Signal configuration method and apparatus, and terminal and network-side device

Abstract

Provided in the present disclosure are a signal configuration method and apparatus, and a terminal and a network-side device. The method comprises: a terminal receiving signal configuration information sent by a first network-side device, the signal configuration information being used for configuring time-domain resources of one or more first signals to be distributed in a centralized manner, wherein the first signal is any one of the following: SSB, PDCCH, PDSCH carrying a system information block 1, RO, and PO.

Description

Signal configuration methods, devices, terminals and network-side equipment

[0001] This disclosure claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202510093076.1, filed on January 21, 2025, entitled “Signal Configuration Method, Apparatus, Terminal and Network Side Device”, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0002] This disclosure relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a signal configuration method, apparatus, terminal and network-side equipment. Background Technology

[0003] In current technology, the period and time-frequency domain location of each common signal are configured independently, with weak interrelationships, resulting in short base station sleep times and thus failing to achieve network energy saving. The common signals mainly include at least one of the following: Synchronization Signal Block (SSB), Control Resource Set (CORESET#0), System Information Block Type 1 (SIB1), Random Access Occasion (RO), and Paging Occasion (PO). Summary of the Invention

[0004] The purpose of this disclosure is to provide a signal configuration method, apparatus, terminal, and network-side device to solve the problem that the independent configuration of public signals in related technologies cannot achieve network energy saving.

[0005] To address the aforementioned problems, this disclosure provides a signal configuration method, the method comprising:

[0006] The terminal receives signal configuration information sent by a first network-side device, the signal configuration information being used to configure the time-domain resources of one or more first signals to be centrally distributed; wherein, the first signal is any one of the following:

[0007] Synchronization Signal and Physical Broadcast Channel Block (SSB);

[0008] Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH);

[0009] The Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) carrying system information block 1;

[0010] Random Access Occasion (RO);

[0011] Paging Occasion (PO).

[0012] This disclosure also provides a signal configuration method, the method comprising:

[0013] A first network-side device sends signal configuration information to a terminal, the signal configuration information being used to configure the time-domain resources of one or more first signals to be centrally distributed; wherein, the first signal is any one of the following:

[0014] Synchronization Signal and Broadcast Channel Block (SSB);

[0015] Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH);

[0016] The Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) carrying system information block 1;

[0017] Random access timing (RO);

[0018] Pager prompt (PO).

[0019] This disclosure also provides a terminal, including a memory, a transceiver, and a processor:

[0020] A memory for storing computer programs; a transceiver for sending and receiving data under the control of the processor; and a processor for reading the computer programs from the memory and performing the following operations:

[0021] The system receives signal configuration information sent by a first network-side device, the signal configuration information being used to configure the time-domain resources of one or more first signals to be centrally distributed; wherein the first signal is any one of the following:

[0022] Synchronization Signal and Broadcast Channel Block (SSB);

[0023] Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH);

[0024] The Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) carrying system information block 1;

[0025] Random access timing (RO);

[0026] Pager prompt (PO).

[0027] This disclosure also provides a network-side device, which is a first network-side device, comprising a memory, a transceiver, and a processor.

[0028] A memory for storing computer programs; a transceiver for sending and receiving data under the control of the processor; and a processor for reading the computer programs from the memory and performing the following operations:

[0029] Sending signal configuration information to the terminal, the signal configuration information being used to configure the time-domain resources of one or more first signals to be centrally distributed; wherein, the first signal is any one of the following:

[0030] Synchronization Signal and Broadcast Channel Block (SSB);

[0031] Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH);

[0032] The Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) carrying system information block 1;

[0033] Random access timing (RO);

[0034] Pager prompt (PO).

[0035] This disclosure also provides a signal configuration device for a terminal, the device comprising:

[0036] A receiving unit is configured to receive signal configuration information sent by a first network-side device, wherein the signal configuration information is used to configure the time-domain resources of one or more first signals to be centrally distributed; wherein the first signal is any one of the following:

[0037] Synchronization Signal and Broadcast Channel Block (SSB);

[0038] Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH);

[0039] The Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) carrying system information block 1;

[0040] Random access timing (RO);

[0041] Pager prompt (PO).

[0042] This disclosure also provides a signal configuration device applied to a first network-side device, the device comprising:

[0043] A transmitting unit is configured to transmit signal configuration information to a terminal, wherein the signal configuration information is used to configure the time-domain resources of one or more first signals to be centrally distributed; wherein the first signal is any one of the following:

[0044] Synchronization Signal and Broadcast Channel Block (SSB);

[0045] Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH);

[0046] The Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) carrying system information block 1;

[0047] Random access timing (RO);

[0048] Pager prompt (PO).

[0049] This disclosure also provides a processor-readable storage medium storing a program for causing the processor to perform the method described above.

[0050] The above-disclosed technical solution has at least the following beneficial effects:

[0051] In the signal configuration method, apparatus, terminal, and network-side device of this disclosure, the first network-side device configures at least one of the first signals SSB, PDCCH, PDSCH, RO, and PO to be centrally distributed in the time domain, so that the first signals occupy more concentrated time domain resources to obtain more opportunities for the network-side device to sleep, thereby achieving the effect of allowing the first network-side device to sleep for a longer period of time, and thus realizing network energy saving. Attached Figure Description

[0052] Figure 1 illustrates one of the steps of the signal configuration method provided in this embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0053] Figure 2 shows a configuration example of the first configuration information in the signal configuration method provided in this embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0054] Figure 3 shows one of the configuration examples of the second configuration information in the signal configuration method provided in the embodiments of this disclosure;

[0055] Figure 4 shows a second example of the configuration of the second configuration information in the signal configuration method provided in this embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0056] Figure 5 illustrates a second step of the signal configuration method provided in this embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0057] Figure 6 shows a schematic diagram of the SSB configuration in Example 1 provided in this embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0058] Figure 7 shows a schematic diagram of the configuration of the RO resource set in Example 1 provided in this embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0059] Figure 8 shows one of the configuration diagrams of various first signals in Example 2 provided in the embodiments of this disclosure;

[0060] Figure 9 shows a second schematic diagram of the configuration of various first signals in Example 3 provided in the embodiments of this disclosure;

[0061] Figure 10 shows a schematic diagram of the SSB pattern in Example 4 provided in the embodiments of this disclosure;

[0062] Figure 11 shows a schematic diagram of the RO pattern in Example 4 provided in the embodiments of this disclosure;

[0063] Figure 12 shows a schematic diagram of Example 5 provided in the embodiments of this disclosure;

[0064] Figure 13 shows a schematic diagram of the structure of the terminal provided in an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0065] Figure 14 shows a schematic diagram of the structure of the network-side device provided in an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0066] Figure 15 shows a schematic diagram of one of the signal configuration devices provided in an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0067] Figure 16 shows a second schematic diagram of the structure of the signal configuration device provided in the embodiments of this disclosure. Detailed Implementation

[0068] To make the technical problems, technical solutions and advantages to be solved by this disclosure clearer, a detailed description will be given below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

[0069] In this disclosure, the term "and / or" describes the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent three cases: A alone, A and B simultaneously, and B alone. The character " / " generally indicates that the preceding and following related objects have an "or" relationship.

[0070] In this disclosure, the term "multiple" refers to two or more, and other quantifiers are similar.

[0071] The technical solutions of the embodiments of this disclosure will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of this disclosure, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of this disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of this disclosure.

[0072] The technical solutions provided in this disclosure can be applied to a variety of systems. For example, applicable systems may include Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) systems, LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD) systems, Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A) systems, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) systems, 5G New Radio (NR) systems and their evolved communication systems, and 6G (sixth generation mobile communication technology) systems. These systems may include terminal equipment and network equipment. The systems may also include a core network component, such as the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) or the 5G Core Network (5GC).

[0073] The terminal devices involved in the embodiments of this disclosure can be devices that provide voice and / or data connectivity to users, handheld devices with wireless connectivity, or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem. The names of the terminal devices may differ in different systems; for example, in a 5G system, a terminal device can be called User Equipment (UE). Wireless terminal devices can communicate with one or more core networks (CNs) via a Radio Access Network (RAN). Wireless terminal devices can be mobile terminal devices, such as mobile phones (or "cellular" phones) and computers with mobile terminal devices, for example, portable, pocket-sized, handheld, computer-embedded, or vehicle-mounted mobile devices that exchange voice and / or data with the RAN. Examples include Personal Communication Service (PCS) phones, cordless phones, Session Initiated Protocol (SIP) phones, Wireless Local Loop (WLL) stations, and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs). Wireless terminal equipment can also be referred to as a system, subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile station, mobile station, remote station, access point, remote terminal, access terminal, user terminal, user agent, or user device, but is not limited to these terms in the embodiments disclosed herein.

[0074] The network device disclosed in this embodiment may be a base station, which may include multiple cells providing services to terminals. Depending on the specific application, the base station may also be called an access point, or a device in the access network that communicates with the wireless terminal device through one or more sectors on the air interface, or other names. The network device may be used to exchange received air frames with Internet Protocol (IP) packets, acting as a router between the wireless terminal device and the rest of the access network, where the rest of the access network may include an Internet Protocol (IP) communication network. The network device may also coordinate the attribute management of the air interface. For example, the network equipment involved in this disclosure can be a base transceiver station (BTS) in a Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) or Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system, a NodeB in a wide-band Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) system, an evolved Node B (eNB or e-NodeB) in a long term evolution (LTE) system, a 5G base station (gNB) in a next generation system, a Home evolved Node B (HeNB), a relay node, a femto, a pico, etc., and is not limited in this disclosure. In some network structures, the network equipment may include centralized unit (CU) nodes and distributed unit (DU) nodes, and the centralized unit and distributed unit may be geographically separated.

[0075] Network devices and terminal devices can each use one or more antennas for Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) transmission. MIMO transmission can be Single User MIMO (SU-MIMO) or Multiple User MIMO (MU-MIMO). Depending on the shape and number of antenna combinations, MIMO transmission can be two-dimensional MIMO (2D-MIMO), three-dimensional MIMO (3D-MIMO), full-dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO), or massive-scale MIMO. It can also be diversity transmission, pre-coded transmission, or beamforming transmission, etc.

[0076] As shown in Figure 1, this disclosure provides a signal configuration method, the method comprising:

[0077] Step 101: The terminal receives signal configuration information sent by the first network-side device. The signal configuration information is used to configure the time-domain resources of one or more first signals to be centrally distributed; wherein, the first signal is any one of the following:

[0078] Synchronization Signal and Broadcast Channel Block (SSB);

[0079] Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH);

[0080] The Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) carrying system information block 1;

[0081] Random access timing (RO);

[0082] Pager prompt (PO).

[0083] In this embodiment, a scheme is proposed to centrally transmit the first signal in the time domain in 6G network energy saving (NES), which allows the base station to have more sleep opportunities, thereby bringing greater energy saving gains.

[0084] In some embodiments, the SSB includes: a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and a physical broadcast channel (PBCH).

[0085] In some embodiments, PDCCH is specifically CORESET#0.

[0086] In this embodiment of the disclosure, the first network-side device configures at least one of the first signals SSB, PDCCH, PDSCH, RO, and PO to be centrally distributed in the time domain, so that the first signals occupy more concentrated time domain resources to obtain more opportunities for the network-side device to sleep, thereby achieving the effect of allowing the first network-side device to sleep for a longer period of time.

[0087] In at least one embodiment of this disclosure, the signal configuration information includes at least one of the following:

[0088] The first configuration information is used to configure the time-domain resources of multiple first-type first signals within a first transmission period to be concentrated in a first time region, the duration of the first time region being less than the duration of the first transmission period; the first transmission period is the repetition transmission period of the first-type first signal.

[0089] The second configuration information is used to configure the time-domain resources of at least two first signals within the second transmission period to be concentrated in a second time region, the duration of which is less than the duration of the second transmission period; the second transmission period is the repetition transmission period of any one of the at least two first signals.

[0090] The third configuration information is used to configure a target time domain resource occupied by a first signal, wherein the target time domain resource includes continuous time units.

[0091] In the first implementation of this disclosure, the first configuration information can realize a non-uniform periodic configuration of the first signal. The non-uniform periodic configuration can be understood as follows: during the first transmission period, some or all of the first signals are concentrated in a certain segment of the time domain (such as the first time region) and are repeated, while the first signal is not transmitted in other time domain parts or is transmitted in a sparser form.

[0092] This implementation provides a non-uniform period signal configuration scheme, which can achieve network energy saving as much as possible while meeting the needs of the terminal.

[0093] In some embodiments, a first signal corresponds to a first configuration information; for example, the configuration information provided in this disclosure includes at least one of the following first configuration information: a first configuration information corresponding to SSB, a first configuration information corresponding to CORESET#0, a first configuration information corresponding to SIB 1, a first configuration information corresponding to RO, and a first configuration information corresponding to PO.

[0094] In the second implementation of this disclosure, the second configuration information enables the centralized distribution of time-domain resources of at least two first signals. Specifically, the second configuration information is used to flexibly configure the multiplexing mode of at least two first signal resources. The multiplexing mode of at least two first signal resources can be understood as the time-frequency domain positional relationship between at least two first signals.

[0095] This implementation provides a simpler first signal configuration scheme, smaller time intervals between various first signals, longer sleep opportunities for network devices, and also ensures configuration flexibility.

[0096] In the third implementation of this disclosure, the third configuration information can configure a first signal in a continuous time unit in the time domain. This time unit can be a subframe, a time slot, or a symbol, and no specific limitation is made here.

[0097] This implementation optimizes the internal time-domain distribution pattern of the first signal, allowing the first signal to occupy completely continuous time-domain resources, thereby obtaining energy-saving gains.

[0098] Regarding the first implementation method provided in this disclosure, the first configuration information is used to configure one or more of the following parameters:

[0099] The first parameter is used to indicate the first transmission period;

[0100] The second parameter indicates the number of times the first signal is repeatedly transmitted within the first transmission period, and the time interval between each transmission.

[0101] The third parameter is used to indicate the effective time information and / or expiration time information of the first transmission period;

[0102] The fourth parameter is used to indicate the effective time information and / or expiration time information of the second parameter.

[0103] For example, the first signal is an SSB. The first network-side device can be configured with multiple SSB bursts that are consecutive in the time domain to meet the terminal synchronization requirements. Subsequently, it will not send SSBs for a period of time to obtain energy-saving gains. As shown in Figure 2, the first transmission period T is equal to 160ms. The four SSB bursts are concentrated in the first 40ms of the first transmission period, and the first network-side device is in a sleep or dormant state for the last 120ms of the first transmission period. The advantage of the SSB configuration method provided in this embodiment is that it can both meet the terminal's requirement to continuously receive multiple SSBs and provide the network-side device with as much sleep time as possible. Each SSB burst in the figure may contain multiple SSB beams.

[0104] For the second implementation method provided in this disclosure, the second configuration information is used to configure at least one of the following:

[0105] A first positional relationship between the target time-domain locations of at least two first signals that are concentratedly distributed;

[0106] A second positional relationship between the target frequency domain locations of at least two first signals that are concentrated in a single distribution;

[0107] The target time-domain location of the first signal includes at least one of the following locations: time-domain start location, time-domain end location, and time-domain center location;

[0108] The target frequency domain position of the first signal includes at least one of the following positions: frequency domain start position, frequency domain end position, and frequency domain center position.

[0109] In some embodiments, the second configuration information includes at least one of the following:

[0110] First indication information, the first indication information is used to indicate at least two multiplexing modes of the first signal, the multiplexing mode being associated with a predefined first positional relationship and / or a predefined second positional relationship;

[0111] Second indication information, the second indication information being used to indicate a first positional relationship and / or a second positional relationship between at least two first signals;

[0112] The third indication information is used to indicate that the positional relationship between at least two first signals is a target positional relationship, wherein the target positional relationship is one of a predefined first positional relationship and / or a predefined second positional relationship.

[0113] In the design of the first signal pattern in related technologies, the pattern of the SSB signal is always fixed, and there are three multiplexing modes for SSB, CORESET#0, and PDSCH. However, the new pattern design of the first signal in this disclosure embodiment considers incorporating PO and RO resources into the multiplexing mode. Since the periods of the first signals are not necessarily the same, the new multiplexing mode flexibly combines two or more of the above five first signals. Taking SSB and SIB1 as an example, there may be four SSBs but only one SIB1 within 160ms. In this case, one of the four SSBs will use the multiplexing mode configuration with SIB1, while the other three should use other multiplexing modes that do not include SSBs.

[0114] Therefore, the multiplexing modes of at least two first signals mentioned in the embodiments of this disclosure satisfy two characteristics: integrity and descalability. Integrity means that the time domain positions of multiple first signals can be continuous, and the time domain position relationship between all first signals can be determined by a simple time gap parameter configuration. Descalability means that in some scenarios or configurations, some first signals may not need to be sent or updated. In this case, the multiplexing mode design needs to exclude those resources that do not need to send first signals.

[0115] For overall coverage, a simple example is shown in Figure 3, where uplink and downlink signals or channels are distributed across a continuous segment of time-domain resources, such as consecutive subframes. The time interval between each type of first signal is configurable or predefined. Embodiments of this disclosure allow each time gap to be as small as possible, or even zero, thereby obtaining longer network device sleep opportunities.

[0116] It should be noted that the pattern design of the multiplexing mode will be affected depending on the duplex mode (Time Division Multiplexing (TDD) / Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDD). When using FDD mode, since the uplink and downlink channels are separate, the uplink (RO) does not need to configure the multiplexing relationship of time and frequency domain resources with other first signals (downlink). Multiplexing relationships still exist between other first signals.

[0117] For example, in TDD mode, when uplink signals / channels and downlink signals / channels are distributed in different frames, ROs are configured independently, as shown in Figure 4. In FDD mode, however, RO resources are separate from uplink signal / channel resources, and the uplink signal / channel resource multiplexing pattern does not need to consider RO resources.

[0118] In related technologies, the signal content of SSBs and the internal signal of ROs are not temporally continuous. For example, an SSB occupies four temporally continuous symbols, but each SSB burst contains multiple SSBs with a large number of symbol gaps between them. The configuration of SSB modes in related technologies affects the position of SSBs in the radio frame and indirectly affects the number of symbol gaps, but it cannot achieve a symbol-level continuous SSB configuration. Similarly, the internal structure of ROs in related technologies is also non-contiguous. In the current RO index table, ROs actually only occupy a portion of the time slots in the corresponding subframe. For example, ROs exist in subframes 4 and 9, distributed in time slot 1 of each subframe, with six ROs in each time slot and each RO having a length of two symbols.

[0119] To address the aforementioned issues, in the third implementation provided by this disclosure, the third configuration information is used to configure at least one of the following parameters:

[0120] The fifth parameter is used to indicate the number of the starting time unit of the target time domain resource;

[0121] The sixth parameter indicates the number of consecutive time units included in the target time-domain resource;

[0122] The seventh parameter is used to indicate whether the continuous time unit is a continuous subframe, a continuous time slot, or a continuous OFDM symbol.

[0123] In some embodiments, the time unit is any one of a subframe, a time slot, or a symbol.

[0124] In one implementation, the third configuration information can be notified to the terminal and the first network-side device in a predefined manner, and the time-domain resources of the predefined first signal include continuous time units.

[0125] In this embodiment of the disclosure, the first network-side device configures each first signal by configuring the fifth and sixth parameters, thereby achieving continuity at the subframe, time slot, or symbol level, which is beneficial for further energy saving of the network-side device.

[0126] In at least one embodiment of this disclosure, the method further includes:

[0127] The terminal receives configuration information of at least one first signal sent by the second network-side device;

[0128] The type of the first signal configured by the second network-side device is different from the type of the first signal configured by the first network-side device.

[0129] In this embodiment, a second network-side device exists in a non-energy-saving state with wide-area coverage. This second network-side device does not enter an energy-saving state, and therefore can assist the first network-side device in its energy-saving state by carrying out the initial access process of terminals within its coverage area when the first network-side device is in sleep mode, or by broadcasting some signals in place of the first network-side device. Therefore, the presence of the second network-side device and its operating mode will affect the energy-saving strategy of the first network-side device.

[0130] In this embodiment of the disclosure, when a second network-side device is present, the first network-side device can select different first signal configuration patterns depending on the different functions of the cell in the energy-saving state undertaken by the second network-side device; for example, the second network-side device carries the SSB, CORESET#0, and SIB1 transmission work of the first network-side device. At this time, the first network-side device will use a resource reuse mode that only includes PO and RO to obtain energy-saving gains.

[0131] In summary, in this embodiment of the present disclosure, the first network-side device configures at least one of the first signals SSB, PDCCH, PDSCH, RO, and PO to be centrally distributed in the time domain, thereby enabling the first signals to occupy more concentrated time-domain resources to obtain more opportunities for the network-side device to sleep, thus achieving the effect of allowing the first network-side device to sleep for a longer period of time, thereby realizing network energy saving.

[0132] As shown in Figure 5, this embodiment of the present disclosure also provides a signal configuration method, the method comprising:

[0133] Step 501: The first network-side device sends signal configuration information to the terminal. The signal configuration information is used to configure the time-domain resources of one or more first signals to be centrally distributed; wherein, the first signal is any one of the following:

[0134] Synchronization Signal and Broadcast Channel Block (SSB);

[0135] Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH);

[0136] The Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) carrying system information block 1;

[0137] Random access timing (RO);

[0138] Pager prompt (PO).

[0139] In some embodiments, the SSB includes: a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and a physical broadcast channel (PBCH).

[0140] In some embodiments, PDCCH is specifically CORESET#0.

[0141] In this embodiment of the disclosure, the first network-side device configures at least one of the first signals SSB, PDCCH, PDSCH, RO, and PO to be centrally distributed in the time domain, so that the first signals occupy more concentrated time domain resources to obtain more opportunities for the network-side device to sleep, thereby achieving the effect of allowing the first network-side device to sleep for a longer period of time.

[0142] In at least one embodiment of this disclosure, the signal configuration information includes at least one of the following:

[0143] The first configuration information is used to configure the time-domain resources of multiple first-type first signals within a first transmission period to be concentrated in a first time region, the duration of the first time region being less than the duration of the first transmission period; the first transmission period is the repetition transmission period of the first-type first signal.

[0144] The second configuration information is used to configure the time-domain resources of at least two first signals within the second transmission period to be concentrated in a second time region, the duration of which is less than the duration of the second transmission period; the second transmission period is the repetition transmission period of any one of the at least two first signals.

[0145] The third configuration information is used to configure a target time domain resource occupied by a first signal, wherein the target time domain resource includes continuous time units.

[0146] In the first implementation of this disclosure, the first configuration information can realize a non-uniform periodic configuration of the first signal. The non-uniform periodic configuration can be understood as follows: during the first transmission period, some or all of the first signals are concentrated in a certain segment of the time domain (such as the first time region) and are repeated, while the first signal is not transmitted in other time domain parts or is transmitted in a sparser form.

[0147] In some embodiments, a first signal corresponds to a first configuration information; for example, the configuration information provided in this disclosure includes at least one of the following first configuration information: a first configuration information corresponding to SSB, a first configuration information corresponding to CORESET#0, a first configuration information corresponding to SIB 1, a first configuration information corresponding to RO, and a first configuration information corresponding to PO.

[0148] In the second implementation of this disclosure, the second configuration information enables the centralized distribution of time-domain resources of at least two first signals. Specifically, the second configuration information is used to flexibly configure the multiplexing mode of at least two first signal resources. The multiplexing mode of at least two first signal resources can be understood as the time-frequency domain positional relationship between at least two first signals.

[0149] In the third implementation of this disclosure, the third configuration information can configure a first signal in a continuous time unit in the time domain. This time unit can be a subframe, a time slot, or a symbol, and no specific limitation is made here.

[0150] Regarding the first implementation method provided in this disclosure, the first configuration information is used to configure one or more of the following parameters:

[0151] The first parameter is used to indicate the first transmission period;

[0152] The second parameter indicates the number of times the first signal is repeatedly transmitted within the first transmission period, and the time interval between each transmission.

[0153] The third parameter is used to indicate the effective time information and / or expiration time information of the first transmission period;

[0154] The fourth parameter is used to indicate the effective time information and / or expiration time information of the second parameter.

[0155] For example, the first signal is an SSB. The first network-side device can be configured with multiple SSB bursts that are consecutive in the time domain to meet the terminal synchronization requirements. Subsequently, it will not send SSBs for a period of time to obtain energy-saving gains. As shown in Figure 2, the first transmission period T is equal to 160ms. The four SSB bursts are concentrated in the first 40ms of the first transmission period, and the first network-side device is in a sleep or dormant state for the last 120ms of the first transmission period. The advantage of the SSB configuration method provided in this embodiment is that it can both meet the terminal's requirement to continuously receive multiple SSBs and provide the network-side device with as much sleep time as possible. Each SSB burst in the figure may contain multiple SSB beams.

[0156] For the second implementation method provided in this disclosure, the second configuration information is used to configure at least one of the following:

[0157] A first positional relationship between the target time-domain locations of at least two first signals that are concentratedly distributed;

[0158] A second positional relationship between the target frequency domain locations of at least two first signals that are concentrated in a single distribution;

[0159] The target time-domain location of the first signal includes at least one of the following locations: time-domain start location, time-domain end location, and time-domain center location;

[0160] The target frequency domain position of the first signal includes at least one of the following positions: frequency domain start position, frequency domain end position, and frequency domain center position.

[0161] In some embodiments, the second configuration information includes at least one of the following:

[0162] First indication information, the first indication information is used to indicate at least two multiplexing modes of the first signal, the multiplexing mode being associated with a predefined first positional relationship and / or a predefined second positional relationship;

[0163] Second indication information, the second indication information being used to indicate a first positional relationship and / or a second positional relationship between at least two first signals;

[0164] The third indication information is used to indicate that the positional relationship between at least two first signals is a target positional relationship, wherein the target positional relationship is one of a predefined first positional relationship and / or a predefined second positional relationship.

[0165] In the design of the first signal pattern in related technologies, the pattern of the SSB signal is always fixed, and there are three multiplexing modes for SSB, CORESET#0, and PDSCH. However, the new pattern design of the first signal in this disclosure embodiment considers incorporating PO and RO resources into the multiplexing mode. Since the periods of the first signals are not necessarily the same, the new multiplexing mode flexibly combines two or more of the above five first signals. Taking SSB and SIB1 as an example, there may be four SSBs but only one SIB1 within 160ms. In this case, one of the four SSBs will use the multiplexing mode configuration with SIB1, while the other three should use other multiplexing modes that do not include SSBs.

[0166] Therefore, the multiplexing modes of at least two first signals mentioned in the embodiments of this disclosure satisfy two characteristics: integrity and descalability. Integrity means that the time domain positions of multiple first signals can be continuous, and the time domain position relationship between all first signals can be determined by a simple time gap parameter configuration. Descalability means that in some scenarios or configurations, some first signals may not need to be sent or updated. In this case, the multiplexing mode design needs to exclude those resources that do not need to send first signals.

[0167] For overall coverage, a simple example is shown in Figure 3, where uplink and downlink signals or channels are distributed across a continuous segment of time-domain resources, such as consecutive subframes. The time interval between each type of first signal is configurable or predefined. Embodiments of this disclosure allow each time gap to be as small as possible, or even zero, thereby obtaining longer network device sleep opportunities.

[0168] It should be noted that the pattern design of the multiplexing mode will be affected depending on the duplex mode (Time Division Multiplexing (TDD) / Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDD). When using FDD mode, since the uplink and downlink channels are separate, the uplink (RO) does not need to configure the multiplexing relationship of time and frequency domain resources with other first signals (downlink). Multiplexing relationships still exist between other first signals.

[0169] For example, in TDD mode, when uplink signals / channels and downlink signals / channels are distributed in different frames, ROs are configured independently, as shown in Figure 4. In FDD mode, however, RO resources are separate from uplink signal / channel resources, and the uplink signal / channel resource multiplexing pattern does not need to consider RO resources.

[0170] In the third implementation provided in this disclosure, the third configuration information is used to configure at least one of the following parameters:

[0171] The fifth parameter is used to indicate the number of the starting time unit of the target time domain resource;

[0172] The sixth parameter indicates the number of consecutive time units included in the target time-domain resource;

[0173] The seventh parameter is used to indicate whether the continuous time unit is a continuous subframe, a continuous time slot, or a continuous OFDM symbol.

[0174] In some embodiments, the time unit is any one of a subframe, a time slot, or a symbol.

[0175] In one implementation, the third configuration information can be notified to the terminal and the first network-side device in a predefined manner, and the time-domain resources of the predefined first signal include continuous time units.

[0176] In this embodiment of the disclosure, the first network-side device configures each first signal by configuring the fifth and sixth parameters, thereby achieving continuity at the subframe, time slot, or symbol level, which is beneficial for further energy saving of the network-side device.

[0177] In at least one embodiment of this disclosure, the method further includes:

[0178] Obtain the type information of the first signal configured by the second network-side device to the terminal;

[0179] Based on the type information of the first signal configured by the second network-side device, determine the type of the first signal to be configured as a centralized distribution;

[0180] The type of the first signal to be configured as a centralized distribution is different from the type of the first signal configured by the second network-side device.

[0181] In this embodiment, a second network-side device exists in a non-energy-saving state with wide-area coverage. This second network-side device does not enter an energy-saving state, and therefore can assist the first network-side device in its energy-saving state by carrying out the initial access process of terminals within its coverage area when the first network-side device is in sleep mode, or by broadcasting some signals in place of the first network-side device. Therefore, the presence of the second network-side device and its operating mode will affect the energy-saving strategy of the first network-side device.

[0182] In this embodiment of the disclosure, when a second network-side device is present, the first network-side device can select different first signal configuration patterns depending on the different functions of the cell in the energy-saving state undertaken by the second network-side device; for example, the second network-side device carries the SSB, CORESET#0, and SIB1 transmission work of the first network-side device. At this time, the first network-side device will use a resource reuse mode that only includes PO and RO to obtain energy-saving gains.

[0183] In summary, in this embodiment of the present disclosure, the first network-side device configures at least one of the first signals SSB, PDCCH, PDSCH, RO, and PO to be centrally distributed in the time domain, thereby enabling the first signals to occupy more concentrated time-domain resources to obtain more opportunities for the network-side device to sleep, thus achieving the effect of allowing the first network-side device to sleep for a longer period of time, thereby realizing network energy saving.

[0184] To better explain the above signal configuration method, several examples will be provided below.

[0185] Example 1: The base station configures the first configuration information for the first signal.

[0186] Taking SSB as an example, the terminal receives a first parameter, such as a first transmission period of 160ms, which indicates that the repetition period configured for the SSB is 160ms. The terminal receives a second parameter, such as repeating the transmission 4 times with a time interval of 5ms between each transmission. The terminal receives a third parameter, such as the first and second parameters taking effect at the start of the next SSB period. Based on the first, second, and third parameters, the terminal can determine the SSB pattern configuration for the next period, as shown in Figure 6.

[0187] Taking RO as an example, the terminal receives a first parameter, such as a first transmission period of 80ms, which indicates that the RO is configured to repeat 80ms. The terminal receives a second parameter, such as repeating twice with a time interval of 5ms each time. The terminal receives a third parameter, such as the first and second parameters taking effect 30ms after the start of the next RO period. The terminal can determine the RO pattern configuration for the next period based on the first, second, and third parameters, as shown in Figure 7.

[0188] Example 2: The base station configures first indication information and second indication information for the first signal.

[0189] The terminal receives the first instruction information and the second instruction information configuration.

[0190] For example, the first indication information indicates that the multiplexing mode is configured as pattern1. Pattern1 indicates the time-frequency domain positional relationship between SSB burst 4 and the corresponding CORESET#0. The positional relationship is as follows: the frequency domain center points of SSB and the corresponding CORESET#0 are the same, and the time gap between the last symbol of SSB in the time domain and the first symbol of CORESET#0 in the time domain is K1. K1 is configured by the second indication information, and K1 = 0. Thus, the positional relationship between SSB and CORESET#0 is obtained.

[0191] The pattern 1 also indicates the positional relationship between CORESET0 and SIB1, which is that the frequency domain center points of CORESET#0 and SIB1 are the same, and the interval between the end symbol of SSB time domain and the start symbol of CORESET0 time domain is K2 = 1 slot. K2 is configured by the second indication information, thereby determining the positional relationship between CORESET#0 and SIB1.

[0192] The pattern 1 also indicates the positional relationship between SIB1 and PO, which is that SIB1 and PO have the same frequency domain start point, and the time domain end symbol of SIB1 and the time domain start symbol of the first PO are separated by a distance K3 = 0. K3 is configured by the second indication information, thereby determining the positional relationship between SIB1 and PO.

[0193] The pattern 1 also indicates the positional relationship between PO and RO, which is as follows: the frequency domain start points of PO and RO differ by K4, K4 is configured by the second indication information, K4 = 1PRB, and the time domain end symbol of the last PO and the time domain start symbol of the first RO are separated by K5 = 0, K5 is configured by the second indication information, thereby determining the positional relationship between PO and RO.

[0194] Following the above process, the terminal can determine the positional relationship of each common signal through the first indication information and the second indication information, as shown in Figure 8. It should be noted that the first indication information and the second indication information only determine the relative positional relationship of various first signals and do not affect the internal design of the first signals.

[0195] The terminal can determine the resource space of the entire centralized time-domain signal in the time-frequency domain based on the absolute position of SSB burst 4 (or one of the first signals in Figure 8).

[0196] Example 3: The base station configures first indication information and second indication information for the first signal.

[0197] The terminal receives the first instruction information and the second instruction information configuration.

[0198] For example, the first indication information indicates that the multiplexing mode is configured as pattern 2, which indicates the time-frequency domain positional relationship between SSB burst 4 and PO, RO. The positional relationship is as follows: the frequency domain center points of SSB and PO are the same, and the time gap between the last symbol of SSB in time domain and the first symbol of the first PO in time domain is K1, where K1 is configured by the second indication information, thus obtaining the positional relationship between SSB and PO. Similarly, the frequency domain center points of SSB and RO are the same, and the time gap between the last symbol of SSB in time domain and the first symbol of the first RO in time domain is K2, where K2 is configured by the second indication information, thus obtaining the positional relationship between SSB and RO.

[0199] Following the above process, the terminal can determine the positional relationship of SSB, PO, and RO through the first indication information and the second indication information, as shown in Figure 9.

[0200] Example 4

[0201] As described in Example 1, after the base station configures the first parameter, the second parameter, and the third parameter for the first signal, the terminal can determine the large period pattern of the first signal. Taking SSB as an example, the terminal determines that within an SSB period of 160ms, there are four identical SSB bursts at the beginning of the period. Each SSB burst contains four beams, and each beam requires four OFDM symbols.

[0202] In some embodiments, the terminal receives a fifth parameter and a sixth parameter sent by the base station to determine the resource occupancy within an SSB burst.

[0203] The terminal receives the fifth parameter M, which indicates the starting symbol of each SSB beam in its corresponding slot. For example, M1 = 0, M2 = 4, M3 = 8, M4 = 0. Therefore, the starting symbol for SSB beam 1 is 0, for SSB beam 2 it is 4, for SSB beam 3 it is 8, and for SSB beam 4 it occupies the next time slot with a starting symbol of 0. Since the time domain length of the SSB is a fixed value of 4, a sixth parameter is not needed. The terminal can obtain the SSB pattern shown in Figure 10.

[0204] Taking RO as an example again, the terminal receives the first, second, and third parameters sent by the base station to determine the resource occupancy within an RO resource set. The terminal receives the fifth parameter M, indicating the starting symbol of each RO resource set in the corresponding slot, and the sixth parameter N, indicating the time domain length occupied by the RO resource set. For example, if M=0 and N=10, it can be determined that the RO resource set occupies the first symbol of the corresponding time slot, and the time domain length is 10 OFDM symbols. The terminal can obtain the RO pattern shown in Figure 11.

[0205] In addition, the terminal can receive target configuration information sent by the base station, which predefines the time-domain resource pattern of the first signal. For example, an index (table index) is used to indicate RO resources, and the predefined resources are symbol-level contiguous in the time domain. The terminal receives the target configuration information sent by the base station, indicating the corresponding table index = x, the corresponding row x in the table, and obtains the relevant parameters as the starting symbol number 0 and the RO length 10, thus obtaining the corresponding RO pattern.

[0206] Example 5

[0207] Assume there is a wide-area coverage cell A (the second network-side device) and an NES cell (the first network-side device) in the scenario. Cell A is responsible for transmitting SSB, CORESET#0 and SIB1, while the NES cell is only configured with PO and RO resources, as shown in Figure 12.

[0208] Cell A is a non-energy-efficient cell. Whether it uses the signal configuration method of the first signal provided in this embodiment depends on the base station configuration. The UE obtains SSB, CORESET#0, and SIB1 from cell A. NES cell is an energy-efficient cell and uses the signal configuration method of the first signal provided in this embodiment.

[0209] In summary, the embodiments of this disclosure provide, on the one hand, a non-uniform periodic signal configuration scheme that can achieve network energy saving as much as possible while meeting terminal requirements; on the other hand, they provide a simpler first signal configuration scheme with smaller time-domain intervals between various first signals, allowing network devices to have longer sleep opportunities while also taking into account configuration flexibility; and on yet another hand, they optimize the internal time-domain distribution pattern of the first signal, allowing the first signal to occupy completely continuous time-domain resources, thereby obtaining energy-saving gains.

[0210] As shown in Figure 13, this embodiment of the present disclosure also provides a terminal, including a memory 1420, a transceiver 1410, and a processor 1400:

[0211] The memory 1420 is used to store computer programs; the transceiver 1410 is used to send and receive data under the control of the processor 1400; the processor 1400 is used to read the computer program in the memory 1420 and perform the following operations:

[0212] The system receives signal configuration information sent by a first network-side device, the signal configuration information being used to configure the time-domain resources of one or more first signals to be centrally distributed; wherein the first signal is any one of the following:

[0213] Synchronization Signal and Broadcast Channel Block (SSB);

[0214] Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH);

[0215] The Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) carrying system information block 1;

[0216] Random access timing (RO);

[0217] Pager prompt (PO).

[0218] As an optional embodiment, the signal configuration information includes at least one of the following:

[0219] The first configuration information is used to configure the time-domain resources of multiple first-type first signals within a first transmission period to be concentrated in a first time region, the duration of the first time region being less than the duration of the first transmission period; the first transmission period is the repetition transmission period of the first-type first signal.

[0220] The second configuration information is used to configure the time-domain resources of at least two first signals within the second transmission period to be concentrated in a second time region, the duration of which is less than the duration of the second transmission period; the second transmission period is the repetition transmission period of any one of the at least two first signals.

[0221] The third configuration information is used to configure a target time domain resource occupied by a first signal, wherein the target time domain resource includes continuous time units.

[0222] As an optional embodiment, the first configuration information is used to configure one or more of the following parameters:

[0223] The first parameter is used to indicate the first transmission period;

[0224] The second parameter indicates the number of times the first signal is repeatedly transmitted within the first transmission period, and the time interval between each transmission.

[0225] The third parameter is used to indicate the effective time information and / or expiration time information of the first transmission period;

[0226] The fourth parameter is used to indicate the effective time information and / or expiration time information of the second parameter.

[0227] As an optional embodiment, the second configuration information is used to configure at least one of the following:

[0228] A first positional relationship between the target time-domain locations of at least two first signals that are concentratedly distributed;

[0229] A second positional relationship between the target frequency domain locations of at least two first signals that are concentrated in a single distribution;

[0230] The target time-domain location of the first signal includes at least one of the following locations: time-domain start location, time-domain end location, and time-domain center location;

[0231] The target frequency domain position of the first signal includes at least one of the following positions: frequency domain start position, frequency domain end position, and frequency domain center position.

[0232] As an optional embodiment, the second configuration information includes at least one of the following:

[0233] First indication information, the first indication information is used to indicate at least two multiplexing modes of the first signal, the multiplexing mode being associated with a predefined first positional relationship and / or a predefined second positional relationship;

[0234] Second indication information, the second indication information being used to indicate a first positional relationship and / or a second positional relationship between at least two first signals;

[0235] The third indication information is used to indicate that the positional relationship between at least two first signals is a target positional relationship, wherein the target positional relationship is one of a predefined first positional relationship and / or a predefined second positional relationship.

[0236] As an optional embodiment, the third configuration information is used to configure at least one of the following parameters:

[0237] The fifth parameter is used to indicate the number of the starting time unit of the target time domain resource;

[0238] The sixth parameter indicates the number of consecutive time units included in the target time-domain resource;

[0239] The seventh parameter is used to indicate whether the continuous time unit is a continuous subframe, a continuous time slot, or a continuous OFDM symbol.

[0240] As an optional embodiment, the processor is also configured to read a computer program from the memory and perform the following operations:

[0241] Configuration information for receiving at least one first signal sent by a second network-side device;

[0242] The type of the first signal configured by the second network-side device is different from the type of the first signal configured by the first network-side device.

[0243] In Figure 13, the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, specifically linking various circuits of one or more processors represented by processor 1400 and memory represented by memory 1420. The bus architecture may also link various other circuits such as peripheral devices, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art and therefore will not be described further herein. The bus interface provides an interface. Transceiver 1410 may be multiple components, including transmitters and receivers, providing a unit for communicating with various other devices over a transmission medium, including wireless channels, wired channels, optical fibers, etc. For different user equipment, user interface 1430 may also be an interface capable of connecting external or internal devices, including but not limited to keypads, displays, speakers, microphones, joysticks, etc.

[0244] The processor 1400 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, while the memory 1420 can store the data used by the processor 1400 when performing operations.

[0245] In some embodiments, the processor 1400 may be a central processing unit (CPU), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or a complex programmable logic device (CPLD), and the processor may also adopt a multi-core architecture.

[0246] The processor executes any of the methods described in the embodiments of this disclosure by invoking a computer program stored in memory, according to the obtained executable instructions. The processor and memory may also be physically separated.

[0247] In this embodiment, the first network-side device configures at least one of the first signals SSB, PDCCH, PDSCH, RO, and PO to be centrally distributed in the time domain, thereby enabling the first signals to occupy more concentrated time domain resources to obtain more opportunities for the network-side device to sleep, thus achieving the effect of allowing the first network-side device to sleep for a longer period of time, thereby realizing network energy saving.

[0248] It should be noted that the terminal provided in this embodiment can implement all the method steps implemented in the above method embodiment and achieve the same technical effect. Therefore, the parts and beneficial effects that are the same as those in the method embodiment will not be described in detail here.

[0249] As shown in Figure 14, this embodiment of the present disclosure also provides a network-side device, which is a first network-side device. The first network-side device includes a memory 1520, a transceiver 1510, and a processor 1500.

[0250] The memory 1520 is used to store computer programs; the transceiver 1510 is used to send and receive data under the control of the processor 1500; the processor 1500 is used to read the computer program in the memory 1520 and perform the following operations:

[0251] Sending signal configuration information to the terminal, the signal configuration information being used to configure the time-domain resources of one or more first signals to be centrally distributed; wherein, the first signal is any one of the following:

[0252] Synchronization Signal and Broadcast Channel Block (SSB);

[0253] Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH);

[0254] The Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) carrying system information block 1;

[0255] Random access timing (RO);

[0256] Pager prompt (PO).

[0257] As an optional embodiment, the signal configuration information includes at least one of the following:

[0258] The first configuration information is used to configure the time-domain resources of multiple first-type first signals within a first transmission period to be concentrated in a first time region, the duration of the first time region being less than the duration of the first transmission period; the first transmission period is the repetition transmission period of the first-type first signal.

[0259] The second configuration information is used to configure the time-domain resources of at least two first signals within the second transmission period to be concentrated in a second time region, the duration of which is less than the duration of the second transmission period; the second transmission period is the repetition transmission period of any one of the at least two first signals.

[0260] The third configuration information is used to configure a target time domain resource occupied by a first signal, wherein the target time domain resource includes continuous time units.

[0261] As an optional embodiment, the first configuration information is used to configure one or more of the following parameters:

[0262] The first parameter is used to indicate the first transmission period;

[0263] The second parameter indicates the number of times the first signal is repeatedly transmitted within the first transmission period, and the time interval between each transmission.

[0264] The third parameter is used to indicate the effective time information and / or expiration time information of the first transmission period;

[0265] The fourth parameter is used to indicate the effective time information and / or expiration time information of the second parameter.

[0266] As an optional embodiment, the second configuration information is used to configure at least one of the following:

[0267] A first positional relationship between the target time-domain locations of at least two first signals that are concentratedly distributed;

[0268] A second positional relationship between the target frequency domain locations of at least two first signals that are concentrated in a single distribution;

[0269] The target time-domain location of the first signal includes at least one of the following locations: time-domain start location, time-domain end location, and time-domain center location;

[0270] The target frequency domain position of the first signal includes at least one of the following positions: frequency domain start position, frequency domain end position, and frequency domain center position.

[0271] As an optional embodiment, the second configuration information includes at least one of the following:

[0272] First indication information, the first indication information is used to indicate at least two multiplexing modes of the first signal, the multiplexing mode being associated with a predefined first positional relationship and / or a predefined second positional relationship;

[0273] Second indication information, the second indication information being used to indicate a first positional relationship and / or a second positional relationship between at least two first signals;

[0274] The third indication information is used to indicate that the positional relationship between at least two first signals is a target positional relationship, wherein the target positional relationship is one of a predefined first positional relationship and / or a predefined second positional relationship.

[0275] As an optional embodiment, the third configuration information is used to configure at least one of the following parameters:

[0276] The fifth parameter is used to indicate the number of the starting time unit of the target time domain resource;

[0277] The sixth parameter indicates the number of consecutive time units included in the target time-domain resource;

[0278] The seventh parameter is used to indicate whether the continuous time unit is a continuous subframe, a continuous time slot, or a continuous OFDM symbol.

[0279] As an optional embodiment, the processor is also configured to read a computer program from the memory and perform the following operations:

[0280] Obtain the type information of the first signal configured by the second network-side device to the terminal;

[0281] Based on the type information of the first signal configured by the second network-side device, determine the type of the first signal to be configured as a centralized distribution;

[0282] The type of the first signal to be configured as a centralized distribution is different from the type of the first signal configured by the second network-side device.

[0283] In Figure 14, the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, specifically linking various circuits of one or more processors represented by processor 1500 and memory represented by memory 1520. The bus architecture may also link various other circuits such as peripheral devices, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art and therefore will not be described further herein. The bus interface provides an interface. Transceiver 1510 may be multiple elements, including transmitters and receivers, providing units for communicating with various other devices over transmission media, including wireless channels, wired channels, optical fibers, etc. Processor 1500 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and memory 1520 may store data used by processor 1500 during operation.

[0284] The processor 1500 can be a central processing unit (CPU), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or a complex programmable logic device (CPLD). The processor can also adopt a multi-core architecture.

[0285] In this embodiment, the first network-side device configures at least one of the first signals SSB, PDCCH, PDSCH, RO, and PO to be centrally distributed in the time domain, thereby enabling the first signals to occupy more concentrated time domain resources to obtain more opportunities for the network-side device to sleep, thus achieving the effect of allowing the first network-side device to sleep for a longer period of time, thereby realizing network energy saving.

[0286] It should be noted that the network-side device provided in this embodiment can implement all the method steps implemented in the above method embodiment and can achieve the same technical effect. Therefore, the parts and beneficial effects that are the same as those in the method embodiment will not be described in detail here.

[0287] As shown in Figure 15, this embodiment of the present disclosure also provides a signal configuration device applied to a terminal, the device comprising:

[0288] The receiving unit 1601 is configured to receive signal configuration information sent by a first network-side device, wherein the signal configuration information is used to configure the time-domain resources of one or more first signals to be centrally distributed; wherein the first signal is any one of the following:

[0289] Synchronization Signal and Broadcast Channel Block (SSB);

[0290] Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH);

[0291] The Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) carrying system information block 1;

[0292] Random access timing (RO);

[0293] Pager prompt (PO).

[0294] As an optional embodiment, the signal configuration information includes at least one of the following:

[0295] The first configuration information is used to configure the time-domain resources of multiple first-type first signals within a first transmission period to be concentrated in a first time region, the duration of the first time region being less than the duration of the first transmission period; the first transmission period is the repetition transmission period of the first-type first signal.

[0296] The second configuration information is used to configure the time-domain resources of at least two first signals within the second transmission period to be concentrated in a second time region, the duration of which is less than the duration of the second transmission period; the second transmission period is the repetition transmission period of any one of the at least two first signals.

[0297] The third configuration information is used to configure a target time domain resource occupied by a first signal, wherein the target time domain resource includes continuous time units.

[0298] As an optional embodiment, the first configuration information is used to configure one or more of the following parameters:

[0299] The first parameter is used to indicate the first transmission period;

[0300] The second parameter indicates the number of times the first signal is repeatedly transmitted within the first transmission period, and the time interval between each transmission.

[0301] The third parameter is used to indicate the effective time information and / or expiration time information of the first transmission period;

[0302] The fourth parameter is used to indicate the effective time information and / or expiration time information of the second parameter.

[0303] As an optional embodiment, the second configuration information is used to configure at least one of the following:

[0304] A first positional relationship between the target time-domain locations of at least two first signals that are concentratedly distributed;

[0305] A second positional relationship between the target frequency domain locations of at least two first signals that are concentrated in a single distribution;

[0306] The target time-domain location of the first signal includes at least one of the following locations: time-domain start location, time-domain end location, and time-domain center location;

[0307] The target frequency domain position of the first signal includes at least one of the following positions: frequency domain start position, frequency domain end position, and frequency domain center position.

[0308] As an optional embodiment, the second configuration information includes at least one of the following:

[0309] First indication information, the first indication information is used to indicate at least two multiplexing modes of the first signal, the multiplexing mode being associated with a predefined first positional relationship and / or a predefined second positional relationship;

[0310] Second indication information, the second indication information being used to indicate a first positional relationship and / or a second positional relationship between at least two first signals;

[0311] The third indication information is used to indicate that the positional relationship between at least two first signals is a target positional relationship, wherein the target positional relationship is one of a predefined first positional relationship and / or a predefined second positional relationship.

[0312] As an optional embodiment, the third configuration information is used to configure at least one of the following parameters:

[0313] The fifth parameter is used to indicate the number of the starting time unit of the target time domain resource;

[0314] The sixth parameter indicates the number of consecutive time units included in the target time-domain resource;

[0315] The seventh parameter is used to indicate whether the continuous time unit is a continuous subframe, a continuous time slot, or a continuous OFDM symbol.

[0316] As an optional embodiment, the apparatus further includes:

[0317] A configuration receiving unit is configured to receive configuration information of at least one first signal sent by a second network-side device;

[0318] The type of the first signal configured by the second network-side device is different from the type of the first signal configured by the first network-side device.

[0319] In this embodiment, the first network-side device configures at least one of the first signals SSB, PDCCH, PDSCH, RO, and PO to be centrally distributed in the time domain, thereby enabling the first signals to occupy more concentrated time domain resources to obtain more opportunities for the network-side device to sleep, thus achieving the effect of allowing the first network-side device to sleep for a longer period of time, thereby realizing network energy saving.

[0320] It should be noted that the apparatus provided in this embodiment can implement all the method steps implemented in the above method embodiment and can achieve the same technical effect. Therefore, the parts and beneficial effects that are the same as those in the method embodiment will not be described in detail here.

[0321] As shown in Figure 16, this embodiment of the present disclosure also provides a signal configuration device, applied to a first network-side device, the device comprising:

[0322] The transmitting unit 1701 is configured to transmit signal configuration information to the terminal, wherein the signal configuration information is used to configure the time-domain resources of one or more first signals to be centrally distributed; wherein the first signal is any one of the following:

[0323] Synchronization Signal and Broadcast Channel Block (SSB);

[0324] Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH);

[0325] The Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) carrying system information block 1;

[0326] Random access timing (RO);

[0327] Pager prompt (PO).

[0328] As an optional embodiment, the signal configuration information includes at least one of the following:

[0329] The first configuration information is used to configure the time-domain resources of multiple first-type first signals within a first transmission period to be concentrated in a first time region, the duration of the first time region being less than the duration of the first transmission period; the first transmission period is the repetition transmission period of the first-type first signal.

[0330] The second configuration information is used to configure the time-domain resources of at least two first signals within the second transmission period to be concentrated in a second time region, the duration of which is less than the duration of the second transmission period; the second transmission period is the repetition transmission period of any one of the at least two first signals.

[0331] The third configuration information is used to configure a target time domain resource occupied by a first signal, wherein the target time domain resource includes continuous time units.

[0332] As an optional embodiment, the first configuration information is used to configure one or more of the following parameters:

[0333] The first parameter is used to indicate the first transmission period;

[0334] The second parameter indicates the number of times the first signal is repeatedly transmitted within the first transmission period, and the time interval between each transmission.

[0335] The third parameter is used to indicate the effective time information and / or expiration time information of the first transmission period;

[0336] The fourth parameter is used to indicate the effective time information and / or expiration time information of the second parameter.

[0337] As an optional embodiment, the second configuration information is used to configure at least one of the following:

[0338] A first positional relationship between the target time-domain locations of at least two first signals that are concentratedly distributed;

[0339] A second positional relationship between the target frequency domain locations of at least two first signals that are concentrated in a single distribution;

[0340] The target time-domain location of the first signal includes at least one of the following locations: time-domain start location, time-domain end location, and time-domain center location;

[0341] The target frequency domain position of the first signal includes at least one of the following positions: frequency domain start position, frequency domain end position, and frequency domain center position.

[0342] As an optional embodiment, the second configuration information includes at least one of the following:

[0343] First indication information, the first indication information is used to indicate at least two multiplexing modes of the first signal, the multiplexing mode being associated with a predefined first positional relationship and / or a predefined second positional relationship;

[0344] Second indication information, the second indication information being used to indicate a first positional relationship and / or a second positional relationship between at least two first signals;

[0345] The third indication information is used to indicate that the positional relationship between at least two first signals is a target positional relationship, wherein the target positional relationship is one of a predefined first positional relationship and / or a predefined second positional relationship.

[0346] As an optional embodiment, the third configuration information is used to configure at least one of the following parameters:

[0347] The fifth parameter is used to indicate the number of the starting time unit of the target time domain resource;

[0348] The sixth parameter indicates the number of consecutive time units included in the target time-domain resource;

[0349] The seventh parameter is used to indicate whether the continuous time unit is a continuous subframe, a continuous time slot, or a continuous OFDM symbol.

[0350] As an optional embodiment, the apparatus further includes:

[0351] The acquisition unit is used to acquire the type information of the first signal configured by the second network-side device to the terminal;

[0352] The determining unit is configured to determine the type of the first signal to be configured as a centralized distribution based on the type information of the first signal configured by the second network-side device.

[0353] The type of the first signal to be configured as a centralized distribution is different from the type of the first signal configured by the second network-side device.

[0354] In this embodiment, the first network-side device configures at least one of the first signals SSB, PDCCH, PDSCH, RO, and PO to be centrally distributed in the time domain, thereby enabling the first signals to occupy more concentrated time domain resources to obtain more opportunities for the network-side device to sleep, thus achieving the effect of allowing the first network-side device to sleep for a longer period of time, thereby realizing network energy saving.

[0355] It should be noted that the apparatus provided in this embodiment can implement all the method steps implemented in the above method embodiment and can achieve the same technical effect. Therefore, the parts and beneficial effects that are the same as those in the method embodiment will not be described in detail here.

[0356] It should be noted that the division of units in the embodiments of this disclosure is illustrative and only represents one logical functional division. In actual implementation, other division methods may be used. Furthermore, the functional units in the various embodiments of this disclosure 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 units described above can be implemented in hardware or as software functional units.

[0357] 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 processor-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of this disclosure, in essence, or the part that contributes to related technologies, or all or part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) or processor to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of this disclosure. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media capable of storing program code, such as USB flash drives, portable hard drives, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disks, or optical disks.

[0358] This disclosure also provides a processor-readable storage medium storing a computer program that causes the processor to execute the various processes described in the method embodiments above, achieving the same technical effects. To avoid repetition, these processes will not be repeated here. The processor-readable storage medium can be any available medium or data storage device accessible to the processor, including but not limited to magnetic storage (e.g., floppy disks, hard disks, magnetic tapes, magneto-optical (MO) etc.), optical storage (e.g., compact discs (CDs), digital versatile discs (DVDs), Blu-ray discs (BDs), high-definition versatile discs (HVDs) etc.), and semiconductor storage (e.g., ROMs, erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMs), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROMs), non-volatile memory (NAND flash), solid-state drives (SSDs) etc.).

[0359] This disclosure also provides a computer program product, including computer instructions. When the computer instructions are executed by a processor, they implement the various processes in the method embodiments described above and achieve the same technical effects. To avoid repetition, further details are omitted here.

[0360] Those skilled in the art will understand that embodiments of this disclosure can be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Therefore, this disclosure can take the form of a completely hardware embodiment, a completely software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, this disclosure can take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage and optical storage) containing computer-usable program code.

[0361] This disclosure is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of this disclosure. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer-executable instructions. These computer-executable instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in one or more flowchart illustrations and / or one or more block diagrams.

[0362] These processor-executable instructions may also be stored in a processor-readable memory that can instruct a computer or other programmable data processing device to operate in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the processor-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means that implement the functions specified in one or more flowcharts and / or one or more block diagrams.

[0363] These processor-executable instructions can also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer-implemented process, such that the instructions, which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus, provide steps for implementing the functions specified in one or more flowcharts and / or one or more block diagrams.

[0364] Furthermore, it should be noted that in the apparatus and method of this disclosure, it is obvious that the components or steps can be decomposed and / or recombined. These decompositions and / or recombinations should be considered equivalent solutions of this disclosure. Moreover, the steps performing the above series of processes can naturally be executed in the order described, but are not necessarily required to be executed in chronological order; some steps can be executed in parallel or independently of each other. Those skilled in the art will understand that all or any step or component of the method and apparatus of this disclosure can be implemented in any computing device (including processors, storage media, etc.) or network of computing devices, in hardware, firmware, software, or a combination thereof, which can be achieved by those skilled in the art using their basic programming skills after reading the description of this disclosure.

[0365] It should be noted that the above division of modules is merely a logical functional division. In actual implementation, they can be fully or partially integrated into a single physical entity, or they can be physically separated. Furthermore, these modules can be implemented entirely in software via processing element calls; they can be fully implemented in hardware; or some modules can be implemented by processing element calls to software, while others are implemented in hardware. For example, a module can be a separate processing element, or it can be integrated into a chip in the aforementioned device. Alternatively, it can be stored as program code in the memory of the aforementioned device, and its function can be called and executed by a processing element of the device. The implementation of other modules is similar. Moreover, these modules can be fully or partially integrated together, or they can be implemented independently. The processing element mentioned here can be an integrated circuit with signal processing capabilities. In the implementation process, each step of the above method or each of the above modules can be completed through integrated logic circuits in the hardware of the processor element or through software instructions.

[0366] For example, each module, unit, subunit, or submodule can be one or more integrated circuits configured to implement the above methods, such as one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), one or more digital signal processors (DSPs), or one or more field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). As another example, when a module is implemented using processing element scheduler code, the processing element can be a general-purpose processor, such as a central processing unit (CPU) or other processor capable of calling program code. Furthermore, these modules can be integrated together to implement a system-on-a-chip (SOC).

[0367] The terms “first,” “second,” etc., used in this disclosure and in the claims are used to distinguish similar objects and are not necessarily used to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that such data can be interchanged where appropriate so that embodiments of this disclosure described herein may be implemented in orders other than those illustrated or described herein. 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 comprises a series of steps or units is not necessarily limited to those steps or units explicitly listed, but may include other steps or units not explicitly listed or inherent to such processes, methods, products, or apparatus. Additionally, the use of “and / or” in the specification and claims indicates at least one of the connected objects, such as A and / or B and / or C, indicating seven possibilities: A alone, B alone, C alone, and both A and B, both B and C, both A and C, and A, B, and C. Similarly, the use of “at least one of A and B” in this specification and claims should be understood as “A alone, B alone, or both A and B.”

[0368] Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various modifications and variations to this disclosure without departing from its spirit and scope. Therefore, if such modifications and variations fall within the scope of the claims of this disclosure and their equivalents, this disclosure is also intended to include such modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A signal configuration method, the method comprising: The terminal receives signal configuration information sent by a first network-side device, the signal configuration information being used to configure the time-domain resources of one or more first signals to be centrally distributed; wherein, the first signal is any one of the following: Synchronization Signal and Broadcast Channel Block (SSB); Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH); The Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) carrying system information block 1; Random access timing (RO); Pager prompt (PO).

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The signal configuration information includes at least one of the following: The first configuration information is used to configure the time-domain resources of multiple first-type first signals within a first transmission period to be concentrated in a first time region, the duration of the first time region being less than the duration of the first transmission period; the first transmission period is the repetition transmission period of the first-type first signal. The second configuration information is used to configure the time-domain resources of at least two first signals within the second transmission period to be concentrated in a second time region, the duration of which is less than the duration of the second transmission period; the second transmission period is the repetition transmission period of any one of the at least two first signals. The third configuration information is used to configure a target time domain resource occupied by a first signal, wherein the target time domain resource includes continuous time units.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein, The first configuration information is used to configure one or more of the following parameters: The first parameter is used to indicate the first transmission period; The second parameter indicates the number of times the first signal is repeatedly transmitted within the first transmission period, and the time interval between each transmission. The third parameter is used to indicate the effective time information and / or expiration time information of the first transmission period; The fourth parameter is used to indicate the effective time information and / or expiration time information of the second parameter.

4. The method according to claim 2, wherein, The second configuration information is used to configure at least one of the following: A first positional relationship between the target time-domain locations of at least two first signals that are concentratedly distributed; A second positional relationship between the target frequency domain locations of at least two first signals that are concentrated in a single distribution; The target time-domain location of the first signal includes at least one of the following locations: time-domain start location, time-domain end location, and time-domain center location; The target frequency domain position of the first signal includes at least one of the following positions: frequency domain start position, frequency domain end position, and frequency domain center position.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein, The second configuration information includes at least one of the following: First indication information, the first indication information is used to indicate at least two multiplexing modes of the first signal, the multiplexing mode being associated with a predefined first positional relationship and / or a predefined second positional relationship; Second indication information, the second indication information being used to indicate a first positional relationship and / or a second positional relationship between at least two first signals; The third indication information is used to indicate that the positional relationship between at least two first signals is a target positional relationship, wherein the target positional relationship is one of a predefined first positional relationship and / or a predefined second positional relationship.

6. The method according to claim 2, wherein, The third configuration information is used to configure at least one of the following parameters: The fifth parameter is used to indicate the number of the starting time unit of the target time domain resource; The sixth parameter indicates the number of consecutive time units included in the target time-domain resource; The seventh parameter is used to indicate whether the continuous time unit is a continuous subframe, a continuous time slot, or a continuous OFDM symbol.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1-6, wherein, The method further includes: The terminal receives configuration information of at least one first signal sent by the second network-side device; The type of the first signal configured by the second network-side device is different from the type of the first signal configured by the first network-side device.

8. A signal configuration method, the method comprising: A first network-side device sends signal configuration information to a terminal, the signal configuration information being used to configure the time-domain resources of one or more first signals to be centrally distributed; wherein, the first signal is any one of the following: Synchronization Signal and Broadcast Channel Block (SSB); Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH); The Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) carrying system information block 1; Random access timing (RO); Pager prompt (PO).

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein, The signal configuration information includes at least one of the following: The first configuration information is used to configure the time-domain resources of multiple first-type first signals within a first transmission period to be concentrated in a first time region, the duration of the first time region being less than the duration of the first transmission period; the first transmission period is the repetition transmission period of the first-type first signal. The second configuration information is used to configure the time-domain resources of at least two first signals within the second transmission period to be concentrated in a second time region, the duration of which is less than the duration of the second transmission period; the second transmission period is the repetition transmission period of any one of the at least two first signals. The third configuration information is used to configure a target time domain resource occupied by a first signal, wherein the target time domain resource includes continuous time units.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein, The first configuration information is used to configure one or more of the following parameters: The first parameter is used to indicate the first transmission period; The second parameter indicates the number of times the first signal is repeatedly transmitted within the first transmission period, and the time interval between each transmission. The third parameter is used to indicate the effective time information and / or expiration time information of the first transmission period; The fourth parameter is used to indicate the effective time information and / or expiration time information of the second parameter.

11. The method according to claim 9, wherein, The second configuration information is used to configure at least one of the following: A first positional relationship between the target time-domain locations of at least two first signals that are concentratedly distributed; A second positional relationship between the target frequency domain locations of at least two first signals that are concentrated in a single distribution; The target time-domain location of the first signal includes at least one of the following locations: time-domain start location, time-domain end location, and time-domain center location; The target frequency domain position of the first signal includes at least one of the following positions: frequency domain start position, frequency domain end position, and frequency domain center position.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein, The second configuration information includes at least one of the following: First indication information, the first indication information is used to indicate at least two multiplexing modes of the first signal, the multiplexing mode being associated with a predefined first positional relationship and / or a predefined second positional relationship; Second indication information, the second indication information being used to indicate a first positional relationship and / or a second positional relationship between at least two first signals; The third indication information is used to indicate that the positional relationship between at least two first signals is a target positional relationship, wherein the target positional relationship is one of a predefined first positional relationship and / or a predefined second positional relationship.

13. The method according to claim 9, wherein, The third configuration information is used to configure at least one of the following parameters: The fifth parameter is used to indicate the number of the starting time unit of the target time domain resource; The sixth parameter indicates the number of consecutive time units included in the target time-domain resource; The seventh parameter is used to indicate whether the continuous time unit is a continuous subframe, a continuous time slot, or a continuous OFDM symbol.

14. The method according to any one of claims 8-13, wherein, The method further includes: Obtain the type information of the first signal configured for the terminal by the second network-side device; Based on the type information of the first signal configured by the second network-side device, determine the type of the first signal to be configured as a centralized distribution; The type of the first signal to be configured as a centralized distribution is different from the type of the first signal configured by the second network-side device.

15. A terminal, comprising a memory, a transceiver, and a processor: Memory, used to store computer programs; Transceiver, used to send and receive data under the control of the processor; A processor for reading a computer program from the memory and executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

16. A network-side device, wherein the network-side device is a first network-side device, the first network-side device comprising a memory, a transceiver, and a processor: Memory, used to store computer programs; Transceiver, used to send and receive data under the control of the processor; A processor for reading a computer program from the memory and executing the method according to any one of claims 8 to 14.

17. A signal configuration device, applied to a terminal, the device comprising: A receiving unit is configured to receive signal configuration information sent by a first network-side device, wherein the signal configuration information is used to configure the time-domain resources of one or more first signals to be centrally distributed; wherein the first signal is any one of the following: Synchronization Signal and Broadcast Channel Block (SSB); Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH); The Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) carrying system information block 1; Random access timing (RO); Pager prompt (PO).

18. A signal configuration apparatus, applied to a first network-side device, the apparatus comprising: A transmitting unit is configured to transmit signal configuration information to a terminal, wherein the signal configuration information is used to configure the time-domain resources of one or more first signals to be centrally distributed; wherein the first signal is any one of the following: Synchronization Signal and Broadcast Channel Block (SSB); Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH); The Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) carrying system information block 1; Random access timing (RO); Pager prompt (PO).

19. A processor-readable storage medium storing a program for causing the processor to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 7, or the program for causing the processor to perform the method of any one of claims 8 to 14.

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