Communication methods, communication device, storage medium and program product

Abstract

The present disclosure belongs to the technical field of communications, and relates to communication methods, a communication device, a storage medium and a program product. A method comprises: transmitting first information and / or second information, wherein a center frequency point of a frequency domain position where the first information is located is different from a center frequency point of a frequency domain position where the second information is located, and / or the size of a frequency domain resource occupied by the first information is different from the size of a frequency domain resource occupied by the second information. Frequency domain positions of simplified synchronization signals or system messages, the sizes of frequency domain resources occupied thereby, etc. can be determined, enabling some cells to transmit only lightweight synchronization signals, thus reducing resource overhead, and also facilitating terminals to receive simplified synchronization signals or system messages and perform synchronization, measurement, etc.

Description

Communication methods, communication equipment, storage media and software products Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to communication methods, communication devices, storage media, and program products. Background Technology

[0002] In the field of communications, before a terminal and a network can transmit data, they must connect to the network through an initial access process, which includes stages such as cell search, system information reception, and random access. Summary of the Invention

[0003] This disclosure provides a communication method, communication device, storage medium, and program product that can be used in the field of communication technology to determine the frequency domain location and occupied frequency domain resource size of simplified synchronization signals or system messages, so that the terminal can obtain the synchronization signal or system message according to the frequency domain information of the synchronization signal or system message to perform access, synchronization and other services normally. This can save communication resources while ensuring that the terminal can perform services normally.

[0004] According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, a communication method is proposed, executed by a network device, comprising: sending first information and / or second information, wherein the center frequency of the frequency domain location of the first information is different from the center frequency of the frequency domain location of the second information, and / or, the frequency domain resource size occupied by the first information is different from the frequency domain resource size occupied by the second information.

[0005] According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, a communication method is proposed, executed by a terminal, comprising: receiving first information and / or second information, wherein the center frequency of the frequency domain location of the first information is different from the center frequency of the frequency domain location of the second information, and / or, the frequency domain resource size occupied by the first information is different from the frequency domain resource size occupied by the second information.

[0006] According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, a communication device is provided that can implement the communication methods described in the first and second aspects of the present disclosure.

[0007] According to a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, a computer storage medium is provided, wherein the computer storage medium stores computer-executable instructions; after being executed by a processor, the computer-executable instructions are able to implement the communication method described in any one of the first and second aspects of the present disclosure.

[0008] According to a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, a program product is provided, including at least one of a program and instructions, wherein when the program and instructions are executed by a communication device, they implement the communication method described in any one of the first and second aspects of the present disclosure.

[0009] According to the communication method proposed in the embodiments of this disclosure, the frequency domain location and the amount of frequency domain resources occupied by the simplified synchronization signal or system message can be determined, so as to enable some cells to send only lightweight synchronization signals, save resource overhead, and facilitate the terminal to receive the simplified synchronization signal or system message and perform synchronization, measurement, etc. Attached Figure Description

[0010] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this disclosure, the accompanying drawings required for the description of the embodiments are introduced below. The following drawings are only some embodiments of this disclosure and do not impose specific limitations on the protection scope of this disclosure.

[0011] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system provided according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0012] Figure 2 is an interactive schematic diagram of a communication method provided according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0013] Figure 3 is an interactive schematic diagram of another communication method provided according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0014] Figure 4A is a schematic diagram of an SSB structure provided according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0015] Figure 4B is a schematic diagram of another SSB structure provided according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0016] Figure 5A is a schematic diagram of the structure of a terminal provided according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0017] Figure 5B is a schematic diagram of the structure of a network device provided according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0018] Figure 6A is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0019] Figure 6B is a schematic diagram of the chip structure proposed in an embodiment of this disclosure. Detailed Implementation

[0020] This disclosure provides a communication method, communication device, storage medium, and program product.

[0021] In a first aspect, embodiments of this disclosure provide a communication method executed by a network device, comprising: sending first information and / or second information, wherein the center frequency of the frequency domain location of the first information is different from the center frequency of the frequency domain location of the second information, and / or, the frequency domain resource size occupied by the first information is different from the frequency domain resource size occupied by the second information.

[0022] In the above embodiments, the frequency domain location and the amount of frequency domain resources occupied by the simplified synchronization signal or system message can be determined so that some cells can send only lightweight synchronization signals, thus saving resource overhead.

[0023] In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, sending the first information and / or the second information includes: sending the first information and / or the second information according to a first period, wherein the first period is greater than or equal to 20ms.

[0024] In the above embodiments, the first information and / or the second information can be sent at a longer interval, avoiding frequent sending of the first information and / or the second information, which can save communication resources.

[0025] In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the first information carries a first signal and a first system message, and the second information carries at least one of a second signal and a second system message.

[0026] In the above embodiments, some cells can send complete signals and system messages, while others only send lightweight synchronization signals. This can save resource overhead if the terminal can synchronize and access the network normally.

[0027] In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the first signal includes at least one sequence signal, wherein each sequence signal is generated by at least one of a ZC sequence of length N, an m sequence of length N, and a Gold sequence of length N, where N is greater than zero information bits; the second signal includes at least one sequence signal, wherein each sequence signal is generated by at least one of a ZC sequence of length M, an m sequence of length M, and a Gold sequence of length M, where M is greater than zero information bits.

[0028] In the above embodiments, the signal carried by the information can be determined, which facilitates the terminal to perform synchronization, measurement, access, etc. based on the signal carried. This allows some cells to send only lightweight information while the terminal can perform its business normally, thus saving communication resources.

[0029] In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, M is less than N, or M is greater than N.

[0030] In the above embodiments, the first information and the second information can be generated using sequences of different lengths. Preferably, the second information can be generated using a shorter sequence to reduce the amount of data transmitted and improve the transmission efficiency of the second information.

[0031] In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the payload of the second system message is less than or equal to the payload of the first system message.

[0032] In the above embodiments, some cells can send complete signals and system messages, while others only send lightweight synchronization signals. This can save resource overhead when the terminal can synchronize and access the network normally.

[0033] In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the first information includes W time-frequency resource blocks, each time-frequency resource block occupying K consecutive physical resource blocks in the frequency domain and P consecutive OFDM symbols in the time domain, where W≥1, K=20, P=4; the second information includes R time-frequency resource blocks, each time-frequency resource block occupying L physical resource blocks in the frequency domain and Q consecutive OFDM symbols in the time domain, where R≥1, L≠20, Q<4.

[0034] In the above embodiments, the time-frequency domain resources contained in or occupied by the first information and the second information can be determined, so that when the terminal can perform services normally, some cells only send lightweight information, thus saving communication resources.

[0035] In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, each time-frequency resource block included in the first information carries a first signal and a first system message, and each time-frequency resource block included in the second information carries at least one of a second signal and a second system message.

[0036] In the above embodiments, some cells can send complete signals and system messages, while others only send lightweight synchronization signals. This can save resource overhead when the terminal can synchronize and access the network normally.

[0037] In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the L physical resource blocks satisfy any of the following: the L physical resource blocks are consecutive, and L is less than K; the L physical resource blocks are consecutive, and L is greater than K; the L physical resource blocks include physical resource blocks that are mapped with second information between the lowest frequency and the highest frequency, and physical resource blocks that are not mapped with any information between the lowest frequency and the highest frequency, and physical resource blocks that are mapped with second information between the lowest frequency and the highest frequency are discontinuous.

[0038] In the above embodiments, the frequency domain resources occupied by the second information can be determined so that the terminal can synchronize according to the signal or system message carried by the second information. This allows some cells to send only lightweight information while the terminal can perform normal business operations, thus saving communication resources.

[0039] In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, any time-frequency resource block in the second information includes a second signal, which includes two different sequence signals or includes multiple identical sequence signals.

[0040] In the above embodiments, the sequence signal contained in the second signal carried by the second information can be determined so as to generate lightweight second information, which can enable some cells to send only lightweight information and save communication resources.

[0041] In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the second signal satisfies at least one of the following: two different sequence signals occupy the same resources in the frequency domain and are aligned end-to-end, and occupy two consecutive OFDM symbols in the time domain; two different sequence signals are mapped in the same OFDM symbol in the time domain, and are frequency-division multiplexed in the frequency domain and spaced apart by X resource elements (REs) or Y physical resource blocks (PRBs), where X≥0 and Y≥0; multiple identical sequence signals are mapped in the same OFDM symbol in the time domain, and are frequency-division multiplexed in the frequency domain and spaced apart by X resource elements (REs) or Y physical resource blocks (PRBs), where X≥0 and Y≥0.

[0042] In the above embodiments, the sequence signal contained in the second signal carried by the second information can be determined so as to generate lightweight second information, which can enable some cells to send only lightweight information and save communication resources.

[0043] Secondly, embodiments of this disclosure provide a communication method executed by a terminal, comprising: receiving first information and / or second information, wherein the center frequency of the frequency domain location of the first information is different from the center frequency of the frequency domain location of the second information, and / or the frequency domain resource size occupied by the first information is different from the frequency domain resource size occupied by the second information.

[0044] In conjunction with some embodiments of the second aspect, in some embodiments, receiving the first information and / or the second information includes: receiving the first information and / or the second information according to a second period, wherein the second period is greater than or equal to 20 ms.

[0045] In conjunction with some embodiments of the second aspect, in some embodiments, the second period satisfies at least one of the following: the second period is a default value; the second period is equal to the first period, and the first period is the period during which the network device sends the first information and / or the second information.

[0046] In the above embodiments, the terminal can receive the first information and / or the second information according to the same period as the first period for synchronization, which can improve the efficiency of receiving the first information and / or the second information.

[0047] In conjunction with some embodiments of the second aspect, in some embodiments, the method further includes: if the first information and / or the second information are not successfully received after a time T according to the second period, receiving the first information and / or the second information according to a third period.

[0048] In the above embodiments, when the terminal does not receive information during the second cycle, it can switch to a longer cycle to receive information, thus avoiding the inability to receive information for a long time, which would prevent synchronization and network access, thereby improving the efficiency of terminal synchronization and access.

[0049] In conjunction with some embodiments of the second aspect, in some embodiments, the first information carries a first signal and a first system message, and the second information carries at least one of a second signal and a second system message.

[0050] In conjunction with some embodiments of the second aspect, in some embodiments, the first signal includes at least one sequence signal, wherein each sequence signal is generated by at least one of a ZC sequence of length N, an m sequence of length N, and a Gold sequence of length N, where N is greater than zero information bits; the second signal includes at least one sequence signal, wherein each sequence signal is generated by at least one of a ZC sequence of length M, an m sequence of length M, and a Gold sequence of length M, where M is greater than zero information bits.

[0051] In conjunction with some embodiments of the second aspect, in some embodiments, M is less than N, or M is greater than N.

[0052] In conjunction with some embodiments of the second aspect, in some embodiments, the payload of the second system message is less than or equal to the payload of the first system message.

[0053] In conjunction with some embodiments of the second aspect, in some embodiments, the first information includes W time-frequency resource blocks, each time-frequency resource block occupying K consecutive physical resource blocks in the frequency domain and P consecutive OFDM symbols in the time domain, where W≥1, K=20, P=4; the second information includes R time-frequency resource blocks, each time-frequency resource block occupying L physical resource blocks in the frequency domain and Q consecutive OFDM symbols in the time domain, where R≥1, L≠20, Q<4.

[0054] In conjunction with some embodiments of the second aspect, in some embodiments, each time-frequency resource block included in the first information carries a first signal and a first system message, and each time-frequency resource block included in the second information carries at least one of a second signal and a second system message.

[0055] In conjunction with some embodiments of the second aspect, in some embodiments, the L physical resource blocks satisfy any of the following: the L physical resource blocks are consecutive, and L is less than K; the L physical resource blocks are consecutive, and L is greater than K; the L physical resource blocks include physical resource blocks that are mapped with the second information between the lowest frequency and the highest frequency, and physical resource blocks that are not mapped with any information between the lowest frequency and the highest frequency, and physical resource blocks that are mapped with the second information between the lowest frequency and the highest frequency are discontinuous.

[0056] In conjunction with some embodiments of the second aspect, in some embodiments, any time-frequency resource block in the second information includes a second signal, which includes two different sequence signals or includes multiple identical sequence signals.

[0057] In conjunction with some embodiments of the second aspect, in some embodiments, the second signal satisfies at least one of the following: two different sequence signals occupy the same resources in the frequency domain and are aligned end-to-end, and occupy two consecutive OFDM symbols in the time domain; two different sequence signals are mapped in the same OFDM symbol in the time domain, and are frequency-division multiplexed in the frequency domain and spaced apart by X resource elements (REs) or Y physical resource blocks (PRBs), where X≥0 and Y≥0; multiple identical sequence signals are mapped in the same OFDM symbol in the time domain, and are frequency-division multiplexed in the frequency domain and spaced apart by X resource elements (REs) or Y physical resource blocks (PRBs), where X≥0 and Y≥0.

[0058] In conjunction with some embodiments of the second aspect, in some embodiments, the method further includes: performing correlation detection on each sequence signal included in the first information and / or the second information, and obtaining a detection result; and determining resource information of the first information and / or the second information based on the detection result.

[0059] In the above embodiments, the terminal can obtain resource information based on the detection results of correlation detection in order to perform synchronization, access, etc., so that when the terminal is performing normal business, some cells only send lightweight information, saving communication resources.

[0060] In conjunction with some embodiments of the second aspect, in some embodiments, the resource information includes at least one of the following: the resource location of the first information in the frequency domain; the resource start location of the first information in the time domain; the resource end location of the first information in the time domain; the identification information of the network or network device that sent the first information; the resource location of the second information in the frequency domain; the resource start location of the second information in the time domain; the resource end location of the second information in the time domain; and the identification information of the network or network device that sent the second information.

[0061] In the above embodiments, resource information can be determined so that the terminal can perform synchronization, access, etc., and some cells can send only lightweight information while the terminal is performing normal business, thus saving communication resources.

[0062] In conjunction with some embodiments of the second aspect, in some embodiments, the method further includes: performing signal measurement based on at least one sequence signal of the first information and / or the second information, and obtaining a received power value.

[0063] In the above embodiments, the terminal can perform signal measurement based on at least one sequence signal from the first information and / or the second information, and obtain the received power value to ensure communication quality and system performance, thereby optimizing network communication quality.

[0064] Thirdly, embodiments of this disclosure provide a communication device for performing the methods described in any one of the first and second aspects of embodiments of this disclosure.

[0065] Fourthly, embodiments of this disclosure provide a storage medium storing instructions that, when executed on a communication device, cause the communication device to perform the method described in any one of the first or second aspects of embodiments of this disclosure.

[0066] Fifthly, embodiments of this disclosure provide a program product, including at least one of a program and instructions, wherein when the program or instructions are executed by a communication device, they implement the steps of the method described in any one of the first and second aspects of embodiments of this disclosure.

[0067] It is understood that the aforementioned communication equipment, storage medium, and program product are all used to execute the methods proposed in the embodiments of this disclosure. Therefore, the beneficial effects they can achieve can be referred to the beneficial effects in the corresponding methods, and will not be repeated here.

[0068] This disclosure provides a communication method, a communication device, a communication system, a storage medium, and a program product. In some embodiments, terms such as communication method and information processing method can be used interchangeably, as can terms such as network device, information processing apparatus, and communication apparatus, and terms such as information processing system and communication system.

[0069] This disclosure is not exhaustive, but merely illustrative of some embodiments, and is not intended to limit the scope of protection of this disclosure. Unless otherwise specified, each step in a particular embodiment can be implemented as an independent embodiment, and the steps can be arbitrarily combined. For example, a solution after removing some steps in a particular embodiment can also be implemented as an independent embodiment, and the order of the steps in a particular embodiment can be arbitrarily interchanged. Furthermore, the optional implementation methods in a particular embodiment can be arbitrarily combined; moreover, the embodiments can be arbitrarily combined, for example, some or all steps of different embodiments can be arbitrarily combined, and a particular embodiment can be arbitrarily combined with the optional implementation methods of other embodiments. In all embodiments of this disclosure, unless otherwise specified or logically conflicting, the terminology and / or descriptions between the embodiments are consistent and can be mutually referenced. Technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments based on their inherent logical relationships.

[0070] The terminology used in the embodiments of this disclosure is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure.

[0071] In this embodiment of the disclosure, unless otherwise stated, elements expressed in the singular form, such as "a," "an," "the," "the aforementioned," "the," "this," etc., can mean "one and only one," or "one or more," "at least one," etc. For example, when using articles such as "a," "an," "the," etc. in translation, the noun following the article can be understood as either a singular expression or a plural expression.

[0072] In the embodiments of this disclosure, "multiple" refers to two or more.

[0073] In some embodiments, the terms "at least one of A or B, at least one of A and B", "one or more", "a plurality of", "multiple" and the like can be used interchangeably.

[0074] In some embodiments, the notation "at least one of A and B", "A and / or B", "A in one case, B in another", "in response to one case A, in response to another case B", etc., may include the following technical solutions depending on the situation: in some embodiments, A (execute A regardless of whether there is a branch B); in some embodiments, B (execute B regardless of whether there is a branch A); in some embodiments, execution is selected from A and B (A and B are selectively executed); in some embodiments, both A and B are executed. The same applies when there are more branches such as A, B, C, etc.

[0075] In some embodiments, the notation "A or B" may include the following technical solutions, depending on the situation: in some embodiments, A (execute A regardless of whether a branch B exists); in some embodiments, B (execute B regardless of whether a branch A exists); in some embodiments, execution is selected from A and B (A and B are selectively executed). The same applies when there are more branches such as A, B, and C.

[0076] The prefixes "first," "second," etc., used in the embodiments of this disclosure are merely for distinguishing different descriptive objects and do not impose restrictions on the position, order, priority, quantity, or content of the descriptive objects. The description of the descriptive objects is found in the claims or the context of the embodiments, and the use of prefixes should not constitute unnecessary restrictions. For example, if the descriptive object is a "field," the ordinal numbers preceding "field" in "first field" and "second field" do not restrict the position or order of the "fields." "First" and "second" do not restrict whether the "fields" they modify are in the same message, nor do they restrict the order of "first field" and "second field." Similarly, if the descriptive object is a "level," the ordinal numbers preceding "level" in "first level" and "second level" do not restrict the priority between "levels." Furthermore, the number of descriptive objects is not limited by ordinal numbers and can be one or more. For example, in "first device," the number of "devices" can be one or more. Furthermore, the objects modified by different prefixes can be the same or different. For example, if the object being described is "device", then "first device" and "second device" can be the same device or different devices, and their types can be the same or different. Similarly, if the object being described is "information", then "first information" and "second information" can be the same information or different information, and their content can be the same or different.

[0077] In some embodiments, “including A,” “containing A,” “for indicating A,” and “carrying A” can be interpreted as directly carrying A or indirectly indicating A.

[0078] In some embodiments, terms such as "time / frequency" and "time-frequency domain" refer to the time domain and / or frequency domain.

[0079] In some embodiments, terms such as “in response to…”, “in response to determining…”, “in the case of…”, “when…”, “when…”, “if…”, etc. can be used interchangeably. These descriptions all refer to the device making a corresponding action under certain objective circumstances. They do not necessarily limit the time, nor do they require the device to make a judgment action when implementing it, nor do they mean that there must be other limitations.

[0080] In some embodiments, the terms “greater than,” “greater than or equal to,” “not less than,” “more than,” “more than or equal to,” “not less than,” “higher than,” “higher than or equal to,” “not lower than,” and “above” can be used interchangeably, as can the terms “less than,” “less than or equal to,” “not greater than,” “less than,” “less than or equal to,” “not more than,” “lower than,” “lower than or equal to,” “not higher than,” and “below”.

[0081] In some embodiments, devices, etc., may be interpreted as physical or virtual, and their names are not limited to those described in the embodiments. Terms such as “device,” “equipment,” “circuit,” “network element,” “network function,” “network device,” “function,” “node,” “unit,” “section,” “system,” “network,” “chip,” “chip system,” “entity,” and “subject” are interchangeable.

[0082] In some embodiments, "network" can be interpreted as devices included in a network (e.g., access network devices, core network devices, etc.).

[0083] In some embodiments, the terms "access network device (AN device)," "radio access network device (RAN device)," "base station (BS)," "radio base station," "fixed station," "node," "access point," "transmission point (TP)," "reception point (RP)," "transmission / reception point (TRP)," "panel," "antenna panel," "antenna array," "cell," "macro cell," "small cell," "femto cell," "pico cell," "sector," "cell group," "serving cell," "carrier," "component carrier," and "bandwidth part (BWP)" can be used interchangeably.

[0084] In some embodiments, the terms "terminal", "terminal device", "user equipment (UE)", "user terminal", "mobile station (MS)", "mobile terminal (MT)", "subscriber station", "mobile unit", "subscriber unit", "wireless unit", "remote unit", "mobile device", "wireless device", "wireless communication device", "remote device", "mobile subscriber station", "access terminal", "mobile terminal", "wireless terminal", "remote terminal", "handset", "user agent", "mobile client", and "client" can be used interchangeably.

[0085] In some embodiments, access network devices, core network devices, or network devices can be replaced with terminals. For example, embodiments of this disclosure can also be applied to structures where communication between access network devices, core network devices, or network devices and terminals is replaced with communication between multiple terminals (e.g., device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X), etc.). In this case, the structure can also be configured such that the terminal has all or part of the functions of the access network device. Furthermore, terms such as "uplink" and "downlink" can be replaced with terms corresponding to communication between terminals (e.g., "sidelink"). For example, uplink channel, downlink channel, etc., can be replaced with sidelink channel, uplink link, downlink link, etc., can be replaced with sidelink link.

[0086] In some embodiments, the terminal may be replaced by an access network device, a core network device, or a network device. In this case, the access network device, core network device, or network device may also be configured to have all or some of the functions of the terminal.

[0087] In some embodiments, the acquisition of data, information, etc., may comply with the laws and regulations of the country where the location is situated.

[0088] In some embodiments, data, information, etc., may be obtained with the user's consent.

[0089] In some embodiments, "acquire," "get," "obtain," "receive," "transmit," "bidirectional transmission," and "send and / or receive" can be used interchangeably and can be interpreted as receiving from other entities, acquiring from protocols, acquiring from higher layers, obtaining through self-processing, or autonomous implementation. Protocols include, for example, at least one of the 3GPP protocol, Wi-Fi protocol, and audio and / or video protocols.

[0090] Furthermore, each element, each row, or each column in the table of this disclosure can be implemented as an independent embodiment, and any combination of any element, any row, or any column can also be implemented as an independent embodiment.

[0091] This disclosure proposes a communication method, communication device, communication system, storage medium, and program product that can enable some cells to send complete synchronization signals and system broadcast messages, while others only send lightweight synchronization signals. This saves resource overhead while ensuring that the terminal can synchronize and access normally. It can also indicate to the terminal device whether to send complete synchronization signals and system broadcast messages or only lightweight synchronization signals, facilitating corresponding processing by the terminal.

[0092] The method proposed in this disclosure is applicable to various communication systems, including but not limited to 4G, 5G, 5G-advance and subsequent communication technologies (such as 6G).

[0093] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 1, the communication system 100 may include a terminal 101 and a network device 102.

[0094] In some embodiments, the method disclosed herein can be applied to a communication system. Optionally, the network device can send first information and / or second information to the terminal device, wherein the frequency domain positions and occupied frequency domain resources of the first and second information are different. This allows the same cell (base station) to send complete synchronization signals and system broadcast messages, as well as send lightweight synchronization signals, thereby saving resource overhead while ensuring normal synchronization and access for the terminal. The terminal device can perform synchronization and information acquisition, etc., based on the time-frequency domain resource information of the first and second information.

[0095] In some embodiments, the terminal includes, but is not limited to, at least one of the following: mobile phone, wearable device, Internet of Things device, car with communication function, smart car, tablet computer, computer with wireless transceiver function, virtual reality (VR) terminal device, augmented reality (AR) terminal device, wireless terminal device in industrial control, wireless terminal device in self-driving, wireless terminal device in remote medical surgery, wireless terminal device in smart grid, wireless terminal device in transportation safety, wireless terminal device in smart city, and wireless terminal device in smart home.

[0096] In some embodiments, the access network device is, for example, a node or device that connects a terminal to a wireless network. The access network device may include at least one of the following in a 5G communication system: evolved Node B (eNB), next-generation eNB (ng-eNB), next-generation Node B (gNB), node B (NB), home node B (HNB), home evolved node B (HeNB), radio backhaul device, radio network controller (RNC), base station controller (BSC), base transceiver station (BTS), base band unit (BBU), mobile switching center, base station in a 6G communication system, open RAN, cloud RAN, base station in other communication systems, and access node in a Wi-Fi system, but is not limited thereto.

[0097] In some embodiments, a core network device may be a single device comprising one or more network elements, or it may be multiple devices or a group of devices, each comprising all or part of the aforementioned one or more network elements. Network elements may be virtual or physical. The core network may include, for example, at least one of the following: Evolved Packet Core (EPC), 5G Core Network (5GCN), and Next Generation Core (NGC).

[0098] In some embodiments, the technical solutions of this disclosure can be applied to the Open RAN architecture. In this case, the interfaces between or within access network devices involved in the embodiments of this disclosure can be transformed into internal interfaces of Open RAN. The processes and information interactions between these internal interfaces can be implemented by software or programs.

[0099] In some embodiments, the access network device may be composed of a central unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU). The CU may also be called a control unit. The CU-DU structure can separate the protocol layer of the access network device. Some of the protocol layer functions are centrally controlled by the CU, while the remaining part or all of the protocol layer functions are distributed in the DU and centrally controlled by the CU. However, this is not the only possibility.

[0100] It is understood that the communication system described in this disclosure is for the purpose of more clearly illustrating the technical solutions of this disclosure, and does not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions proposed in this disclosure. As those skilled in the art will know, with the evolution of system architecture and the emergence of new business scenarios, the technical solutions proposed in this disclosure are also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0101] The following embodiments of this disclosure can be applied to the communication system 100 shown in FIG1, or to some of the main bodies, but are not limited thereto. The main bodies shown in FIG1 are illustrative. The communication system may include all or some of the main bodies in FIG1, or may include other main bodies outside of FIG1. ​​The number and form of each main body are arbitrary. Each main body may be physical or virtual. The connection relationship between the main bodies is illustrative. The main bodies may not be connected or may be connected. The connection can be in any way, it can be a direct connection or an indirect connection, it can be a wired connection or a wireless connection.

[0102] The embodiments disclosed herein can be applied to Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), LTE-Beyond (LTE-B), Super 3G, IMT-Advanced, 4th generation mobile communication system (4G), 5th generation mobile communication system (5G), 5G new radio (NR), 6th generation mobile communication system (6G), 6G new radio (NR), Future Radio Access (FRA), New Radio Access Technology (RAT), New Radio (NR), New Radio Access (NX), Future Generation Radio Access (FX), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), CDMA2000, Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), and IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX, a registered trademark), IEEE 802.20, Ultra-Wideband (UWB), Bluetooth (a registered trademark), Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) networks, Device-to-Device (D2D) systems, Machine-to-Machine (M2M) systems, Internet of Things (IoT) systems, Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) systems, systems utilizing other communication methods, and next-generation systems built upon them. Furthermore, multiple systems can be combined (e.g., a combination of LTE or LTE-A with 5G).

[0103] In the field of communications, before a UE can transmit data with the network, it must connect to the network through an initial access procedure. The initial access procedure includes stages such as cell search, system information reception, and random access. Cell search is the process by which the UE uses cell synchronization signals to perform downlink time and frequency synchronization and obtain the Physical Cell Identity (PCID). After completing downlink synchronization through cell search, the UE receives and decodes the Physical Broadcast Channel and the PDSCH carrying the minimum remaining system information to obtain the system information necessary for subsequent random access. After obtaining the system information, the UE achieves uplink time synchronization through the random access procedure, transitioning from a non-RRC (Radio Resource Control) connected state (RRC_IDLE and RRC INACTIVE) to an RRC connected state (RRC_CONNECTED), preparing for uplink and downlink data transmission. The paging procedure is used to help the network page UEs that are in a non-RRC connected state.

[0104] In the 5G NR downlink synchronization process, the NR synchronization block (Synchronization Signal PBCH Block, SSB, SS / PBCH Block) includes the primary synchronization signals (PSS), secondary synchronization signals (SSS), and the physical broadcast channel (PBCH). The PBCH contains the demodulation reference symbol (DM-RS). When a UE accesses the NR system, it first detects the PSS and SSS to obtain downlink time-frequency synchronization and the PCID, and then decodes the PBCH. The PBCH includes the Master Information Block (MIB) and other information related to the SSB transmission time. The MIB carries a portion of the minimum system information required for the UE to access the NR system. Several SSBs form an SSB burst, which is transmitted periodically.

[0105] In a 5G NR system, an SS / PBCH block, or SSB, consists of three parts: PSS, SSS, PBCH, and DM-RS. The SSB has the following characteristics in the time-frequency domain:

[0106] Time domain: The time domain occupies 4 consecutive Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols, with PSS in symbol #0, SSS in symbol #2, and PBCH in symbols #1, #2, and #3, where PBCH contains DM-RS.

[0107] Frequency Domain: A SSB occupies 20 consecutive Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs) in the frequency domain. The PSS and SSS are mapped to 127 Resource Elements (REs) in the center of PRBs #4 to #15 (a total of 12 PRBs) within their respective OFDM symbols. The 17 REs in these 12 PRBs that are not mapped to the PSS or SSS are mapped to 0. The mappings of PBCH and DM-RS in OFDM symbols #1 and #3 respectively occupy all 240 REs of the 20 PRBs. The mapping in OFDM symbol #2 occupies all 96 REs of the first and last 8 PRBs. Therefore, the mapping of PBCH in an SSB occupies a total of 576 REs. Optionally, the center frequencies of PSS / SSS and PBCH are aligned, and they all use the same subcarrier spacing.

[0108] In some embodiments, the terms “resource block (RB)”, “physical resource block (PR B)”, “sub-carrier group (SCG)”, “resource element group (REG)”, “PRB pair”, “RB pair”, “resource element (RE)”, and “sub-carrier” can be used interchangeably.

[0109] The NR SSB synchronization signal includes the primary synchronization signal PSS and the secondary synchronization signal SSS. The PSS has three sequences corresponding to three IDs. One PSS corresponds to 336 SSS sequences, and the ID of the SSS is... NR supports a total of 1008 cell identifiers (PCIDs). The ID of each cell is determined by a combination of the PSS sequence and the SSS sequence.

[0110] The NR PSS sequence is obtained by modulating a 127-length m sequence with binary phase shift keying (BPSK), and the three PSS sequences are obtained by different cyclic shifts. The NR SSS sequence is obtained by modulating a 127-length Gold sequence with BPSK, and the 336 SSS sequences are obtained by different cyclic shifts.

[0111] Gold sequences exhibit good autocorrelation and cross-correlation properties, and their cross-correlation properties are the same as those of m sequences, but their autocorrelation properties are not as good. When using generator polynomials of the same order, the number of generated Gold sequences far exceeds the number of generated m sequences; therefore, SSS uses Gold sequences.

[0112] An SSB burst set, also known as an SSB burst collection, is a method used in 5G NR systems to transmit SSBs using beamforming and beam scanning technologies. A group of multiple SSBs transmitted by a cell in one beam scan (i.e., one round-robin) is called an SSB burst set.

[0113] The reason for using SSB burst sets is that NR systems support higher frequency bands, and the higher the frequency, the shorter the transmission distance. Beamforming can increase transmission distance by concentrating energy transmission, but this leads to a reduction in the coverage angle. To ensure both transmission distance and coverage, beam scanning is used. As the frequency increases, the path loss of wireless signals in space also increases, requiring narrower beams to compensate for the path loss. This means more beams are needed to achieve coverage of the entire cell.

[0114] An SSB burst set contains multiple SSBs. The order of each SSB within the burst set, along with the total number of SSBs in the burst set, determines the location information of an SSB within a radio half-frame. Therefore, within an SSB burst set, each SSB corresponds to an SSB index. The UE can obtain the location of which four OFDM symbols within which time slot of a radio half-frame based on the received SSB's index. Within a radio half-frame, the SSB indices are ordered from 0 to Lmax-1, where Lmax is the maximum number of SSBs a cell can transmit within a radio half-frame. Since the maximum number of SSBs in an SSB burst set differs across frequency ranges, the number of bits required to represent the SSB index also varies.

[0115] During the initial cell search, the protocol stipulates that the UE will default to sending SSB burst sets with a period of 20ms, which is the length of two radio frames. Therefore, for cells that support initial cell search, the actual SSB transmission period cannot exceed 20ms, and can be configured to 5ms, 10ms, or 20ms.

[0116] After completing the initial cell search, each serving cell provides the UE with the transmission period of the SSB burst set (contained in the semi-radio frame) through the configuration parameter ssb-periodicityServingCell. The period value includes 5ms, 10ms, 20ms, 40ms, 80ms, and 160ms. If the serving cell does not configure a period value, the UE will default to a transmission period of 5ms for the SSB burst set. The UE assumes that all SSB burst sets within the same cell have the same period.

[0117] The NR protocol specifies the maximum number of SSBs (SSBs) in an SSB burst set for each frequency range, Lmax{4, 8, 64}. In actual system deployment, the network can configure the actual number of SSBs transmitted in each cell's SSB burst set and their corresponding specific time-domain locations / indexes. In other words, the actual number of SSBs transmitted within an SSB burst set must be less than or equal to Lmax. The specific reasons are as follows:

[0118] In actual network deployment, operators can configure the SSBs for each cell's burst-concentration transmission based on multiple factors, such as the size of the cell's coverage area, the angular range covered by each SSB beam, the transmit power of the base station equipment, and the number of beams supported by the base station equipment. For example, when deploying macro cells in high-frequency spectrum, more beams are used to combat path loss, and cell coverage is improved through individual beamforming gain; when using low-frequency spectrum, fewer beams can be used to achieve better coverage.

[0119] Resources not used for transmitting SSBs can be used for transmitting PDSCHs. The protocol specifies that symbols and PRBs occupied by SSBs cannot be used for PDSCH transmission. PDSCHs can be used to carry system messages, RAR response messages, and paging messages, etc. Notifying the UE of the specific transmission location of SSBs as early as possible allows the UE to know which resources originally used for transmitting SSBs can actually be used for receiving PDSCHs, thus enabling the UE to perform correct rate matching when receiving PDSCHs.

[0120] The NR protocol specifies that the UE is notified of the actual location and number of SSBs transmitted via the higher-layer parameter SSB PositionsInBurst. SSB PositionsInBurst informs the UE of the actual SSB bitmap in two ways, as shown in the table below.

[0121] Method 1: 16 bits in total, indicating relatively low granularity and flexibility, but also low overhead.

[0122] In FR1, when the maximum number of SSB transmissions is 4, the first 4 bits of inOneGroup indicate the transmission status at the 4 SSB candidate positions within an SSB burst set. "1" indicates an SSB is sent, and "0" indicates no SSB is sent. The k-th bit of the bitmap corresponds to the SSB index k-1. When the maximum number of SSB transmissions is 8, the 8 bits of inOneGroup indicate the transmission status at the 8 SSB candidate positions within an SSB burst set, using a similar method. In FR1, the 8 bits of groupPresence have no practical meaning.

[0123] FR2 specifies a maximum of 64 SSB transmissions. The 8 bits of inOneGroup divide the 64 SSB candidate positions within an SSB burst set into 8 groups, with each bit corresponding to one group. When the (m-th)th bit inInOneGroup is "1", and the corresponding 8 bits in the (m-th)th group of InOneGroup are also set to "1", it indicates that an SSB has actually been transmitted at that position. When the (m-th)th bit inInOneGroup is "0", the corresponding 8 SSB candidate positions in the (m-th)th group do not transmit an SSB.

[0124] Method 2: 4 bits, 8 bits, or 64 bits in total, providing high granularity and flexibility, but with high overhead for FR2.

[0125] Method 2 directly corresponds to all SSB candidate positions within an SSB burst set, with bit diagrams for the three cases of 4, 8, or 64. For example, a "1" bit at the k-th position indicates that an SSB was actually sent at that position, while a "0" bit indicates that no SSB was actually sent at that position. Furthermore, the k-th bit directly corresponds to the SSB index k-1.

[0126] Although the NR protocol includes the two indication methods mentioned above, TS 38.331 imposes a restriction on the definition of ssb-PositionsInBurst in method 2: "The network configures the same pattern in this field as in the corresponding field in ServingCellConfigCommonSIB." In other words, when the network configures the bit map of the actual SSB transmission position using method 2, it must be consistent with the bit map configured in method 1.

[0127] To minimize the system resource overhead used for the periodic broadcast PBCH, improve the success rate of PBCH decoding during initial access, and ensure reliable reception with sufficient cell coverage and edge coverage, the basic principle of PBCH design is to minimize the PBCH payload. As shown in the table below, the NR PBCH payload is 56 bits, of which 24 bits come from the higher-layer broadcast channel BCCH-BCH, including 23 bits of MIB; the physical layer provides the remaining 32 bits of the PBCH, including 8 bits of information related to SSB transmission time and 24 bits of CRC. Within an SSB burst set, the PBCH content of all SSBs is identical, except for the SSB index and CRC.

[0128] In 5G NR systems, the maximum transmission period for Synchronization Signal Blocks (SSBs) is 160ms. However, the network typically transmits SSBs at smaller periods (e.g., 20ms) to ensure network terminal synchronization performance, random access speed and reliability, terminal system message acquisition speed, SSB-based measurements, and cell reselection timeliness. However, frequent and intensive SSB transmissions incur significant overhead, including time- and frequency-domain resource overhead, fragmentation of these resources, and increased power consumption on both the network and terminal sides. Reducing the overhead caused by SSB transmission while maintaining system performance would offer numerous benefits. This invention, by increasing the SSB transmission period, involves the network sending additional simplified synchronization signals or system messages. The design of these additional synchronization signals, which have multiple mapping possibilities in the frequency domain, requires consideration not only of the generation characteristics of the synchronization signal sequence but also of the bandwidth resources occupied in the frequency domain to ensure system performance.

[0129] Based on the above scheme, it is necessary to determine the time-frequency domain resource information of lightweight synchronization signals or system messages so that network devices can send simplified synchronization signals or system messages according to the time-frequency domain resource information, and terminals can receive simplified synchronization signals or system messages and perform synchronization, measurement, etc. Therefore, in order to solve the above technical problems, this disclosure proposes a communication method that can indicate first information and / or second information to the terminal, so that the terminal can determine whether the cell is sending complete synchronization signals and broadcast system messages or lightweight information.

[0130] The following is a schematic diagram of a communication method provided in this disclosure. Embodiments of this disclosure relate to a communication method that can be executed by a communication system, such as the communication system 100 shown in FIG1. ​​The communication system includes a terminal 101 and a network device 102. The communication method may include the following specific methods:

[0131] Figure 2 is one of the interactive schematic diagrams of the communication method provided in this embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 2, the method includes the following steps:

[0132] Step 2101: The network device sends first information and / or second information to the terminal. The center frequency of the frequency domain location of the first information is different from the center frequency of the frequency domain location of the second information, and / or the frequency domain resource size occupied by the first information is different from the frequency domain resource size occupied by the second information.

[0133] In the scheme disclosed herein, the first information and the second information can be "information block," "resource block," "time-frequency resource block," "resource block set," etc. Specifically, the first information and the second information can be an SSB burst set or an SSB. Optionally, the center frequency of the frequency domain location where the first information is located is different from the center frequency of the frequency domain location where the second information is located, and / or, the frequency domain resource size occupied by the first information is different from the frequency domain resource size occupied by the second information. In other words, the same base station can simultaneously have the ability to transmit the first information and the ability to transmit the second information.

[0134] In some embodiments, the names of information, etc., are not limited to the names described in the embodiments. Terms such as "information", "message", "signal", "signaling", "report", "configuration", "indication", "instruction", "command", "channel", "parameter", "domain", "field", "symbol", "symbol", "codebook", "codeword", "codepoint", "bit", "data", "program", and "chip" can be used interchangeably.

[0135] In some embodiments, the terms "codebook," "codeword," and "precoding matrix" can be used interchangeably. For example, a codebook can be a collection of one or more codewords / precoding matrices.

[0136] In some embodiments, the network device may send first information and / or second information to the terminal, but is not limited thereto; it may also send the first information to other entities. The terminal device may receive the first information and / or second information sent by the network device, but is not limited thereto; the terminal device may also receive the first information and / or second information sent by other entities, which is not limited in this disclosure.

[0137] In some embodiments, network devices may send first information and / or second information via the downlink. Terms such as "downlink control information (DCI)," "downlink (DL) assignment," "DL DCI," "uplink (UL) grant," and "UL DCI" may be used interchangeably.

[0138] In some embodiments, terms such as "physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH)" and "DL data" can be used interchangeably, as can terms such as "physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)" and "UL data".

[0139] In some embodiments, the terms "uplink", "uplink", and "physical uplink" can be used interchangeably, as can the terms "downlink", "downlink", and "physical downlink", as well as the terms "sidelink", "sidelink", "sidelink communication", "sidelink communication", "direct connection", "direct link", "direct communication", and "direct link communication".

[0140] In some embodiments, "acquire," "get," "obtain," "receive," "transmit," "bidirectional transmission," and "send and / or receive" can be used interchangeably and can be interpreted as receiving from other entities, acquiring from protocols, acquiring from higher layers, obtaining through self-processing, or autonomous implementation. Protocols include, for example, at least one of the 3GPP protocol, Wi-Fi protocol, and audio and / or video protocols.

[0141] In some embodiments, terms such as “send,” “transmit,” “report,” “distribute,” “transfer,” “bidirectional transmission,” “send and / or receive” can be used interchangeably.

[0142] In some embodiments, the terms "synchronization signal (SS)," "synchronization signal block (SSB)," "reference signal (RS)," "pilot," and "pilot signal" can be used interchangeably.

[0143] In some embodiments, the SSB burst set can be a set of time-frequency resource blocks transmitted by a cell within a period. For example, a first cell can transmit 4 SSBs within a first period, that is, the first information of the first cell within a period contains 4 SSBs.

[0144] In some embodiments, the first information carries a first signal and a first system message, and the second information carries at least one of a second signal and a second system message.

[0145] In some embodiments, each time-frequency resource block included in the first information carries a first signal and a first system message, and each time-frequency resource block included in the second information carries at least one of a second signal and a second system message.

[0146] The first signal can be a synchronization signal carried in the SSB, including at least one of PSS and SSS; the first system message can be the PBCH in the SSB, specifically the Master Information Block (MIB) in the PBCH. Similarly, the second signal can be a synchronization signal carried in the SSB, including at least one of PSS and SSS. Optionally, the first message can carry PSS, SSS, and PBCH, and the second message can carry at least one of PSS and SSS. For example, the second message can carry PSS, or it can carry both PSS and SSS, or it can carry only PBCH. Preferably, the first message carries PSS, SSS, and PBCH, and the second message carries PSS and SSS.

[0147] In other words, the first information can carry complete information, while the second information can carry only partial information, achieving lightweight information carrying. That is, the second information can be lightweight information; for example, the second information could be a lightweight SSB, while the first information could be a complete SSB. The terminal can obtain the system messages contained in the PBCH carried by the complete first information. The system messages can instruct the terminal on the information required for random access. The terminal can access the network based on the first information. Similarly, the terminal can also perform at least one of synchronization, measurement, and measurement result reporting based on the first signal carried by the first information. However, the terminal cannot simultaneously achieve synchronization and access based on the lightweight second information. For example, when the second information carries a signal, the terminal can only perform at least one of synchronization, measurement, and measurement result reporting, and cannot perform random access.

[0148] In some embodiments, sending the first information and / or the second information includes: sending the first information and / or the second information according to a first period, wherein the first period is greater than or equal to 20ms.

[0149] Optionally, the same base station can use the same period to send the first and second information, and the first period is greater than or equal to 20ms. This allows for the transmission of the first and / or second information with a larger period, reducing the transmission density of SSBs and avoiding further problems caused by frequent and dense SSB transmissions, including increased overhead of time and frequency domain resources, fragmentation of time and frequency domain resources, and increased power consumption on the network and terminal sides. Optionally, the first period is a positive integer, and its value includes, but is not limited to, {20, 40, 80, 160, 320, 640, 1280, 2560, 5120} milliseconds. That is, this scheme can use larger period numbers such as 2560ms and 5120ms to send the first and / or second information.

[0150] In some embodiments, the first signal includes at least one sequence signal, wherein each sequence signal is generated from at least one of a ZC sequence of length N, an m sequence of length N, and a Gold sequence of length N, where N is greater than zero information bits; the second signal includes at least one sequence signal, wherein each sequence signal is generated from at least one of a ZC sequence of length M, an m sequence of length M, and a Gold sequence of length M, where M is greater than zero information bits.

[0151] In other words, the first signal includes at least one sequence signal, wherein each sequence signal is obtained by modulation and cyclic shifting of at least one of a ZC sequence, an m sequence, and a Gold sequence of length N, where N is greater than zero information bits; the second signal includes at least one sequence signal, wherein each sequence signal is obtained by modulation and cyclic shifting of at least one of a ZC sequence, an m sequence, and a Gold sequence of length M, where M is greater than zero information bits. M is either less than N or greater than N. Optionally, M = N.

[0152] In other words, the synchronization signal may include at least one of PSS and SSS, which is generated from the sequence, where M can be equal to N. Optionally, the smaller the values ​​of the sequence length N and M, the less information the generated sequence signal carries.

[0153] In some embodiments, the payload of the second system message is less than or equal to the payload of the first system message. The payload can be used to indicate the amount of information contained in the system message; that is, the second system message carries less information than the first system message, meaning the second system message is lightweight information.

[0154] In some embodiments, the first information includes W time-frequency resource blocks, each occupying K consecutive physical resource blocks in the frequency domain and P consecutive OFDM symbols in the time domain, where W≥1, K=20, and P=4; the second information includes R time-frequency resource blocks, each occupying L physical resource blocks in the frequency domain and Q consecutive OFDM symbols in the time domain, where R≥1, L≠20, and Q<4.

[0155] In other words, the first information can contain one or more time-frequency resource blocks, such as SSBs. Each time-frequency resource block can occupy multiple consecutive physical resource blocks (PRBs) in the frequency domain. Each time-frequency resource block of the first information can occupy multiple consecutive OFDM symbols in the time domain. Since the first information is a complete SSB, which contains both synchronization signals and system messages, each time-frequency resource block of the first information can occupy 20 consecutive physical resource blocks in the frequency domain, i.e., K = 20. Each time-frequency resource block of the first information occupies 4 consecutive OFDM symbols in the time domain, i.e., P = 4.

[0156] In some embodiments, the L physical resource blocks satisfy any of the following: the L physical resource blocks are consecutive and L is less than K; the L physical resource blocks are consecutive and L is greater than K; the L physical resource blocks include physical resource blocks that have mapped second information between the lowest frequency and the highest frequency, and physical resource blocks that have not mapped any information between the lowest frequency and the highest frequency, and physical resource blocks that have mapped second information between the lowest frequency and the highest frequency are discontinuous.

[0157] Optionally, the first information may include one or more time-frequency resource blocks, such as SSBs. A time-frequency resource block may occupy multiple consecutive physical resource blocks (PRBs) in the frequency domain, or it may occupy multiple non-consecutive physical resource blocks (PRBs), for example, it may occupy physical resource blocks 0-8 and 15-19. In this case, 9-14 also belongs to the same time-frequency resource block, and other time-frequency resource blocks are not allowed to occupy physical resource blocks 9-14. When a time-frequency resource block occupies multiple consecutive physical resource blocks (PRBs) in the frequency domain, the second information is mapped onto all of these consecutive PRBs. When a time-frequency resource block occupies multiple non-consecutive physical resource blocks (PRBs) in the frequency domain, the L physical resource blocks occupied may include some PRBs mapped to the second information, or they may include blank PRBs. Other time-frequency resource blocks are not allowed to be mapped onto blank PRBs. Here, L can be greater than K or less than K, meaning the bandwidth of the second information in the frequency domain can be greater than or less than the bandwidth of the first information in the frequency domain.

[0158] In some embodiments, any time-frequency resource block in the second information includes a second signal, which may include two different sequence signals or multiple identical sequence signals.

[0159] In some embodiments, the second signal satisfies at least one of the following: two different sequence signals occupy the same resources in the frequency domain and are aligned end-to-end, and occupy two consecutive OFDM symbols in the time domain; two different sequence signals are mapped into the same OFDM symbol in the time domain, and are frequency-division multiplexed in the frequency domain and spaced apart by X resource elements (REs) or Y physical resource blocks (PRBs), where X≥0 and Y≥0; multiple identical sequence signals are mapped into the same OFDM symbol in the time domain, and are frequency-division multiplexed in the frequency domain and spaced apart by X resource elements (REs) or Y physical resource blocks (PRBs), where X≥0 and Y≥0.

[0160] In other words, the second signal carried by the second information may include two different sequence signals, or multiple identical sequence signals. When the second signal includes two different sequence signals, for example, when the second signal includes a primary synchronization signal PSS and a secondary synchronization signal SSS, PSS and SSS can occupy the same resources in the frequency domain and be aligned end-to-end, and occupy two consecutive OFDM symbols in the time domain. That is, PSS and SSS can occupy the same PRB or RE position, for example, they can both occupy PRBs #4 to #15, and PSS and SSS are mapped to different OFDM symbols; or PSS and SSS can be mapped in the same OFDM symbol in the time domain, and frequency-division multiplexed in the frequency domain with an interval of X resource elements RE or Y physical resource blocks PRB, where X≥0, Y≥0, that is, PSS and SSS can occupy PRBs or REs at different positions, and PSS and SSS are mapped to the same OFDM symbol.

[0161] In some embodiments, the terms “resource block (RB)”, “physical resource block (PR B)”, “sub-carrier group (SCG)”, “resource element group (REG)”, “PRB pair”, “RB pair”, “resource element (RE)”, and “sub-carrier” can be used interchangeably.

[0162] Optionally, when the PSS and SSS can be mapped to the same OFDM symbol in the time domain, short sequences can be used to generate the PSS and SSS, reducing the number of resource elements (REs) or physical resource blocks (PRBs) occupied by the PSS and SSS, for example, only 6 or 8 PRBs. Optionally, when the PSS and SSS can be mapped to the same OFDM symbol in the time domain, the PSS can be at a high frequency and the SSS at a low frequency; or the PSS can be at a low frequency and the SSS at a high frequency. Alternatively, when the second signal contains more than two sequence signals, the frequency band positions of the different sequence signals can be determined using other methods. Optionally, when the second signal contains more than two sequence signals, the frequency domain positions occupied by different sequence signals and the mapped time domain positions can be determined according to the above scheme, and will not be elaborated further here.

[0163] Step 2102: The terminal performs correlation detection on each sequence signal included in the first information and / or the second information, and obtains the detection result.

[0164] In some embodiments, the terminal may receive first information and / or second information. Receiving the first information and / or second information by the terminal includes receiving the first information and / or second information according to a second period, wherein the second period is greater than or equal to 20ms.

[0165] In some embodiments, the second period satisfies at least one of the following: the second period is a default value; the second period is equal to the first period, and the first period is the period during which the network device sends the first information and / or the second information.

[0166] In other words, the terminal device can attempt to receive / detect the first information and / or the second information according to a default period value. This second period value can be pre-configured or protocol-defined, and its values ​​include, but are not limited to, one of the following milliseconds: {5, 10, 20, 40, 80, 160, 320, 640, 1280, 2560, 5120}. Alternatively, the terminal can attempt to receive / detect the first information and / or the second information according to the period value used by the network device to send the first information and / or the second information. Optionally, when the terminal receives the first information and / or the second information, it is actually attempting to receive / detect the first information and / or the second information; that is, the terminal can blindly detect the first information and / or the second information.

[0167] In some embodiments, the method further includes:

[0168] If the first and / or second information is not successfully received after time T according to the second cycle, the first and / or second information shall be received according to the third cycle.

[0169] In other words, if the terminal device attempts to receive / detect the first and / or second information according to the second cycle, but fails to receive the first or second information after a relatively long period, it can adjust the cycle for attempting to receive / detect the first and / or second information. For example, it can increase the cycle to indicate the attempt to receive / detect the first and / or second information over a longer period, or it can decrease the cycle to indicate the attempt to receive / detect the first and / or second information over a shorter period. The value of the third cycle includes, but is not limited to, one of the following milliseconds: {5, 10, 20, 40, 80, 160, 320, 640, 1280, 2560, 5120}.

[0170] In some embodiments, after receiving the first information or the second information, the terminal device can perform correlation detection on each sequence signal included in the first information or the second information to determine the correlation between the sequence signal in the first information or the second information and the terminal's local sequence signal. When the correlation between the sequence signal in the first information or the second information and the terminal's local sequence signal is high, the detection result will show a peak. That is, the detection result can be used to indicate the degree of correlation between the sequence signal in the first information or the second information and the terminal's local sequence signal, and can indicate the frequency domain position corresponding to the peak, wherein the peak point is the synchronization point for the terminal and the network device to synchronize.

[0171] Step 2103: The terminal determines the resource information of the first information and / or the second information based on the detection results.

[0172] In some embodiments, the method further includes: performing correlation detection on each sequence signal included in the first information and / or the second information, and obtaining a detection result; and determining resource information of the first information and / or the second information based on the detection result. That is, after determining the detection result, the resource information of the first information and / or the second information can be determined based on the detection result. Optionally, the resource information of the first information and / or the second information can be determined based on the sequence signals with high correlation. For example, the resource information of the first information and / or the second information can be determined based on the aforementioned peak point. Specifically, the aforementioned peak point can be determined as the center point of the first information and / or the second information, for example, it can be the center point in the time domain or the center point in the frequency domain. The resource information can be determined based on the peak point and the sequence length of the first information and / or the second information.

[0173] In some embodiments, the resource information includes at least one of the following: the resource location of the first information in the frequency domain; the resource start location of the first information in the time domain; the resource end location of the first information in the time domain; the identification information of the network or network device that sent the first information; the resource location of the second information in the frequency domain; the resource start location of the second information in the time domain; the resource end location of the second information in the time domain; and the identification information of the network or network device that sent the second information.

[0174] In other words, the position of the first and / or second information in the frequency domain and the start and end positions of the first and / or second information in the time domain can be determined based on the peak point and the sequence length of the first and / or second information, and the identifier of the base station that sent the first and / or second information can be determined.

[0175] In some embodiments, the method further includes: performing signal measurement based on at least one sequence signal in the first information and / or the second information, and obtaining a received power value. In other words, after receiving the first information and / or the second information, the terminal device can perform signal measurement based on the sequence signal in the first information and / or the second information to obtain the corresponding received power value. The received power value may be, for example, the Reference Signal Receiving Power (RSRP) or the Reference Signal Receiving Quality (RSRQ), etc., which are not limited in this disclosure.

[0176] In some embodiments, when the terminal device receives the first information and / or the second information, it can decode the system message (e.g., MIB) in the first information and / or the second information. Optionally, the terminal device can decode each information field (i.e., each information field in the MIB) in the first system message and / or the second system message. After successful decoding, it can obtain the information carried in the system message, such as information related to random access, etc.

[0177] In some embodiments, the steps and their optional implementations in other embodiments described before or after this embodiment, as well as other related parts in the specification, can be referred to, and will not be repeated here.

[0178] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of one of the communication methods provided in this disclosure. As shown in Figure 3, the method includes the following steps:

[0179] Step 3101: The network device sends first information and / or second information to the terminal. The center frequency of the frequency domain location of the first information is different from the center frequency of the frequency domain location of the second information, and / or the frequency domain resource size occupied by the first information is different from the frequency domain resource size occupied by the second information.

[0180] In some embodiments, the steps and their optional implementations in other embodiments (such as the embodiment in Figure 2) described before or after this embodiment, as well as other related parts in the specification, can be referred to, which will not be repeated here.

[0181] The following is an exemplary description of the above method.

[0182] The method illustrated in this disclosure relates to a novel method for lightweight design of air interface signals, the full content of which is as follows.

[0183] Network side:

[0184] 1) The network side (base station) sends the first and second information.

[0185] 2) The network side sends the first and second information according to the first cycle.

[0186] a) The first period is a positive integer, and its value includes but is not limited to {20, 40, 80, 160, 320, 640, 1280, 2560, 5120} milliseconds.

[0187] 3) The aforementioned first information possesses at least one of the following characteristics:

[0188] a) The first information carries the synchronization signal and the first system message;

[0189] The aforementioned synchronization signal includes at least one signal generated from a sequence, each signal being obtained by modulation and cyclic shifting of a ZC sequence, m sequence, or Gold sequence of length N (N>0); the aforementioned first system message includes the most important basic information on the network side.

[0190] b) The first information occupies K (K>0) consecutive physical resource blocks in the frequency domain;

[0191] c) The first information contains one or W (W>1) time-frequency resource blocks; the frequency domain of the aforementioned time-frequency resource block occupies K consecutive physical resource blocks, and the time domain occupies P consecutive OFDM symbols; when the first information includes W time-frequency resource blocks, each time-frequency resource block carries a synchronization signal and a first system message.

[0192] 4) The above second information possesses at least one of the following characteristics:

[0193] a) The second information carries either a synchronization signal or a second system message; the synchronization signal includes at least one signal generated from a sequence, each signal being obtained by modulation and cyclic shifting of a ZC sequence, m-sequence, or Gold sequence of length M (M>0). The value characteristics of M include M<N、M> At least one of N and M = N. The aforementioned second system message includes the most important basic information on the network side. The payload of the second system message is less than or equal to the payload of the first system message.

[0194] b) The second information contains one or R (R>1) time-frequency resource blocks; the frequency domain of the aforementioned time-frequency resource block occupies L consecutive physical resource blocks, and the time domain occupies Q consecutive OFDM symbols; when the second information includes R time-frequency resource blocks, each time-frequency resource block carries either a synchronization signal or a second system message.

[0195] 5) In addition to the features described in 4) above, the second information also possesses at least one of the following features:

[0196] a) The second information occupies L (L>0) consecutive physical resource blocks in the frequency domain; L<K, that is, the frequency domain bandwidth of the second information is less than the frequency domain bandwidth of the first information.

[0197] b) The second information occupies J (J>0) consecutive physical resource blocks in the frequency domain; J>K, that is, the frequency domain bandwidth of the second information is greater than the frequency domain bandwidth of the first information

[0198] c) The second information occupies L (L>0) physical resource blocks in the frequency domain; (the frequency domain continuity of the physical resource blocks is not restricted here) when the second information is discontinuous in the frequency domain, the L physical resource blocks include the physical resource blocks that map the second information from the lowest frequency to the highest frequency, and at the same time include the physical resource blocks that do not map any information within this frequency domain range.

[0199] d) Any time-frequency resource block in the second information only contains synchronization signals, and the synchronization signals are composed of 2 different sequence signals (for example, a primary synchronization signal PSS and a secondary synchronization signal SSS). The mapping characteristics of the 2 different sequence signals in the time-frequency domain include at least one of the following characteristics:

[0200] As shown in Figure 4A, the 2 synchronization sequence signals occupy the same resources in the frequency domain and are aligned at the head and tail, and occupy two consecutive OFDM symbols in the time domain; as shown in Figure 4B, the 2 synchronization sequence signals are mapped within the same OFDM and are frequency division multiplexed in the frequency domain. There are X (X>=0) REs or Y (Y>=0) PRBs between the first sequence and the second sequence in the frequency domain. The first sequence is at the low-frequency position and the second sequence is at the high-frequency position; or the second sequence is at the low-frequency position and the first sequence is at the high-frequency position. Optionally, H (H>1) identical sequence signals are mapped in an OFDM symbol by frequency division multiplexing, for example, 4 primary synchronization signals are mapped, and the H synchronization signals are spaced X (X>=0) REs or Y (Y>=0) PRBs in the frequency domain.

[0201] Terminal side:

[0202] 1) The terminal receives the first information and the second information.

[0203] 2) The terminal retrieves the first information and the second information according to the second period value, and the second period value has one of the following special features:

[0204] a) The second period value is a default value, and the values include but are not limited to one value in {5, 10, 20, 40, 80, 160, 320, 640, 1280, 2560, 5120} milliseconds;

[0205] b) The second period value is equal to the first period value;

[0206] c) The terminal retrieves the first information according to a default second period value. If the first information is not obtained after a first continuous time length T, the terminal retrieves the first information using a third period value. The value of the third period includes, but is not limited to, one of the following milliseconds: {5, 10, 20, 40, 80, 160, 320, 640, 1280, 2560, 5120}.

[0207] 3) The terminal receiving the first information possesses at least one of the following characteristics:

[0208] a) The terminal receives the synchronization signal and the first system message carried in the first information;

[0209] b) The behavior of the terminal receiving the synchronization signal carried in the first information includes at least one of the following:

[0210] The terminal performs correlation detection on each sequence signal contained in the synchronization signal;

[0211] Based on the detection result of at least one of the above sequence signals, the terminal obtains at least one of the following information: the resource location of the first information in the frequency domain, the resource start position and end position of the first information in the time domain, and sends the ID information of the network / base station where the first information is located.

[0212] The terminal measures the received power value based on at least one of the sequence signals mentioned above.

[0213] c) The terminal's behavior of receiving the first system message carried in the first information includes: the terminal decoding each information field in the first system message and obtaining the information carried therein.

[0214] 4) The terminal receiving the second information possesses at least one of the following characteristics:

[0215] a) The terminal receives at least one of the synchronization signal and the second system message carried in the second information;

[0216] b) The terminal's behavior in receiving the synchronization signal carried in the second information includes at least one of the following:

[0217] The terminal performs correlation detection on each sequence signal contained in the synchronization signal;

[0218] Based on the detection result of at least one of the above sequence signals, the terminal obtains at least one of the following information: the resource location of the second information in the frequency domain, the resource start and end positions of the second information in the time domain, and sends the ID information of the network / base station where the second information is located.

[0219] The terminal measures the received power value based on at least one of the sequence signals mentioned above.

[0220] c) The terminal's behavior of receiving the second system message carried in the second information includes: the terminal decoding each information field in the second system message and obtaining the information carried therein.

[0221] In summary, the above examples of this disclosure can determine the frequency domain location and the amount of frequency domain resources occupied by simplified synchronization signals or system messages, so that some cells can send only lightweight synchronization signals, saving resource overhead, and making it easier for terminals to receive simplified synchronization signals or system messages and perform synchronization, measurement, etc.

[0222] In the embodiments disclosed herein, some or all of the steps and their optional implementations may be arbitrarily combined with some or all of the steps in other embodiments, or may be arbitrarily combined with the optional implementations in other embodiments.

[0223] This disclosure also proposes an apparatus (also referred to as a communication device, etc.) for implementing any of the above methods. For example, an apparatus is proposed, which includes units or modules for implementing the steps performed by the terminal in any of the above methods.

[0224] It should be understood that the division of units or modules in the above device is only a logical functional division. In actual implementation, they can be fully or partially integrated into a single physical entity, or they can be physically separated. Furthermore, the units or modules in the device can be implemented by a processor calling software: for example, the device includes a processor connected to a memory containing instructions. The processor calls the instructions stored in the memory to implement any of the above methods or to implement the functions of the units or modules in the above device. The processor can be, for example, a general-purpose processor, such as a Central Processing Unit (CPU) or a microprocessor, and the memory can be internal or external to the device. Alternatively, the units or modules in the device can be implemented in the form of hardware circuits. The functionality of some or all of the units or modules can be achieved through the design of these hardware circuits, which can be understood as one or more processors. For example, in one implementation, the hardware circuit is an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The functionality of some or all of the units or modules is achieved through the design of the logical relationships between the components within the circuit. In another implementation, the hardware circuit can be implemented using a programmable logic device (PLD). Taking a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) as an example, it can include a large number of logic gates. The connection relationships between the logic gates are configured through configuration files, thereby achieving the functionality of some or all of the units or modules. All units or modules of the above device can be implemented entirely through processor-called software, entirely through hardware circuits, or partially through processor-called software with the remaining parts implemented through hardware circuits.

[0225] In this embodiment, the processor is a circuit with signal processing capabilities. In one implementation, the processor can be a circuit with instruction read and execute capabilities, such as a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a microprocessor, a graphics processing unit (GPU) (which can be understood as a microprocessor), or a digital signal processor (DSP). In another implementation, the processor can implement certain functions through the logical relationships of hardware circuits. The logical relationships of the aforementioned hardware circuits are fixed or reconfigurable. For example, the processor is a hardware circuit implemented using an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or a programmable logic device (PLD), such as an FPGA. In a reconfigurable hardware circuit, the process of the processor loading a configuration document and configuring the hardware circuit can be understood as the process of the processor loading instructions to implement the functions of some or all of the above units or modules. Furthermore, it can also be a hardware circuit designed for artificial intelligence, which can be understood as an ASIC, such as a Neural Network Processing Unit (NPU), a Tensor Processing Unit (TPU), or a Deep Learning Processing Unit (DPU).

[0226] Figure 5A is a schematic diagram of the structure of a terminal according to an embodiment of this disclosure. The terminal 5100 is used to perform any of the above methods. In some embodiments, as shown in Figure 5A, the terminal 5100 may include a transceiver module 5101.

[0227] In some embodiments, the transceiver module is used to receive first information and / or second information sent by the network device, wherein the center frequency of the frequency domain location of the first information is different from the center frequency of the frequency domain location of the second information, and / or the frequency domain resource size occupied by the first information is different from the frequency domain resource size occupied by the second information; optionally, the transceiver module is used to perform at least one of the communication steps such as receiving / sending performed by the terminal 5100 in any of the above methods (e.g., step 2101, step 3101, etc., but not limited thereto), which will not be elaborated here.

[0228] In some embodiments, the terminal further includes a processing module, configured to perform correlation detection on each sequence signal included in the first information and / or the second information, and obtain a detection result; and determine the resource information of the first information and / or the second information based on the detection result.

[0229] In some embodiments, the processing module may be a single module or may include multiple sub-modules. Optionally, the multiple sub-modules may each perform all or part of the steps required by the processing module.

[0230] In some embodiments, the processing module can be interchanged with the processor, and the transceiver module can include a transmitting module and / or a receiving module. The transmitting module and the receiving module can be separate or integrated together, and the transceiver module can be interchanged with the transceiver.

[0231] Figure 5B is a schematic diagram of the structure of a network device according to an embodiment of this disclosure. The network device 5200 is used to perform any of the above methods. In some embodiments, as shown in Figure 5B, the terminal 5200 may include a transceiver module 5201.

[0232] In some embodiments, the transceiver module is used to send first information and / or second information to the terminal, wherein the center frequency of the frequency domain location of the first information is different from the center frequency of the frequency domain location of the second information, and / or the frequency domain resource size occupied by the first information is different from the frequency domain resource size occupied by the second information; optionally, the transceiver module is used to perform at least one of the communication steps such as receiving and / or sending performed by the network device 5200 in any of the above methods (e.g., step 2101, step 3101, etc., but not limited thereto), which will not be elaborated here.

[0233] In some embodiments, the transceiver module may include a transmitting module and / or a receiving module, which may be separate or integrated. Optionally, the transceiver module may be interchangeable with a transceiver.

[0234] Figure 6A is a schematic diagram of the structure of the communication device 6100 proposed in an embodiment of this disclosure. The communication device 6100 can be a network device (e.g., access network device, core network device, etc.), a terminal (e.g., user equipment, etc.), a chip, chip system, or processor that supports the network device in implementing any of the above methods, or a chip, chip system, or processor that supports the terminal in implementing any of the above methods. The communication device 6100 can be used to implement the methods described in the above method embodiments; for details, please refer to the descriptions in the above method embodiments.

[0235] As shown in Figure 6A, the communication device 6100 is used to execute any of the above methods. In some embodiments, the communication device 6100 includes one or more processors 6101. The processor 6101 may be a general-purpose processor or a special-purpose processor, such as a baseband processor or a central processing unit. The baseband processor may be used to process communication protocols and communication data, and the central processing unit may be used to control communication devices (e.g., base stations, baseband chips, terminal devices, terminal device chips, DUs or CUs, etc.), execute programs, and process program data. Optionally, the communication device 6100 is used to execute any of the above methods. Optionally, one or more processors 6101 are used to invoke instructions to cause the communication device 6100 to execute any of the above methods.

[0236] In some embodiments, the communication device 6100 further includes one or more transceivers 6102. When the communication device 6100 includes one or more transceivers 6102, the transceiver 6102 performs at least one of the communication steps (e.g., steps 2101, 3101, but not limited thereto) in the above method, such as sending and / or receiving, and the processor 6101 performs at least one of other steps (e.g., step 2102, but not limited thereto). In optional embodiments, the transceiver may include a receiver and / or a transmitter, which may be separate or integrated together. Optionally, the terms transceiver, transceiver unit, transceiver, transceiver circuit, interface circuit, interface, etc., can be used interchangeably; the terms transmitter, sending unit, transmitter, sending circuit, etc., can be used interchangeably; and the terms receiver, receiving unit, receiver, receiving circuit, etc., can be used interchangeably.

[0237] In some embodiments, the communication device 6100 further includes one or more memories 6103 for storing data and / or instructions. Optionally, one or more processors 6101 are used to invoke instructions stored in the memory 6103 to cause the communication device 6100 to perform any of the above methods. Optionally, all or part of the memory 6103 may also be located outside the communication device 6100. In an optional embodiment, the communication device 6100 may include one or more interface circuits 6104. Optionally, the interface circuit 6104 is connected to the memory 6102 and can be used to receive data and / or instructions from the memory 6102 or other devices, and can be used to send data and / or instructions to the memory 6102 or other devices. For example, the interface circuit 6104 can read data and / or instructions stored in the memory 6102 and send the data and / or instructions to the processor 6101.

[0238] The communication device 6100 described in the above embodiments may be a network device or a terminal, but the scope of the communication device 6100 described in this disclosure is not limited thereto, and the structure of the communication device 6100 may not be limited by FIG. 6A. The communication device may be a standalone device or a part of a larger device. For example, the communication device may be: (1) a standalone integrated circuit IC, or chip, or chip system or subsystem; (2) a collection of one or more ICs, optionally, the IC collection may also include storage components for storing data, programs and / or instructions; (3) an ASIC, such as a modem; (4) a module that can be embedded in other devices; (5) a receiver, terminal device, smart terminal device, cellular phone, wireless device, handheld device, mobile unit, vehicle device, network device, cloud device, artificial intelligence device, etc.; (6) others, etc.

[0239] Figure 6B is a schematic diagram of the structure of chip 6200 according to an embodiment of this disclosure. For cases where the communication device 6100 can be a chip or a chip system, please refer to the schematic diagram of chip 6200 shown in Figure 6B, but it is not limited thereto.

[0240] Chip 6200 includes one or more processors 6201. Chip 6200 is used to perform any of the methods described above.

[0241] In some embodiments, chip 6200 further includes one or more interface circuits 6202. Optionally, terms such as interface circuit, interface, and transceiver pin can be used interchangeably. In some embodiments, chip 6200 further includes one or more memories 6203 for storing data and / or instructions. Optionally, all or part of the memories 6203 may be located outside of chip 6200. Optionally, interface circuit 6202 is connected to memory 6203, and interface circuit 6202 can be used to receive data and / or instructions from memory 6203 or other devices, and interface circuit 6202 can be used to send data and / or instructions to memory 6203 or other devices. For example, interface circuit 6202 can read data and / or instructions stored in memory 6203 and send the data and / or instructions to processor 6201.

[0242] In some embodiments, the interface circuit 6202 performs at least one of the communication steps such as sending and / or receiving in the above-described method (e.g., steps 2101, 3101, but not limited thereto). For example, the interface circuit 6202 performing the communication steps such as sending and / or receiving in the above-described method means that the interface circuit 6202 performs data and / or instruction interaction between the processor 6201, the chip 6200, the memory 6203, or the transceiver device. In some embodiments, the processor 6201 performs at least one of other steps (e.g., step 2102, but not limited thereto).

[0243] The modules and / or devices described in the various embodiments, such as virtual devices, physical devices, and chips, can be combined or separated arbitrarily as needed. Optionally, some or all steps can also be performed collaboratively by multiple modules and / or devices, which is not limited here.

[0244] This disclosure also proposes a storage medium storing instructions that, when executed on a communication device, cause the communication device to perform any of the above methods. Optionally, the storage medium is an electronic storage medium. Optionally, the storage medium is a computer-readable storage medium, but not limited thereto; it may also be a storage medium readable by other devices. Optionally, the storage medium may be a non-transitory storage medium, but not limited thereto; it may also be a temporary storage medium.

[0245] This disclosure also proposes a program product, including a program and / or instructions, which, when executed by a communication device, cause the communication device to perform any of the above methods. Optionally, the program product is a computer program product. Optionally, the program product is stored on the storage medium.

[0246] This disclosure also proposes a computer program that, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform any of the above methods.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, The method is performed by a network device, and the method includes: Send a first message and / or a second message, wherein the center frequency of the frequency domain location of the first message is different from the center frequency of the frequency domain location of the second message, and / or the frequency domain resource size occupied by the first message is different from the frequency domain resource size occupied by the second message.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The sending of the first information and / or the second information includes: The first information and / or the second information are sent according to a first cycle, wherein the first cycle is greater than or equal to 20ms.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The first information carries a first signal and a first system message, and the second information carries at least one of a second signal and a second system message.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, The first signal includes at least one sequence signal, wherein each sequence signal is generated by at least one of a ZC sequence of length N, an m sequence of length N, and a Gold sequence of length N, where N is greater than zero information bits; The second signal includes at least one sequence signal, wherein each sequence signal is generated by at least one of a ZC sequence of length M, an m sequence of length M, and a Gold sequence of length M, wherein M is greater than zero information bits.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, M is less than N, or M is greater than N.

6. The method according to any one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that, The payload of the second system message is less than or equal to the payload of the first system message.

7. The method according to any one of claims 3 to 6, characterized in that, The first information includes W time-frequency resource blocks, each of which occupies K consecutive physical resource blocks in the frequency domain and P consecutive OFDM symbols in the time domain, where W≥1, K=20, and P=4; The second information includes R time-frequency resource blocks, each of which occupies L physical resource blocks in the frequency domain and Q consecutive OFDM symbols in the time domain, where R≥1, L≠20, and Q<4.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that, The first information includes each time-frequency resource block carrying the first signal and the first system message, and the second information includes each time-frequency resource block carrying at least one of the second signal and the second system message.

9. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 8, characterized in that, The L physical resource blocks satisfy any one of the following: The L physical resource blocks are consecutive, and L is less than K; The L physical resource blocks are consecutive, and L is greater than K; The L physical resource blocks include physical resource blocks that are mapped with the second information between the lowest and highest frequencies, and physical resource blocks that are not mapped with any information between the lowest and highest frequencies. The physical resource blocks that are mapped with the second information between the lowest and highest frequencies are discontinuous.

10. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 9, characterized in that, The second signal is included in any time-frequency resource block in the second information. The second signal includes two different sequence signals or multiple identical sequence signals.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that, The second signal satisfies at least one of the following: The two different sequence signals occupy the same resources in the frequency domain and are aligned end to end, and occupy two consecutive OFDM symbols in the time domain; The two different sequence signals are mapped in the same OFDM symbol in the time domain and are frequency-division multiplexed in the frequency domain with an interval of X resource elements (RE) or Y physical resource blocks (PRB), where X≥0 and Y≥0. The multiple identical sequence signals are mapped in the same OFDM symbol in the time domain and are frequency-division multiplexed in the frequency domain, with an interval of X resource elements (RE) or Y physical resource blocks (PRB), where X ≥ 0 and Y ≥ 0.

12. A communication method, characterized in that, The method is executed by a terminal, and the method includes: Receive first information and / or second information, wherein the center frequency of the frequency domain location of the first information is different from the center frequency of the frequency domain location of the second information, and / or the frequency domain resource size occupied by the first information is different from the frequency domain resource size occupied by the second information.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that, The receipt of the first information and / or the second information includes: The first information and / or the second information are received according to a second cycle, wherein the second cycle is greater than or equal to 20ms.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that, The second period satisfies at least one of the following: The second cycle is the default value; The second period is equal to the first period, where the first period is the period during which the network device sends the first information and / or the second information.

15. The method according to claim 13 or 14, characterized in that, The method further includes: If the first information and / or the second information are not successfully received after time T according to the second cycle, the first information and / or the second information shall be received according to the third cycle.

16. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 15, characterized in that: The first information carries a first signal and a first system message, and the second information carries at least one of a second signal and a second system message.

17. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that, The first signal includes at least one sequence signal, wherein each sequence signal is generated by at least one of a ZC sequence of length N, an m sequence of length N, and a Gold sequence of length N, where N is greater than zero information bits; The second signal includes at least one sequence signal, wherein each sequence signal is generated by at least one of a ZC sequence of length M, an m sequence of length M, and a Gold sequence of length M, wherein M is greater than zero information bits.

18. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that, M is less than N, or M is greater than N.

19. The method according to any one of claims 16 to 18, characterized in that, The payload of the second system message is less than or equal to the payload of the first system message.

20. The method according to any one of claims 16 to 19, characterized in that, The first information includes W time-frequency resource blocks, each of which occupies K consecutive physical resource blocks in the frequency domain and P consecutive OFDM symbols in the time domain, where W≥1, K=20, and P=4; The second information includes R time-frequency resource blocks, each of which occupies L physical resource blocks in the frequency domain and Q consecutive OFDM symbols in the time domain, where R≥1, L≠20, and Q<4.

21. The method according to claim 20, characterized in that, The first information includes each time-frequency resource block carrying the first signal and the first system message, and the second information includes each time-frequency resource block carrying at least one of the second signal and the second system message.

22. The method according to any one of claims 20 to 21, characterized in that, The L physical resource blocks satisfy any one of the following: The L physical resource blocks are consecutive, and L is less than K; The L physical resource blocks are consecutive, and L is greater than K; The L physical resource blocks include physical resource blocks that are mapped with the second information between the lowest and highest frequencies, and physical resource blocks that are not mapped with any information between the lowest and highest frequencies. The physical resource blocks that are mapped with the second information between the lowest and highest frequencies are discontinuous.

23. The method according to any one of claims 20 to 22, characterized in that, The second signal is included in any time-frequency resource block in the second information. The second signal includes two different sequence signals or multiple identical sequence signals.

24. The method according to claim 23, characterized in that, The second signal satisfies at least one of the following: The two different sequence signals occupy the same resources in the frequency domain and are aligned end to end, and occupy two consecutive OFDM symbols in the time domain; The two different sequence signals are mapped in the same OFDM symbol in the time domain and are frequency-division multiplexed in the frequency domain with an interval of X resource elements (RE) or Y physical resource blocks (PRB), where X≥0 and Y≥0. The multiple identical sequence signals are mapped in the same OFDM symbol in the time domain and are frequency-division multiplexed in the frequency domain, with an interval of X resource elements (RE) or Y physical resource blocks (PRB), where X ≥ 0 and Y ≥ 0.

25. The method according to any one of claims 17 to 24, characterized in that, The method further includes: Correlation detection is performed on each sequence signal included in the first information and / or the second information, and the detection result is obtained; Based on the detection results, the resource information of the first information and / or the second information is determined.

26. The method according to claim 25, characterized in that, The resource information includes at least one of the following: The resource location of the first information in the frequency domain; The starting position of the resource in the time domain of the first information; The resource cutoff position in the time domain for the first information; Send the identification information of the network or network device where the first information is located; The resource location of the second information in the frequency domain; The second information refers to the starting position of the resource in the time domain; The resource cutoff position in the time domain for the second information; Send the identification information of the network or network device where the second information is located.

27. The method according to any one of claims 17 to 26, characterized in that, The method further includes: Based on at least one sequence signal from the first information and / or the second information, a signal measurement is performed to obtain the received power value.

28. A communication device, characterized in that, The communication device is used to perform the method according to any one of claims 1-11 or 12-27.

29. A storage medium storing instructions, characterized in that, When the instructions are executed on the communication device, the communication device performs the method as described in any one of claims 1-11 or 12-27.

30. A program product comprising at least one of a program and instructions, characterized in that, When at least one of the programs or instructions is executed by the communication device, it implements the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1-11 or 12-27.

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