Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

Provided are a communication method and apparatus. The method comprises: a terminal receives first indication information from a network device, the first indication information being used for indicating that the terminal needs to receive a measurement resource in an available time slot; and the terminal receives the measurement resource in the available time slot on the basis of the first indication information, wherein the measurement resource comprises one or more reference signals, the available time slot at least comprises a downlink symbol or a flexible symbol, the downlink symbol or the flexible symbol is used for receiving the reference signals, and a time domain position of the downlink symbol or the flexible symbol at least comprises symbol positions of the reference signals. A terminal can achieve reception of a measurement resource in an available time slot on the basis of first indication information.

Description

A communication method and apparatus

[0001] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202510114923.8, filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on January 23, 2025, entitled "A Communication Method and Apparatus", the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

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

[0003] In mobile communication systems, network devices need to obtain channel information between terminals and network devices in order to schedule uplink and downlink data transmission based on this channel information.

[0004] For acquiring downlink channel information, the network device first sends a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) to the terminal. The terminal measures the CSI-RS and obtains the channel state information (CSI) of the downlink channel based on the measurement results, and then sends the CSI back to the network device. The CSI may include a channel quality indicator (CQI), a rank indicator (RI), and a precoding matrix indicator (PMI), etc.

[0005] However, if the CSI-RS conflicts with other types of signals in the time domain, the terminal will abandon receiving the CSI-RS. Since the CSI-RS is used to measure CSI, the terminal's abandonment of receiving the CSI-RS will result in the inability to measure CSI, thus affecting the accuracy of CSI measurement. Summary of the Invention

[0006] This application provides a communication method and apparatus to solve the problem that the terminal cannot measure channel state information because it abandons receiving reference signals.

[0007] To achieve the above objectives, the embodiments of this application adopt the following technical solutions:

[0008] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, the method comprising: a terminal receiving first indication information from a network device; the first indication information indicating that the terminal needs to receive measurement resources in an available time slot; wherein the measurement resources include one or more reference signals; the available time slot includes at least a downlink symbol or a flexible symbol, the downlink symbol or flexible symbol being used to receive the reference signals, and the time domain position of the downlink symbol or flexible symbol at least including the symbol position of the reference signals; and the terminal receiving the measurement resources in the available time slot according to the first indication information.

[0009] Based on the first aspect, by receiving the first indication information from the network device, the terminal can receive measurement resources in the available time slot, thereby solving the problem that the terminal cannot measure channel state information because it abandons receiving the reference signal.

[0010] In one possible implementation of the first aspect, the first instruction information includes at least one of the following:

[0011] The number of reference signals contained in the measurement resource;

[0012] The first offset is associated with all reference signals contained in the measurement resource;

[0013] The second offset is associated with each reference signal contained in the measurement resource;

[0014] The frequency domain location of each reference signal contained in the measurement resource;

[0015] The measurement resource includes the symbol position of each reference signal within a time slot.

[0016] In one possible implementation of the first aspect, the number of available time slots is N, and the N available time slots are consecutive time slots in the time domain; N≥1, where N is a positive integer.

[0017] This avoids excessively long intervals between time slots used to receive reference signals, which could lead to a decrease in the accuracy of the measured channel state information.

[0018] In one possible implementation of the first aspect, the terminal receives measurement resources in available time slots according to the first indication information, including: the terminal determines a first time period according to the first offset and / or second offset included in the first indication information; and if all time slots included in the first time period are available time slots, the terminal receives measurement resources in the first time period.

[0019] In one possible implementation of the first aspect, if the first time period includes at least one unavailable time slot, measurement resources are received in the second time period; the time slots included in the second time period are all available time slots.

[0020] In one possible implementation of the first aspect, the second time period is the N most recent available time slots after the first time period.

[0021] In one possible implementation of the first aspect, the measurement resource includes a first reference signal, and the first indication information further includes a third offset, the third offset being a second offset associated with the first reference signal; the terminal receives the measurement resource in an available time slot according to the first indication information, including: the terminal determining a first time slot according to the first offset and / or the third offset included in the first indication information; and receiving the first reference signal in the first time slot if the first time slot is an available time slot.

[0022] In one possible implementation of the first aspect, the method further includes: receiving a first reference signal in a second time slot when the first time slot is an unavailable time slot; the second time slot is the first available time slot after the first time slot.

[0023] In one possible implementation of the first aspect, the measurement resource further includes a second reference signal; the method further includes: when the available time slots corresponding to the first reference signal and the second reference signal are both the second time slot, the terminal receives the first reference signal in the second time slot, and the second reference signal is received after the third time slot; the third time slot is the first available time slot after the second time slot.

[0024] In one possible implementation of the first aspect, the first indication information further includes a fourth offset of K, wherein each reference signal included in the measurement resource is associated with a fourth offset; K is a positive integer and K≥1; wherein the terminal receives the measurement resource in an available time slot according to the first indication information, including: the terminal receives a reference signal in the Kth available time slot according to the K value of the fourth offset included in the first indication information.

[0025] In one possible implementation of the first aspect, when the measurement resources include multiple reference signals, the method further includes: the terminal receiving a time interval between the first reference signal and the last reference signal among the multiple reference signals that is less than or equal to a preset interval.

[0026] This avoids excessively long intervals between time slots used to receive reference signals, which could lead to a decrease in the accuracy of the measured channel state information.

[0027] In one possible implementation of the first aspect, the method further includes: during the time interval between the first reference signal and the last reference signal among a plurality of reference signals received by the terminal, the terminal does not wish to receive second indication information from the network device; the second indication information is used to indicate that the available time slot determined by the terminal is indicated as an unavailable time slot.

[0028] This ensures that the terminal receives measurement resources in available time slots.

[0029] In one possible implementation of the first aspect, the second instruction information is used to indicate at least one of the following:

[0030] The slot format is used to indicate the format of the flexible symbol as that of the uplink symbol.

[0031] The priority of the measurement resources is indicated, which is used to indicate that the terminal cannot use certain frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources;

[0032] Instructs the terminal to transmit uplink signals or uplink channels on flexible symbols.

[0033] In one possible implementation of the first aspect, the terminal receives measurement resources in an available time slot according to first instruction information, including: if the symbol positions of each reference signal contained in the measurement resources are the same in a time slot, the terminal receives the measurement resources in the available time slot.

[0034] In this way, the terminal can use the same method to uniformly determine the available time slots for receiving each reference signal, thereby improving communication efficiency.

[0035] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, applied to a network device, the method comprising: sending first indication information to a terminal; the first indication information being used to indicate that the terminal needs to receive measurement resources in an available time slot; wherein the measurement resources include one or more reference signals; the available time slot includes at least a downlink symbol or a flexible symbol, the downlink symbol or flexible symbol being used to receive the reference signals, and the time domain position of the downlink symbol or flexible symbol including the symbol position of the reference signals.

[0036] In one possible implementation of the second aspect, the first instruction information includes at least one of the following:

[0037] The number of reference signals contained in the measurement resource;

[0038] The first offset is associated with all reference signals contained in the measurement resource;

[0039] The second offset is associated with each reference signal contained in the measurement resource;

[0040] The frequency domain location of each reference signal contained in the measurement resource;

[0041] The measurement resource includes the symbol position of each reference signal within a time slot.

[0042] In one possible implementation of the second aspect, the number of available time slots is N, and the N available time slots are consecutive time slots in the time domain.

[0043] In one possible implementation of the second aspect, when the measurement resources include multiple reference signals, the method further includes: the network device sending to the terminal a time interval between the first and last reference signals of the multiple reference signals that is less than or equal to a preset interval.

[0044] In one possible implementation of the second aspect, the method further includes: the network device not sending second indication information to the terminal during the time interval between the first and last reference signals of a plurality of reference signals; the second indication information is used to indicate that the available time slot determined by the terminal is indicated as an unavailable time slot.

[0045] In one possible implementation of the second aspect, the second indication information is used to indicate at least one of the following:

[0046] The slot format is used to indicate the format of the flexible symbol as that of the uplink symbol.

[0047] The priority of the measurement resources is indicated, which is used to indicate that the terminal cannot use certain frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources;

[0048] Instructs the terminal to transmit uplink signals or uplink channels on flexible symbols.

[0049] Thirdly, a communication device is provided, including a processor. The processor is coupled to a memory and can be used to execute instructions or data in the memory to implement the method in any possible implementation of the first or second aspect described above. Optionally, the communication device further includes a memory. Optionally, the communication device further includes a communication interface, and the processor is coupled to the communication interface.

[0050] In one implementation, the communication interface may be a transceiver, or an input / output interface.

[0051] In another implementation, the communication device is a chip configured in a terminal device. When the communication device is a chip configured in a terminal device, the communication interface can be an input / output interface.

[0052] Fourthly, a processor is provided, comprising: an input circuit, an output circuit, and a processing circuit. The processing circuit is configured to receive signals through the input circuit and transmit signals through the output circuit, causing the processor to execute a method in any possible implementation of any aspect.

[0053] In specific implementation, the processor can be one or more chips, the input circuit can be input pins, the output circuit can be output pins, and the processing circuit can be transistors, gate circuits, flip-flops, and various logic circuits. The input signal received by the input circuit can be received and input by, for example, but not limited to, a receiver, and the signal output by the output circuit can be, for example, but not limited to, output to and transmitted by a transmitter. Furthermore, the input circuit and the output circuit can be the same circuit, which is used as both the input circuit and the output circuit at different times. This application does not limit the specific implementation of the processor and various circuits.

[0054] Fifthly, a communication device is provided, including a processor and a memory. The processor is used to read instructions stored in the memory, receive signals via a receiver, and transmit signals via a transmitter to execute the method in any possible implementation of any of the above aspects.

[0055] Optionally, the processor may be one or more, and the memory may be one or more.

[0056] In a sixth aspect, a computer program product is provided, the computer program product comprising: a computer program (also referred to as code or instructions), which, when the computer program is run, causes a computer to perform a method in any possible implementation of any of the above aspects.

[0057] In a seventh aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided that stores a computer program (also referred to as code or instructions) that, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to perform the methods in any possible implementation of any of the preceding aspects.

[0058] Eighthly, embodiments of this application provide a chip system including one or more processors for calling and executing instructions stored in memory, causing the methods in any of the above aspects or possible implementations to be executed. The chip system may be composed of chips or may include chips and other discrete devices.

[0059] The chip system may include input circuits or interfaces for transmitting information or data, and output circuits or interfaces for receiving information or data.

[0060] In a ninth aspect, a communication system is provided, including the aforementioned terminal and network device. Optionally, the communication system may further include other devices that communicate with the terminal device and / or network device.

[0061] The technical effects of any of the design methods in aspects two through nine can be referenced from the technical effects of different design methods in aspect one, and will not be elaborated here. Attached Figure Description

[0062] Figure 1 is a schematic flowchart of a method for measuring channel state information provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0063] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a terminal giving up receiving a reference signal according to an embodiment of this application;

[0064] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a communication system provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0065] Figure 4 is a flowchart illustrating a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0066] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of an available time slot provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0067] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of another available time slot provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0068] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of a non-available time slot provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0069] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of another unavailable time slot provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0070] Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of determining available time slots according to an embodiment of this application;

[0071] Figure 10 is a schematic diagram of another method for determining available time slots provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0072] Figure 11 is a schematic diagram of another method for determining available time slots provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0073] Figure 12 is a schematic diagram of another method for determining available time slots provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0074] Figure 13 is a schematic diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0075] Figure 14 is a schematic diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0076] The technical solutions of the embodiments of this application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of this application, and not all embodiments. The terms "first," "second," etc., are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the number of indicated technical features. Thus, a feature defined with "first," "second," etc., may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of that feature.

[0077] In embodiments of this application, the terms "comprising," "including," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements expressly listed or that may be inherent to such a process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that includes that element.

[0078] In the embodiments of this application, "and / or" is merely a description of the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: A existing alone, A and B existing simultaneously, or B existing alone. Additionally, the character " / " in this document generally indicates that the preceding and following related objects have an "or" relationship.

[0079] In the description of this application, it should be noted that, unless otherwise expressly specified and limited, the terms "set", "connected", and "linked" should be interpreted broadly, for example, as a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; those skilled in the art can understand the specific meaning of the above terms in this application according to the specific circumstances.

[0080] First, some of the terms used in this application will be explained below to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art.

[0081] 1. Reference signal (RS)

[0082] According to the Long Term Evolution (LTE) or New Radio (NR) protocols, at the physical layer, uplink communication includes the transmission of uplink physical channels and uplink reference signals, while downlink communication includes the transmission of downlink physical channels and downlink reference signals.

[0083] The uplink physical channels include the random access channel (PRACH), the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), and the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). Uplink reference signals include the channel sounding reference signal (SRS), the uplink control channel demodulation reference signal (PUCCH-DMRS), the uplink data channel demodulation reference signal (PUSCH-DMRS), the uplink phase noise tracking reference signal (PTRS), and the uplink positioning reference signal (UPRS), among others.

[0084] Downlink physical channels include the physical broadcast channel (PBCH), physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), and physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). Downlink reference signals include the primary synchronization signal (PSS) / secondary synchronization signal (SSS), downlink control channel demodulation reference signal PDCCH-DMRS, downlink data channel demodulation reference signal PDSCH-DMRS, phase noise tracking signal PTRS, channel status information reference signal (CSI-RS), cell reference signal (CRS), time / frequency tracking reference signal (TRS), and LTE / NR positioning signal (RS).

[0085] 2. Measurement Resources and Reference Signals

[0086] Measurement resources can be viewed as a collection of reference signals. Measurement resources may include one or more reference signals. Measurement resources may include reference signals from the same cell or from different cells. A single cell may include one or more reference signals. The reference signals may be the uplink reference signals mentioned earlier, or the reference signals may be the downlink reference signals mentioned earlier. It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the reference signals involved are downlink reference signals.

[0087] 3. Time domain symbols

[0088] Time-domain symbols are the smallest unit of time-domain resources. Time-domain symbols can be uplink symbols, downlink symbols, flexible symbols, etc. Flexible symbols can also be called self-contained symbols or special symbols; these are examples, not limitations. Uplink symbols can be, for example, single-carrier-frequency-division multiple access (SC-FDMA) symbols or orthogonal-frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols; downlink symbols can be, for example, OFDM symbols.

[0089] In this embodiment, uplink symbols can be used to transmit uplink signals or uplink channels; downlink symbols can be used to transmit downlink signals or downlink channels; flexible symbols can be used to transmit both uplink signals or uplink channels and downlink signals or downlink channels, but cannot be used simultaneously for both. It should be noted that this application uses flexible symbols for transmitting uplink signals or uplink channels as an example for illustration, and this will be explained uniformly here, without further elaboration below.

[0090] 4. Time slot

[0091] A time slot is the smallest scheduling unit for time-domain resources. For example, in NR, a time slot may include 14 OFDM symbols, each with a cyclic prefix (CP); or, a time slot may include 12 OFDM symbols, each with an extended CP; or, a time slot may include 7 OFDM symbols, each with a normal CP. It should be understood that the above examples are merely illustrative and should not be construed as limiting this application. For forward compatibility considerations, the time slot format is not limited to the examples described above.

[0092] In NR, the duration of a time slot varies depending on the subcarrier spacing (SCS). A larger subcarrier spacing results in a shorter time slot, and vice versa. For example, with a subcarrier spacing of 15 kilohertz (kHz), 1 ms contains one time slot, which occupies 1 ms; with a subcarrier spacing of 30 kHz, 1 ms contains two time slots, each occupying 0.5 ms.

[0093] 5. Time Domain Unit

[0094] A time-domain unit may include one or more time slots, or one or more time-domain symbols, such as OFDM symbols. For ease of understanding, the following embodiments will use the example of a time-domain unit including one time slot, that is, a time slot may also be called a time-domain unit. This will be used consistently here and will not be repeated later.

[0095] The following section uses CSI-RS as an example to introduce the background related to the embodiments of this application.

[0096] In communication systems, the application of massive MIMO technology can improve the spectral efficiency of the communication system. When using multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology, network devices need to perform modulation and coding and signal precoding when sending data to terminals. Modulation and coding and signal precoding rely on the CSI (Conversion Signal Indicator) fed back by the terminal to the network device. Specifically, the terminal and network device can perform a CSI measurement procedure to feed back CSI, which is contained in the CSI report.

[0097] Please refer to Figure 1, which is a flowchart of a network device and terminal performing CSI measurement according to an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 1, the CSI measurement process includes the following steps S101 to S103.

[0098] S101, the network device sends channel measurement configuration information to the terminal.

[0099] The channel measurement configuration information is used to instruct the terminal to perform channel measurements, and includes the configuration parameters for channel measurements, such as time-domain resources and frequency-domain resources. The channel measurement configuration information may include, for example, channel measurement resources (CMR), or resources for interference measurement (IMR) corresponding to the CMR.

[0100] S102, the network device sends CSI-RS to the terminal. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the CSI-RS from the network device.

[0101] In NR, network devices send CSI-RS to instruct terminals to probe the downlink channel. Terminals receive CSI-RS on pre-configured CMRs to perform channel estimation. Optionally, terminals can also receive interference signals on pre-configured IMRs for interference measurement. Based on the measurement results from the CMR and IMR, the terminal calculates the final CSI report. The CSI report may include: RI, used to determine the number of data streams transmitted from the network device to the terminal; CQI (determined jointly based on CSI-RS and interference measurement results), used to determine the modulation order and code rate of the channel coding for the data transmitted from the network device to the terminal; and PMI, used to determine the precoding of the data transmitted from the network device to the terminal. It is understood that CSI includes the CSI report; therefore, CSI includes information from the CSI report, such as RI, CQI, and PMI.

[0102] S103, the terminal reports CSI to the network device based on the measurement results of CSI-RS.

[0103] Understandably, CSI is determined by the terminal based on measurements on CMR and IMR.

[0104] The IMR may include CSI-RS resources (e.g., non-zero power channel state information reference signal (NZP CSI-RS) resources) and / or channel state information reference signal-interference measurement (CSI-IM) resources.

[0105] In traditional Type II codebook-based CSI, the Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI) typically includes two dimensions: spatial (corresponding to the angle domain) and frequency (corresponding to the delay domain). The Type II Doppler codebook (also known as the Mobility Enhancement codebook), discussed in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), introduces a new Doppler domain. The PMI corresponding to the Doppler codebook indicates a precoding matrix with three dimensions: spatial, frequency, and Doppler (instantaneous) domains. The number of Doppler domain dimensions refers to the number of domain units. To achieve CSI feedback based on the Type II Doppler codebook, multiple CSI-RS measurements (i.e., CSI-RS measurements) are required to obtain Doppler information. These multiple CSI-RS measurements occupy the same CSI-RS resource; in other words, they are performed on the same CSI-RS resource.

[0106] In the 3GPP protocol, the channel measurement resource configuration schemes for CSI measurements of Type II Doppler codebooks include the following three schemes:

[0107] (1) Periodic CSI-RS: One CSI-RS resource is configured through configuration information. Multiple CSI-RS can be transmitted on the same CSI-RS resource, and these multiple CSI-RS form a CSI-RS set (or CSI-RS cluster). The configuration information mentioned above may include, but is not limited to, one or more of radio resource control (RRC) signaling, medium access control (MAC) layer signaling, and physical layer signaling. MAC layer signaling may include, for example, a MAC control element (CE); physical (PHY) layer signaling may include, for example, downlink control information (DCI), etc., without limitation.

[0108] (2) Semi-persistent CSI-RS: The configuration method is the same as that of periodic CSI-RS. The difference is that multiple CSI-RS configured based on semi-persistent CSI-RS can be activated and deactivated.

[0109] (3) Aperiodic CSI-RS: Activate a set of aperiodic CSI-RS resources with different time slot offsets as channel measurement resources for CSI-RS measurements of Type II Doppler codebook.

[0110] Generally, if CSI-RS resources conflict with other types of signals in the time domain, the terminal will abandon (or "cancel" or "no longer" receive CSI-RS resources, which will not be elaborated further below) receiving CSI-RS resources. However, CSI-RS resources are used to measure downlink channels, and if the terminal abandons receiving CSI-RS resources, it will lead to a decrease in the accuracy of the terminal's downlink channel measurement.

[0111] For example, in the following cases (cases 1 to 3), the terminal will give up receiving CSI-RS resources.

[0112] Case 1: If the terminal is configured to receive CSI-RS resources in a set of time domain symbols in a time slot, and some or all of the time domain symbols in that time slot are configured to be used for transmitting uplink signals or uplink channels, then the terminal will give up receiving CSI-RS resources.

[0113] Scenario 2: The terminal is configured to receive CSI-RS resources in a set of time-domain symbols within a time slot. If the terminal detects that the configuration information indicates that the terminal will transmit uplink signals or uplink channels on at least one time-domain symbol in the set of time-domain symbols of that time slot, the terminal will abandon receiving CSI-RS resources. Here, the at least one time-domain symbol can be an uplink symbol or a flexible symbol.

[0114] Case 3: If the terminal is configured to receive CSI-RS resources in one or more frequency domain resources and a set of symbols in a time slot, and the terminal detects that the configuration information indicates that any one of the one or more frequency domain resources is not available for receiving CSI-RS resources, then the terminal will give up receiving CSI-RS resources in the set of symbols in that time slot.

[0115] In some cases, network devices may instruct terminals to receive CSI-RS resources in one or more time slots via configuration information. A CSI-RS resource contains one or more CSI-RS resources. Optionally, the network device may also instruct a resource-level time slot offset via configuration information to determine the temporal location of the CSI-RS resource. For example, a resource-level time slot offset can be indicated in the following ways:

[0116] a. Network devices indicate resource-level time slot offsets via RRC signaling.

[0117] b. Network devices indicate resource-level timeslot offsets using both RRC and DCI signaling. For example, if RRC signaling indicates a resource-level timeslot offset of T1 and DCI signaling indicates a resource-level timeslot offset of T2, then the total resource-level timeslot offset indicated by the network device is T1 + T2.

[0118] Furthermore, since CSI-RS resources typically contain multiple CSI-RSs, it is difficult for a terminal to receive multiple CSI-RSs in a single timeslot. Therefore, network devices can also indicate resource timeslot offsets through configuration information, with one CSI-RS corresponding to one resource timeslot offset. In this case, a CSI-RS reception timeslot is usually determined jointly by the resource-level timeslot offset and the resource timeslot offset.

[0119] For example, as shown in Figure 2, assuming the time slot configuration for a certain time period is DUDFUD, it can also be understood as: the time slot configuration pattern for that time period is DUDFUD. Here, D represents the downlink time slot, used to transmit downlink signals or downlink channels; U represents the uplink time slot, used to transmit uplink signals or uplink channels; and F represents the flexible time slot, also known as a self-contained time slot or a special time slot, which can be configured to transmit downlink signals or downlink channels. Of course, the aforementioned downlink time slot, uplink time slot, and flexible time slot can also have other names, which are not limited.

[0120] For example, suppose a terminal detects a DCI in a PDCCH within a timeslot. This DCI indicates that the terminal receives a CSI-RS resource, which contains two CSI-RSs. Optionally, the DCI also indicates a resource-level timeslot offset of 1 timeslot, with the resource timeslot offset associated with the first CSI-RS (which can be represented as CSI-RS#1) being 0 timeslots, and the resource timeslot offset associated with the second CSI-RS (which can be represented as CSI-RS#2) being 1 timeslot. Then, as shown in Figure 2, the timeslot containing the first CSI-RS is the first timeslot (resource-level timeslot offset of 1 timeslot, resource timeslot offset of 0, 0+1=1), and the timeslot containing the second CSI-RS is the second timeslot (resource-level timeslot offset of 1 timeslot, resource timeslot offset of 1, 1+1=2). Since the second time slot is an uplink time slot used to transmit uplink signals or downlink channels, the terminal does not receive CSI-RS in this second time slot, thus preventing the terminal from obtaining channel state information based on the second CSI-RS. Furthermore, in some cases, the terminal needs to determine channel state information (e.g., precoding information) based on both the first and second CSI-RS; because the terminal cannot receive the second CSI-RS, it will be unable to measure the channel state information.

[0121] It should be noted that the above embodiments use CSI-RS as an example for illustration. It should be understood that the solutions involved in the embodiments of this application are not limited to CSI-RS, and the transmission of other reference signals is also applicable to the technical solutions of this application.

[0122] In view of the above problems, this application provides a communication method that, by defining available time slots, enables the terminal to receive reference signals in available time slots, thereby solving the problem that the terminal cannot measure channel state information because it abandons receiving reference signals.

[0123] The method provided in this application embodiment can be used in any communication system, such as a 3GPP communication system, for example, a radio frequency identification (RFID) system, a long term evolution (LTE) system, a fifth generation (5G) mobile communication system, a new radio (NR) communication system, a vehicle-to-everything (V2X) system, or a hybrid LTE and 5G network system, or a non-terrestrial network (NTN) system, a device-to-device (D2D) communication system, a machine-to-machine (M2M) communication system, an Internet of Things (IoT) system, an ambient IoT (A-IoT) system, a universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) system, a code division multiple access (CDMA) system, and other next-generation communication systems, such as 6G and other future communication systems. It can also be a non-3GPP communication system, such as a wireless local area network (WLAN). Networks, WLANs, etc., are not limited.

[0124] The communication system provided in the embodiments of this application will be described below with reference to Figure 3.

[0125] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a communication system provided in an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 3, the communication system may include a terminal and a network device.

[0126] In Figure 3, the terminal can be a device with business data transmission and reception capabilities, or a chip or chip system that can be placed in the device to realize communication services such as video, voice calls, and SMS. For example, the terminal can be user equipment (UE), terminal equipment, mobile station (MS), or mobile terminal (MT), etc. For example, the terminal in Figure 3 can be a handheld device or in-vehicle device with wireless connectivity, such as a mobile phone, tablet computer, laptop, PDA, or computer with wireless transceiver capabilities. Terminals can also be mobile internet devices (MID), wearable devices, virtual reality (VR) terminals, augmented reality (AR) terminals, wireless terminals in industrial control, wireless terminals in self-driving, wireless terminals in remote medical surgery, wireless terminals in smart grids, wireless terminals in transportation safety, wireless terminals in smart cities, wireless terminals in smart homes, vehicle-mounted terminals, vehicles with vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication capabilities, intelligent connected vehicles, drones with drone-to-drone (U2U) communication capabilities, etc., without limitation.

[0127] In Figure 3, the network device can be any type of device deployed in the access network capable of wireless communication with terminals. It is primarily used to implement functions such as wireless physical control, resource scheduling and wireless resource management, unmanned access control, and mobility management. Specifically, the network device can be either a wired access device or a wireless access device. For example, this network device can be an access network (AN) / radio access network (RAN) device, composed of multiple AN / RAN nodes. AN / RAN nodes can be: base stations (nodeB, NB), macro base stations, relay stations, enhanced nodeB (eNB), next-generation nodeB (gNB), radio network controllers (RNC), base station controllers (BSC), base transceiver stations (BTS), home base stations (e.g., home evolved nodeB, home nodeB (HNB)), base band units (BBU), access points (AP), or wireless fidelity APs (Wi-Fi APs), transmission reception points (TRP), transmission points (TP), wireless relay nodes, or wireless backhaul nodes in integrated access and backhaul (IAB) (i.e., IAB nodes), or some other type of access node, etc., without limitation.

[0128] In a network architecture, network devices may include centralized unit (CU) nodes, distributed unit (DU) nodes, RAN devices including CU nodes and DU nodes, or RAN devices including control plane CU nodes (CU-CP nodes), user plane CU nodes (CU-UP nodes), and DU nodes.

[0129] CU and DU can be understood as a logical functional division of RAN nodes. CU and DU are connected via the F1 interface; CU can represent gNB and connect to the core network via the NG interface. Physically, CU and DU can be separate or deployed together; this application does not specifically limit this. One CU can connect to one DU, or multiple DUs can share one CU, which can save costs and facilitate network expansion. The division of CU and DU can be based on the protocol stack. One possible approach is to deploy the RRC, Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP), and Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layers on the CU, and the remaining Radio Link Control (RLC), Media Access Control (MAC), and physical layers on the DU. This application's embodiments do not completely limit the above protocol stack division method; other division methods are also possible.

[0130] It is understood that the terminal and network device in the embodiments of this application can be one or more chips, or a system on a chip (SoC), etc. Figure 3 is only an exemplary figure, and the number of devices it includes is not limited. In addition, besides the devices shown in Figure 3, the communication system may also include other devices. The names of each device and each link in Figure 3 are not limited. Besides the names shown in Figure 3, each device and each link may be named other names without restriction.

[0131] Referring to the communication system shown in Figure 3 above and Figure 4 below, the communication method provided in the embodiments of this application will be described. The terminal can be any terminal in the communication system shown in Figure 3, and the network device can be any network device in the communication system shown in Figure 3. The processing performed by a single execution entity (terminal and network device) shown in the embodiments of this application can also be divided into multiple execution entities, which can be logically and / or physically separated, without limitation.

[0132] Figure 4 is a flowchart illustrating a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 4, the method may include:

[0133] S401, the network device sends a first instruction message to the terminal; correspondingly, the terminal receives the first instruction message from the network device.

[0134] The first indication information is used to instruct the terminal to receive measurement resources in an available time slot. The measurement resources are used to instruct the terminal to perform channel measurements. The measurement resources include one or more reference signals, such as the CSI-RS described above. Of course, the measurement resources can also be resources of other reference signals, and are not limited thereto. Furthermore, examples of reference signals can be found in the relevant descriptions of the above embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0135] For example, the first indication information may be carried in any one of RRC signaling, MAC CE signaling, or DCI signaling; or, the first indication information may be any one of RRC signaling, MAC CE signaling, or DCI signaling, without limitation.

[0136] The available time slots must contain at least downlink symbols or flexible symbols. These downlink symbols or flexible symbols are used to receive reference signals, and their time-domain positions must at least include the symbol positions of the reference signals. The symbol position refers to the location of a time-domain symbol occupied by a reference signal within a time slot. This is explained here and will not be repeated below.

[0137] It should be noted that, in the embodiments of this application, available slots may also be referred to as available time units, or effective time slots, etc., and are not limited thereto. Furthermore, a set of time-domain symbols in the aforementioned available slots may simultaneously include one or more of uplink symbols, downlink symbols, and flexible symbols.

[0138] Optionally, the first indication information can be used to indicate whether the terminal needs to receive measurement resources in an available time slot. For example, the first indication information can indicate whether the terminal needs to receive measurement resources in an available time slot through a preset identifier. For instance, when the preset identifier is A, it indicates that the terminal needs to receive measurement resources in an available time slot; when the preset identifier is B, it indicates that the terminal does not need to receive measurement resources in an available time slot. Here, the first indication information indicating that the terminal does not need to receive measurement resources in an available time slot can be understood as: the first indication information instructs the terminal, according to the aforementioned various situations, to forgo receiving measurement resources in a set of symbols within that time slot.

[0139] For example, the first indication information may use 1 bit to indicate whether the terminal needs to receive measurement resources in an available time slot. For instance, when the 1 bit is 1, it indicates that the terminal needs to receive measurement resources in an available time slot; when the 1 bit is 0, it indicates that the terminal does not need to receive measurement resources in an available time slot. Alternatively, when the 1 bit is 0, it indicates that the terminal needs to receive measurement resources in an available time slot; when the 1 bit is 1, it indicates that the terminal does not need to receive measurement resources in an available time slot, without limitation. The first indication information also includes at least one of the following:

[0140] a. The number of reference signals contained in the measurement resources;

[0141] b. First Offset; The first offset is used to indicate the time slot offset of the measurement resource. For example, the first offset refers to the time slot offset in the time domain of the measurement resource's time slot position relative to the reference time slot position. The reference time slot position can be the time slot position of a reference point, such as the time slot position of the channel indicating or activating the reference signal, and is not limited thereto.

[0142] c. Second Offset: Each reference signal included in the measurement resource is associated with a second offset, which indicates the time slot offset of the reference signal. For example, the second offset refers to the time slot offset of the reference signal's time slot position relative to the time slot position of the measurement resource in the time domain. The unit of the aforementioned time slot offset is a time slot.

[0143] d. The frequency domain location of each reference signal contained in the measurement resource.

[0144] e. The symbol position of each reference signal contained in the measurement resource within a time slot.

[0145] S402, the terminal receives measurement resources in the available time slot according to the first instruction information.

[0146] For example, the terminal can receive measurement resources in the available time slots of the time domain resources according to the first indication information. In this embodiment, the time domain resources may be, for example, downlink resources or flexible resources, and are not limited thereto.

[0147] Understandably, in S402, the network device sends measurement resources to the terminal in the available time slots of the time domain resources; correspondingly, the terminal receives measurement resources in the available time slots of the time domain resources.

[0148] Optionally, the terminal can determine N available time slots based on the first indication information, and then receive measurement resources in the N available time slots of the time domain resources.

[0149] Optionally, the terminal can determine whether a time slot meets preset conditions. If the time slot meets the preset conditions, the terminal can determine that the time slot is an available time slot. The preset conditions can be understood as the conditions corresponding to an available time slot; that is, if the terminal determines that a time slot meets the conditions corresponding to an available time slot, then the terminal determines that the time slot is an available time slot. For example, the preset conditions could be: a time slot contains downlink symbols or flexible symbols, the downlink symbols or flexible symbols are used to receive reference signals, and the time domain position of the downlink symbols or flexible symbols at least includes the symbol position of the reference signal.

[0150] In one scenario, the network device can instruct the terminal to receive a reference signal in each of the multiple time slots using the first indication information. Then, the terminal can determine whether the time slot used to receive each reference signal is an available time slot based on the first indication information, thereby determining N available time slots.

[0151] For example, assuming the measurement resources include reference signal 1 and reference signal 2, the network device can instruct the terminal to receive reference signal 1 in one time slot and reference signal 2 in another time slot through the first indication information. Optionally, in conjunction with the contents of information a to e mentioned above included in the first indication information, the first indication information may include a first offset, second offsets associated with reference signal 1 and reference signal 2 respectively, the sign positions of reference signal 1 and reference signal 2, etc., which will not be elaborated further.

[0152] For example, assume that the first offset is 1 time slot, the second offset associated with reference signal 1 is 0 time slots, and the second offset associated with reference signal 2 is 1 time slot; the symbol position of reference signal 1 is the 3rd time domain symbol, and the symbol position of reference signal 2 is the 5th time domain symbol.

[0153] For example, the terminal determines the time slot for receiving reference signal 1 based on the first offset and the second offset associated with reference signal 1. For example, if the first offset is 1 time slot and the second offset associated with reference signal 1 is 0 time slots, then the terminal determines the time slot for receiving reference signal 1 as: the first time slot relative to the time slot position of the measurement resource, which can be called time slot 1.

[0154] For example, the symbol position of reference signal 1 is the third time-domain symbol, as shown in Figure 5. The third time-domain symbol of time slot 1 is the downlink symbol, meaning that the time-domain position of the downlink symbol (or flexible symbol) contained in time slot 1 includes the symbol position of reference signal 1. Therefore, the terminal can determine that time slot 1 is an available time slot. Furthermore, the terminal receives reference signal 1 in time slot 1, for example, in the downlink symbol of time slot 1 (the third time-domain symbol). It can be understood that the network device sends reference signal 1 to the terminal in the downlink symbol of time slot 1, and correspondingly, the terminal receives reference signal 1 from the network device in the downlink symbol of time slot 1.

[0155] For example, the terminal determines the time slot for receiving reference signal 2 based on the first offset and the second offset associated with reference signal 2. For instance, if the first offset is 1 time slot and the second offset associated with reference signal 2 is 0 time slots, then the time slot for receiving reference signal 2 is the second time slot relative to the time slot position of the measurement resource, which can be called time slot 2.

[0156] For example, the symbol position of reference signal 2 is the 5th time-domain symbol, as shown in Figure 5. The 5th time-domain symbol of time slot 2 is a flexible symbol, meaning that the time-domain position of the flexible symbol (or downlink symbol) contained in time slot 2 includes the symbol position of reference signal 2. Therefore, the terminal can determine that time slot 2 is an available time slot. Furthermore, the terminal receives reference signal 2 in time slot 2, for example, the terminal receives reference signal 2 in the flexible symbol of time slot 2 (the 5th time-domain symbol). It can be understood that the network device sends reference signal 2 to the terminal in the flexible symbol of time slot 2, and correspondingly, the terminal receives reference signal 2 from the network device in the flexible symbol of time slot 2.

[0157] In another scenario, the network device can instruct the terminal to receive multiple reference signals in the same time slot using the first indication information. Then, the terminal can determine whether the same time slot used to receive multiple reference signals is an available time slot based on the first indication information, thereby determining N available time slots.

[0158] For example, assuming the measurement resources include reference signal 1 and reference signal 2, the network device can instruct the terminal to receive reference signal 1 and reference signal 2 in a time slot through the first indication information. Optionally, in conjunction with the contents of information a to e mentioned above included in the first indication information, the first indication information may include a first offset, second offsets associated with reference signal 1 and reference signal 2 respectively, the sign positions of reference signal 1 and reference signal 2, etc., which will not be elaborated further.

[0159] For example, assume that the first offset is 1 time slot, the second offset associated with reference signal 1 is 1 time slot, the second offset associated with reference signal 2 is 1 time slot; the symbol of reference signal 1 is the 3rd time domain symbol, and the symbol position of reference signal 2 is the 5th time domain symbol.

[0160] For example, the terminal determines the time slot for receiving reference signal 1 and reference signal 2 based on the first offset and the second offset associated with reference signal 1. For example, if the first offset is one time slot and the second offset associated with reference signal 1 and reference signal 2 is one time slot, then the terminal determines the time slot for receiving reference signal 1 and reference signal 2 as the second time slot relative to the time slot position of the measurement resource, which can be referred to as time slot 2.

[0161] For example, suppose the symbol position of reference signal 1 is the 3rd time-domain symbol, and the symbol position of reference signal 2 is the 5th time-domain symbol. As shown in Figure 6, the 3rd time-domain symbol of time slot 2 is the downlink symbol, and the 5th time-domain symbol of time slot 2 is the flexible symbol. That is, the time-domain positions of the flexible symbol and downlink symbol contained in time slot 2 include the symbol positions of reference signal 1 and reference signal 2. Therefore, the terminal can determine that time slot 2 is an available time slot. Furthermore, the terminal can receive reference signal 1 and reference signal 2 in time slot 2. For example, the terminal receives reference signal 1 in the downlink symbol of time slot 1 (time-domain position is the 3rd time-domain symbol), and receives reference signal 2 in the flexible symbol of time slot 2 (time-domain position is the 5th time-domain symbol). It can be understood that the network device sends reference signal 1 to the terminal in the downlink symbol of time slot 1, and sends reference signal 2 to the terminal in the flexible symbol of time slot 2. Correspondingly, the terminal receives reference signal 1 from the network device in the downlink symbol of time slot 1, and receives reference signal 2 from the network device in the flexible symbol of time slot 2.

[0162] In this scenario, the terminal can receive multiple reference signals contained in the measurement resources within the same available time slot, thereby saving communication resources.

[0163] It should be noted that the above embodiment is illustrated using an example of a time slot containing both downlink symbols and flexible symbols. Of course, a time slot may contain only downlink symbols or only flexible symbols, and is not limited thereto. For either case, the specific implementation method for the terminal to determine the available time slot is similar, and can be referred to the above embodiment, which will not be repeated here.

[0164] Furthermore, in this embodiment, if the terminal determines that the time slot used for receiving the reference signal is an unavailable time slot, the terminal will not receive the reference signal on that time slot. An unavailable time slot refers to a time slot where the symbol positions corresponding to the reference signal are not all downlink symbols or flexible symbols. The specific implementation method for the terminal to determine that the time slot used for receiving the reference signal is an unavailable time slot is described below.

[0165] In one scenario, the network device can instruct the terminal to receive a reference signal in each of the multiple time slots via first indication information. For example, assuming the measurement resources include reference signal 1 and reference signal 2, the terminal determines time slot 1 for receiving reference signal 1 and time slot 2 for receiving reference signal 2. The specific determination process can be found in the description of the above embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0166] For example, referring to the relevant descriptions of the above embodiments, assuming the symbol position of reference signal 1 is the 3rd time-domain symbol, as shown in Figure 7, the 3rd time-domain symbol of time slot 1 is an uplink symbol. That is, in time slot 1, the symbol positions corresponding to reference signal 1 are all downlink symbols, therefore time slot 1 is an unusable time slot. Correspondingly, assuming the time-domain position of reference signal 2 is the 5th time-domain symbol, as shown in Figure 7, the 5th time-domain symbol of time slot 2 is an uplink symbol. That is, in time slot 2, the symbol positions corresponding to reference signal 2 are all downlink symbols, therefore time slot 2 is an unusable time slot.

[0167] In another scenario, the network device can instruct the terminal to receive multiple reference signals in the same time slot via a first indication message. Assuming the measurement resources include reference signal 1 and reference signal 2, the terminal determines time slot 2 as the time slot for receiving reference signal 1 and reference signal 2. The specific determination process can be found in the description of the above embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0168] For example, in conjunction with the relevant description of the above embodiments, assuming that the symbol position of reference signal 1 is the 3rd time domain symbol and the symbol position of reference signal 2 is the 5th time domain symbol, as shown in Figure 8, the 3rd time domain symbol of time slot 2 is a downlink symbol and the 5th time domain symbol of time slot 2 is an uplink symbol. That is, in time slot 2, the symbol positions corresponding to reference signal 1 and reference signal 2 are not all downlink symbols or flexible symbols. Therefore, time slot 2 is an unusable time slot.

[0169] It should be noted that Figures 5-8 above are merely examples of this application and do not constitute a limitation on this application.

[0170] In summary, by adopting the method of the embodiments of this application, the terminal can determine N available time slots for receiving measurement resources according to the first indication information, and then the terminal receives measurement resources in the N available time slots. This can solve the problem in related solutions where the terminal cannot measure channel state information because it abandons receiving the reference signal.

[0171] Optionally, the terminal may determine the available time slots for receiving the reference signal using three methods. These three methods are exemplified below.

[0172] Method 1

[0173] First, in Method 1, it should be noted that if the terminal needs to jointly measure channel state information based on multiple reference signals, the interval between the time slots used to receive the multiple reference signals cannot be too long. Otherwise, due to the movement of the terminal and changes in the channel, the accuracy of the measured channel state information will decrease. Therefore, in Method 1, the aforementioned N available time slots are consecutive time slots in the time domain, thereby improving the accuracy of the terminal's measurement of channel state information.

[0174] Optionally, in Method 1, the terminal can determine the first time period based on the first offset and / or the second offset. Taking the terminal determining the first time period based on the first offset and the second offset as an example, assuming the measurement resources include reference signal 1 and reference signal 2, the first offset is one time slot, the second offset corresponding to reference signal 1 is zero time slots, and the second offset corresponding to reference signal 2 is one time slot. Then the first time period is the two time slots determined by the first offset, the second offset corresponding to reference signal 1, and the second offset corresponding to reference signal 2; that is, the first time period consists of two time slots.

[0175] After the terminal determines the first time period, it determines whether all time slots included in the first time period are available time slots. If all time slots included in the first time period are available time slots, the terminal receives measurement resources (i.e., receives reference signal 1 and reference signal 2) in the first time period. For example, as shown in Figure 9, assuming the first time period determined by the terminal includes time slot 1 and time slot 2, time slot 1 and time slot 2 are consecutive time slots in the time domain, and both time slot 1 and time slot 2 are available time slots, the terminal receives measurement resources in time slot 1 and time slot 2. It can be understood that whether the terminal receives reference signal 1 in time slot 1 or in time slot 2; or, the terminal receives reference signal 2 in time slot 1 and reference signal 1 in time slot 2, depends on the correspondence between the time domain positions of the downlink symbols or flexible symbols included in time slot 1 and time slot 2 and the symbol positions of reference signal 1 and reference signal 2. For details, please refer to the relevant description in the above embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0176] Optionally, if the first time period includes at least one unavailable time slot, the terminal receives measurement resources in the second time period. The second time period includes N available time slots, and the N available time slots are consecutive in the time domain. It is understood that, in this embodiment, the second time period may include 2 time slots, and the two time slots are consecutive in the time domain.

[0177] Optionally, the second time period is the N most recent available time slots after the first time period. For example, as shown in Figure 10, the first time period includes time slot 1 and time slot 2. The terminal determines that time slot 1 is available and time slot 2 is unavailable. Therefore, the terminal determines the second time period and receives measurement resources during the second time period. As shown in Figure 10, the second time period includes two time slots, such as time slot 3 and time slot 4. Time slots 3 and 4 are two consecutive time slots in the time domain, and the terminal determines that both time slots 3 and 4 are available. Then, the terminal can receive reference signal 1 and reference signal 2 in time slots 3 and 4. It is understood that whether the terminal receives reference signal 1 or reference signal 2 in time slot 3, or in time slot 4, depends on the time domain position of the downlink symbols or flexible symbols included in time slots 3 and 4, and their correspondence with the symbol positions of reference signal 1 and reference signal 2. For details, please refer to the relevant descriptions in the above embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0178] For example, as shown in Figure 10, the second time period (including time slots 3 and 4) is the two most recent consecutive available time slots after the first time period (including time slots 1 and 2).

[0179] It should be noted that, in the above method one, the specific implementation process of the terminal determining available and unavailable time slots can be referred to the relevant description in the above embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0180] Method 2

[0181] Optionally, in Method 2, the terminal may determine a first time slot for receiving each reference signal and determine whether the first time slot is an available time slot. If the first time slot is available, the terminal receives the corresponding reference signal in the first time slot. If the first time slot is unavailable, the terminal determines a second time slot and determines whether the second time slot is available. If the second time slot is available, the terminal receives the corresponding reference signal in the second time slot. If the second time slot is unavailable, the terminal determines a third time slot, and so on, until the terminal determines an available time slot for receiving the reference signal.

[0182] Optionally, the second time slot can be the nearest available time slot after the first time slot, the third time slot can be the nearest available time slot after the second time slot, and so on, without further explanation.

[0183] Taking a measurement resource including reference signal 1 as an example, the terminal can determine the first time slot based on the first offset and / or the third offset. The third offset is the third offset associated with reference signal 1, and its specific meaning is similar to that of the second offset described above; please refer to the relevant description of the second offset, which will not be repeated here.

[0184] Taking the terminal determining the first time slot based on the first offset and the third offset as an example, for instance, assuming the first offset is 1 time slot and the third offset is 0 time slots, then the first time slot determined by the terminal is the first time slot on the time domain resource. For example, the first time slot is the first time slot on the time domain resource relative to the time domain position of the measurement resource.

[0185] For example, as shown in Figure 11(a), assuming the terminal determines the first time slot as time slot 1 and determines that time slot 1 is an available time slot, then the terminal can receive reference signal 1 in time slot 1. For example, as shown in Figure 11(b), assuming the terminal determines the first time slot as time slot 1 and determines that time slot 1 is an unavailable time slot, then the terminal can determine a second time slot, which is the first available time slot immediately following the first time slot (e.g., time slot 1). For example, as shown in Figure 11(b), if the terminal determines the second time slot as time slot 2, then the terminal can receive reference signal 1 in time slot 2.

[0186] Optionally, if the terminal determines that the time slot used to receive the two reference signals is the first time slot, and the first time slot is an available time slot, then the terminal receives the two reference signals in the first time slot.

[0187] Optionally, if the terminal determines that the time slot used to receive both reference signals is the second time slot, and the second time slot is an available time slot, then the terminal receives one reference signal in the second time slot and the other reference signal in the third time slot. It is understood that the third time slot is the nearest available time slot after the second time slot.

[0188] For example, suppose the measurement resource also includes reference signal 2. In the embodiment of Method 2 described above, the terminal determines that the available time slot for receiving reference signal 1 is the second time slot (e.g., time slot 2). Based on this, the terminal determines that the first time slot for receiving reference signal 2 is an unavailable time slot, and determines that the second time slot for receiving reference signal 2 is available. For example, assuming the second time slot for receiving reference signal 2 is time slot 2, then the time slots for receiving reference signal 1 and reference signal 2 are the same time slot. Based on this, the terminal can receive reference signal 1 in the second time slot (e.g., time slot 2) and receive reference signal 2 in the third time slot, which is the most recent available time slot after the second time slot. In this example, the terminal determines that the first time slot for receiving reference signal 1 and the first time slot for receiving reference signal 2 are different time slots, and the first time slot for receiving reference signal 1 is after the first time slot for receiving reference signal 2.

[0189] It should be noted that, in the above-mentioned Method 2, the specific implementation process of the terminal determining available and unavailable time slots can be referred to the relevant description in the above embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0190] Method 3

[0191] In Method 3, the terminal first determines N available time slots. For example, based on a first offset and / or a second offset, the terminal determines the available time slots for receiving each reference signal contained in the measurement resource, thereby obtaining N available time slots. The specific implementation method for the terminal to determine the N available time slots can be found in the relevant descriptions in the above embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0192] Based on the determination of N available time slots by the terminal, for example, the first indication information also includes a fourth offset, wherein each reference signal contained in the measurement resource is associated with a fourth offset, and the fourth offset is used to indicate the time slot position of the available time slot for receiving the reference signal.

[0193] The fourth offset is K, and the terminal can receive the reference signal in the Kth available time slot of the time domain resource based on the value of the fourth offset K.

[0194] For example, as shown in Figure 12, assume that the terminal determines N available time slots as time slot 1, time slot 3, time slot 4, and time slot 5. For instance, if the fourth offset K associated with reference signal 1 is 2, then the terminal can receive reference signal 1 in the second available time slot among time slots 1, 3, 4, and 5. It can be seen that the second available time slot is time slot 3; therefore, the terminal receives reference signal 1 in time slot 3.

[0195] It should be noted that for other reference signals included in the measurement resources, the terminal determines the available time slots for receiving the reference signals in the same way, and can refer to any of the methods from method one to method three, which will not be elaborated here.

[0196] Optionally, when the measurement resource includes multiple reference signals, the method further includes: the time interval between the first and last reference signals among the multiple reference signals sent by the network device to the terminal is less than or equal to a preset interval. Correspondingly, the time interval between the first and last reference signals among the multiple reference signals received by the terminal is less than or equal to the preset interval.

[0197] The preset interval can be predefined, configured by the network device, determined by the terminal's capabilities, or determined by both the network device configuration and the terminal's capabilities; it is not limited to any particular interval.

[0198] This avoids excessively long intervals between available time slots for receiving multiple reference signals, which can lead to decreased accuracy in measuring channel state information due to channel changes caused by terminal movement.

[0199] Optionally, during the time interval between the first and last reference signals among multiple reference signals received by the terminal, or during the time interval between the first and Nth available time slots (including the first and Nth available time slots), the terminal does not wish to receive second indication information from the network device. The second indication information is used to indicate whether the available time slot determined by the terminal is indicated or changed to an unavailable time slot.

[0200] For example, the second indication information is used to indicate at least one of the following:

[0201] The time slot format is indicated, which specifies whether to change the format of the flexible symbol to that of the uplink symbol. For example, the second indication information can be used to indicate that the format of the flexible symbol is configured as an uplink symbol, which would change the available time slots determined by the terminal.

[0202] The priority of measurement resources is indicated, which is used to indicate that the terminal cannot use certain frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources. For example, in this case, if the terminal cannot receive reference signals on the corresponding portion of the frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources, the available time slots determined by the terminal will be changed.

[0203] The second indication information instructs the terminal to transmit uplink signals or uplink channels on the flexible symbol. For example, when the flexible symbol is configured to transmit downlink signals or downlink channels, the second indication information can be used to indicate that the flexible symbol is configured to transmit uplink signals or uplink channels.

[0204] When the second indication information is used to indicate any of the above-mentioned information, the second indication information will change the available time slot determined by the terminal. Therefore, the terminal does not want to receive the second indication information from the network device.

[0205] For example, during the time interval between the first and last reference signals among a plurality of reference signals sent by the network device to the terminal, the network device does not send the second indication information to the terminal, thereby enabling the terminal to not want to receive the second indication information during this time interval.

[0206] This avoids affecting the available time slots determined by the terminal, ensuring that the terminal can receive reference signals in the available time slots and improving communication reliability.

[0207] In some implementations, if a terminal needs to receive reference signals in multiple time slots, the symbol position of each reference signal included in the measurement resource must be the same within a time slot. This allows the terminal to uniformly determine the available time slots for receiving each reference signal. For example, if a network device instructs the terminal to receive reference signal 1 and reference signal 2 in two time slots respectively, and the symbol positions of reference signal 1 and reference signal 2 are the same in their respective time slots, the terminal can uniformly determine the available time slots for receiving reference signal 1 and reference signal 2. For instance, if the symbol position of reference signal 1 and reference signal 2 in their respective time slots is the third time-domain symbol, then the method by which the terminal determines the available time slots for reference signal 1 and reference signal 2 is the same: if the third time-domain symbol in a time slot is a downlink symbol or a flexible symbol, then this time slot may be an available time slot for reference signal 1 or reference signal 2.

[0208] This can improve the time it takes for the terminal to determine available time slots, reduce communication latency, and improve communication efficiency.

[0209] Optionally, if the measurement resource contains multiple reference signals, and at least two of the reference signals have different symbol positions, the terminal can divide the multiple reference signals into multiple subsets, where each subset contains reference signals with the same symbol position in its respective time slot. In this way, the terminal can determine the available time slots for receiving the reference signals included in a subset using the same method, on a subset-by-subset basis.

[0210] For example, suppose the network device instructs the terminal to receive reference signal 1, reference signal 2, reference signal 3, and reference signal 4 in four time slots. Reference signal 1 and reference signal 2 have the same symbol position in their respective time slots, and reference signal 3 and reference signal 4 have the same symbol position in their respective time slots. Therefore, the terminal divides reference signal 1 and reference signal 2 into one subset, and reference signal 3 and reference signal 4 into another subset. The terminal can then determine the available time slots for receiving the reference signals contained in each subset.

[0211] For example, suppose the network device instructs a terminal to receive reference signals 1 and 2 in one time slot and reference signals 3 and 4 in another time slot. Reference signals 1 and 3 have the same symbol position in their respective time slots, and reference signals 2 and 4 have the same symbol position in their respective time slots. Therefore, the terminal divides reference signals 1 and 3 into one subset and reference signals 2 and 4 into another subset. The terminal can then determine the available time slots for receiving the reference signals contained in each subset.

[0212] It is understood that, in this embodiment of the application, before the network device sends the measurement resource to the terminal, the method further includes: the network device sending a PDCCH to the terminal, the PDCCH carrying a DCI, the DCI instructing the terminal to receive a measurement resource. For example, after receiving the PDCCH, the terminal needs to demodulate the PDCCH and obtain the DCI, thereby obtaining information indicating that the DCI instructs the terminal to receive a measurement resource. For example, the time for the terminal to demodulate the PDCCH is T.

[0213] In some implementations, the time interval between the terminal receiving the PDCCH and the terminal receiving measurement resources needs to be greater than T. This ensures that after the terminal demodulates the PDCCH and obtains the DCI instruction to receive measurement resources, the terminal then receives measurement resources from the network device. This ensures that the terminal can determine available time slots and receive measurement resources in those slots, improving communication reliability.

[0214] It should be noted that the various embodiments of this application can be implemented independently or in combination, without limitation. Unless otherwise specified or in conflict, the terminology and / or descriptions between the different embodiments provided in this application are consistent and can be referenced mutually. Technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments based on their inherent logical relationships.

[0215] It is understood that in the embodiments of this application, the executing entity may perform some or all of the steps in the embodiments of this application. These steps or operations are merely examples, and the embodiments of this application may also perform other operations or variations thereof. Furthermore, the various steps may be executed in different orders as presented in the embodiments of this application, and it is not necessarily necessary to execute all the operations in the embodiments of this application.

[0216] The foregoing primarily describes the solutions provided in this application from the perspective of device-to-device interaction. It is understood that each device, in order to achieve the aforementioned functions, includes corresponding hardware structures and / or software modules for executing each function. Those skilled in the art should readily recognize that, based on the algorithm steps of the examples described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein, this application can be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in hardware or by computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0217] This application embodiment can divide each device into functional modules according to the above method example. For example, each function can be divided into a separate functional module, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing module. The integrated module can be implemented in hardware or as a software functional module. It should be noted that the module division in this application embodiment is illustrative and only represents one logical functional division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods.

[0218] Figure 13 shows a communication device in which each function is divided into functional modules. This communication device can perform the actions performed by any of the devices in the terminal and network device in the method shown in Figure 4. All relevant content of each step involved in the above method embodiment can be referred to the functional description of the corresponding functional module. The technical effects that can be obtained can be referred to the above method embodiment, and will not be repeated here.

[0219] The communication device 130 may include a transceiver module 1301 and a processing module 1302. Exemplarily, the communication device 130 may be a communication equipment, or a chip or other combination device or component having the aforementioned communication device functions. When the communication device 130 is a communication equipment, the transceiver module 1301 may be a transceiver, which may include an antenna and radio frequency circuits; the processing module 1302 may be a processor (or processing circuit), such as a baseband processor, which may include one or more CPUs. When the communication device 130 is a component having the aforementioned communication device functions, the transceiver module 1301 may be a radio frequency unit; the processing module 1302 may be a processor (or processing circuit), such as a baseband processor. When the communication device 130 is a chip system, the transceiver module 1301 may be an input / output interface of a chip (e.g., a baseband chip); the processing module 1302 may be a processor (or processing circuit) of the chip system, and may include one or more central processing units. It should be understood that the transceiver module 1301 in the embodiments of this application can be implemented by a transceiver or transceiver-related circuit components; the processing module 1302 can be implemented by a processor or processor-related circuit components (or, referred to as processing circuit).

[0220] For example, transceiver module 1301 can be used to perform all transceiver operations performed by the communication device, and / or other processes to support the technology described herein; processing module 1302 can be used to perform all operations performed by the communication device other than transceiver operations, and / or other processes to support the technology described herein.

[0221] As another possible implementation, the transceiver module 1301 in FIG13 can be replaced by a transceiver that can integrate the functions of the transceiver module 1301; the processing module 1302 can be replaced by a processor that can integrate the functions of the processing module 1302. Furthermore, the communication device 130 shown in FIG13 may also include a memory.

[0222] As another possible implementation, the transceiver module 1301 in Figure 13 can be replaced by a transceiver that can integrate the functions of the transceiver module 1301; the processing module 1302 can be replaced by a processor that can integrate the functions of the processing module 1302.

[0223] This application embodiment also provides a communication device 140 as shown in FIG14. The communication device 140 can be a chip or system-on-a-chip in a terminal or network device; it can also be a chip or system-on-a-chip in a terminal or network device. As shown in FIG14, the communication device 140 includes a processor 1401, a transceiver 1402, and a communication line 1403.

[0224] Furthermore, the communication device 140 may also include a memory 1404. The processor 1401, the memory 1404, and the transceiver 1402 can be connected via a communication line 1403.

[0225] The processor 1401 can be a central processing unit (CPU), a network processor (NP), a digital signal processor (DSP), a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a programmable logic device (PLD), or any combination thereof. The processor 1401 can also be other devices with processing capabilities, such as circuits, devices, or software modules, without limitation.

[0226] Transceiver 1402 is used to communicate with other devices or other communication networks. These other communication networks can be Ethernet, radio access network (RAN), wireless local area network (WLAN), etc. Transceiver 1402 can be a module, circuit, transceiver, or any device capable of enabling communication.

[0227] Communication line 1403 is used to transmit information between the components included in communication device 140.

[0228] Memory 1404 is used to store instructions. These instructions can be computer programs.

[0229] The memory 1404 may be a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device capable of storing static information and / or instructions; it may also be a random access memory (RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device capable of storing information and / or instructions; it may also be an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disc storage, optical disc storage (including compressed optical discs, laser discs, optical discs, digital universal optical discs, Blu-ray discs, etc.), magnetic disk storage media or other magnetic storage devices, etc., without limitation.

[0230] It should be noted that the memory 1404 can exist independently of the processor 1401, or it can be integrated with the processor 1401. The memory 1404 can be used to store instructions, program code, or some data, etc. The memory 1404 can be located inside or outside the communication device 140, without limitation. The processor 1401 is used to execute the instructions stored in the memory 1404 to implement the communication method provided in the following embodiments of this application.

[0231] In one example, processor 1401 may include one or more CPUs, such as CPU0 and CPU1 in Figure 14.

[0232] As an optional implementation, the communication device 140 may include multiple processors, for example, in addition to processor 1401 in FIG. 14, it may also include processor 1407.

[0233] As an optional implementation, the communication device 140 also includes an output device 1405 and an input device 1406. For example, the input device 1406 is a device such as a keyboard, mouse, microphone, or joystick, and the output device 1405 is a device such as a display screen or speaker.

[0234] It should be noted that the communication device 140 may be a desktop computer, a portable computer, a web server, a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a wireless terminal, an embedded device, a chip system, or a device with a similar structure to that shown in FIG14. Furthermore, the composition shown in FIG14 does not constitute a limitation on the communication device. In addition to the components shown in FIG14, the communication device may include more or fewer components than shown, or combine certain components, or have different component arrangements.

[0235] In this embodiment of the application, the chip system may be composed of chips or may include chips and other discrete devices.

[0236] Furthermore, the actions, terms, etc., involved in the various embodiments of this application can be referenced interchangeably without limitation. The message names or parameter names in the messages exchanged between the various devices in the embodiments of this application are merely examples, and other names may be used in specific implementations without limitation.

[0237] This application also provides a computer program product that, when executed by a computer, can implement the functions of any of the above method embodiments.

[0238] This application also provides a computer program that, when executed by a computer, can implement the functions of any of the above method embodiments.

[0239] This application also provides a computer-readable storage medium. All or part of the processes in the above method embodiments can be implemented by a computer program instructing related hardware. This program can be stored in the computer-readable storage medium, and when executed, it can include the processes of the above method embodiments. The computer-readable storage medium can be an internal storage unit of the terminal (including a data sending end and / or a data receiving end) of any of the foregoing embodiments, such as the terminal's hard disk or memory. The computer-readable storage medium can also be an external storage device of the terminal, such as a plug-in hard disk, smart media card (SMC), secure digital (SD) card, flash card, etc., equipped on the terminal. Further, the computer-readable storage medium can include both the terminal's internal storage unit and external storage devices. The computer-readable storage medium is used to store the computer program and other programs and data required by the terminal. The computer-readable storage medium can also be used to temporarily store data that has been output or will be output.

[0240] It should be noted that the terms "first" and "second," etc., in the specification, claims, and drawings of this application are used to distinguish different objects, not to describe a specific order. "First" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the number of indicated technical features. Therefore, a feature defined with "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of that feature. In the description of this embodiment, unless otherwise stated, "a plurality of" means two or more.

[0241] Furthermore, the terms “comprising” and “having”, and any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, system, product, or apparatus that includes a series of steps or units is not limited to the steps or units listed, but may optionally include steps or units not listed, or may optionally include other steps or units inherent to such process, method, product, or apparatus.

[0242] It should be understood that in this application, "at least one (item)" means one or more. "More than one" means two or more. "At least two (items)" means two or three or more. "And / or" is used to describe the relationship between related objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, "A and / or B" can mean: only A exists, only B exists, and A and B exist simultaneously, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the related objects before and after are in an "or" relationship. "At least one (item) of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, at least one (item) of a, b, or c can mean: a, b, c, "a and b", "a and c", "b and c", or "a and b and c", where a, b, and c can be single or multiple. Both "...when" and "if" indicate that a corresponding action will be taken under certain objective circumstances. They are not time limits, nor do they require a judgment action to be taken when the action is taken, nor do they imply any other limitations.

[0243] In the embodiments of this application, the terms "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate that something is an example, illustration, or description. Any embodiment or design that is described as "exemplary" or "for example" in the embodiments of this application should not be construed as being more preferred or advantageous than other embodiments or design. Specifically, the use of terms such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present the relevant concepts in a specific manner to facilitate understanding.

[0244] In this application, "sending information to...(terminal device)" can be understood as the destination of the information being the terminal device. This can include sending information directly or indirectly to the terminal device. "Receiving information from...(terminal device)" can be understood as the source of the information being the terminal device, and can include receiving information directly or indirectly from the terminal device. Information may undergo necessary processing between the source and destination, such as format changes, but the destination can understand the valid information from the source.

[0245] Through the above description of the embodiments, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the sake of convenience and brevity, only the division of the above functional modules is used as an example. In actual applications, the above functions can be assigned to different functional modules as needed, that is, the internal structure of the device can be divided into different functional modules to complete all or part of the functions described above.

[0246] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative; for instance, the division of modules or units is only a logical functional division, and in actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another device, or some features may be ignored or not executed. Furthermore, the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed may be through some interfaces; the indirect coupling or communication connection between devices or units may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0247] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate. A component shown as a unit can be one or more physical units; that is, it can be located in one place or distributed in multiple different locations. Some or all of the units can be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0248] Furthermore, the functional units in the various embodiments of this application can be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit can exist physically separately, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit. The integrated unit can be implemented in hardware or as a software functional unit.

[0249] If the integrated unit is implemented as a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of this application embodiment, or all or part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to cause a device (which may be a microcontroller, chip, etc.) or processor to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of this application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media capable of storing program code, such as USB flash drives, portable hard drives, ROM, RAM, magnetic disks, or optical disks.

[0250] The above description is intended to illustrate the technical solutions of this application only, and not to limit them. Although this application has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that modifications can still be made to the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments, or equivalent substitutions can be made to some of the technical features. However, these modifications or substitutions do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, Applied to a terminal, the method includes: The terminal receives a first indication from a network device; the first indication is used to indicate that the terminal needs to receive measurement resources in an available time slot; wherein the measurement resources include one or more reference signals; the available time slot includes at least a downlink symbol or a flexible symbol, the downlink symbol or the flexible symbol is used to receive the reference signal, and the time domain position of the downlink symbol or the flexible symbol includes at least the symbol position of the reference signal; According to the first indication information, the measurement resources are received in the available time slots.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first indication information includes at least one of the following: The number of reference signals included in the measurement resources; First offset; the first offset is associated with all reference signals contained in the measurement resource; A second offset; each reference signal included in the measurement resource is associated with a second offset; The frequency domain location of each reference signal included in the measurement resource; The measurement resource includes the symbol position of each reference signal within a time slot.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The number of available time slots is N, and the N available time slots are consecutive time slots in the time domain; N≥1, and N is a positive integer.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, Receiving the measurement resources in an available time slot according to the first indication information includes: A first time period is determined based on the first offset and / or each of the second offsets included in the first indication information; If all time slots included in the first time period are available time slots, the measurement resources are received during the first time period.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The method further includes: If the first time period contains at least one unavailable time slot, the measurement resources are received in the second time period; the time slots included in the second time period are all available time slots.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that, The second time period is the N most recent available time slots after the first time period.

7. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The measurement resource includes a first reference signal, and the first indication information further includes a third offset, wherein the third offset is a second offset associated with the first reference signal; receiving the measurement resource in an available time slot according to the first indication information includes: The first time slot is determined based on the first offset and / or the third offset included in the first indication information; If the first time slot is the available time slot, the first reference signal is received in the first time slot.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that, The method further includes: If the first time slot is an unavailable time slot, the first reference signal is received in the second time slot; the second time slot is the first available time slot after the first time slot.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that, The measurement resource further includes a second reference signal; the method further includes: When the available time slots corresponding to the first reference signal and the second reference signal are both the second time slot, the terminal receives the first reference signal in the second time slot and receives the second reference signal in the third time slot; the third time slot is the first available time slot after the second time slot.

10. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The first indication information also includes a fourth offset of K, wherein each reference signal contained in the measurement resource is associated with a fourth offset; K is a positive integer and K≥1; The step of receiving the measurement resources in an available time slot according to the first indication information includes: The reference signal is received in the Kth available time slot based on the K value of the fourth offset included in the first indication information.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1-10, characterized in that, When the measurement resources include multiple reference signals, the method further includes: The time interval between the first and last reference signals among the plurality of reference signals received by the terminal is less than or equal to a preset interval.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1-11, characterized in that, During the time interval between the first reference signal and the last reference signal among the plurality of reference signals received by the terminal, the terminal does not wish to receive the second indication information from the network device; The second indication information is used to indicate that the available time slots determined by the terminal are indicated as unavailable time slots.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that, The second indication information is used to indicate at least one of the following: Indicates a time slot format, which is used to indicate the format of the flexible symbol as that of an uplink symbol; The priority of the measurement resources is indicated, which is used to indicate that the terminal cannot use certain frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources; The terminal is instructed to transmit uplink signals or uplink channels on the flexible symbol.

14. The method according to any one of claims 1-13, characterized in that, Receiving the measurement resources in an available time slot according to the first indication information includes: If the symbol position of each reference signal contained in the measurement resource is the same within a time slot, the terminal receives the measurement resource in the available time slot.

15. A communication method, characterized in that, Applied to network devices, the method includes: Send a first indication message to the terminal; the first indication message is used to indicate that the terminal needs to receive measurement resources in an available time slot; The measurement resources include one or more reference signals; the available time slots include at least downlink symbols or flexible symbols, the downlink symbols or flexible symbols are used to receive the reference signals, and the time domain position of the downlink symbols or flexible symbols includes at least the symbol position of the reference signals.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that, The first indication information includes at least one of the following: The number of reference signals included in the measurement resources; First offset; the first offset is used to indicate the time slot offset of the measurement resource; A second offset; each reference signal included in the measurement resource is associated with a second offset, the second offset being used to indicate the time slot offset of the reference signal; The frequency domain location of each reference signal included in the measurement resource; The measurement resource includes the symbol position of each reference signal within a time slot.

17. The method according to claim 15 or 16, characterized in that, The number of available time slots is N, and the N available time slots are consecutive time slots in the time domain.

18. The method according to any one of claims 15-17, characterized in that, When the measurement resources include multiple reference signals, the method further includes: The time interval between the first and last reference signals of the plurality of reference signals sent to the terminal is less than or equal to a preset interval.

19. The method according to any one of claims 15-18, characterized in that, During the time interval between the first and last reference signals of the plurality of reference signals sent to the terminal, no second indication information is sent to the terminal; the second indication information is used to indicate that the available time slot determined by the terminal is an unavailable time slot.

20. The method according to claim 19, characterized in that, The second indication information is used to indicate at least one of the following: Indicates a time slot format, which is used to indicate the format of the flexible symbol to be changed to the format of the uplink symbol; The priority of the measurement resources is indicated, which is used to indicate that the terminal cannot use certain frequency domain resources and / or time domain resources; The terminal is instructed to transmit uplink signals or uplink channels on the flexible symbol.

21. A communication device, characterized in that, The communication device includes a processor; the processor is configured to run a computer program or instructions to cause the method as described in any one of claims 1-14 to be performed, or to cause the method as described in any one of claims 15-20 to be performed.

22. A communication device, characterized in that, The communication device includes an interface circuit and a logic circuit; the interface circuit is used for inputting and / or outputting information; the logic circuit is used to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1-14, or to perform the method as described in any one of claims 15-20.

23. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium stores computer instructions or programs that, when executed on a computer, cause the method as described in any one of claims 1-14 to be performed, or cause the method as described in any one of claims 15-20 to be performed.

24. A computer program product, characterized in that, The computer program product includes computer instructions; when some or all of the computer instructions are run on a computer, they cause the method as described in any one of claims 1-14 to be performed, or cause the method as described in any one of claims 15-20 to be performed.

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