. This allows it to obtain measurement results for different transmission sets and comprehensively determine which transmission set to select. This enables the terminal device to accurately select the transmission set to access, allowing multiple TRPs within the transmission set to achieve better transmission performance through the joint transmission service terminal device.

[0037] In conjunction with the third aspect, in one possible design, the method further includes: sending a first request message, the first request message being used to request the first transmission set to perform joint transmission.

[0038] In conjunction with the third aspect, in another possible design, the first transmission set performs joint transmission, meaning that the TRPs included in the first transmission set perform joint transmission.

[0039] In conjunction with the third aspect, in yet another possible design, the method further includes: transmitting second information, the second information including at least one of the following: a first subcarrier spacing, a first cyclic prefix type; wherein the second information is used to configure a portion of the bandwidth for joint transmission, and the second information is determined based on a first signal transmitted according to the first transmission set.

[0040] Fourthly, a communication method is provided, executed by a network device or a module applied to a network device. The following description uses a network device as the executing entity.

[0041] In this method, a network device sends first information indicating a first transmission set to which at least one first signal belongs and a second transmission set to which at least one second signal belongs; and receives a request to access the first transmission set, the first transmission set being determined based on the first information.

[0042] Using this method, the network device indicates the transmission set to which the transmitted signal belongs, enabling the terminal device to obtain signals from different transmission sets based on the indication. This allows the terminal device to obtain measurement results from different transmission sets, comprehensively determine which transmission set to select, and accurately select the transmission set to access. This enables multiple TRPs within the transmission set to jointly transmit and serve the terminal device, achieving better transmission performance.

[0043] In conjunction with the fourth aspect, in one possible design, the method further includes: receiving first request information, the first request information being used to request the first transmission set to perform joint transmission.

[0044] In conjunction with the fourth aspect, in another possible design, the first transmission set performs joint transmission, meaning that the TRPs included in the first transmission set perform joint transmission.

[0045] In conjunction with the fourth aspect, in another possible design, the method further includes: receiving second information, the second information including at least one of the following: a first subcarrier spacing, a first cyclic prefix type; wherein the second information is used to configure a portion of the bandwidth for joint transmission, and the second information is determined based on a first signal transmitted according to the first transmission set.

[0046] In conjunction with the third or fourth aspect, in yet another possible design, the first information is carried in at least one first signal, and / or the first information is carried in at least one second signal.

[0047] With this design, the first information can be carried in either the first signal or the second signal, eliminating the need to send the first information separately and simplifying the design.

[0048] In addition, the network device can also send the first information separately (i.e., the first information is decoupled from the first signal) without changing the design of the existing first signal.

[0049] In conjunction with the third or fourth aspect, in yet another possible design, the first information is carried in the physical broadcast channel of the synchronization signal block.

[0050] In conjunction with the third or fourth aspect, in yet another possible design, the at least one first signal is a synchronization signal block, and / or the at least one second signal is a synchronization signal block.

[0051] In conjunction with the third or fourth aspect, in another possible design, when the first information indicates a first transmission set to which at least one first signal belongs, the first information includes an identifier of the first transmission set, or the first information includes an identifier of the synchronization signal block, or the first information includes an identifier of at least one physical cell belonging to the first transmission set; and / or, when the first information indicates a second transmission set to which at least one second signal belongs, the first information includes an identifier of the second transmission set, or the first information includes an identifier of the synchronization signal block, or the first information includes an identifier of at least one physical cell belonging to the second transmission set.

[0052] With this design, the identifier of the transmission set, or the identifier of the synchronization signal block, or the identifier of at least one physical cell can be used to indicate the transmission set to which at least one first signal belongs. This allows the terminal device to obtain the signal in the corresponding transmission set based on the indication, thereby obtaining the measurement results of the corresponding transmission set, comprehensively judging which transmission set to select, and thus accurately selecting the transmission set to access.

[0053] Fifthly, a communication device is provided. The communication device can perform the methods described in the first to fourth aspects or any one of the designs described in the first to fourth aspects. The communication device can be a terminal device or a network device, or it can be a module (e.g., a chip) applied in a terminal device or a module (e.g., a chip) applied in a network device.

[0054] In one possible design, the communication device includes a transceiver unit and a processing unit. The transceiver unit performs the receiving and / or transmitting operations in the methods of the first to fourth aspects or any one of the designs described above; the processing unit performs the processing operations in the methods of the first to fourth aspects or any one of the designs described above.

[0055] In another possible design, the communication device includes a processor coupled to a memory; the processor is configured to support the device in performing the corresponding functions in the channel state information reporting method described above. The memory, coupled to the processor, stores the necessary computer programs (or computer-executable instructions) and / or data of the device. Optionally, the communication device may further include a communication interface for supporting communication between the device and other network elements, such as the transmission or reception of data and / or signals. Exemplarily, the communication interface may be a transceiver, circuit, bus, module, or other type of communication interface. Optionally, the memory may be located internally within the communication device and integrated with the processor; alternatively, it may be located externally to the communication device.

[0056] In another possible design, the communication device includes a processor and a transceiver, the processor being coupled to the transceiver. The processor executes computer programs or instructions to control the transceiver to receive and send information. When the processor executes the computer programs or instructions, it is also used to design the above-mentioned method through logic circuits or execution code instructions. The transceiver can be a transceiver circuit, a transceiver module, or an input / output interface, 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. When the communication device is a chip, the transceiver is a transceiver circuit or an input / output interface.

[0057] When the communication device is a chip, the transmitting unit can be an output unit, such as an output circuit or a communication interface; the receiving unit can be an input unit, such as an input circuit or a communication interface. When the communication device is a terminal device, the transmitting unit can be a transmitter or a receiver; the receiving unit can be a receiver or a receiver.

[0058] A sixth aspect provides a computer-readable storage medium having a computer program or instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by a communication device, implement the method as described in the first aspect or any design of the first aspect, or implement the method as described in the second aspect or any design of the second aspect, or implement the method as described in the third aspect or any design of the third aspect, or implement the method as described in the fourth aspect or any design of the fourth aspect.

[0059] In a seventh aspect, a computer program product is provided that, when executed on a communication device, implements the method as described in the first aspect or any design of the first aspect, or implements the method as described in the second aspect or any design of the second aspect, or implements the method as described in the third aspect or any design of the third aspect, or implements the method as described in the fourth aspect or any design of the fourth aspect.

[0060] In this application, the transmission set may be a cooperative set including at least one TRP, a cell or cell set including at least one TRP, a sector or sector set including at least one TRP, a service area or service area set including at least one TRP, or a network coverage area or network coverage area set including at least one TRP. Attached Figure Description

[0061] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of the communication system 1000 used in the embodiments of this application;

[0062] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of inter-cell interference;

[0063] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of multiple TRPs forming a cooperative set to suppress interference;

[0064] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the selection of existing cooperation sets;

[0065] Figures 5 and 6 are schematic flowcharts of the communication method provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0066] Figures 7 and 8 are schematic diagrams of the communication device provided in the embodiments of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0067] The solution provided in this application will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0068] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system 1000 provided in an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 1, the communication system 1000 includes a radio access network (RAN) 100, wherein the RAN 100 includes at least one RAN node (110a and 110b in Figure 1, collectively referred to as 110), and may also include 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. Terminal devices and RAN nodes can be interconnected via wired or wireless means. The communication system 1000 may also include a core network 200. The RAN node 110 is connected to the core network 200 via wireless or wired means. The core network equipment in core network 200 and the RAN node 110 in RAN 100 can be independent and different physical devices, or they can be the same physical device that integrates the logical functions of the core network equipment and the logical functions of the RAN node. Communication system 1000 may also include Internet 300.

[0069] RAN100 can be an evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) system, a new radio (NR) system, a 6th generation (6G) radio access system, or a future radio access system as defined in the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP), or it can be a WiFi system. RAN100 can also include two or more of the above-mentioned different radio access systems. RAN100 can also be an open RAN (O-RAN).

[0070] RAN nodes, also known as radio access network equipment, RAN entities, or access nodes, are used to help terminal devices access communication systems wirelessly. In one application scenario, an RAN node can be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a TRP, a next-generation NodeB (gNB) in a 5G mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a WiFi system. RAN nodes can be macro base stations (as shown in Figure 1, 110a), micro base stations or indoor stations (as shown in Figure 1, 110b), relay nodes or donor nodes, and can also function as base stations in satellite, drone, or device-to-device (D2D) and / or machine-to-machine (M2M) transmissions.

[0071] In another application scenario, multiple RAN nodes can collaborate to help terminal devices achieve wireless access, with different RAN nodes implementing different functions of the base station. For example, a RAN node can be a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), or a radio unit (RU). Here, the CU performs the functions of the base station's Radio Resource Control (RRC) and Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP), and can also perform the functions of the Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP). The DU performs the functions of the base station's Radio Link Control (RANC) and Medium Access Control (MAC) layers, and can also perform some or all of the physical layer functions. For specific descriptions of these protocol layers, refer to the relevant 3GPP technical specifications. The RU can be used to implement radio frequency signal transmission and reception. The CU and DU can be two independent RAN nodes or integrated into the same RAN node, such as within a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in radio frequency equipment, such as in a remote radio unit (RRU) or an active antenna unit (AAU). The CU can be further divided into two types of RAN nodes: CU-control plane and CU-user plane.

[0072] In different systems, RAN nodes may have different names. For example, in an O-RAN system, a CU can be called an open CU (O-CU), a DU can be called an open DU (O-DU), and an RU can be called an open RU (O-RU). The RAN nodes in the embodiments of this application can be implemented through software modules, hardware modules, or a combination of software and hardware modules. For example, a RAN node can be a server loaded with the corresponding software modules. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technology or device form used in the RAN nodes. For ease of description, a base station is used as an example of a RAN node in the following description.

[0073] A terminal device is a device with wireless transceiver capabilities, capable of sending signals to or receiving signals from a base station. Terminal devices can also be referred to as terminals, terminal equipment, user equipment (UE), mobile stations, mobile terminal devices, etc. Terminal devices 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. Terminal devices can be mobile phones, tablets, computers with wireless transceiver capabilities, wearable devices, vehicles, airplanes, ships, robots, robotic arms, smart home devices, drones, etc. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technologies or device forms used in the terminal devices.

[0074] Base stations and terminal devices can be fixed or mobile. They 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 terminal devices.

[0075] The roles of base stations and terminal devices can be relative. For example, the helicopter or drone 120i in Figure 1 can be configured as a mobile base station. For terminal devices 120j that access the wireless access network 100 via 120i, terminal device 120i is a base station; however, for base station 110a, 120i is a terminal device, 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 terminal devices 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 device functions.

[0076] Communication between base stations and terminal devices, between base stations, and between terminal devices 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.

[0077] 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 device can be executed by modules (such as chips or modems) within the terminal device, or by a device that includes terminal device functions.

[0078] In this application, the base station sends downlink signals or downlink information to the terminal device, with the downlink information carried on the downlink channel; the terminal device 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 device needs to establish a radio connection on a cell controlled by the base station. The cell with which the terminal device has established a radio connection is called the serving cell of the terminal device. When the terminal device communicates with the serving cell, it is also subject to interference from signals from neighboring cells.

[0079] Interference is one of the factors affecting the communication performance of terminal devices. Figure 2 illustrates inter-cell interference, which can be simply understood as follows: Each cell deploys one base station. When base stations from different cells serve terminal devices at the cell edge on overlapping time-frequency resources, the interference experienced by the cell edge terminal devices from neighboring cell base stations is greater than or equal to a first preset threshold, causing their received signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) to be lower than or equal to a second preset threshold, thus affecting demodulation performance. In Figure 2, the shaded area marks the cell edge; terminal devices located in the shaded area are likely to be affected by interference from neighboring cells. Here, "base stations from different cells serving cell edge terminal devices on overlapping time-frequency resources" means that base stations from different cells use all or part of the same time-frequency resources to serve the cell edge terminal devices.

[0080] In NR (Radio Frequency Identification), the concept of multiple transmission reception points (mTRPs) is introduced, meaning that one or more TRPs can be deployed within each cell. Furthermore, to mitigate the aforementioned inter-cell interference, multiple TRPs located in different cells can cooperate (i.e., exchange dynamic information in real time) to suppress interference to users at the cell edge. This includes real-time exchange of scheduling information and / or service data between terminal devices. Based on this real-time exchange, multiple TRPs jointly serve terminal devices and suppress inter-cell interference through joint transmission (JT), including coherent joint transmission (CJT) and non-coherent joint transmission (NCJT). CJT outperforms NCJT. It should be understood that CJT enhances the received signal power through joint precoding and converts interfering signals into useful signals, thereby ensuring the performance of terminal devices at the cell edge. Figure 3 illustrates how multiple TRPs form a cooperative set to suppress interference. Because joint precoding is required, multiple TRPs capable of performing CJT typically share a baseband BBU. These multiple TRPs form a cooperative set, which can suppress cell-edge interference across multiple cells. In actual deployments, a cooperative set may contain a finite number of TRPs, and multiple different cooperative sets may exist within a single area.

[0081] The existing method for selecting a cooperative set is as follows: The terminal device selects a serving TRP, which is equivalent to selecting the cooperative set to which the serving TRP belongs. For example, the serving TRP can be selected based on the RSRP; specifically, multiple TRPs send SSBs respectively, and the terminal device selects the TRP corresponding to the SSB with the higher RSRP, designates that TRP as the serving TRP, and selects the cooperative set to which that TRP belongs. Subsequently, the serving TRP configures the time-frequency resources for other TRPs within that cooperative set to send CSI-RS to the terminal device. After measuring the CSI-RS, the terminal device reports the other coordinating TRPs within its selected cooperative set.

[0082] However, the good transmission performance of the serving TRP (high RSRP at the serving TRP) does not necessarily mean that the joint transmission performance of multiple TRPs in its cooperative set is good. In this case, since only the serving TRP can serve the terminal device well, the overall gain of multiple TRPs jointly serving the terminal device through CJT within this cooperative set is limited. Ideally, each TRP in the selected cooperative set should have better channel quality to the terminal device. In such a cooperative set, CJT can achieve greater or even maximum gain for the terminal device.

[0083] As shown in Figure 4, it is a schematic diagram of the selection of an existing cooperation set, which gives an example where the dots represent multiple TRPs within one cooperation set, the square dots represent multiple TRPs within another cooperation set, and the rhombus represents the location of the terminal device. In Figure 4, the distance from the terminal device to the TRP is used to characterize the channel quality between the terminal device and the TRP, that is, the channel quality between the terminal device and the TRP decreases as the distance from the terminal device to the TRP increases, and the channel quality between the terminal device and the TRP increases as the distance from the terminal device to the TRP decreases. More specifically, c1, c2, and c3 are the distances from the terminal device to each TRP within the dot cooperation set; d1, d2, and d3 are the distances from the terminal device to each TRP within the square dot cooperation set. It is noted that the distance c1 from the location of the terminal device to the dot TRP 1 is less than the distances from the location of the terminal device to other TRPs. That is to say, if each TRP sends an SSB, the RSRP of the dot TRP 1 sending the SSB is greater. Then, according to the prior art, the terminal device will select the dot TRP 1 as the serving TRP, that is, it selects the dot cooperation set. However, the distances from the dot TRPs 2 and 3 within the cooperation set where the dot TRP 1 is located to the location of the terminal device are greater than the distances from the square dot TRPs 2' and 3' to the location of the terminal device. In addition, although the distance from the location of the terminal device to the square dot TRP 1' is greater than the distance to the dot TRP 1 (d1>c1), the distances from the location of the terminal device to the square dot TRPs 2' and 3' within the cooperation set where the square dot TRP 1' is located are both smaller (d2<<c2, d3<<c3). It can be imagined that in this case, selecting the cooperation set where the square dot TRP is located for CJT can better guarantee the performance of the terminal device.

[0084] Furthermore, it can be considered to describe the received power magnitude at the terminal device from square dot TRP 1' with f(d1) (the distance from square dot TRP 1' to the terminal device is d1), and f(d2) and f(d3) are the same. Similarly, it can also be used to describe the received power magnitude at the terminal device from dot TRP 1 with f(c1) (the distance from dot TRP 1 to the terminal device is c1), and f(c2) and f(c3) are the same. Generally speaking, the greater the distance from the TRP to the terminal device, the smaller the received power at the terminal device from this TRP. Therefore, when considering the power magnitude of the signals received by the terminal device during CJT within different cooperation sets, there is f(d1)+f(d2)+f(d3)>f(c1)+f(c2)+f(c3), which also shows that the performance of selecting the square dot cooperation set is better.

[0085] In view of this, how to select a cooperation set so that multiple TRPs in the transmission set can serve the terminal device through joint transmission and achieve better transmission performance is an urgent problem to be solved.

[0086] To this end, this application provides a communication scheme in which the network device indicates the transmission set to which the transmitted signal belongs, enabling the terminal device to obtain the signal in the corresponding transmission set based on the indication, obtain the measurement results of the corresponding transmission set, and comprehensively determine which transmission set to select, thereby accurately selecting the transmission set to access, so that multiple TRPs in the transmission set can jointly transmit and serve the terminal device and achieve better transmission performance.

[0087] The communication method provided in this application is described below based on the aforementioned communication system:

[0088] In this embodiment, the operations performed by the terminal device can be executed by the terminal device itself or by modules applied to the terminal device. The modules of the terminal device can be communication modules within the terminal device, or circuits or chips applied to the terminal device (such as modem chips (also known as baseband chips), or system-on-chip (SoC) chips or system-in-package (SIP) chips containing modem cores). The operations performed by the network device can be executed by the network device itself or by modules applied to the network device. The modules of the network device can be communication modules within the network device, or circuits or chips applied to the network device.

[0089] Figure 5 shows a flowchart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application. Exemplarily, the method may include the following steps:

[0090] S501a. At least one first TRP in the first transmission set sends at least one first signal to the terminal device.

[0091] Accordingly, the terminal device receives the at least one first signal.

[0092] In this embodiment, the first transmission set includes at least one first TRP.

[0093] The first transmission set can be a cooperative set including at least one first TRP, a cell or set of cells including at least one first TRP, a sector or set of sectors including at least one first TRP, a service area or set of service areas including at least one first TRP, or a network coverage area or set of network coverage areas including at least one first TRP. The following description uses a cooperative set including at least one first TRP (referred to as cooperative set 1) as an example.

[0094] Furthermore, it should be understood that the cooperation set is created to suppress inter-cell interference. Therefore, optionally, the cooperation set typically spans multiple cells, meaning that the cooperation set includes TRPs from multiple cells.

[0095] At least one first TRP in the first transmission set sends at least one first signal to the terminal device, wherein each of the at least one first TRP sends a first signal to the terminal device. Exemplarily, the first signal may be an SSB. The SSB includes a primary synchronization sequence (PSS), a secondary synchronization sequence (SSS), and a PBCH. Different first TRPs may send different PSSs and SSSs.

[0096] It should be understood that the physical cell identifier (PCI) can be obtained from the primary and secondary synchronization sequences included in the SSB. In other words, the PCI corresponds to the SSB.

[0097] It is understandable that at least one first signal is sent by at least one first TRP in the first transmission set, which can be understood as the at least one first signal corresponding to the first transmission set.

[0098] S501b. At least one second TRP in the second transmission set sends at least one second signal to the terminal device.

[0099] Accordingly, the terminal device receives the at least one second signal.

[0100] In this embodiment, the second transmission set includes at least one second TRP.

[0101] The second transmission set can be a cooperative set including at least one second TRP, a cell or set of cells including at least one second TRP, a sector or set of sectors including at least one second TRP, a service area or set of service areas including at least one second TRP, or a network coverage area or set of network coverage areas including at least one second TRP. The following description uses a cooperative set including at least one second TRP (referred to as cooperative set 2) as an example.

[0102] At least one second TRP in the second transmission set sends at least one second signal to the terminal device, wherein each of the at least one second TRP sends a second signal to the terminal device. Exemplarily, the second signal may be an SSB. The SSBs sent by different second TRPs may include different PSSs and SSSs.

[0103] For example, the types of the first signal and the second signal described above can be the same.

[0104] This embodiment only illustrates that at least one first TRP in the first transmission set sends a first signal to the terminal device and at least one second TRP in the second transmission set sends a second signal to the terminal device. In actual implementation, at least one TRP in multiple transmission sets may send signals similar to the first and second signals to the terminal device. This application does not limit the number of transmission sets.

[0105] It is understood that this application does not limit the number of transmission sets indicated by the first information. The first information may indicate only the first transmission set to which at least one first signal belongs, or it may indicate the first transmission set to which at least one first signal belongs and the second transmission set to which at least one second signal belongs, or it may indicate the transmission sets to which more signals belong.

[0106] It is understood that the aforementioned at least one first TRP and at least one second TRP belong to the network device shown in Figure 5, or that the aforementioned at least one first TRP and at least one second TRP are uniformly managed by the network device shown in Figure 5.

[0107] S502. The network device sends the first information to the terminal device.

[0108] Accordingly, the terminal device receives the first information.

[0109] In existing technologies, when a TRP in a cooperative set transmits a signal, the terminal device is unaware of the cooperative set to which the TRP belongs. Therefore, when selecting a cooperative set, the terminal device chooses the TRP with the best or even the highest signal quality as the serving TRP, and thus the cooperative set selected by the terminal device is the cooperative set to which the serving TRP belongs. However, the better transmission performance of the serving TRP (higher RSRP at the serving TRP) does not necessarily mean that the joint transmission performance of multiple TRPs in its cooperative set is good. In this case, since only the serving TRP can effectively serve the terminal device, the overall gain of multiple TRPs in that cooperative set jointly serving the terminal device through CJT is limited.

[0110] In this embodiment, the network device sends first information to the terminal device. This first information indicates a first transmission set to which at least one first signal belongs and a second transmission set to which at least one second signal belongs.

[0111] Optionally, at least one first signal belongs to the first transmission set, which can be understood as at least one first signal coming from the TRP in the first transmission set.

[0112] Optionally, at least one second signal belongs to the second transmission set, which can be understood as at least one second signal originating from the TRP in the second transmission set.

[0113] For example, the first information is included in each of the at least one first signal, and / or, the first information is included in each of the at least one second signal. For instance, the first signal and the second signal are SSBs, each of the at least one first TRPs may carry the first information in the PBCH of the SSB it transmits, and / or, each of the at least one second TRPs may carry the first information in the PBCH of the SSB it transmits.

[0114] The first information can be implemented in the following ways:

[0115] One implementation is that the first information includes the identifier of the transport set (e.g., the identifier of the collaboration set (cluster ID)). SSBs with the same value in this field belong to the same collaboration set; that is, SSBs with the same value in this field come from the same TRP within the same collaboration set.

[0116] Another implementation involves the first information including the identifier of the SSB. For example, the first information might indicate that some identifiers correspond to SSBs belonging to a first cooperative set, while other identifiers correspond to SSBs belonging to a second cooperative set. The terminal device can then determine the cooperative set to which the SSB belongs based on the identifiers of the SSBs belonging to the cooperative set indicated by the network device. Optionally, the first information may also include the identifier of the transmission set (e.g., the identifier of the cooperative set (cluster ID)).

[0117] Another implementation involves the first information including at least one physical cell identifier (PCI), where the SSB corresponding to the at least one PCI belongs to the same transport set / originates from a TRP within the same transport set. Optionally, the at least one PCI may or may not include the PCI corresponding to the SSB containing the first information. Optionally, when the at least one PCI does not include the PCI corresponding to the SSB containing the first information, it can be understood that the SSB containing the first information and the SSB corresponding to the at least one PCI belong to the same transport set / originate from a TRP within the same transport set. Optionally, the first information may also include the identifier of the transport set (e.g., the identifier of the cooperative set (cluster ID)).

[0118] For example, the first information can also be sent separately by the network side, i.e., decoupled from the first signal. In this case, the first signal and the second signal can be SSB, or the first signal and the second signal can also be CSI-RS. The first information can be implemented in the following ways:

[0119] In one implementation, the first signal and the second signal are SSBs, and the first information includes the identifier of the SSB. For example, the first information indicates that the SSBs corresponding to certain identifiers belong to a first cooperative set, and the SSBs corresponding to other identifiers belong to a second cooperative set. Then, the terminal device can determine the cooperative set to which the SSB belongs based on the identifier of the SSB belonging to the cooperative set indicated by the network device. Optionally, the first information may also include the identifier of the transmission set (e.g., the identifier of the cooperative set (cluster ID)).

[0120] In another implementation, the first signal and the second signal are SSBs, and the first information includes multiple sets of physical cell identifiers (PCIs). The SSBs corresponding to each set of PCIs belong to the same transport set / come from the same transport set's TRPs. Optionally, the first information may also include the identifier of the transport set (e.g., the identifier of the cooperative set (cluster ID)).

[0121] In another implementation, the first and second signals can be CSI-RS, and the first information includes the identifier of the CSI-RS. For example, the first information indicates that the CSI-RS corresponding to certain identifiers belong to a first cooperative set, while the CSI-RS corresponding to other identifiers belong to a second cooperative set. Then, the terminal device can determine the cooperative set to which the CSI-RS belongs based on the identifier of the CSI-RS belonging to the cooperative set indicated by the network device. Optionally, the first information may also include the identifier of the transmission set (e.g., the identifier of the cooperative set (cluster ID)).

[0122] S503. The terminal device requests access to the first transmission set.

[0123] Accordingly, the network device receives a request to access the first transmission set.

[0124] Optionally, the terminal device requesting access to the first transport set can be understood as the terminal device requesting access to the serving TRP in the first transport set.

[0125] After receiving at least one first signal from at least one first TRP and at least one second signal from at least one second TRP, the terminal device can select a transmission set with superior transmission performance based on the first information. It should be understood that there are many ways for the terminal device to select a transmission set. The following description of the terminal device's selection method, using RSRP calculation as an example, should not be construed as limiting the scope of protection of this application.

[0126] For example, the terminal device measures the signal quality of at least one first signal and the signal quality of at least one second signal, such as measuring the RSRP of at least one first signal and the RSRP of at least one second signal.

[0127] Assuming that the signal quality of at least one first signal is better than that of at least one second signal, the terminal device selects a first transmission set based on first information (the first information indicates a first transmission set to which at least one first signal belongs and a second transmission set to which at least one second signal belongs). That is, the first transmission set is determined based on the first information.

[0128] For example, the terminal device can determine that the signal quality of at least one first signal is better than the signal quality of at least one second signal based on the fact that the sum of the RSRPs of at least one first signal is greater than the sum of the RSRPs of at least one second signal.

[0129] It is understood that, when determining the signal quality of at least one first signal, the at least one first signal may be transmitted by some or all of the first TRPs in the first transmission set. In one possible implementation, the time offset of the portion or all of the first TRPs at the terminal device is less than or equal to a third preset threshold.

[0130] Optionally, after selecting a first transmission set, the terminal device sends a request to the serving TRP in the first transmission set to request access to the serving TRP. For example, the serving TRP may be the TRP corresponding to the first signal in the first transmission set with a larger or even the largest RSRP.

[0131] Optionally, after receiving the above access request, the network device executes the access procedure until the terminal device accesses the serving TRP.

[0132] Optionally, the above request may be a random access request, a preamble sequence, an RRC establishment request, an RRC reconfiguration message, etc., and this application does not limit it in this regard.

[0133] The above steps S501a, S501b, S502, and S503 achieve accurate selection of the transmission set. Further, the method may also include the following steps (the following steps are optional in this embodiment and are shown as dashed lines in Figure 5):

[0134] S504. The terminal device sends a first request message to the network device.

[0135] Accordingly, the network device receives the first request information.

[0136] Since the terminal device has selected the first transmission set and accessed the serving TRP in the first transmission set, the terminal device can send a first request message to the network device. The first request message is used to request at least one first TRP in the first transmission set to perform joint transmission in order to reduce inter-cell interference.

[0137] Optionally, the first request information may also include the identifier of at least one physical cell, indicating the TRP recommended for joint transmission in the selected first transmission set (different TRPs may correspond to different physical cell identifiers).

[0138] S505. The terminal device sends second information to the network device.

[0139] Accordingly, the network device receives the second information.

[0140] At least one first TRP in the first transmission set undergoing joint transmission must not have a time offset at the terminal device exceeding the length of the cyclic prefix (CP). The terminal device desires that the at least one first TRP serve it, and knowing the time offsets between the at least one first TRP, it can estimate the length of the CP. Considering that the CP length is determined by the subcarrier spacing and / or CP type, the terminal device can recommend a suitable first subcarrier space (SCS) and / or first cyclic prefix type. For example, the terminal device sends second information to the network device, wherein the second information includes at least one of the following: a first subcarrier spacing and a first CP type.

[0141] Optionally, the second information is determined based on the first signal transmitted in the first transmission set, that is, the terminal device can determine the first SCS and / or the first CP type based on the time offset estimated by at least one first signal in the first transmission set selected by itself.

[0142] Optionally, the second information can be used to configure the bandwidth part (BWP) for joint transmission. After receiving the first SCS and / or first CP type recommended by the terminal device, the network device can configure a suitable BWP for the terminal device according to the first SCS and / or first CP type, and provide joint transmission services to the terminal device on the configured BWP.

[0143] The length of the CP is determined by the SCS and / or CP type configured by the network device for the BWP, as shown in Table 1 below:

[0144] Table 1

[0145] Wherein, the length of CP The following relationship must be satisfied:

[0146] Where l is the index of the time-domain symbol in a subframe; K is the ratio between the LTE basic time unit and the NR basic time unit, and its value can be 64. It is understood that in practical applications, the value specified by the protocol or agreed upon by the transmitting and receiving ends can also be used, and this application does not impose any restrictions.

[0147] Understandably, the length of CP The relationships that satisfy the conditions are not limited to those mentioned above; they can be variations of those conditions.

[0148] Alternatively, the terminal device may also report the time offset between at least one first TRP to the network device. Based on the time offset between at least one first TRP reported by the terminal device, the network device estimates the length of the CP, determines the first SCS and / or the first CP type, configures the BWP for the terminal device according to the first SCS and / or the first CP type, and provides the terminal device with services through joint transmission on the configured BWP.

[0149] For example, the terminal device may send the second information to the network device separately; the second information may also be carried in the first request message.

[0150] According to an embodiment of this application, a communication method is provided in which a network device indicates the transmission set to which the transmitted signal belongs, enabling a terminal device to obtain the measurement results of the signal in the corresponding transmission set based on the indication, comprehensively determine which transmission set to select, and thus accurately select the transmission set to access, so that the transmission set can achieve better transmission performance by jointly transmitting the terminal device.

[0151] The above embodiments describe a terminal device selecting and accessing a transmission set. The following embodiments will describe how the terminal device reports information, and how the network side selects a transmission set for the terminal device based on the reported information.

[0152] For example, a terminal device has previously identified a transport set (and its corresponding serving TRP) and connected to the serving TRP within that transport set. Now, it needs to switch transport sets (e.g., the terminal device has moved). In this case, how should the network side select a transport set for the terminal device?

[0153] In Figure 6, we will use the terminal device switching transmission set as an example for description, which should not limit the scope of protection of this application.

[0154] Figure 6 shows a flowchart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of this application. Exemplarily, the method may include the following steps:

[0155] S601. At least one TRP sends at least one first signal to the terminal device.

[0156] Accordingly, the terminal device receives the at least one first signal.

[0157] In this embodiment, the network device needs to obtain measurement results from at least one transmission set to determine which transmission set the terminal device should switch to for better transmission performance. Therefore, in at least one transmission set, at least one TRP in each transmission set sends at least one first signal to the terminal device. Figure 6 illustrates at least one TRP in a transmission set sending at least one first signal to the terminal device. This at least one TRP belongs to the network device shown in Figure 6, or is managed uniformly by the network device shown in Figure 6.

[0158] Optionally, prior to step S601, the network device may configure at least one time-frequency location of a first signal for the terminal device. Based on the time-frequency location of the at least one first signal configured by the network device, the terminal device receives at least one first signal transmitted by at least one TRP at these time-frequency locations. The first signal may be an SSB, a CSI-RS, etc.

[0159] The transmission set can be a cooperative set including at least one TRP, a cell or set of cells including at least one TRP, a sector or set of sectors including at least one TRP, a service area or set of service areas including at least one TRP, or a network coverage area or set of network coverage areas including at least one TRP. The following description uses the example of a cooperative set including at least one TRP.

[0160] S602. The network device sends the first information to the terminal device.

[0161] Accordingly, the terminal device receives the first information.

[0162] In existing technologies, when a TRP in a cooperation set sends a signal, the terminal device can only identify the source of the signal as that TRP, but does not know the cooperation set to which the TRP belongs. Therefore, the measurement results reported by the terminal device are based on the TRP's measurement results. Based on the reported measurement results, the network device selects a serving TRP for the terminal device, and then selects the cooperation set to which that serving TRP belongs. At this point, the good or even best transmission performance of the serving TRP (high or even highest RSRP at the serving TRP) does not necessarily mean that the combined transmission performance of multiple TRPs in its cooperation set is better. Since only the serving TRP can effectively serve the terminal device, the overall gain of multiple TRPs in that cooperation set jointly serving the terminal device through CJT is limited.

[0163] In this embodiment, the network device sends first information to the terminal device. This first information indicates the transmission set to which at least one first signal belongs. Optionally, it can be understood that the first information indicates the grouping method of at least one first signal, with each group of first signals corresponding to one of the at least one transmission set, and the at least one first signal originating from at least one transmission set.

[0164] For example, the first information is included in each of the at least one first signal, such as an SSB, and each of the at least one first TRPs may carry the first information in the PBCH of the SSB it transmits.

[0165] The first information can be implemented in the following ways:

[0166] One implementation is that the first information includes the identifier of the transport set (e.g., the identifier of the collaboration set (cluster ID)). SSBs with the same value in this field belong to the same collaboration set; that is, SSBs with the same value in this field come from the same TRP within the same collaboration set.

[0167] Another implementation is that the first information includes the identifier of the SSB, for example, the first information indicates that the SSBs corresponding to certain identifiers belong to a first cooperative set. Then the terminal device can determine the cooperative set to which the SSB belongs based on the identifier of the SSB belonging to the cooperative set indicated by the network device. Optionally, the first information may also include the identifier of the transport set (e.g., the identifier of the cooperative set (cluster ID)).

[0168] Another implementation involves the first information including at least one physical cell identifier (PCI), where the SSB corresponding to the at least one PCI belongs to the same transport set / originates from a TRP within the same transport set. Optionally, the at least one PCI may or may not include the PCI corresponding to the SSB containing the first information. Optionally, when the at least one PCI does not include the PCI corresponding to the SSB containing the first information, it can be understood that the SSB containing the first information and the SSB corresponding to the at least one PCI belong to the same transport set / originate from a TRP within the same transport set. Optionally, the first information may also include the identifier of the transport set (e.g., the identifier of the cooperative set (cluster ID)).

[0169] For example, the first information can also be sent separately by the network side, i.e., decoupled from the first signal. In this case, the first signal can be an SSB or a CSI-RS. The first information can be implemented in the following ways:

[0170] In one implementation, the first signal is an SSB, and the first information includes the identifier of the SSB. For example, the first information indicates that the SSBs corresponding to certain identifiers belong to a first cooperative set. Then, the terminal device can determine the cooperative set to which the SSB belongs based on the identifiers of the SSBs belonging to the cooperative set indicated by the network device. Optionally, the first information may also include the identifier of the transmission set (e.g., the identifier of the cooperative set (cluster ID)).

[0171] In another implementation, the first signal is an SSB, and the first information includes multiple sets of physical cell identifiers (PCIs), with each set of PCIs corresponding to an SSB belonging to the same transport set / from a TRP within the same transport set. Optionally, the first information may also include the identifier of the transport set (e.g., the identifier of the cooperative set (cluster ID)).

[0172] In another implementation, the first signal is a CSI-RS, and the first information includes the identifier of the CSI-RS. For example, the first information indicates that the CSI-RS corresponding to certain identifiers belong to a first cooperative set. Then, the terminal device can determine the cooperative set to which the CSI-RS belongs based on the identifier of the CSI-RS belonging to the cooperative set indicated by the network device. Optionally, the first information may also include the identifier of the transmission set (e.g., the identifier of the cooperative set (cluster ID)).

[0173] It is understood that there are various ways in which a network device can send the aforementioned first information to a terminal device, and this application does not limit this.

[0174] S603. The network device sends the first configuration information to the terminal device.

[0175] Accordingly, the terminal device receives the first configuration information.

[0176] In this embodiment, the network device needs to obtain measurement results based on the transmission set. Therefore, the network device configures the terminal device to report the measurement results based on the transmission set. For example, the network device sends first configuration information to the terminal device, wherein the first configuration information indicates the configuration for reporting the measurement results based on the transmission set.

[0177] The reported measurement results can include the following two implementations:

[0178] One implementation is that the measurement result includes an identifier of the transmission set (e.g., cluster ID) and / or a first measurement quantity. This first measurement quantity can be a cluster-based measurement quantity. It should be understood that a cluster-based measurement quantity means that, when the UE performs the measurement, it needs to comprehensively consider the reference signals transmitted by multiple TRPs within the cluster, thereby obtaining a measurement quantity that comprehensively reflects the overall signal quality of the multiple TRPs within the cluster.

[0179] Optionally, the first measurement may include at least one of the following: cluster-based RSRP / cluster-based RSRQ / cluster-based SINR.

[0180] Optionally, a cooperative set may include at least one cell. Therefore, cluster-based measurements can be obtained from cell-based measurements. The determination of cell-based measurements can refer to existing technologies, in which terminal devices can report cell-based measurements to network devices.

[0181] For example, the method for determining the above cluster-based measurements is as follows:

[0182] Cluster-based RSRP can be obtained by summing the received power of cell-based reference signals (cell-based RSRP) or by averaging the cell-based RSRP.

[0183] Cluster-based RSRQ can be obtained by summing the reception quality of cell-based reference signals (cell-based RSRQ) or by averaging the cell-based RSRQ.

[0184] Cluster-based SINR can be obtained by summing the cell-based signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (cell-based SINR) or by averaging the cell-based SINR.

[0185] It should be understood that there may be many methods for determining cluster-based measurements based on cell-based measurements; the above are merely examples, and this application does not limit them.

[0186] Another implementation is that the measurement result includes at least one set of identifiers corresponding to the first signal, and / or, the first measurement quantity.

[0187] Optionally, the first measurement can be the aforementioned measurement based on the cooperative set, which will not be elaborated here.

[0188] In this context, at least one TRP sends at least one first signal, which can be understood as each TRP in the at least one TRP sending one first signal. In this case, the at least one first signal sent by at least one TRP in the same transmission set can be referred to as a set of first signals.

[0189] When the first signal is an SSB, the identifier corresponding to at least one set of first signals can be at least one set of PCIs. It should be understood that one TRP corresponds to one PCI (i.e., the SSB corresponding to the PCI is sent by the TRP). In this case, each set of PCIs corresponds to at least one TRP in a transmission set for which the terminal device recommends joint transmission.

[0190] Alternatively, the identifiers corresponding to at least one set of first signals may be identifiers of at least one set of SSBs. It should be understood that one TRP corresponds to one SSB identifier (i.e., the SSB corresponding to that identifier is sent by that TRP). Therefore, each SSB identifier in at least one set of SSB identifiers corresponds to at least one TRP in a transmission set for which the terminal device recommends joint transmission.

[0191] When the first signal is CSI-RS, one TRP corresponds to one Channel State Information Reference Signal Resource Identifier (CRI) (i.e., the Channel State Information Reference Signal corresponding to the CRI is sent by the TRP), and at least one set of identifiers corresponding to the first signal can be at least one set of CRIs. Each set of CRIs corresponds to at least one TRP in a transmission set that the terminal device recommends for joint transmission.

[0192] In addition, the terminal device can directly report measurements based on the cooperative set, or it can report cell-based measurements according to existing technology, and the network side can calculate the measurement based on the cooperative set based on the cell-based measurements.

[0193] For example, a network device can obtain the corresponding cell-based measurement (one TRP corresponds to one or more cells) based on at least one TRP recommended for joint transmission by terminal devices in a transmission set. Then, based on the cell-based measurement corresponding to the at least one TRP, a cluster-based measurement is obtained. For instance, the network device can select the cooperative set with the larger or even the largest cluster-based measurement as the target cooperative set.

[0194] It is understood that the network device may also send the first configuration information before steps S601 and S602 described above. This application does not limit the execution order of steps S601, S602, and S603.

[0195] S604. The terminal device sends the measurement results based on the transmission set to the network device according to the first configuration information.

[0196] Accordingly, the network device receives the measurement results based on the transmission set.

[0197] After receiving the aforementioned first configuration information, the terminal device measures at least one received first signal to obtain a measurement result based on the transmission set. For example, it obtains the identifier of the transmission set (e.g., cluster ID) and / or, a first measurement quantity; or, it obtains the identifiers corresponding to at least one set of first signals and / or, a first measurement quantity. Then, the terminal device sends the measurement result based on the transmission set to the network device.

[0198] Furthermore, the network device can select a target transmission set based on the measurement results of multiple transmission sets and instruct the terminal device to switch to the target transmission set.

[0199] According to an embodiment of this application, a communication method is provided in which a network device indicates the transmission set to which at least one first signal belongs and performs a reporting configuration, so that a terminal device can report measurement results based on the transmission set, thereby enabling the network device to accurately obtain the measurement results of the transmission set.

[0200] In this application, the phrase "sending information to... (e.g., a terminal device)" or the related illustrations in the accompanying drawings can be understood as the destination of the information being the terminal device. This can include sending information directly or indirectly to the terminal device. Similarly, the phrase "receiving information from... (e.g., a terminal device)" or "receiving information from... (e.g., a terminal device)" or the related illustrations in the accompanying drawings can be understood as the source of the information being the terminal device. This can include receiving information directly or indirectly from the terminal device. Information may undergo necessary processing between the source and destination, such as format changes, but the destination can understand the valid information from the source. Similar expressions in this application can be interpreted similarly, and will not be elaborated further here.

[0201] It is understood that this application uses terminal devices and network devices as examples to illustrate the interaction, but this application does not limit the entities that can be used to illustrate the interaction. For example, the terminal device in the method provided by this application can also be a chip, chip system, or processor applied to the terminal device, or it can be a logical node, logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the terminal device's functions; the network device in the method provided by this application can also be a chip, chip system, or processor applied to the network device, or it can be a logical node, logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the network device's functions.

[0202] It is understood that, in order to achieve the functions in the above embodiments, the network device and terminal device include hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to perform 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 in hardware or by computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application scenario and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0203] Figures 7 and 8 are schematic diagrams of possible communication devices provided in the embodiments of this application. These communication devices can be used to implement the functions of the terminal device or network device in the above method embodiments, and thus can also achieve the beneficial effects of the above method embodiments. In the embodiments of this application, the communication device can be one of the terminal devices 120a-120j shown in Figure 1, or it can be the network device 110a or 110b shown in Figure 1, or it can be a module (such as a chip) applied to the terminal device or network device.

[0204] As shown in Figure 7, the communication device 700 includes a processing unit 710 and a transceiver unit 720. The communication device 700 is used to implement the functions of the terminal device or network device in the method embodiments shown in Figure 5 or Figure 6 above.

[0205] When the communication device 700 is used to implement the functions of the terminal device: the transceiver unit 720 is used to implement one or more operations implemented by the terminal device in steps S501a to S505 of the embodiment shown in FIG5; or, the transceiver unit 720 is used to implement one or more operations implemented by the terminal device in steps S601 to S604 of the embodiment shown in FIG6.

[0206] When the communication device 700 is used to implement the functions of the network device: the transceiver unit 720 is used to implement one or more operations implemented by the network device in steps S501a to S505 of the embodiment shown in FIG5; or, the transceiver unit 720 is used to implement one or more operations implemented by the network device in steps S601 to S604 of the embodiment shown in FIG6.

[0207] A more detailed description of the processing unit 710 and the transceiver unit 720 can be obtained directly from the relevant descriptions in the method embodiments shown in Figure 5 or Figure 6, and will not be repeated here.

[0208] When the aforementioned communication device is a chip applied to a terminal device, the terminal device chip implements the functions of the terminal device in the above method embodiments. The terminal device chip receives information from other modules (such as radio frequency modules or antennas) in the terminal device, which is sent to the terminal device by the network device; or, the terminal device chip sends information to other modules (such as radio frequency modules or antennas) in the terminal device, which is sent to the network device by the terminal device.

[0209] When the aforementioned communication device is a chip applied to a network device, the network device chip implements the functions of the network device in the above method embodiments. The network device chip receives information from other modules (such as radio frequency modules or antennas) in the network device, which is sent by the terminal device to the network device; or, the network device chip sends information to other modules (such as radio frequency modules or antennas) in the network device, which is sent by the network device to the terminal device.

[0210] Furthermore, it should be noted that the aforementioned transceiver unit and / or processing unit can be implemented through virtual modules. For example, the processing unit can be implemented through software functional units or virtual devices, and the transceiver unit can be implemented through software functions or virtual devices. Alternatively, the processing unit or transceiver unit can also be implemented through physical devices. For example, if the device is implemented using a chip / chip circuit, the transceiver unit can be an input / output circuit and / or a communication interface, performing input operations (corresponding to the aforementioned receiving operation) and output operations (corresponding to the aforementioned sending operation); the processing unit is an integrated processor, microprocessor, or integrated circuit.

[0211] As shown in Figure 8, the communication device 800 includes a processor 810 and may also include an interface circuit 820. The processor 810 and the interface circuit 820 are coupled to each other. It is understood that the interface circuit 820 can be a transceiver or an input / output interface. Optionally, the communication device 800 may also include a memory 830 (shown as a dashed line in Figure 8) for storing instructions executed by the processor 810, or storing input data required by the processor 810 to execute instructions, or storing data generated after the processor 810 executes instructions.

[0212] When the communication device 800 is used to implement the functions of the terminal device: the interface circuit 820 is used to implement one or more operations implemented by the terminal device in steps S501a to S505 of the embodiment shown in FIG5; or, the interface circuit 820 is used to implement one or more operations implemented by the terminal device in steps S601 to S604 of the embodiment shown in FIG6.

[0213] When the communication device 800 is used to implement the functions of the network device: the interface circuit 820 is used to implement one or more operations implemented by the network device in steps S501a to S505 of the embodiment shown in FIG5; or, the interface circuit 820 is used to implement one or more operations implemented by the network device in steps S601 to S604 of the embodiment shown in FIG6.

[0214] A more detailed description of the processor 810 and interface circuit 820 can be obtained directly from the relevant descriptions in the method embodiments shown in Figure 5 or Figure 6, and will not be repeated here.

[0215] When the aforementioned communication device is a chip applied to a terminal device, the terminal device chip implements the functions of the terminal device in the above method embodiments. The terminal device chip receiving information from a base station can be understood as the information being first received by other modules (such as a radio frequency module or antenna) in the terminal device, and then sent to the terminal device chip by these modules. The terminal device chip sending information to the base station can be understood as the information being first sent to other modules (such as a radio frequency module or antenna) in the terminal device, and then sent to the base station by these modules.

[0216] When the aforementioned communication device is a chip applied to a base station, the base station chip implements the functions of the base station in the above method embodiments. The base station chip receives information from the terminal device, which can be understood as the information being first received by other modules in the base station (such as an RF module or antenna), and then sent to the base station chip by these modules. The base station chip sends information to the terminal device, which can be understood as the information being sent down to other modules in the base station (such as an RF module or antenna), and then sent to the terminal device by these modules.

[0217] In this application, entity A sends information to entity B, either directly or indirectly through other entities. Similarly, entity B receives information from entity A, either directly or indirectly through other entities. Entities A and B can be RAN nodes or terminal devices, or modules within RAN nodes or terminal devices. Information transmission and reception can be between RAN nodes and terminal devices, such as between a base station and a terminal device; between two RAN nodes, such as between a CU and a DU; or between different modules within a single device, such as between a terminal device chip and other modules of the terminal device, or between a base station chip and other modules of the base station.

[0218] It is understood that in this application, "instruction" can include direct instruction, indirect instruction, explicit instruction, and implicit instruction. When describing a certain instruction information to indicate A, it can be understood that the instruction information carries A, directly indicates A, or indirectly indicates A. In this application, the information indicated by the instruction information is called the information to be instructed. In specific implementation, 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, or indirectly indicating the information to be instructed by indicating other information, wherein there is an association between the other information and the information to be instructed. It is also possible to indicate only a part of the information to be instructed, while the other parts of the information to be instructed are known or agreed upon in advance. For example, the instruction of specific information can also be achieved by using the arrangement order of various information in advance (e.g., as specified by a protocol), thereby reducing the instruction overhead to a certain extent. The information to be instructed can be sent as a whole or divided into multiple sub-information to be sent separately, and the sending period and / or sending time of these sub-information can be the same or different. This application does not limit the specific sending method. The sending period and / or timing of these sub-information messages can be predefined, for example, according to a protocol, or configured by the transmitting device by sending configuration information to the receiving device.

[0219] It is understood that the processor in the embodiments of this application can be a central processing unit, or other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field-programmable gate arrays, 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.

[0220] 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, optical discs, 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 the storage medium can reside in an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). Alternatively, the ASIC can reside in a base station or terminal device. The processor and the storage medium can also exist as discrete components in the base station or terminal device.

[0221] 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.

[0222] 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.

[0223] Depending on whether the specification uses "optional": In this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "more than one" means two or more. "And / or" describes 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, or B alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. In the textual description of this application, the character " / " generally indicates an "or" relationship between the preceding and following related objects; in the formulas of this application, the character " / " indicates a "division" relationship between the preceding and following related objects. "Including at least one of A, B, and C" can mean: including A; including B; including C; including A and B; including A and C; including B and C; including A, B, and C.

[0224] 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, The method includes: Receive first information, the first information indicating the transmission set to which at least one first signal belongs; Receive first configuration information, which indicates the configuration for reporting measurement results based on the transmission set; Based on the first configuration information, the measurement results based on the transmission set are sent.

2. The method as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receive the at least one first signal.

3. A communication method, characterized in that, The method includes: Send a first message, the first message indicating the transmission set to which at least one first signal belongs; Send first configuration information, which indicates the configuration for reporting measurement results based on the transmission set; Receive measurement results based on the transmission set.

4. The method as described in claim 3, characterized in that, The method further includes: Send at least one first signal.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1-4, characterized in that, The first information is carried in the at least one first signal.

6. The method as described in claim 5, characterized in that, The first information is carried in the physical broadcast channel of the synchronization signal block.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1-6, characterized in that, The first signal is a synchronization signal block.

8. The method as described in claim 6 or 7, characterized in that, The first information includes the identifier of the transmission set, or the first information includes the identifier of the synchronization signal block, or the first information includes the identifier of at least one physical cell, which belongs to the transmission set.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1-4, characterized in that, The first signal is a Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS), and the first information includes the identifier of the Channel State Information Reference Signal.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1-9, characterized in that, The measurement results include an identifier of the transmission set and / or a first measurement quantity.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1-9, characterized in that, The measurement results include at least one set of identifiers corresponding to the first signal, and / or, the first measurement quantity.

12. The method as described in claim 11, characterized in that, The first signal is a synchronization signal block, and the identifier corresponding to the at least one set of first signals is the identifier of a physical cell, or the identifier of a synchronization signal block; or, The first signal is a channel state information reference signal, and the identifier corresponding to the at least one set of first signals is an identifier of the channel state information reference signal.

13. The method according to any one of claims 10-12, characterized in that, The first measurement includes at least one of the following: reference signal received power based on the transmission set (RSRP), reference signal received quality based on the transmission set (RSRQ), and signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio based on the transmission set (SINR).

14. A communication method, characterized in that, The method includes: Receive first information, the first information indicating a first transmission set to which at least one first signal belongs and a second transmission set to which at least one second signal belongs; Access the first transmission set, which is determined based on the first information.

15. The method as described in claim 14, characterized in that, The method further includes: Send a first request message, which is used to request the first transmission set to perform joint transmission.

16. The method as described in claim 14 or 15, characterized in that, The method further includes: Send a second message, the second message including at least one of the following: a first subcarrier spacing, a first cyclic prefix type; The second information is used to configure a portion of the bandwidth for joint transmission.

17. The method as described in claim 16, characterized in that, The second information is determined based on the first signal sent by the first transmission set.

18. A communication method, characterized in that, The method includes: Send a first message, the first message indicating a first transmission set to which at least one first signal belongs and a second transmission set to which at least one second signal belongs; A request to access the first transmission set is received, the first transmission set being determined based on the first information.

19. The method as described in claim 18, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receive a first request message, which is used to request the first transmission set to perform joint transmission.

20. The method as described in claim 18 or 19, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receive second information, the second information including at least one of the following: a first subcarrier spacing, a first cyclic prefix type; The second information is used to configure a portion of the bandwidth for joint transmission.

21. The method as described in claim 20, characterized in that, The second information is determined based on the first signal sent by the first transmission set.

22. The method according to any one of claims 14-21, characterized in that, The first information is carried in at least one of the first signals, and / or the first information is carried in at least one of the second signals.

23. The method as described in claim 22, characterized in that, The first information is carried in the physical broadcast channel of the synchronization signal block.

24. The method according to any one of claims 14-23, characterized in that, The at least one first signal is a synchronization signal block, and / or the at least one second signal is a synchronization signal block.

25. The method as described in claim 23 or 24, characterized in that, When the first information indicates a first transmission set to which at least one first signal belongs, the first information includes an identifier of the first transmission set; or, the first information includes an identifier of the synchronization signal block; or, the first information includes an identifier of at least one physical cell to which the at least one physical cell belongs; and / or When the first information indicates a second transmission set to which at least one second signal belongs, the first information includes an identifier of the second transmission set; or, the first information includes an identifier of the synchronization signal block; or, the first information includes an identifier of at least one physical cell to which the at least one physical cell belongs.

26. A communication device, characterized in that, It includes units or modules for implementing the method as described in any one of claims 1, 2, 5 to 13, or units or modules for implementing the method as described in any one of claims 3 to 13, or units or modules for implementing the method as described in any one of claims 14 to 17, 22 to 25, or units or modules for implementing the method as described in any one of claims 18 to 25.

27. 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 and transmit them to the processor, or to send signals from the processor to other communication devices. The processor is used to implement the method as described in any one of claims 1, 2, 5 to 13, or the method as described in any one of claims 3 to 13, or the method as described in any one of claims 14 to 17, 22 to 25, or the method as described in any one of claims 18 to 25, through logic circuits or executing code instructions.

28. 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, 2, 5 to 13, or the method as described in any one of claims 3 to 13, or the method as described in any one of claims 14 to 17, 22 to 25, or the method as described in any one of claims 18 to 25.

29. A computer program product, characterized in that, The computer program product includes program instructions that, when executed, implement the method as described in any one of claims 1, 2, 5 to 13, or the method as described in any one of claims 3 to 13, or the method as described in any one of claims 14 to 17, 22 to 25, or the method as described in any one of claims 18 to 25.

Images