Carrier aggregation method and apparatus

Abstract

The present application relates to the field of communications, and provides a carrier aggregation method and an apparatus. The method comprises: if a first carrier combination configured by a network device allows a terminal device to update a radio frequency link or a carrier aggregation capability, the terminal device may use a shared radio frequency link or an independent radio frequency link to receive discontinuous carriers in the first carrier combination. In one manner, the network device can determine, on the basis of an interference result reported by the terminal device, that the terminal device uses a shared radio frequency link or an independent radio frequency link to perform communication on discontinuous carriers. In another manner, the terminal device determines to use a shared radio frequency link or an independent radio frequency link to perform communication on discontinuous carriers, and aligns the carriers for communication with the network device. In this way, the network device does not need to frequently configure a carrier combination, thereby helping reduce signaling overhead.

Description

Carrier aggregation method and apparatus

[0001] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202510221118.5, filed on February 26, 2025, entitled "Carrier Aggregation Method and Apparatus", the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

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

[0003] Carrier aggregation (CA) refers to providing services to a terminal device simultaneously using multiple component carriers (CCs). Carrier aggregation can include discontinuous carrier aggregation and continuous carrier aggregation. For discontinuous carrier aggregation, if the interference between discontinuous carriers is high, the terminal device can use multiple radio frequency links to receive multiple discontinuous carriers separately. If the interference between discontinuous carriers is low, the terminal device can use a single radio frequency link to receive multiple discontinuous carriers, allowing the terminal device to support a larger number of carriers with a fixed radio frequency capability, thus increasing the total communication bandwidth. Multiple discontinuous carriers sharing a single radio frequency link is called shared radio frequency, while multiple discontinuous carriers using independent radio frequency links is called independent radio frequency.

[0004] Currently, network devices can configure carrier combinations for terminal devices for carrier aggregation communication. If the configured carrier combination corresponds to an independent radio frequency link, then communication is carried out on the carriers in the configured carrier combination through the independent radio frequency link; if the configured carrier combination corresponds to a shared radio frequency link, then communication is carried out on the carriers in the configured carrier combination through the shared radio frequency link.

[0005] In this approach, whether to use an independent radio frequency link or a shared radio frequency link for communication depends on the carrier combination configured in the network device, which can result in significant signaling overhead. Summary of the Invention

[0006] This application provides a carrier aggregation method and apparatus, which helps to reduce signaling overhead.

[0007] Firstly, a carrier aggregation method is provided. This method can be executed by a terminal-side communication device, or by other entities, without limitation in this application. The terminal-side communication device can be a terminal device, or a functional module, communication module, chip, chip system, or circuit (such as a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a system-on-chip (SoC) chip containing a modem core, or a system-in-package (SIP) chip), etc. For ease of description, a terminal device will be used as an example below.

[0008] The method may include: a terminal device receiving a first carrier combination, the first carrier combination including at least two non-contiguous first carriers, the first carrier combination being used for carrier aggregation communication with a network device; based on first information, the terminal device sending first information, the first information being used to indicate the terminal device's ability to communicate on the carriers of the first carrier combination, the terminal device's ability to communicate on the carriers of the first carrier combination being related to the radio frequency link corresponding to the carriers in the first carrier combination.

[0009] The method provided in this application allows a terminal device to receive all carriers in the first carrier combination if it can receive discontinuous carriers via the radio frequency link corresponding to the carriers in the first carrier combination. If the terminal device cannot receive discontinuous carriers via the radio frequency link corresponding to the carriers in the first carrier combination, it can receive only some carriers in the first carrier combination. The terminal device can transmit its communication capability on the carriers of the first carrier combination to the network device, so that the network device can communicate with the terminal device based on its communication capability on the carriers of the first carrier combination. This eliminates the need to reconfigure the carrier combination, reducing signaling overhead and communication latency.

[0010] In one possible implementation, the first information further indicates one or more of the following: a second carrier combination that supports communication on the first carrier combination, the second carrier combination being the first carrier combination or a subset of the first carrier combination; or, the number of carriers that support communication on the first carrier combination; or, support for at least two non-contiguous second carriers sharing a radio frequency link, or, not support for at least two non-contiguous second carriers sharing a radio frequency link, the at least two non-contiguous second carriers being some or all of the carriers in the first carrier combination; or, support for a first frequency band sharing a radio frequency link, or, not support for a first frequency band sharing a radio frequency link, the first frequency band including one or more frequency bands corresponding to at least two non-contiguous first carriers.

[0011] In one implementation, the first information is used to indicate the second carrier combination. In this way, the terminal device directly sends the carriers from the first carrier combination that it can support to the network device via the second carrier combination. This allows the network device to quickly determine the terminal device's communication capability on the first carrier combination, thereby reducing communication latency.

[0012] In one implementation, the first information is used to indicate the number of carriers supporting communication on the first carrier combination. Thus, the network device can determine the terminal device's ability to communicate on the carriers of the first carrier combination by knowing the number of carriers the terminal device supports for communication on the first carrier combination, so that subsequent communication can be performed based on that number of carriers.

[0013] In one implementation, the first information is used to indicate whether at least two non-contiguous second carriers are supported for sharing a radio frequency link, or whether at least two non-contiguous second carriers are not supported for sharing a radio frequency link. In this way, the terminal device informs the network device of its communication capability on the carriers of the first carrier combination from the perspective of the radio frequency link, so that the subsequent network device can allocate appropriate carriers for the radio frequency link, which is beneficial for subsequent communication.

[0014] In one implementation, the first information is used to indicate whether or not a shared radio frequency link for the first frequency band is supported. In this way, by indicating whether a shared radio frequency link is supported, the terminal device demonstrates its communication capability on the carriers of the first carrier combination, which is beneficial for subsequent communication.

[0015] In one possible implementation, if the first information indicates a second carrier combination, then the second carrier combination is a combination of carriers activated in the first carrier combination that the terminal device supports.

[0016] The carriers configured in the network device can include active carriers and deactivated carriers. When the terminal device sends a carrier supported by the terminal device to the network device, the terminal device can support receiving active carriers. In this way, the network device can dynamically control the activation or deactivation of carriers to meet the communication capability on the carriers of the first carrier combination.

[0017] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving second information, the second information being used to instruct the terminal device to report first information; and sending the first information, including: sending the first information based on the second information.

[0018] In this way, terminal devices do not need to be prepared to report the first information at all times; they only report the first information when instructed by the network device, which helps to reduce the power consumption of terminal devices.

[0019] In one possible implementation, the second information also instructs the terminal device to report the first information in a second frequency band, the second frequency band including one or more frequency bands corresponding to at least two non-contiguous first carriers.

[0020] In this way, network devices report the first information based on the granularity of frequency bands, which helps to reduce signaling overhead.

[0021] In one possible implementation, before receiving the first carrier combination, the method further includes: reporting capability information of the terminal device, the capability information indicating the carrier combinations supported by the terminal device when receiving discontinuous carriers via a shared radio frequency link, and the carrier combinations supported when not receiving discontinuous carriers via a shared radio frequency link, the capability information including the first carrier combination.

[0022] In this way, network devices can configure the carrier combinations they support when receiving discontinuous carriers through a shared radio frequency link, or the carrier combinations they support when receiving discontinuous carriers without a shared radio frequency link, based on the capability information reported by the terminal devices, thus providing greater flexibility.

[0023] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving third information, the third information being used to indicate a third carrier, the third carrier including a portion of the carriers in the first carrier combination, the third carrier being used to receive downlink signaling or data, the third carrier corresponding to the terminal device's ability to communicate on the carriers of the first carrier combination.

[0024] In this way, the network device can send a third carrier to the terminal device. The third carrier corresponds to the terminal device's ability to communicate on the carriers combined with the first carrier. This is beneficial for ensuring that the carriers for carrier aggregation communication between the terminal device and the network device meet the terminal device's capabilities, thereby facilitating the realization of carrier aggregation communication.

[0025] In one possible implementation, at least two non-contiguous first carriers correspond to one frequency band, or at least two non-contiguous first carriers correspond to at least two frequency bands.

[0026] This makes it applicable to both intra-band carrier aggregation and inter-band carrier aggregation, with a wide range of application scenarios.

[0027] Secondly, a carrier aggregation method is provided. This method can be executed by a terminal-side communication device, or by other entities, without limitation in this application. The terminal-side communication device can be a terminal device, or a functional module, communication module, chip, chip system, or circuit (such as a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a system-on-chip (SoC) chip containing a modem core, or a system-in-package (SIP) chip), etc. For ease of description, a terminal device will be used as an example below.

[0028] The method includes: a terminal device receiving a first carrier combination, the first carrier combination including at least two non-contiguous first carriers, the first carrier combination being used for carrier aggregation communication with a network device; based on the first carrier combination, the terminal device sending first information, the first information indicating interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers; receiving second information, the second information indicating one or more of the following: a second carrier combination, the second carrier combination being a first carrier combination or a subset of the first carrier combination; or, a first carrier number, the first carrier number being less than or equal to the number of carriers included in the first carrier combination; or, indicating that a second carrier or a first frequency band in the first carrier combination shares a radio frequency link, the first frequency band being one or more frequency bands corresponding to at least two non-contiguous first carriers; or, indicating that a second carrier or a first frequency band in the first carrier combination does not share a radio frequency link.

[0029] The method provided in this application allows a terminal device to send interference between carriers in the first carrier combination to a network device after receiving the first carrier combination. The network device can then determine whether to adjust the carriers in the first carrier combination for carrier aggregation based on this interference. This eliminates the need to reconfigure the carrier combination, which helps reduce communication latency and signaling overhead.

[0030] In one possible implementation, sending the first information includes: sending the first information if a first event or a second event is satisfied, wherein the first event is: the interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers is greater than or equal to a first threshold; and the second event is: the interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers is less than or equal to a second threshold.

[0031] In this way, sending the first message when the first or second event is met is beneficial to reducing the power consumption of the terminal device compared to sending it periodically or frequently.

[0032] In one possible implementation, if at least two non-contiguous first carriers are received via a shared radio frequency link, then first information is transmitted, including: if a first event is satisfied, then first information is transmitted; or, if at least two non-contiguous first carriers are not received via a shared radio frequency link, then first information is transmitted, including: if a second event is satisfied, then first information is transmitted.

[0033] In this way, the events that need to be satisfied when sending the first information are related to the radio frequency link that receives at least two non-contiguous first carriers, and different events need to be satisfied under different circumstances, which makes it more flexible.

[0034] In one possible implementation, if at least two discontinuous first carriers are not received via a shared radio frequency link, the method further includes: determining interference between at least two discontinuous first carriers via a first interval.

[0035] In this way, if at least two non-contiguous first carriers are not received through a shared radio frequency link, the interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers can be determined by the first interval, which helps to improve the accuracy of interference calculation.

[0036] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: sending third information to indicate whether a first interval is needed, the first interval being used to determine interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers.

[0037] In this approach, whether the terminal device needs to measure the interval depends on the radio frequency link that receives at least two non-contiguous first carriers, which is beneficial for achieving carrier aggregation communication.

[0038] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving fourth information; transmitting first information, including: transmitting the first information based on the fourth information; wherein the fourth information is used to indicate one or more of the following: measuring interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers; or, measuring a received signal strength indication RSSI of the interval bandwidth between at least two non-contiguous first carriers, the measuring amount being used to indicate interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers; or, a first threshold; or, a second threshold; or, a first event, the first event being: the measuring amount is greater than or equal to the first threshold; or, a second event, the second event being: the measuring amount is less than or equal to the second threshold.

[0039] In one implementation, the network device instructs the terminal device to measure the interference between at least two discontinuous first carriers via fourth information. The terminal device then measures the interference between the at least two discontinuous first carriers based on the fourth information. This method, where the measurement is performed only when the network device instructs the measurement of interference, helps reduce the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0040] In one implementation, the network device instructs the terminal device to measure the interference using fourth information. The terminal device can then measure the measured quantity. The measured quantity is the Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI) over the bandwidth between at least two non-contiguous first carriers. This method, where the network device instructs the terminal device to provide a specific measured quantity, and the terminal device measures the interference based on this specific quantity, improves the accuracy and reliability of the measurement results.

[0041] In one implementation, the network device indicates a first threshold and / or a second threshold via fourth information. The first and / or second thresholds are used to estimate whether a measurement meets a corresponding event to determine whether to send the first information. This allows the network device to indicate the first and / or second thresholds via fourth information, providing greater flexibility depending on different scenarios.

[0042] In one implementation, the network device can indicate the first event and / or the second event through the fourth information, and the terminal device can determine whether the first event and / or the second event are met to decide whether to send the first information. In this way, the network device can indicate the first event and / or the second event through the fourth information, which can be flexibly configured according to different scenarios, increasing flexibility.

[0043] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving fifth information, the fifth information being used to instruct the terminal device to report first information; and sending the first information, including: sending the first information based on the fifth information.

[0044] In this way, terminal devices do not need to be prepared to report information at all times; they only report when instructed by the network device, which helps reduce the power consumption of terminal devices.

[0045] In one possible implementation, the fifth information also instructs the terminal device to report the first information in a second frequency band, which includes one or more frequency bands corresponding to at least two non-contiguous first carriers.

[0046] In this way, network devices report the first information based on the granularity of frequency bands, which helps to reduce signaling overhead.

[0047] In one possible implementation, before receiving the first carrier combination, the method further includes: reporting capability information of the terminal device, the capability information indicating the carrier combinations supported by the terminal device when receiving discontinuous carriers via a shared radio frequency link, and the carrier combinations supported when not receiving discontinuous carriers via a shared radio frequency link, the capability information including the first carrier combination.

[0048] In this way, network devices can configure the carrier combinations they support when receiving discontinuous carriers through a shared radio frequency link, or the carrier combinations they support when receiving discontinuous carriers without a shared radio frequency link, based on the capability information reported by the terminal devices, thus providing greater flexibility.

[0049] In one possible implementation, at least two non-contiguous first carriers correspond to one frequency band, or at least two non-contiguous first carriers correspond to at least two frequency bands.

[0050] This makes it applicable to both intra-band carrier aggregation and inter-band carrier aggregation, with a wide range of application scenarios.

[0051] Thirdly, a carrier aggregation method is provided. This method can be executed by a network-side communication device, or by other entities, without limitation in this application. The network-side communication device can be a network device, or a functional module, communication module, chip, chip system, or circuit (such as a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a SoC chip or SIP chip containing a modem core), etc. For ease of description, a network device will be used as an example below.

[0052] The method may include: a network device sending a first carrier combination to a terminal device, the first carrier combination including at least two non-contiguous first carriers, the first carrier combination being used for carrier aggregation communication with the network device; the network device receiving first information, the first information being used to indicate the terminal device's ability to communicate on the carriers of the first carrier combination, the terminal device's ability to communicate on the carriers of the first carrier combination being related to the radio frequency link corresponding to the carriers in the first carrier combination.

[0053] The method provided in this application allows a network device to send a first carrier combination to a terminal device. If the terminal device can receive discontinuous carriers through the radio frequency link corresponding to the carriers in the first carrier combination, then the terminal device can support receiving all carriers in the first carrier combination. If the terminal device cannot receive discontinuous carriers through the radio frequency link corresponding to the carriers in the first carrier combination, then the terminal device can support receiving some carriers in the first carrier combination. The terminal device can send its communication capability on the carriers of the first carrier combination to the network device, so that the network device can communicate with the terminal device based on the terminal device's communication capability on the carriers of the first carrier combination. This eliminates the need to reconfigure the carrier combination, which helps reduce signaling overhead and communication latency.

[0054] In one possible implementation, the first information further indicates one or more of the following: a second carrier combination that supports communication on the first carrier combination, the second carrier combination being the first carrier combination or a subset of the first carrier combination; or, the number of carriers that support communication on the first carrier combination; or, support for at least two non-contiguous second carriers sharing a radio frequency link, or, not support for at least two non-contiguous second carriers sharing a radio frequency link, the at least two non-contiguous second carriers being some or all of the carriers in the first carrier combination; or, support for a first frequency band sharing a radio frequency link, or, not support for a first frequency band sharing a radio frequency link, the first frequency band including one or more frequency bands corresponding to at least two non-contiguous first carriers.

[0055] In one possible implementation, if the first information indicates a second carrier combination, then the second carrier combination is a combination of carriers activated in the first carrier combination that the terminal device supports.

[0056] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: sending second information, the second information being used to instruct the terminal device to report the first information.

[0057] In this way, network devices can flexibly instruct terminal devices to report information based on network load and other factors, making them more flexible.

[0058] In one possible implementation, the second information also instructs the terminal device to report the first information in a second frequency band, the second frequency band including one or more frequency bands corresponding to at least two non-contiguous first carriers.

[0059] In this way, network devices report the first information based on the granularity of the frequency band. For network devices, determining the terminal device's ability to communicate in a specific frequency band helps reduce communication latency.

[0060] In one possible implementation, before receiving the first carrier combination, the method further includes: receiving capability information of the terminal device, the capability information indicating the carrier combinations supported by the terminal device when receiving discontinuous carriers via a shared radio frequency link, and the carrier combinations supported when not receiving discontinuous carriers via a shared radio frequency link, the capability information including the first carrier combination.

[0061] In this way, network devices can configure the carrier combinations they support when receiving discontinuous carriers through a shared radio frequency link, or the carrier combinations they support when receiving discontinuous carriers without a shared radio frequency link, based on the capability information reported by the terminal devices, thus providing greater flexibility.

[0062] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: sending third information based on first information, the third information being used to indicate a third carrier, the third carrier including a portion of the carriers in the first carrier combination, the third carrier being used to receive downlink signaling or data, and the third carrier corresponding to the terminal device's ability to communicate on the carriers of the first carrier combination.

[0063] In this way, the network device can send a third carrier to the terminal device. The third carrier corresponds to the terminal device's ability to communicate on the carriers combined with the first carrier. This is beneficial for ensuring that the carriers for carrier aggregation communication between the terminal device and the network device meet the terminal device's capabilities, thereby facilitating the realization of carrier aggregation communication.

[0064] In one possible implementation, at least two non-contiguous first carriers correspond to one frequency band, or at least two non-contiguous first carriers correspond to at least two frequency bands.

[0065] This makes it applicable to both intra-band carrier aggregation and inter-band carrier aggregation, with a wide range of application scenarios.

[0066] Fourthly, a carrier aggregation method is provided. This method can be executed by a network-side communication device, or by other entities, and this application does not limit the scope of execution. The network-side communication device can be a network device, or a functional module, communication module, chip, chip system, or circuit (such as a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a SoC chip or SIP chip containing a modem core) within the network device. For ease of description, a network device will be used as an example below.

[0067] The method may include: a network device transmitting a first carrier combination, the first carrier combination comprising at least two non-contiguous first carriers, the first carrier combination being used for carrier aggregation communication with the network device; receiving first information, the first information indicating interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers; receiving second information, the second information indicating one or more of the following: a second carrier combination, the second carrier combination being a first carrier combination or a subset of the first carrier combination; or, a first carrier number, the first carrier number being less than or equal to the number of carriers included in the first carrier combination; or, indicating that a second carrier or a first frequency band in the first carrier combination shares a radio frequency link, the first frequency band being one or more frequency bands corresponding to at least two non-contiguous first carriers; or, indicating that a second carrier or a first frequency band in the first carrier combination does not share a radio frequency link.

[0068] The method provided in this application allows a network device to receive interference between carriers in the first carrier combination from a terminal device after sending a first carrier combination to the terminal device. Based on this interference, the network device can determine whether to adjust the carriers in the first carrier combination for carrier aggregation. This eliminates the need to reconfigure the carrier combination, which helps reduce communication latency and signaling overhead.

[0069] In one possible implementation, the method further includes receiving third information, the third information being used to indicate whether a first interval is needed, the first interval being used to determine interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers.

[0070] In this way, network devices can determine whether to send the first interval based on whether the terminal device needs it, which helps to improve the accuracy of the information sent and reduce signaling overhead.

[0071] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: transmitting fourth information; receiving first information, including: receiving the first information; wherein the fourth information is used to indicate one or more of the following: measuring interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers; or, measuring a received signal strength indication RSSI of the interval bandwidth between at least two non-contiguous first carriers, the measuring amount being used to indicate interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers; or, a first threshold; or, a second threshold; or, a first event, the first event being: the measuring amount is greater than or equal to the first threshold; or, a second event, the second event being: the measuring amount is less than or equal to the second threshold.

[0072] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: sending fifth information, the fifth information being used to instruct the terminal device to report first information; and receiving the first information, including: receiving the first information.

[0073] In this way, network devices can flexibly instruct terminal devices to report information based on network load and other factors, making them more flexible.

[0074] In one possible implementation, the fifth information also instructs the terminal device to report the first information in a second frequency band, which includes one or more frequency bands corresponding to at least two non-contiguous first carriers.

[0075] In this way, network devices report the first information based on the granularity of the frequency band. For network devices, determining the terminal device's ability to communicate in a specific frequency band helps reduce communication latency.

[0076] In one possible implementation, before transmitting the first carrier combination, the method further includes: receiving capability information of a terminal device, the capability information indicating carrier combinations supported by the terminal device when receiving discontinuous carriers via a shared radio frequency link, and carrier combinations supported when not receiving discontinuous carriers via a shared radio frequency link, the capability information including the first carrier combination.

[0077] In this way, network devices can configure the carrier combinations they support when receiving discontinuous carriers through a shared radio frequency link, or the carrier combinations they support when receiving discontinuous carriers without a shared radio frequency link, based on the capability information reported by the terminal devices, thus providing greater flexibility.

[0078] In one possible implementation, at least two non-contiguous first carriers correspond to one frequency band, or at least two non-contiguous first carriers correspond to at least two frequency bands.

[0079] This makes it applicable to both intra-band carrier aggregation and inter-band carrier aggregation, with a wide range of application scenarios.

[0080] Fifthly, a carrier aggregation method is provided. This method can be executed by a terminal-side communication device, or by other entities, without limitation in this application. The terminal-side communication device can be a terminal device, or a functional module, communication module, chip, chip system, or circuit (such as a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a system-on-chip (SoC) chip containing a modem core, or a system-in-package (SIP) chip) within the terminal device. For ease of description, a terminal device will be used as an example below.

[0081] The method may include: a terminal device receiving information from a network device for querying the capabilities of the terminal device; based on the information for querying the capabilities of the terminal device, the terminal device sending capability information to the network device, the capability information indicating a first frequency range supported by the terminal device, the first frequency range corresponding to a cell, and the terminal device communicating with the network device through the same radio frequency link in the cell corresponding to the first frequency range.

[0082] The method provided in this application involves a terminal device sending capability information to a network device, indicating a first frequency range supported by the terminal device. This first frequency range corresponds to a cell. The terminal device communicates with the network device through the same radio frequency link within the cell corresponding to the first frequency range. This allows the network device to determine the terminal device's carrier aggregation capability, facilitating carrier aggregation communication. Furthermore, since multiple carriers can correspond to a single cell, the complexity of resource scheduling and cell management is reduced, as is signaling overhead. In spectrum fragmentation scenarios, this method allows network devices to aggregate multiple non-contiguous carriers belonging to the same operator and allocate and schedule resources through the same cell.

[0083] In one possible implementation, the capability information is specifically used to indicate at least one frequency band, and the first frequency range is the frequency range of at least one frequency band.

[0084] In one possible implementation, the capability information is also used to indicate the maximum channel bandwidth supported by the terminal device on the cell corresponding to the first frequency range, wherein the maximum channel bandwidth is less than or equal to the bandwidth corresponding to the first frequency range.

[0085] In this way, the terminal device informs the network device of its maximum supported channel bandwidth through capability information, so that the network device can flexibly adjust its carrier aggregation capability according to the actual scenario under the maximum channel bandwidth.

[0086] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving first information from a network device, the first information indicating a first frequency domain location and / or a first channel bandwidth of a first cell, the first frequency domain location belonging to a first frequency range, and the first channel bandwidth being less than or equal to the maximum channel bandwidth supported on the cell corresponding to the first frequency range.

[0087] In this way, network devices can set the first frequency domain position and / or the first channel bandwidth within the maximum channel bandwidth, which is beneficial for carrier aggregation communication based on the first frequency domain position and / or the first channel bandwidth.

[0088] In one possible implementation, a second piece of information is sent to the network device, indicating interference in the inter-carrier spacing bandwidth of the first cell; third information is received from the network device, indicating a second frequency domain location and / or a second channel bandwidth of the first cell, wherein the second frequency domain location belongs to a first frequency range, and the second channel bandwidth is less than or equal to the maximum channel bandwidth supported on the cell corresponding to the first frequency range. In this way, the network device can dynamically update the bandwidth location and bandwidth size based on the interference, which helps to reduce the impact of interference on carrier aggregation.

[0089] In one possible implementation, the first cell comprises at least two consecutive carriers, or the first cell comprises at least two non-consecutive carriers.

[0090] This makes it applicable to both continuous carrier aggregation and non-continuous carrier aggregation, with a wide range of application scenarios.

[0091] Sixthly, a carrier aggregation method is provided. This method can be executed by a network-side communication device, or by other entities, without limitation in this application. The network-side communication device can be a network device, or a functional module, communication module, chip, chip system, or circuit (such as a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a SoC chip or SIP chip containing a modem core) within the network device. For ease of description, a network device will be used as an example below.

[0092] The method may include: a network device sending information to a terminal device to query the capabilities of the terminal device; the network device receiving capability information from the terminal device, the capability information indicating a first frequency range supported by the terminal device, the first frequency range corresponding to a cell, and communicating with the terminal device in the cell corresponding to the first frequency range through a first radio frequency link.

[0093] The method provided in this application involves a network device querying a terminal device for its capabilities. The terminal device indicates a first frequency range it supports based on capability information. This first frequency range corresponds to a cell. The network device can communicate with the terminal device through the same radio frequency link within the cell corresponding to the first frequency range. This allows the network device to determine the terminal device's carrier aggregation capability, facilitating carrier aggregation communication. Furthermore, since multiple carriers can correspond to a single cell, the complexity of resource scheduling and cell management is reduced, as is signaling overhead. In spectrum fragmentation scenarios, this method allows network devices to aggregate multiple non-contiguous carriers belonging to the same operator and allocate and schedule resources through the same cell.

[0094] In one possible implementation, the capability information is specifically used to indicate at least one frequency band, and the first frequency range is the frequency range of at least one frequency band.

[0095] In one possible implementation, the capability information is also used to indicate the maximum channel bandwidth supported by the terminal device on the cell corresponding to the first frequency range, wherein the maximum channel bandwidth is less than or equal to the bandwidth corresponding to the first frequency range.

[0096] In this way, network devices can determine the maximum channel bandwidth supported by terminal devices through capability information, so that network devices can flexibly adjust carrier aggregation capabilities according to the actual scenario under the maximum channel bandwidth.

[0097] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: sending first information to a terminal device, the first information indicating a first frequency domain location and / or a first channel bandwidth of a first cell, the first frequency domain location belonging to a first frequency range, and the first channel bandwidth being less than or equal to the maximum channel bandwidth supported on the cell corresponding to the first frequency range.

[0098] In this way, network devices can set the first frequency domain position and / or the first channel bandwidth within the maximum channel bandwidth, which is beneficial for carrier aggregation communication based on the first frequency domain position and / or the first channel bandwidth.

[0099] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving second information from a terminal device, the second information indicating the reference signal quality of carriers included in the first cell, and / or interference between the spacing bandwidths of carriers included in the first cell; and based on the second information, sending third information to the terminal device, the third information indicating a second frequency domain location and / or a second channel bandwidth of the first cell, the second frequency domain location belonging to a first frequency range, and the second channel bandwidth being less than or equal to the maximum channel bandwidth supported on the cell corresponding to the first frequency range.

[0100] In this way, network devices can set frequency domain location and bandwidth according to interference, which helps to reduce the impact of interference on carrier aggregation.

[0101] In one possible implementation, the first cell comprises at least two consecutive carriers, or the first cell comprises at least two non-consecutive carriers.

[0102] This makes it applicable to both continuous carrier aggregation and non-continuous carrier aggregation, with a wide range of application scenarios.

[0103] In a seventh aspect, a communication apparatus is provided for executing the method in any of the possible implementations of the above aspects. Specifically, the communication apparatus includes a module for executing the method in any of the possible implementations of the above aspects.

[0104] Eighthly, another communication device is provided, including a processor coupled to a memory for executing instructions in the memory to implement the methods in any of the possible implementations of the foregoing aspects. Optionally, the communication device further includes a memory. Optionally, the communication device further includes a communication interface to which the processor is coupled.

[0105] In one implementation, the communication device is a terminal device or a network device. When the communication device is a terminal device or a network device, the communication interface can be a transceiver or an input / output interface.

[0106] In another implementation, the communication device is a chip applicable to a terminal device or a network device. When the communication device is a chip applicable to a terminal device or a network device, the communication interface can be an input / output interface.

[0107] In a ninth aspect, a processor is provided, comprising: an input circuit, an output circuit, and a processing circuit. The processing circuit is configured to receive signals through the input circuit and transmit signals through the output circuit, causing the processor to execute a method in any possible implementation of the foregoing aspects.

[0108] In the specific implementation process, the processor can be a chip, the input circuit can be an input pin, the output circuit can be an output pin, and the processing circuit can be a transistor, gate circuit, flip-flop, and various logic circuits. The input signal received by the input circuit can be received and input by, for example, but not limited to, a receiver, and the signal output by the output circuit can be output to, for example, but not limited to, a transmitter and transmitted by the transmitter. Furthermore, the input circuit and the output circuit can be the same circuit, which is used as the input circuit and the output circuit at different times. This application does not limit the specific implementation method of the processor and various circuits.

[0109] In a tenth aspect, a communication device is provided, including a processor and a memory. The processor is configured to read instructions stored in the memory, receive signals via a receiver, and transmit signals via a transmitter to execute the methods in any of the possible implementations of the foregoing aspects.

[0110] Optionally, there may be one or more processors and one or more memories.

[0111] Alternatively, the memory can be integrated with the processor, or the memory can be set up separately from the processor.

[0112] In the specific implementation process, the memory can be a non-transitory memory, such as read-only memory (ROM), which can be integrated with the processor on the same chip or set on different chips. This application does not limit the type of memory or the way the memory and processor are set.

[0113] It should be understood that the relevant data interaction process, such as sending instruction information, can be a process of outputting instruction information from the processor, and receiving capability information can be a process of the processor receiving input capability information. Specifically, the processed output data can be output to the transmitter, and the input data received by the processor can come from the receiver. Here, the transmitter and receiver can be collectively referred to as transceivers.

[0114] The communication device in the ninth aspect above can be a chip. The processor can be implemented in hardware or software. When implemented in hardware, the processor can be a logic circuit, integrated circuit, etc. When implemented in software, the processor can be a general-purpose processor that reads software code stored in a memory. The memory can be integrated into the processor or located outside the processor and exist independently.

[0115] In the eleventh aspect, a computer program product is provided, comprising: a computer program (also referred to as code or instructions) that, when run, causes a computer to perform a method in any of the possible implementations of the foregoing aspects.

[0116] In a twelfth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided that stores a computer program (also referred to as code or instructions) that, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to perform the methods in any of the possible implementations of the foregoing aspects.

[0117] It should be understood that aspects seven to twelfth of this application correspond to the technical solutions of aspects one to six of this application, and the beneficial effects achieved by each aspect and the corresponding feasible implementation are similar, and will not be repeated here. Attached Figure Description

[0118] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0119] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of different types of carrier aggregation provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0120] Figure 3 is a schematic interactive diagram of a UE capability query provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0121] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a frequency band combination provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0122] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating the impact of interference on a radio frequency link according to an embodiment of this application;

[0123] Figure 6 is a schematic interactive diagram of a carrier aggregation method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0124] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of a carrier deactivation method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0125] Figures 8 to 11 are schematic interactive diagrams of the carrier aggregation method provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0126] Figure 12 is a schematic diagram of a frequency domain position and / or channel bandwidth position change provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0127] Figure 13 is a schematic interactive diagram of another carrier aggregation method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0128] Figures 14 and 15 are schematic block diagrams of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0129] Figure 16 is a schematic diagram of an O-RAN chip provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0130] Figure 17 is a diagram showing the network element function division and protocol layer structure of an O-RAN device provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0131] The technical solutions in the embodiments of this application will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0132] In the embodiments of this application, the terms "first" and "second" are used to distinguish identical or similar items with essentially the same function and purpose. For example, "first information" and "second information" are used only to distinguish different information and do not limit their order. Those skilled in the art will understand that the terms "first" and "second" do not limit the quantity or execution order, and that "first" and "second" do not necessarily imply that they are different.

[0133] It should be noted that, in the embodiments of this application, the words "exemplarily" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations, or explanations. Any embodiment or design scheme described as "exemplarily" or "for example" in this application should not be construed as being more preferred or advantageous than other embodiments or design schemes. Specifically, the use of the words "exemplarily" or "for example" is intended to present the relevant concepts in a specific manner.

[0134] In this application embodiment, "at least one" refers to one or more, and "more than one" refers to two or more. "And / or" describes the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: A alone, A and B simultaneously, or B alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the preceding and following related objects are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can represent: a, b, c, ab, a--c, bc, or abc, where a, b, and c can be single or multiple.

[0135] In the embodiments of this application, the terms and English abbreviations, such as shared radio frequency link and event, are merely exemplary examples given for ease of description and should not be construed as limiting this application in any way. This application does not preclude the possibility of defining other terms that can achieve the same or similar functions in existing or future protocols.

[0136] The technical solutions of this application embodiment can be applied to various communication systems, such as: Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, such as LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) systems and LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD) systems, 5th Generation (5G) systems or New Radio (NR) systems, future communication systems, etc.

[0137] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of this application, the communication system applicable to the embodiments of this application will be described in detail first with reference to FIG1.

[0138] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system provided in an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 1, the communication system includes a radio access network (RAN) 100, wherein the RAN 100 includes at least one RAN node (110a and 110b in Figure 1, collectively referred to as 110), and may also include at least one terminal (120a-120j in Figure 1, collectively referred to as 120). The RAN 100 may also include other RAN nodes, such as wireless relay devices and / or wireless backhaul devices (not shown in Figure 1). The terminal 120 is wirelessly connected to the RAN node 110. Terminals and RAN nodes can be interconnected via wired or wireless means. The communication system may also include a core network 200. The RAN node 110 is connected to the core network 200 via wireless or wired means. The core network equipment in the core network 200 and the RAN node 110 in the RAN 100 may be independent and different physical devices, or they may be the same physical device integrating the logical functions of the core network equipment and the logical functions of the RAN node. The communication system may also include the Internet 300.

[0139] RAN 100 can be an evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) system, a new radio (NR) system, or a future radio access system as defined in the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP). RAN 100 can also include two or more of the above-mentioned different radio access systems. RAN 100 can also be an open RAN (O-RAN).

[0140] RAN nodes, also known as radio access network devices, RAN entities, or access nodes, are used to help terminals access communication systems wirelessly. In one application scenario, an RAN node can be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next-generation NodeB (gNB) in a 5G mobile communication system, or a base station in a future mobile communication system. RAN nodes can be macro base stations (as shown in Figure 1, 110a), micro base stations or indoor stations (as shown in Figure 1, 110b), relay nodes, or donor nodes.

[0141] In another application scenario, multiple RAN nodes can collaborate to help terminals achieve wireless access, with different RAN nodes implementing different functions of the base station. For example, a RAN node can be a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), or a radio unit (RU). Here, the CU performs the functions of the base station's Radio Resource Control (RRC) and Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP), and can also perform the functions of the Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP). The DU performs the functions of the base station's Radio Link Control (RANC) and Medium Access Control (MAC) layers, and can also perform some or all of the physical layer functions. For specific descriptions of these protocol layers, refer to the relevant 3GPP technical specifications. The RU can be used to implement radio frequency signal transmission and reception. The CU and DU can be two independent RAN nodes or integrated into the same RAN node, such as within a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in radio frequency equipment, such as in a remote radio unit (RRU) or an active antenna unit (AAU). The CU can be further divided into two types of RAN nodes: CU-control plane and CU-user plane.

[0142] In different systems, RAN nodes may have different names. For example, in an O-RAN system, a CU can be called an open CU (O-CU), a DU can be called an open DU (O-DU), and an RU can be called an open RU (O-RU). The RAN node in this application embodiment can be implemented through software modules, hardware modules, or a combination of software and hardware modules. For example, a RAN node can be a server loaded with the corresponding software modules. This application embodiment does not limit the specific technology or device form used in the RAN node. For ease of description, a base station is used as an example of a RAN node in the following description.

[0143] A terminal is a device with wireless transceiver capabilities, capable of sending signals to or receiving signals from a base station. Terminals can also be called terminal equipment, user equipment (UE), mobile station, mobile terminal, etc. Terminals can be widely used in various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grids, smart furniture, smart offices, smart wearables, smart transportation, smart cities, etc. Terminals can be mobile phones, tablets, computers with wireless transceiver capabilities, wearable devices, vehicles, airplanes, ships, robots, robotic arms, smart home devices, etc. This application does not limit the specific technology or device form used in the terminal embodiments.

[0144] Base stations and terminals can be fixed or mobile. They can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; they can also be deployed on water; and they can be deployed on aircraft, balloons, and artificial satellites. This application does not limit the application scenarios of the base stations and terminals.

[0145] The roles of base stations and terminals can be relative. For example, the helicopter or drone 120i in Figure 1 can be configured as a mobile base station. For terminals 120j that access the wireless access network 100 through 120i, terminal 120i is a base station; however, for base station 110a, 120i is a terminal, meaning that 110a and 120i communicate via a wireless air interface protocol. Of course, 110a and 120i can also communicate via a base station-to-base station interface protocol. In this case, relative to 110a, 120i is also a base station. Therefore, both base stations and terminals can be collectively referred to as communication devices. 110a and 110b in Figure 1 can be called communication devices with base station functions, and 120a-120j in Figure 1 can be called communication devices with terminal functions. In the embodiments of this application, the "protocol" involved can refer to standard protocols in the field of communication, such as 3GPP standard protocols, which this application does not limit.

[0146] Communication between base stations and terminals, between base stations, and between terminals can be conducted using licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or both simultaneously. Communication can be conducted using spectrum below 6 GHz, spectrum above 6 GHz, or both simultaneously. This application does not limit the spectrum resources used for wireless communication.

[0147] In this embodiment, the functions of the base station can be executed by modules (such as chips) within the base station, or by a control subsystem that includes base station functions. This control subsystem can be a control center in the aforementioned application scenarios such as smart grids, industrial control, intelligent transportation, and smart cities. Similarly, the functions of the terminal can be executed by modules (such as chips or modems) within the terminal, or by a device that includes terminal functions.

[0148] To better understand the embodiments of this application, the terminology involved in the embodiments of this application will be introduced first.

[0149] 1. Carrier aggregation

[0150] Carrier aggregation (CA) is a technique to increase communication bandwidth. It refers to providing services to terminals simultaneously using multiple component carriers (CCs). Current carrier aggregation technologies can use one carrier as the primary CC (PCC) or primary cell (PCell), and the other carriers as secondary CCs (SCCs) or secondary cells (SCells). Secondary carriers or cells can be activated and deactivated during use. If there is no data transmission for a period of time, the base station may deactivate a secondary carrier or cell, and may consider reactivating it again when data transmission resumes.

[0151] Carrier aggregation includes the aggregation of multiple carriers within a single frequency band, as well as the aggregation of multiple carriers across multiple frequency bands. For example, carrier aggregation includes three types: intra-band contiguous CA, intra-band non-contiguous CA, and inter-band CA. Intra-band contiguous CA can also be called intra-band continuous CA, intra-band non-contiguous CA can also be called intra-band non-contiguous CA, and inter-band CA can also be called inter-band CA.

[0152] For example, Figure 2 illustrates a schematic diagram of different types of carrier aggregation. As shown in Figure 2, frequency band A and frequency band B are used as examples for illustration. The embodiments of this application do not limit the number of frequency bands.

[0153] In some scenarios, two consecutive carriers in frequency band A simultaneously provide service to the terminal; this can be called intra-band consecutive CA. In other scenarios, two non-consecutive carriers in frequency band A simultaneously provide service to the terminal; this can be called intra-band non-consecutive CA. In still other scenarios, one carrier in frequency band A and one carrier in frequency band B simultaneously provide service to the terminal; this can be called inter-band CA.

[0154] 2. Radio Resource Management (RRM) Measurement

[0155] RRM measurement refers to the measurement performed by the terminal on the frequency points configured by the base station to monitor the signal quality of the carrier on different frequency points, thereby ensuring the reliability of communication.

[0156] The base station can be configured to allow the terminal to measure the frequency of the serving cell or the frequency of neighboring cells. Neighboring cells can be co-frequency or inter-frequency neighboring cells of the serving cell. When the terminal's receiver bandwidth is insufficient to cover both the serving cell's frequency and the frequency of the neighboring cell under test, the terminal can switch its receiver to the neighboring cell's frequency during a measurement gap to complete the measurement. During this measurement gap, communication between the base station and the terminal ceases on the serving cell.

[0157] Currently, in scenarios involving cross-frequency or cross-system measurements, terminals generally require the assistance of measurement gaps to achieve effective measurements.

[0158] 3. Terminal capabilities

[0159] During communication between a terminal and a base station, the base station can configure and schedule the communication based on the terminal's capabilities. These capabilities refer to the terminal's radio access capability, also known as terminal capability or UE capability. The following explanation uses the term UE to refer to the terminal and UE capability as an example.

[0160] Since the specifications and forms of terminals from different manufacturers are different, after the UE registers with the base station, the base station can send a UE capability enquiry message to the UE. Correspondingly, the UE receives the UE capability enquiry message and can report UE capability information to the base station based on the UE capability enquiry message.

[0161] For example, Figure 3 shows a schematic interaction diagram of a UE capability query. As shown in Figure 3, the method may include the following steps:

[0162] S301. The base station sends a UE capability query message to the UE to obtain the UE's capabilities.

[0163] S302. The UE reports its capability information to the base station based on the UE capability query message. This allows the base station to obtain the UE's capabilities and then configure and schedule the terminal according to those capabilities.

[0164] In some examples, UE capabilities may include the frequency bands and band combinations (BCs) supported by the UE. The band combination can be used to represent the carrier aggregation capabilities supported by the UE.

[0165] In one possible implementation, the UE capability may include a list of supported band combinations (supportedBandCombinationList), where each item in the list can be used to represent a band combination (BC) supported by the UE.

[0166] For a given frequency band combination, the UE needs to indicate the band information included in that combination. In some examples, the band information may include a band identifier. Optionally, the band information may also include information indicating the CA bandwidth class of that band. The bandwidth class indicates the maximum number of carriers that can be consecutively aggregated and the aggregated transmission bandwidth.

[0167] For example, Figure 4 shows a schematic diagram of a frequency band combination. As shown in Figure 4, the frequency band combination is a 3-band combination consisting of frequency bands A, B, and C. Band A has one carrier CC#1, band B has two consecutively aggregated carriers CC#2 and CC#3, and band C has two consecutively aggregated carriers CC4 and CC5.

[0168] If the UE supports the band combination {bandA+bandB+bandC} shown in Figure 4, the UE capabilities reported by the UE to the base station can include information about supporting this band combination {bandA+bandB+bandC}. For example, the UE capabilities can include a list of band combinations {bandA+bandB+bandC}. This list can include identifiers for bandA, bandB, and bandC. For each band, the UE capabilities can also include information indicating the downlink and uplink bandwidth levels supported by that band.

[0169] In some examples, the BandwidthClassDL field can be used to indicate the downlink bandwidth level supported by the frequency band in the UE capability. The BandwidthClassUL field can be used to indicate the uplink bandwidth level supported by the frequency band in the UE capability.

[0170] The following section, in conjunction with Table 1, introduces the CA bandwidth levels.

[0171] Table 1

[0172] As shown in Table 1, there is a correspondence between different CA bandwidth levels and the number of consecutive carriers. If the capability information sent by the terminal to the network device includes the bandwidth level supported by the frequency band, the network device can determine the number of carriers to be aggregated based on the correspondence between the bandwidth level supported by the frequency band and the number of consecutive carriers shown in Table 1.

[0173] 4. Transmission and reception methods of carrier aggregation

[0174] When a terminal supports carrier aggregation of contiguous carriers, it can allow multiple contiguous carriers to share a single radio frequency (RF) chain. When supporting carrier aggregation of non-contiguous carriers, it can use either completely independent RF chains or partially independent RF chains. A partially independent RF chain can be understood as one where some RF components are shared while others are independent. For example, two non-contiguous carriers can share an antenna front-end but have independent filters.

[0175] The reason for using independent or partially independent RF links in carrier aggregation of non-contiguous carriers is that when the frequency ranges of the two aggregated carriers are far apart, the uplink transmission of one carrier can interfere with the downlink reception of the other. Furthermore, if the frequency range between the two carriers belongs to another operator, communication from that operator within that bandwidth can interfere with the downlink reception of the current operator's carrier. The purpose of using independent or partially independent RF links is to suppress these interferences to a certain extent.

[0176] To support carrier aggregation of two non-contiguous carriers within a frequency band, using a traditional independent (or partially independent) RF architecture means that the two carriers would occupy two RF link resources. For downlink communication, this means two receive links (Rx chains) are required. To reduce the number of receive links required for carrier aggregation, or in other words, to support carrier aggregation with a limited number of receive links supported by the terminal, multiple non-contiguous carriers can share a single receive link for downlink communication under the following conditions: the non-contiguous carriers meet co-location conditions, the total bandwidth of the non-contiguous carriers is less than or equal to a certain threshold (e.g., the total bandwidth does not exceed 100 MHz), and the inter-band interference level is low.

[0177] It should be understood that in the embodiments of this application, the radio frequency chain (RF chain) may refer to the receiving chain (Rx chain) or the transmitting chain. The receiving chain may be replaced by the receiving channel (Rx branch) or the receiver (Rx), and the transmitting chain (Tx chain) may be replaced by the transmitting channel (Tx branch) or the transmitter (Tx), etc. The embodiments of this application do not limit this.

[0178] As mentioned above, whether a terminal can use a single radio frequency (RF) link to receive at least two discontinuous carriers depends on the bandwidth interference between those discontinuous carriers. When interference is high, to ensure reception performance, the terminal can use an independent RF link to receive the at least two discontinuous carriers, i.e., one RF link receives one carrier, to filter interference. When interference is low, the terminal can use a shared RF link to receive the at least two discontinuous carriers, i.e., one RF link receives multiple carriers, so that the terminal can support a larger number of carriers with a fixed RF capability, increasing the total communication bandwidth. It should be noted that in the embodiments of this application, the description of one RF link receiving one or more carriers, and independent or shared RF links receiving at least two discontinuous carriers, are all used to indicate receiving wireless signals on carriers via an RF link. For ease of description, the description of receiving carriers via an RF link can also be described as one RF link corresponding to one or more carriers, independent or shared RF links corresponding to at least two discontinuous carriers, or one RF link communicating on one or more carriers, and independent or shared RF links communicating on at least two discontinuous carriers. The embodiments of this application do not limit this. For example, Figure 5 shows a schematic diagram of the impact of interference on the RF link. As shown in Figure 5, the 100MHz band includes two non-contiguous carriers: CC#1 and CC#2. When the interference in the bandwidth between CC#1 and CC#2 is high, the terminal device uses an independent radio frequency link to receive CC#1 and CC#2. If the interference in the bandwidth between CC#1 and CC#2 is low, the terminal device uses a shared radio frequency link to receive CC#1 and CC#2. If the interference situation changes, the terminal device can switch between the independent radio frequency link and the shared radio frequency link.

[0179] Currently, network devices can configure carrier combinations for terminal devices for carrier aggregation communication. If the configured carrier combination corresponds to an independent radio frequency link, then communication is carried out on the carriers in the configured carrier combination through the independent radio frequency link; if the configured carrier combination corresponds to a shared radio frequency link, then communication is carried out on the carriers in the configured carrier combination through the shared radio frequency link.

[0180] This approach, which uses either an independent radio frequency (RF) link or a shared RF link for communication, depends on the carrier combination configured by the network device, and can result in significant signaling overhead. This is because if the bandwidth interference between carriers is high, the network device can configure an independent RF link for the corresponding carrier combination, allowing the terminal device to communicate via the independent RF link on the carriers within that combination. Conversely, if the bandwidth interference between carriers is low, the network device can configure a shared RF link for the corresponding carrier combination, allowing the terminal device to communicate via the shared RF link on the carriers within that combination.

[0181] For example, a terminal includes two radio frequency (RF) links. With independent RF links, the terminal supports frequency band combinations including {bandX(1CC)+bandY(1CC)} or {bandX(2CC)}, where 2CC are non-contiguous carriers. With a shared RF link, the terminal supports frequency band combinations including {bandX(2CC)+bandY(1CC)}, where 2CC in bandX are non-contiguous carriers. If the bandwidth interference between carriers is high, the network device can configure the terminal with {bandX(1CC)+bandY(1CC)} or {bandX(2CC)}, where each of the terminal's two RF links receives one carrier. If the bandwidth interference between carriers is low, the network device can configure the terminal with {bandX(2CC)+bandY(1CC)}, where one of the terminal's two RF links receives both carriers in bandX, and the other RF link receives one carrier in bandY.

[0182] If interference conditions change, network devices need to reconfigure carrier combinations. This reconfiguration requires configuration information, typically carried in radio resource control (RRC) signaling. For example, RRC reconfiguration messages are used to release or add carriers. These messages also carry a large amount of information, requiring negotiation and confirmation between the terminal and network device through multiple messages. Parsing and responding to RRC messages also takes longer. Therefore, reconfiguring carrier combinations suffers from significant signaling overhead and latency. When interference conditions change frequently, the network needs to issue RRC signaling frequently, exacerbating these problems. In some cases, the network configuration may even fail to meet the actual capabilities of the terminal devices after these changes.

[0183] In view of the above, embodiments of this application provide a method and apparatus for carrier aggregation, providing one or more of the following methods:

[0184] 1) When a network device configures a carrier combination for a terminal, the terminal can report its ability to receive carriers on that carrier combination to the network device. The terminal's ability to receive carriers on that carrier combination is related to the radio frequency link corresponding to that carrier combination, so that it can receive a suitable carrier based on its ability to receive carriers on that carrier combination. In this way, there is no need to reconfigure the carrier combination, which helps to reduce signaling overhead and shorten latency.

[0185] 2) When the network device configures the carrier combination for the terminal, the terminal reports interference to the network device. Based on the interference, the network device indicates to the terminal device the carrier that the terminal device can receive in the carrier combination, so that the terminal device can receive the appropriate carrier in the carrier combination. In this way, there is no need to reconfigure the carrier combination, which helps to reduce signaling overhead and shorten latency.

[0186] To better understand the embodiments of this application, the methods provided by the embodiments of this application will be described in detail below with reference to Figures 6 to 13. The embodiments shown in this application illustrate the methods provided by the embodiments of this application from the perspective of device interaction. The specific forms and quantities of the devices shown are merely examples and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation of the methods provided by the embodiments of this application.

[0187] The first method provided by the embodiments of this application is described below with reference to Figures 6 to 8.

[0188] For example, Figure 6 shows a schematic interactive diagram of a carrier aggregation method provided in an embodiment of this application. This method can be applied to the communication system shown in Figure 1 above, but the embodiments of this application are not limited thereto. As shown in Figure 6, the method may include the following steps:

[0189] S601, The network device sends a first carrier combination to the terminal device. The first carrier combination includes at least two non-contiguous first carriers. The first carrier combination is used for carrier aggregation communication with the network device.

[0190] The first carrier can be a primary component carrier (PCC), a secondary component carrier (SCC), or a combination of PCC and SCC. This application does not limit this.

[0191] The network device sending the first carrier combination to the terminal device can be replaced with / understood as the network device configuring the first carrier combination for the terminal device, or the network device sending the configuration of the first carrier combination to the terminal device. The first carrier combination can be replaced with the first cell combination, and the network device configuring the first cell combination for the terminal device; the first carrier can be replaced with / understood as the first cell, or understood as the first carrier corresponding to a corresponding first cell.

[0192] Optionally, at least two non-contiguous first carriers may correspond to one frequency band, or at least two non-contiguous first carriers may correspond to at least two frequency bands.

[0193] If at least two non-contiguous first carriers can correspond to a frequency band, it can be understood that at least two non-contiguous first carriers belong to the same frequency band, or in other words, at least two non-contiguous first carriers are carriers in the same frequency band. If at least two non-contiguous first carriers in a frequency band are carrier aggregated, it is called in-band carrier aggregation or in-band non-contiguous CA.

[0194] For example, in the frequency band CA shown in Figure 2 above, frequency band A includes two non-contiguous carriers, which can be understood as the two non-contiguous carriers corresponding to frequency band A.

[0195] If at least two non-contiguous first carriers correspond to at least two frequency bands, it can be understood that the at least two non-contiguous first carriers belong to different frequency bands, or in other words, the at least two non-contiguous first carriers are carriers in different frequency bands. If at least two non-contiguous first carriers in different frequency bands are subjected to carrier aggregation, it is called inter-band carrier aggregation or inter-band CA.

[0196] For example, in the frequency band CA shown in Figure 2 above, frequency band A includes one carrier and frequency band B includes one carrier. These two carriers belong to different frequency bands and are non-contiguous carriers. It can be understood that the two non-contiguous carriers correspond to frequency band A and frequency band B.

[0197] The network device sends a first carrier combination to the terminal device, which can also be referred to as the network device configuring a first carrier combination to the terminal device; this application embodiment does not limit this. The terminal device can receive the carriers in the first carrier combination through a shared radio frequency link or through an independent radio frequency link; this application embodiment does not limit this.

[0198] Optionally, before the network device sends the first carrier combination to the terminal device, the method further includes: the terminal device can report its capability information to the network device, the capability information indicating the carrier combinations supported by the terminal device when receiving discontinuous carriers through a shared radio frequency link, and the carrier combinations supported when not receiving discontinuous carriers through a shared radio frequency link, the capability information including the first carrier combination. The network device sending the first carrier combination to the terminal device includes: the network device selecting the first carrier combination from the capability information and sending the first carrier combination to the terminal device.

[0199] It is understood that a shared radio frequency link can also be referred to as a shared radio frequency path, shared radio frequency channel, common radio frequency link, common radio frequency channel, or shared radio frequency structure, etc., and this application embodiment does not limit this. The terminal device receiving discontinuous carriers through the shared radio frequency link may include: each radio frequency link in the terminal device receiving multiple discontinuous carriers, or one or more radio frequency links in the terminal device receiving multiple discontinuous carriers respectively, or one or more radio frequency links receiving a single carrier; this application embodiment does not limit this.

[0200] The carrier combinations supported by a terminal device when receiving discontinuous carriers through a shared radio frequency link can also be referred to as the carrier combinations supported by the terminal device under the condition of a shared radio frequency link. This application does not limit this. In some examples, since discontinuous carriers can correspond to one or more frequency bands, the carrier combinations supported by the terminal device when receiving discontinuous carriers through a shared radio frequency link can also be referred to as the frequency band combinations supported under the condition of a shared radio frequency link. This application does not limit this.

[0201] Receiving discontinuous carriers without a shared radio frequency link can be understood as receiving discontinuous carriers through an independent radio frequency link. The carrier combinations supported by the terminal device when receiving discontinuous carriers without a shared radio frequency link can also be referred to as the carrier combinations supported by the terminal device when the independent radio frequency link requirement is met, or the carrier combinations supported by the terminal device when the shared radio frequency link requirement is not met. This application embodiment does not limit this. In some examples, since discontinuous carriers can correspond to one or more frequency bands, the carrier combinations supported by the terminal device when receiving discontinuous carriers without a shared radio frequency link can also be referred to as the frequency band combinations supported when the independent radio frequency link requirement is met. This application embodiment does not limit this.

[0202] For example, a terminal device includes two radio frequency (RF) links. The capability information reported by the terminal device to the network device includes: support for the frequency band combination bandX (2 CCs and not contiguous) + bandY (1 CC) when the RF links are shared between two non-contiguous CCs within bandX; and support for the frequency band combination bandX (1 CC) + bandY (1 CC) when the RF links are not shared, meaning each band occupies one RF link; and / or, the frequency band combination bandX (2 CCs and not contiguous), meaning each of the two non-contiguous CCs on bandX occupies one RF link. It can be understood that the carriers in the carrier combination reported by the terminal device can correspond to one or more frequency bands, which can be referred to as the frequency band combination reported by the terminal device.

[0203] In some examples, carrier combinations supported under shared radio frequency links can be referred to as carrier combinations supported under a first condition. Carrier combinations supported under independent radio frequency links are referred to as carrier combinations not supported under the first condition. The first condition can specifically be a combination of at least one or more of the following:

[0204] 1) The frequency range of two non-contiguous carriers within the band does not exceed the set threshold. For example, the bandwidth range from the lowest frequency domain position of a carrier at a lower frequency to the highest frequency domain position of a carrier at a higher frequency does not exceed the set threshold, for example, the set threshold may be 100MHz.

[0205] 2) Two non-contiguous carriers are co-located, where the base station can refer to an RRU. In the co-location scenario, the maximum receive timing difference (MRTD) between the two carriers is less than a specific threshold, such as 6 microseconds.

[0206] 3) The interference power of the gap bandwidth between non-contiguous carriers within the band is lower than a specific threshold. This threshold may be preset by the protocol or reported to the network by the capability information of the terminal device. This application embodiment does not limit this.

[0207] 4) The preset ΔRIBNC requirement is met on non-contiguous carriers, where ΔRIBNC represents the reference sensitivity allowed due to support for in-band non-contiguous carrier aggregation operation. The ΔRIBNC requirement can be a protocol-predefined ΔRIBNC requirement for in-band non-contiguous carrier shared RF link scenarios.

[0208] The terminal device sends capability information to the network device. The capability information includes multiple carrier combinations. The network device can select a first carrier combination from the multiple carrier combinations and send the first carrier combination to the terminal device.

[0209] Optionally, when the terminal device reports a carrier combination to the network device, it can indicate whether the frequency band corresponding to the carrier in the carrier combination supports receiving discontinuous carriers through a shared radio frequency link, or whether it supports switching of radio frequency links, i.e., switching from receiving discontinuous carriers through a shared radio frequency link to receiving discontinuous carriers through an independent radio frequency link, or switching from receiving discontinuous carriers through an independent radio frequency link to receiving discontinuous carriers through a shared radio frequency link.

[0210] For example, a single bit indicates whether receiving discontinuous carriers via a shared radio link is supported, or whether radio link handover is supported. For instance, the value of the single bit can be either 0 or 1. In one example, 1 indicates support for receiving discontinuous carriers via a shared radio link, or support for radio link handover; 0 indicates no support for receiving discontinuous carriers via a shared radio link, or no support for radio link handover. Alternatively, 0 indicates support for receiving discontinuous carriers via a shared radio link, or support for radio link handover; 1 indicates no support for receiving discontinuous carriers via a shared radio link, or no support for radio link handover.

[0211] In this way, when reporting carrier combinations, the frequency bands that support flexible changes are indicated, which is conducive to flexible changes based on these frequency bands and increases flexibility.

[0212] Optionally, when the terminal device reports multiple carrier combinations, each carrier combination may correspond to one or more frequency bands. The terminal device may also report the number of carriers supported by one or more frequency bands in the frequency bands corresponding to the carrier combination for non-contiguous carrier aggregation.

[0213] For example, a carrier combination reported by the terminal device corresponds to a frequency band including bandX+bandY, where bandX supports switching between shared and non-shared radio links. The terminal device may also indicate that: in the case of a non-shared radio link, bandX supports 1CC; in the case of a shared radio link, bandX supports 2 non-contiguous in-band CCs.

[0214] This helps network devices determine the number of carriers supported by one or more frequency bands in the frequency band corresponding to the carrier combination, thus enabling better carrier aggregation communication.

[0215] In other examples, the number of carriers supported by one or more frequency bands in the carrier combination for non-contiguous carrier aggregation can be predefined or default. For example, by default, carrier aggregation of two non-contiguous carriers (CCs) within the band is supported in the case of a shared radio link, and one CC within the band is supported in the case of a non-shared radio link. In this approach, the terminal device only needs to indicate whether a frequency band supports shared radio. If shared radio is supported, two non-contiguous carriers are supported by default, without needing to specifically indicate the number of non-contiguous carriers supported, which helps reduce signaling overhead.

[0216] S602. Based on the first carrier combination, the terminal device sends first information to the network device. The first information is used to indicate the terminal device's ability to communicate on the carriers of the first carrier combination. The terminal device's ability to communicate on the carriers of the first carrier combination is related to the radio frequency link corresponding to the carriers in the first carrier combination.

[0217] The radio frequency link corresponding to the carrier in the first carrier combination can be understood as the link used by the terminal device for carrier communication in the first carrier combination. This link can be one or more, and the embodiments of this application do not limit it.

[0218] For example, if the first carrier combination includes two non-contiguous carriers, and the terminal device communicates on the two non-contiguous carriers through a shared radio frequency link, then the terminal device can use one radio frequency link to communicate on the two carriers; if the terminal device communicates on the two non-contiguous carriers through independent radio frequency links, then the terminal device needs to use two radio frequency links to communicate on the two carriers.

[0219] The ability of a terminal device to communicate on the carriers of the first carrier combination can refer to the terminal device's ability to monitor the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) or receive downlink signaling or data on the carriers of the first carrier combination. The terminal device's ability to communicate on the carriers of the first carrier combination can include: the terminal device's ability to receive all carriers of the first carrier combination, or the terminal device's ability to receive a portion of the carriers of the first carrier combination.

[0220] The number of carriers that a terminal device can communicate with a network device on in the first carrier combination is related to the radio frequency link used by the terminal device for communication on the carriers, or in other words, it is related to the current radio frequency capability of the terminal device. If the terminal device's radio frequency capability allows communication on all carriers in the first carrier combination, then the number of carriers that the terminal device can communicate on is equal to the number of carriers included in the first carrier combination. If the terminal device's radio frequency capability allows communication on only some carriers in the first carrier combination, then the number of carriers that the terminal device can communicate on is less than the number of carriers included in the first carrier combination. The terminal device's current radio frequency capability is related to whether the terminal device can use a shared radio frequency link to receive discontinuous carriers, and whether it can use a shared radio frequency link to receive discontinuous carriers is related to inter-carrier interference.

[0221] If the interference between carriers is low, the terminal device can use a shared radio frequency link to receive signals in order to increase transmission bandwidth. In this way, the terminal device can receive all carriers in the first carrier combination. If the interference between carriers is high, the terminal device can use an independent radio frequency link to receive signals in order to reduce interference. In this way, the terminal device can receive only some carriers in the first carrier combination.

[0222] Optionally, the ability of the terminal device to communicate on the carriers of the first carrier combination may be related to the interference between the aforementioned carriers, and may also be related to the power consumption and / or battery power of the terminal device. This application embodiment does not limit this.

[0223] After determining its ability to communicate on the carriers of the first carrier combination, the terminal device indicates this capability to the network device via first information.

[0224] The method provided in this application embodiment uses first information to indicate the terminal device's ability to communicate on the carriers of the first carrier combination, so that the network device can communicate with the terminal device based on the terminal device's ability to communicate on the carriers of the first carrier combination without reconfiguring the carrier combination, which helps to reduce signaling overhead and communication latency.

[0225] Optionally, the aforementioned first information can be carried in RRC signaling or other lower-level signaling, such as MAC CE or physical layer signaling, to dynamically inform the network device based on changes in the terminal device's communication capability on the carriers of the first carrier combination. This increases flexibility.

[0226] The ability of a terminal device to communicate on the carriers of the first carrier combination can be manifested in various ways.

[0227] For example, the first information may also indicate one or more of the following to reflect the carrier-on-carrier communication capability of the first carrier combination: supporting a second carrier combination that communicates on the first carrier combination, the second carrier combination being the first carrier combination or a subset of the first carrier combination; or, the number of carriers that support communication on the first carrier combination; or, supporting at least two non-contiguous second carriers sharing a radio frequency link, or not supporting at least two non-contiguous second carriers sharing a radio frequency link, the at least two non-contiguous second carriers being some or all of the carriers in the first carrier combination; or, supporting a first frequency band sharing a radio frequency link, or not supporting a first frequency band sharing a radio frequency link, the first frequency band being one or more frequency bands corresponding to at least two non-contiguous first carriers.

[0228] In one possible implementation, the first information may indicate a second carrier combination to reflect the terminal device's ability to communicate on the carriers of the first carrier combination.

[0229] The carrier in the second carrier combination can be a carrier supported by the terminal device in the first carrier combination, or it can be a carrier that is not supported in the first carrier combination. This application embodiment does not limit this. The two cases are described below.

[0230] In the first case, the carrier in the second carrier combination is a carrier supported by the terminal device in the first carrier combination, or in other words, the first case can indicate the carrier supported by the terminal device in the first carrier combination.

[0231] If the second carrier combination is the same as the first carrier combination, it means that the terminal device can support communication on all carriers in the first carrier combination, and the terminal device can use the radio frequency link corresponding to the carrier in the first carrier combination to receive carriers. If the second carrier combination is a subset of the first carrier combination, it means that the terminal device can support communication on some carriers in the first carrier combination, and the terminal device can adjust the radio frequency link corresponding to receive carriers in the first carrier combination.

[0232] For example, the first carrier combination includes CC#1, CC#2, and CC#3. The second carrier combination may include one or more of CC#1, CC#2, and CC#3. For instance, the second carrier combination includes CC#1, CC#2, and CC#3. Alternatively, the second carrier combination includes CC#1 and CC#3. Or, the second carrier combination includes CC#2.

[0233] When the first information indicates the second carrier combination, the terminal device can indicate the second carrier combination through one or more bits, and the number of bits can be the same as the number of carriers in the first carrier combination.

[0234] For example, the first carrier combination includes CC#1, CC#2, and CC#3. If the second carrier combination may also include CC#1, CC#2, and CC#3, the terminal device indicates the second carrier combination using 3 bits, where the bit value of these 3 bits can be 111. Alternatively, if the second carrier combination may include CC#1 and CC#3, the terminal device indicates the second carrier combination using 3 bits, where the bit value of these 3 bits can be 101.

[0235] In this way, the terminal device can directly send the carriers in the first carrier combination that it can support to the network device through the second carrier combination. This helps the network device to quickly determine the terminal device's communication capability on the first carrier combination, thereby reducing communication latency.

[0236] If the second carrier combination is a subset of the first carrier combination, it can be understood that the number of carriers that the terminal device can receive is reduced, and the carrier aggregation capability is regressed. The second carrier combination can be understood as the carrier combination supported by the terminal device after the carrier aggregation capability regresses. The aforementioned first information is used to indicate the second carrier combination, that is, the first information directly indicates the carrier. In other examples, the first information can also be used to indicate that the carrier aggregation capability has regressed or that a regression in carrier aggregation capability has occurred. Based on the first information, the network device can determine to use a subset of the first carrier combination to communicate with the terminal device. The specific carriers used for communication can be determined by the network device, and this application embodiment does not limit this.

[0237] To better understand these two methods, a specific example will be used to illustrate them below.

[0238] For example, the carriers in the second carrier combination include two CCs, which can both belong to band X, or one CC belongs to band X and the other CC belongs to band Y. If the first information is used to indicate the second carrier combination, the first information can be used to indicate two CCs belonging to band X, or one CC belonging to band X and one CC belonging to band Y. If the first information is used to indicate a capability fallback, the network device can select one carrier combination as the second carrier combination from the carrier combination of two CCs belonging to band X, or one CC belonging to band X and one CC belonging to band Y.

[0239] It is understandable that if the second carrier combination is the same as the first carrier combination, it can be interpreted as the number of carriers that the terminal device can receive has not decreased, and the carrier aggregation capability has not regressed. The first information can be used to indicate that no regression in carrier aggregation capability has occurred. Based on the first information, the network device can determine that the terminal device can receive all carriers in the first carrier combination.

[0240] In the first case, the carrier in the second carrier combination is a carrier that the terminal device does not support in the first carrier combination, or in other words, the aforementioned first information can indicate a carrier that the terminal device does not support in the first carrier combination.

[0241] If the second carrier combination is a subset of the first carrier combination, it means that the terminal device cannot communicate on some carriers in the first carrier combination. The terminal device can adjust the radio frequency link corresponding to the carriers in the first carrier combination.

[0242] For example, the first message may indicate a request for the network to stop scheduling downlink signaling or data on carriers in the second carrier combination, or the first message may indicate a request for the network device to deactivate or suspend carriers in the second carrier combination.

[0243] If the second carrier combination is the same as the first carrier combination, it means that the terminal device does not support receiving all carriers in the first carrier combination.

[0244] For example, the first information indicates the carrier identifier of the request to stop scheduling downlink signaling or data.

[0245] Optionally, if the first information indicates a second carrier combination, then the second carrier combination is a combination of carriers activated in the first carrier combination supported by the terminal device; or, in other words, the second carrier combination is a combination of activatable carriers supported by the terminal device under the configured first carrier combination. Here, activatable carriers can be understood as carriers that the terminal device supports and that can be activated. The actual activation state of the carriers is still determined by the network device, for example, the network device decides which carrier to activate based on the current traffic volume and the channel quality of the carrier. Whether to activate / deactivate a carrier is still controlled by the network device; for example, the network device indicates the activation / deactivation state of the carrier through a carrier activation / deactivation media access control-control element (MAC-CE) defined in the prior art.

[0246] If the second carrier combination is a subset of the first carrier combination, it indicates that the terminal device's ability to perform carrier aggregation has changed, and the radio frequency link for receiving carriers needs to be updated. The updated radio frequency link for receiving carriers is related to the activatable carriers supported by the terminal device.

[0247] For example, if the terminal device uses an independent radio frequency link to receive discontinuous carriers, the second carrier combination can be an active carrier combination supported after the terminal capability falls back. If the terminal device uses a shared radio frequency link to receive discontinuous carriers, all configured carriers are active carriers, that is, all carriers in the first carrier combination are active carriers.

[0248] When the network is configured to receive discontinuous carriers through a shared radio frequency link, the network device can dynamically control the activation or deactivation of carriers to meet the carrier aggregation capabilities of the terminal device, without having to reconfigure the carrier combination when the interference level changes. This avoids the large latency caused by frequent release / addition of carriers. When service requirements change rapidly, the latency of activating / deactivating carriers is lower, resulting in a better user experience for the terminal.

[0249] It should be noted that when a network device controls the activation or deactivation of a carrier in the first carrier combination, the carrier combination that the network device indicates to be activated should be lower than the carrier combination that the terminal device indicates to be activatable. In other words, the number of carriers that the terminal device can receive should be greater than or equal to the number of carriers activated by the network device.

[0250] For example, if the terminal device uses a shared radio frequency link to receive discontinuous carriers, all carriers in the first carrier combination configured by the network device can be activated by the network device. If the terminal device uses an independent radio frequency link to receive discontinuous carriers, the number of carriers indicated by the network device to be activated should not exceed the number of carriers supported by the terminal device after capability fallback. That is, the network device can deactivate a portion of the carriers in the first carrier combination so that the number of activated carriers is less than or equal to the number of carriers supported by the terminal device after capability fallback.

[0251] The following is a detailed explanation using Table 2.

[0252] Table 2

[0253] As shown in Table 2, the first carrier combination may include three carriers: CC#1, CC#2, and CC#3. CC#1 and CC#2 belong to band X, and CC#3 belongs to band Y. If the terminal device uses a shared radio frequency link to receive discontinuous carriers, the network device can activate CC#1, CC#2, and CC#3, i.e., the last row in Table 2, where all three carriers are activated, with CC#1 and CC#2 received through the same radio frequency link. If the terminal device uses an independent radio frequency link to receive discontinuous carriers, the activation state of CC#1, CC#2, and CC#3 can be any of the first three rows in Table 2, and the specific activation state can be determined by the network device.

[0254] If the terminal device supports the activation of one carrier in band X and one carrier in band Y, then the activation status of CC#1, CC#2 and CC#3 can be either the second or third row in Table 2, meaning that the maximum number of carriers that can be activated on band X is 1 carrier.

[0255] The terminal device's ability to communicate on the carriers of the first carrier combination is variable. If the terminal device's ability to communicate on the carriers of the first carrier combination is restored after a period of regression, the terminal device can send information about the restoration of carrier aggregation capability to the network device, or indicate the first carrier combination to the network device. It is understood that, in this embodiment, the regressed carrier aggregation capability indicates the terminal device's ability to support carrier aggregation when receiving discontinuous carriers via an independent radio frequency link. The restored carrier aggregation capability indicates the terminal device's ability to support carrier aggregation when receiving discontinuous carriers via a shared radio frequency link. It is also understood that, in this embodiment, the terminal device's carrier aggregation capability is related to the radio frequency link used by the terminal device to receive discontinuous carriers. In other words, the radio frequency link used to receive discontinuous carriers can be replaced or understood as the carrier aggregation capability supported by the terminal device. The carrier aggregation capability may include the frequency band and / or the number of carriers in the carrier aggregation, which is not limited in this embodiment.

[0256] In another possible implementation, the first information may indicate the number of carriers supporting communication on the first carrier combination, reflecting the terminal device's ability to communicate on the carriers of the first carrier combination. The number of carriers the terminal device communicates on the first carrier combination may be less than or equal to the number of carriers included in the first carrier combination.

[0257] If the number of carriers communicated by the terminal device on the first carrier combination is less than the number of carriers included in the first carrier combination, it means that the terminal device can support receiving some of the carriers in the first carrier combination. If the number of carriers communicated by the terminal device on the first carrier combination is equal to the number of carriers included in the first carrier combination, it means that the terminal device can support receiving all the carriers in the first carrier combination.

[0258] For example, the first carrier combination includes three carriers, namely CC#1, CC#2, and CC#3. First information may indicate the number of carriers supporting communication on the first carrier combination, which may be less than or equal to three.

[0259] In this way, the network device can determine the terminal device's ability to communicate on the carriers of the first carrier combination by the number of carriers that the terminal device supports for communication on the first carrier combination, so as to facilitate subsequent communication based on that number of carriers.

[0260] In another possible implementation, the first information may indicate support for at least two non-contiguous second carriers sharing a radio frequency link, or that at least two non-contiguous second carriers sharing a radio frequency link are not supported, wherein the at least two non-contiguous second carriers are some or all of the carriers in the first carrier combination.

[0261] The radio frequency links corresponding to the carriers in the first carrier combination may include: independent radio frequency links, i.e., one radio frequency link corresponds to one carrier, and / or shared radio frequency links, i.e., one radio frequency link corresponds to multiple carriers.

[0262] The terminal device's ability to communicate on the carriers of a first carrier combination can be indicated by whether it supports shared links and / or independent links. For example, the radio frequency links corresponding to the carriers in the first carrier combination include at least two non-contiguous second carriers sharing a radio frequency link. If the terminal device supports communication on these at least two non-contiguous second carriers via a shared radio frequency link, then the first information can indicate support for sharing a radio frequency link on at least two non-contiguous second carriers. If the terminal device does not support communication on these at least two non-contiguous second carriers via a shared radio frequency link, then the first information can indicate that it does not support sharing a radio frequency link on at least two non-contiguous second carriers.

[0263] For example, the first carrier combination includes CC#1, CC#2, and CC#3, wherein CC#1 and CC#2 share the same link, but CC#3 does not share the same link. The first information may indicate that CC#1 and CC#2 share the radio frequency link, or it may indicate that CC#1 and CC#2 do not share the radio frequency link.

[0264] In this way, the terminal device informs the network device of its ability to communicate on the carrier of the first carrier combination from the perspective of the radio frequency link, so that the subsequent network device can allocate a suitable carrier for the radio frequency link, which is beneficial to subsequent communication.

[0265] In another possible implementation, the first information may indicate support for a shared radio frequency link in the first frequency band, or that a shared radio frequency link in the first frequency band is not supported, wherein the first frequency band includes one or more frequency bands corresponding to at least two non-contiguous first carriers.

[0266] For example, the first carrier combination includes CC#1, CC#2, and CC#3, wherein CC#1 and CC#2 correspond to bandX, and CC#3 corresponds to bandY. BandX supports a shared radio frequency link, meaning that CC#1 and CC#2 can share the same link. If the terminal device supports a shared radio frequency link for bandX on the first carrier combination, the first information can indicate that a shared radio frequency link for bandX is supported. If the terminal device does not support a shared radio frequency link for bandX on the first carrier combination, the first information can indicate that a shared radio frequency link for bandX is not supported.

[0267] For example, one or more bits in the first information can be used to indicate whether or not a shared radio frequency link in the first frequency band is supported, and the number of bits is the same as the number of frequency bands included in the first frequency band. If the first frequency band includes at least two non-contiguous first carriers corresponding to a frequency band that supports a shared radio frequency link, then one bit in the first information can be used to indicate whether or not a shared radio frequency link in the first frequency band is supported.

[0268] For example, a 1-bit value of 0 indicates support for a shared RF link in the first frequency band, while a 1-bit value indicates that a shared RF link in the first frequency band is not supported. Alternatively, a 1-bit value indicates support for a shared RF link in the first frequency band, while a 0-bit value indicates that a shared RF link in the first frequency band is not supported.

[0269] If the first frequency band includes multiple frequency bands corresponding to at least two non-contiguous first carriers, then multiple bits in the first information can be used to indicate whether the first frequency band shared radio frequency link is supported or not.

[0270] For example, multiple frequency bands corresponding to at least two non-contiguous first carriers include bandX(2CC)+bandY(2CC)+bandz(1CC), where the first frequency bands may include bandX and bandY that support shared radio frequency links. In this case, the first information may include two bits to indicate whether shared radio frequency links are supported. If shared radio frequency links are supported for bandX but not for bandY, the value of these two bits can be 10. If shared radio frequency links are supported for both bandX and bandY, the value of these two bits can be 11. If shared radio frequency links are not supported for bandX but are supported for bandY, the value of these two bits can be 01.

[0271] In this way, by indicating whether the terminal device supports the frequency band of the shared radio frequency link, the terminal device demonstrates its ability to communicate on the carrier of the first carrier combination, which is beneficial to subsequent communication.

[0272] In the method shown in Figure 6 above, the terminal device reports its ability to communicate on the carriers of the first carrier combination to the network device. In some examples, the terminal device may report its ability to communicate on the carriers of the first carrier combination only when the network device allows it to do so.

[0273] For example, the above method further includes: the network device sending second information to the terminal device, the second information being used to instruct the terminal device to report first information, and the above S602, the terminal device sending the first information to the network device, includes: based on the second information, the terminal device sending the first information to the network device.

[0274] The second information is used to instruct the terminal device to report the first information, or in other words, the second information is used to instruct the terminal device to report its ability to communicate on the carrier of the first carrier combination, or in other words, the second information is used to instruct that the terminal device is allowed to report the first information, or in other words, the second information is used to request the terminal device to report the first information. This application embodiment does not limit this.

[0275] The second information and the first carrier combination can be sent simultaneously by the network device to the terminal device, or they can be sent sequentially. This application embodiment does not limit this.

[0276] The network device sends a first carrier combination to the terminal device, wherein the first carrier combination can be used to represent the capability of carrier aggregation. The terminal device's ability to communicate on the carriers of the first carrier combination can be understood as the capability of the updated carrier aggregation. The capability of the updated carrier aggregation can be the same as or different from the capability of the carrier aggregation before the update, and this application embodiment does not limit this.

[0277] The second information is used to instruct the terminal device to report the first information. This can be understood as indicating whether the terminal device is allowed to update carrier aggregation. As described above, the terminal device's ability to update carrier aggregation is related to the radio frequency link receiving discontinuous carriers.

[0278] In this embodiment, the ability of the terminal device to update carrier aggregation can be replaced by: allowing the terminal device to update the number of carriers in carrier aggregation, or allowing the terminal device to update the radio frequency link used for carrier aggregation. Here, "update" can also be understood as "change," "dynamic change," or "temporary change," and this embodiment does not limit this interpretation.

[0279] In some examples, the updated carrier aggregation capability includes carrier aggregation of in-band non-contiguous carriers and / or, inter-band carrier aggregation, which is not limited in the embodiments of this application.

[0280] In this way, terminal devices do not need to be constantly prepared to report information; they only report when instructed by the network device, which helps reduce the power consumption of terminal devices. For the network device, it can flexibly instruct terminal devices to report information based on network load and other conditions, providing greater flexibility.

[0281] Optionally, the second information also instructs the terminal device to report the first information in a second frequency band, whereby the second frequency band includes one or more frequency bands corresponding to at least two non-contiguous first carriers. In other words, the network device can instruct the terminal device to report the first information at the frequency band level. If the terminal device's carrier aggregation capability in the second frequency band changes, or in other words, its communication capability in the second frequency band changes, it reports this to the network device.

[0282] For example, the first carrier combination includes CC#1, CC#2, and CC#3. Assume each CC corresponds to a cell; CC#1 belongs to band X and corresponds to the primary cell PCell; CC#2 belongs to band X and is not contiguous with CC#1, corresponding to secondary cell 1 (SCell#1); CC#3 corresponds to band Y and corresponds to secondary cell 2 (SCell#2). The network device can indicate the capability of in-band carrier aggregation of band X to update carrier aggregation through the second information, or in other words, indicate that band X is allowed to report the first information.

[0283] In some examples, the second information may include an identifier of a second frequency band to instruct the terminal device to report the first information in the second frequency band.

[0284] For example, in the example above, the network device may indicate the capability of allowing in-band carrier aggregation of bandX to update carrier aggregation through second information, which may include the identifier of bandX.

[0285] In some examples, at least two non-contiguous first carriers may correspond to one or more cells. The second information may also instruct the terminal device to report the first information on the first cell.

[0286] For example, in the example above, the network device can indicate the capability to allow PCell and SCell#1 to update carrier aggregation through second information. The second information may include the identifiers of PCell and SCell#1. Alternatively, the network device can carry 1 bit of indication information in the cell configuration information of PCell and SCell#1 respectively, indicating the capability to allow carrier aggregation updates.

[0287] The method provided in this application, in which the network device reports first information based on the granularity of the frequency band, helps reduce signaling overhead. For the network device, determining the terminal device's ability to communicate in a specific frequency band helps reduce communication latency.

[0288] As shown in Figure 6 above, the terminal device sends first information to the network device, reporting its communication capability on the first carrier combination. Based on the first information, the network device can send carriers that satisfy the communication capability on the first carrier combination to the terminal device, so as to facilitate carrier aggregation communication between the terminal device and the network device.

[0289] For example, the above method further includes: the network device can send third information to the terminal device, the third information being used to indicate a third carrier, the third carrier including a portion of the carriers in the first carrier combination, the third carrier being used to receive downlink signaling or data, and the third carrier corresponding to the terminal device's ability to communicate on the carriers of the first carrier combination.

[0290] Network devices can send third-party information to terminal devices in a variety of situations.

[0291] In one possible implementation, the first information indicates the number of carriers supporting communication on the first carrier combination. Based on the first information, the network device can send third information to the terminal device, indicating a third carrier. The number of the third carriers can be the same as the number of carriers the terminal device supports for communication on the first carrier combination. The terminal device can receive the third carrier via a radio frequency link.

[0292] In this way, the terminal device can determine the carrier for carrier aggregation communication with the network device, which is beneficial for enabling communication between the terminal device and the network device.

[0293] In another possible implementation, the first information is used to indicate that at least two non-contiguous second carriers do not support sharing a radio frequency link. Based on the first information, the network device can send third information to the terminal device. The third information is used to indicate a third carrier, which can be a carrier received through an independent radio frequency link among at least two non-contiguous second carriers.

[0294] In this way, the terminal device can receive the carrier through an independent radio frequency link, which is beneficial for the terminal device to communicate with the network device.

[0295] In another possible implementation, the first information is used to indicate that the first frequency band shared radio frequency link is not supported. Based on the first information, the network device can send third information to the terminal device. The third information is used to indicate a third carrier, which may be a carrier belonging to the first frequency band and received through an independent radio frequency link.

[0296] In this way, the terminal device can receive the carrier through an independent radio frequency link, which is beneficial for the terminal device to communicate with the network device.

[0297] In another possible implementation, the number of radio frequency links required for the terminal device to communicate on the first carrier combination configured by the network device is greater than the number of radio frequency links supported by the terminal device. The communication of the first carrier combination can refer to receiving downlink signals of all carriers on the first carrier combination in a carrier aggregation manner.

[0298] For example, a terminal device supports two receiving radio frequency links. The first carrier combination includes CC#1, CC#2, and CC#3. CC#3 requires one radio frequency link. CC#1 and CC#2 can share a radio frequency link under certain conditions (e.g., meeting the first condition mentioned above and having low inter-carrier interference), i.e., occupying one radio frequency link. If the conditions are not met, CC#1 and CC#2 cannot share a radio frequency link, i.e., they need to occupy two radio frequency links. Therefore, when the terminal device cannot communicate on CC#1 and CC#2 through a shared radio frequency link, the number of radio frequency links required for the terminal device to communicate in carrier aggregation mode on the first carrier combination is 3, which is greater than the 2 radio frequency links actually supported by the terminal device. In this case, the network device can send third information to the terminal device. The third information is used to indicate the third carrier, and the terminal device communicates on the third carrier. The third carrier is a part of the carriers in the first carrier combination. Here, communication can refer to receiving downlink signals or data on the third carrier, or in other words, the third carrier is the carrier occupying the radio frequency link.

[0299] The number of radio frequency links corresponding to the first carrier combination configured by the network device is greater than the number of radio frequency links supported by the terminal device. This can be replaced or understood as the number of carriers supported by the terminal device in carrier aggregation being less than the number of carriers configured by the network device in carrier aggregation.

[0300] The third information is used to indicate the third carrier, and includes a variety of possible implementations.

[0301] In one possible implementation, the third information may indicate whether each carrier in the first carrier combination is used to transmit downlink signals or data. The carrier used to transmit downlink signals or data can be understood as a carrier that requires the terminal device to communicate using a radio frequency link. The first carrier combination includes a third carrier, and the third carrier corresponds to the terminal device's ability to communicate on the carriers of the first carrier combination. Therefore, the third information indicates that the terminal device receives downlink signals or data scheduled by the network device on the third carrier, and does not receive downlink signals or data scheduled by the network device on carriers other than the third carrier. In one possible implementation, carriers other than the third carrier do not receive downlink data scheduled by the network device, but may still receive or transmit downlink or uplink signals used to measure carrier quality.

[0302] For example, the third information may include a bitmap of length N, where each bit in the bitmap corresponds sequentially to a CC. When a bit is set to 0, it indicates that its corresponding CC is not used to receive downlink signals or data scheduled by the network device; when a bit is set to 1, its corresponding CC is used to receive downlink signals or data scheduled by the network device. For instance, the first carrier combination configured by the network device includes CC#1, CC#2, and CC#3, where CC#1 and CC#2 correspond to band X, and CC#3 corresponds to band Y. The third information may include a bitmap of length 3, where these 3 bits can correspond to CC#1, CC#2, and CC#3 respectively. CC#1 and CC#2 can be used to receive downlink signals or data scheduled by the network device, so the bit value of these 3 bits can be 110. CC#1 and CC#2 can be understood as the third carrier, and CC#3 can be understood as a carrier other than the third carrier.

[0303] In another possible implementation, the third information may include the carrier identifier of the third carrier.

[0304] For example, assuming each carrier in the first carrier combination corresponds to a cell, the cell identifier can be set as the carrier identifier of the carrier. The third information may include the identifier of the cell corresponding to the third carrier. For instance, the first carrier combination configured by the network device includes CC#1, CC#2, and CC#3, where CC#1 and CC#2 correspond to bandX, CC#3 corresponds to bandY, CC#1 corresponds to the primary cell PCell, CC#2 corresponds to the secondary cell SCell#1, and CC#3 corresponds to the secondary cell SCell#2. If the third carrier used to receive downlink signals or data scheduled by the network device includes CC#1 and CC#2, then the third information may include the cell identifiers corresponding to PCell and SCell#1.

[0305] In another possible implementation, the third information may include an active carrier, which represents the third carrier. The first carrier combination includes the third carrier, and the third carrier corresponds to the terminal device's ability to communicate on the carriers of the first carrier combination, or in other words, the terminal device receives downlink signals or data scheduled by the network device on the third carrier. Therefore, the network device may instruct the active carrier to occupy the radio frequency link (or, receive downlink signals or data scheduled by the network device), and the deactivated carrier to not occupy the radio frequency link (or, not receive downlink signals or data scheduled by the network device), using the active carrier to represent the third carrier.

[0306] There are several ways to configure which carriers within the first carrier combination are active or deactivated in a network device:

[0307] 1) The carriers in the first carrier combination correspond to one or more frequency bands. If a frequency band includes multiple carriers and the carriers are received non-contiguously through independent radio frequency links, the network device can indicate that at most one carrier in that frequency band is an active carrier, and the other carriers are deactivated carriers. In other examples, it can also be assumed that the active carrier in the same frequency band receives downlink signals or data scheduled by the network device, and the inactive carriers in the same frequency band do not receive downlink signals or data scheduled by the network device. This application embodiment does not limit this.

[0308] For example, if only one of the two non-contiguous carriers in bandX is active and the other is inactive, and the non-contiguous carriers are received via independent radio frequency links, then the network device can instruct itself to receive downlink signals or data scheduled by the network device on the active carrier and not receive downlink signals or data scheduled by the network device on the inactive carrier. Alternatively, the network device may not need to explicitly instruct it to receive downlink signals or data scheduled by the network device on the active carrier by default and not receive downlink signals or data scheduled by the network device on the inactive carrier.

[0309] 2) The carriers in the first carrier combination correspond to one or more frequency bands. If a frequency band includes multiple carriers, and one of these carriers is the primary carrier (PCC), or if the cells corresponding to these multiple carriers include the primary cell, and the carriers are received via independent radio frequency links but are not contiguous, then the network device can indicate that the primary carrier within that frequency band is the active carrier, and the other carriers are deactivated carriers. In other examples, it can also be assumed that the primary carrier within the same frequency band receives downlink signals or data scheduled by the network device, while non-primary carriers within the same frequency band do not receive downlink signals or data scheduled by the network device.

[0310] For example, Figure 7 illustrates a schematic diagram of a deactivated carrier provided in an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 7, band X includes PCC and SCC. In the case of a shared radio frequency link, both PCC and SCC can be active carriers. In the case of an independent radio frequency link, PCC can be an active carrier to receive downlink signals or data scheduled by the network device, and SCC can be a deactivated carrier that does not receive downlink signals or data scheduled by the network device.

[0311] In another possible implementation, the carriers in the first carrier combination correspond to one or more frequency bands. If the same frequency band includes multiple carriers and a radio frequency link receives a carrier within a frequency band, the network device can indicate the carriers within the same frequency band that receive downlink signals or data scheduled by the network device through third information.

[0312] For example, the carriers in the first carrier combination correspond to bandX and bandY, where bandX includes two non-contiguous carriers and bandY includes one carrier. If a radio frequency link receives one carrier within a frequency band, the network device can indicate which carrier in bandX receives the downlink signal or data scheduled by the network device through third information. The method provided in this application embodiment allows the network device to send a third carrier to the terminal device. The third carrier corresponds to the terminal device's communication capability on the carriers of the first carrier combination, which is beneficial for ensuring that the carriers for carrier aggregation communication between the terminal device and the network device meet the terminal device's capabilities, thereby facilitating the realization of carrier aggregation communication.

[0313] To better understand the first method provided in the embodiments of this application described above, a specific example will be used for illustration below.

[0314] For example, Figure 8 shows a schematic interactive diagram of a carrier aggregation method provided in an embodiment of this application. This method can be applied to the communication system shown in Figure 1 above, but the embodiments of this application are not limited thereto. As shown in Figure 8, the method may include the following steps:

[0315] S801. The terminal device reports its capability information to the network device. The capability information indicates the carrier combinations that the terminal device supports when receiving discontinuous carriers through a shared radio frequency link and the carrier combinations that it supports when not receiving discontinuous carriers through a shared radio frequency link. The capability information includes a first carrier combination.

[0316] S802. Based on the capability information of the terminal device, the network device sends a first carrier combination and second information to the terminal device, wherein the second information is used to instruct the terminal device to report the first information.

[0317] S803. Based on the first carrier combination and the second information, the terminal device sends the first information to the network device.

[0318] S804. Based on the first information, the network device sends third information to the terminal device. The third information is used to indicate a third carrier. The third carrier includes some carriers in the first carrier combination. The third carrier is used to receive downlink signaling or data. The third carrier corresponds to the terminal device's ability to communicate on the carriers of the first carrier combination.

[0319] Understandably, each step can be referred to in the above description, and will not be repeated here.

[0320] The method provided in this application embodiment allows a network device to configure a first carrier combination based on capability information reported by a terminal device. The terminal device can report its communication capability on the first carrier combination to the network device, and the network device can determine the carriers for carrier aggregation based on this capability. In this way, the carriers for carrier aggregation in the first carrier combination can be adjusted based on the terminal device's communication capability on the first carrier combination without reconfiguring the carrier combination, which helps to reduce communication latency and signaling overhead.

[0321] The second method provided by the embodiments of this application is described below with reference to Figures 9 and 10.

[0322] For example, Figure 9 shows a schematic interactive diagram of a carrier aggregation method provided in an embodiment of this application. This method can be applied to the communication system shown in Figure 1 above, but the embodiments of this application are not limited thereto. As shown in Figure 9, the method may include the following steps:

[0323] S901, The network device sends a first carrier combination to the terminal device. The first carrier combination includes at least two non-contiguous first carriers. The first carrier combination is used for carrier aggregation communication with the network device.

[0324] This step can be referred to in the description of S601 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0325] S902. Based on the first carrier combination, the terminal device sends first information to the network device, the first information being used to indicate interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers.

[0326] Interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers can affect the radio frequency link receiving the first carrier, thereby affecting carrier aggregation communication. Therefore, the terminal device can send the interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers to the network device through the first information, so that the network device can determine whether to update the carrier used for carrier aggregation in the first carrier combination.

[0327] Interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers can also be described as the level or intensity of interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers, which is not limited in the embodiments of this application.

[0328] In some examples, interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers can be represented by the received signal strength indicator (RSSI) and / or reference signal received quality (RSRQ). Here, RSSI is the RSSI of the spacing bandwidth between the non-contiguous first carriers.

[0329] For example, if the RSSI between at least two non-contiguous first carriers is greater than or equal to a set threshold, it indicates strong interference between the at least two non-contiguous first carriers. If the RSSI between at least two non-contiguous first carriers is less than or equal to a set threshold, it indicates weak interference between the at least two non-contiguous first carriers. And / or, if the RSRQ between at least two non-contiguous first carriers is greater than or equal to a set threshold, it indicates weak interference between the at least two non-contiguous first carriers. If the RSRQ between at least two non-contiguous first carriers is less than or equal to a set threshold, it indicates strong interference between the at least two non-contiguous first carriers.

[0330] In some examples, the RSRQ between at least two non-contiguous first carriers is related to the reference signal received power (RSRP) of any one first carrier, the number of resource blocks (RBs), and the RSSI over the total bandwidth of the at least two non-contiguous first carriers. The total bandwidth of the at least two non-contiguous first carriers is the total bandwidth of any one first carrier plus the bandwidth of the interval between the bandwidths of the first carriers.

[0331] For example, the RSRQ between at least two non-contiguous first carriers is inversely correlated with the RSSI over the total bandwidth of the at least two non-contiguous first carriers. The RSRQ between at least two non-contiguous first carriers is positively correlated with the number of RSRPs and RBs of any one of the first carriers.

[0332] For example, let's take two non-contiguous first carriers as an example. The two non-contiguous first carriers can be represented by CC#1 and CC#2. Then, the RSRQ between at least two non-contiguous first carriers is = (RSRP of CC#1 * number of RBs in CC#1 + RSRP of CC#2 * number of RBs in CC#2) / RSSI within the total bandwidth, where the RSSI within the total bandwidth includes the bandwidth of CC#1, the bandwidth of CC#2, and the total bandwidth of the interval between CC#1 and CC#2.

[0333] This helps to obtain a more accurate RSRQ.

[0334] S903. Based on the first information, the network device sends second information to the terminal device. The second information is used to indicate one or more of the following: a second carrier combination, which is a first carrier combination or a subset of the first carrier combination; or, the number of first carriers, which is less than or equal to the number of carriers included in the first carrier combination; or, indicating that the second carrier or the first frequency band in the first carrier combination shares a radio frequency link, where the first frequency band is one or more frequency bands corresponding to at least two non-contiguous first carriers; or, indicating that the second carrier or the first frequency band in the first carrier combination does not share a radio frequency link.

[0335] In one possible implementation, the second information may indicate a second carrier combination, wherein the carriers in the second carrier combination are carriers that can be received under interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers.

[0336] If the interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers is low, the second carrier combination can be the same as the first carrier combination, meaning the carriers used for carrier aggregation in the first carrier combination are not updated. This can be understood as the terminal device receiving carriers in the first carrier combination through a shared radio frequency link. If the interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers is high, the second carrier combination can be a subset of the first carrier combination, meaning the carriers used for carrier aggregation in the first carrier combination are updated. This can also be understood as a regression in carrier aggregation capability, meaning the terminal device receiving a portion of the carriers in the first carrier combination through an independent radio frequency link.

[0337] In some examples, the second information may include the identifier of a carrier in the second carrier combination to indicate the second carrier combination.

[0338] In another possible implementation, the second information may indicate the number of first carriers, which is less than or equal to the number of carriers included in the first carrier combination.

[0339] If the interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers is low, the number of first carriers can be equal to the number of carriers included in the first carrier combination. This means the terminal device can receive all carriers in the first carrier combination, or in other words, the carriers used for carrier aggregation in the first carrier combination are not updated. This can also be understood as the terminal device receiving carriers in the first carrier combination through a shared radio frequency link. If the interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers is high, the number of first carriers can be less than the number of carriers included in the first carrier combination. This means the carriers used for carrier aggregation in the first carrier combination are updated. This can also be understood as a regression in carrier aggregation capability, or the terminal device receiving only some carriers in the first carrier combination through an independent radio frequency link.

[0340] In another possible implementation, the second information may indicate a second carrier or a first frequency band sharing a radio frequency link in the first carrier combination, wherein the first frequency band is one or more frequency bands corresponding to at least two non-contiguous first carriers.

[0341] If the interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers is low, the network device can instruct the second carrier or the first frequency band in the first carrier combination to share the radio frequency link in order to increase the total transmission bandwidth.

[0342] In some examples, the second information may include an identifier of the second carrier or an identifier of the first frequency band to indicate that the second carrier or the first frequency band shares a radio frequency link.

[0343] In another possible implementation, the second information may indicate that the second carrier or the first frequency band in the first carrier combination does not share a radio frequency link.

[0344] If there is high interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers, the network device may instruct the second carrier or first frequency band in the first carrier combination not to share a radio frequency link, or in other words, instruct the second carrier or first frequency band in the first carrier combination to use an independent radio frequency link, or in other words, instruct the second carrier or first frequency band in the first carrier combination to use a non-shared radio frequency link, in order to reduce interference.

[0345] In some examples, the second information may include one bit indicating whether the second carrier or the first frequency band in the first carrier combination does not share a radio frequency link, or shares a radio frequency link.

[0346] For example, the first carrier combination includes CC#1, CC#2, and CC#3, where CC#1 and CC#2 correspond to bandX, and CC#3 corresponds to bandY. BandX supports either a shared radio frequency link or an independent radio frequency link. The second information may include one bit, where a value of 1 indicates that a non-contiguous carrier of bandX is received using an independent radio frequency link; a value of 0 indicates that a non-contiguous carrier of bandX is received using a shared radio frequency link.

[0347] In other examples, the second information may include a bitmap whose number of bits may be equal to the number of frequency bands corresponding to at least two non-contiguous first carriers, wherein the frequency bands corresponding to at least two non-contiguous first carriers support a shared radio frequency link.

[0348] For example, the first carrier combination includes CC#1, CC#2, CC#3, CC#4, and CC#5, where CC#1 and CC#2 correspond to band X, CC#3 and CC#4 correspond to band Y, and CC#5 corresponds to band Z. Band X and band Y support shared or independent radio frequency links. The second information may include a bitmap, where each bit in the bitmap corresponds to a band from left to right. The bitmap length can be 2, with the first bit corresponding to band X and the second bit corresponding to band Y. If band X supports a shared radio frequency link and band Y supports an independent radio frequency link, then the bitmap can be set to 0 or 1.

[0349] The method provided in this application embodiment allows a network device to send a first carrier combination to a terminal device, and the terminal device to send interference between carriers in the first carrier combination to the network device. Based on this interference, the network device can determine whether to adjust the carriers in the first carrier combination for carrier aggregation. In this way, it is not necessary to reconfigure the carrier combination, which helps to reduce communication latency and signaling overhead.

[0350] Optionally, the aforementioned second information can be carried in the underlying signaling, which may include MAC-CE or DCI, so as to dynamically adjust the carriers for carrier aggregation according to changes in interference, without the need to reconfigure the carrier combination, which helps to reduce signaling overhead and communication latency.

[0351] In the method shown in Figure 9 above, the terminal device can send first information to the network device. In some examples, the terminal device can send the first information only if certain conditions are met.

[0352] For example, the terminal device described above can send first information to the network device, which may include: if a first event or a second event is satisfied, the terminal device can send the first information to the network device, wherein the first event is: the interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers is greater than or equal to a first threshold; the second event is: the interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers is less than or equal to a second threshold. The first threshold may be the same as or different from the second threshold, and this embodiment of the application does not limit this.

[0353] The first event and the second event can be understood as the events that trigger the terminal device to report the first information.

[0354] If the first event or the second event is met, it means that the currently used radio frequency link cannot meet the requirements. In this case, the terminal device can send the first information to the network device to switch the radio frequency link, or in other words, to receive a suitable carrier.

[0355] The first threshold and / or the second threshold can be indicated by the network device or preset in the terminal device; this application embodiment does not limit this. If the first threshold and / or the second threshold are indicated by the network device, there is greater flexibility. If the first threshold and / or the second threshold are preset in the terminal device, implementation is simpler.

[0356] The first event is: the interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers is greater than or equal to a first threshold. The first event can be a strong interference event or a weak interference event, and the embodiments of this application do not limit it.

[0357] For example, if interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers is represented by RSSI, then the first event can be an RSSI between at least two non-contiguous first carriers being greater than or equal to a first threshold, and the first event is a strong interference event. If interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers is represented by RSRQ, then the first event can be an RSRQ between at least two non-contiguous first carriers being greater than or equal to a first threshold, and the first event is a weak interference event.

[0358] Similarly, the second event is: the interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers is less than or equal to the second threshold. The second event can be a strong interference event or a weak interference event, and the embodiments of this application do not limit it.

[0359] For example, if interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers is manifested by RSSI, then the second event can be an RSSI between at least two non-contiguous first carriers being less than or equal to a second threshold, and the first event is a weak interference event. If interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers is manifested by RSRQ, then the second event can be an RSRQ between at least two non-contiguous first carriers being less than or equal to a second threshold, and the first event is a strong interference event.

[0360] The method provided in this application embodiment sends first information when a first event or a second event is met. Compared with sending periodically or frequently, this method helps to reduce the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0361] In other examples, the first event may also be: interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers continues to be greater than or equal to a first threshold during a first time period; the second event may also be: interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers continues to be less than or equal to a second threshold during a second time period.

[0362] For example, if interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers is manifested by RSSI, then the first event can be that the RSSI between at least two non-contiguous first carriers is continuously greater than or equal to a first threshold during a first time period T1, and the second event can be that the RSSI between at least two non-contiguous first carriers is continuously less than or equal to a second threshold during a second time period T2. If interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers is manifested by RSRQ, then the first event can be that the RSRQ between at least two non-contiguous first carriers is continuously greater than or equal to a first threshold during a first time period T1, and the second event can be that the RSRQ between at least two non-contiguous first carriers is continuously less than or equal to a second threshold during a second time period T2.

[0363] In some examples, if interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers is represented by RSSI, then the first event can be that the RSSI between at least two non-contiguous first carriers is consistently greater than or equal to Threshold1 during time period T1, and the second event can be that the RSSI between at least two non-contiguous first carriers is consistently less than or equal to Threshold2 during time period T2. If interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers is represented by RSRQ, then the first event can be that the RSRQ between at least two non-contiguous first carriers is consistently greater than or equal to Threshold3 during time period T3, and the second event can be that the RSRQ between at least two non-contiguous first carriers is consistently less than or equal to Threshold4 during time period T4. Here, T1 and T3 are different, T2 and T4 are different, Threshold1 and Threshold3 are different, and Threshold2 and Threshold4 are different.

[0364] In this way, reporting the first information under conditions of strong or weak interference over a period of time helps reduce the probability of false reporting.

[0365] In the above method, if either the first event or the second event is met, the terminal device can send the first information to the network device. Whether the first information is sent when the first event is met or when the second event is met can be related to the radio frequency link receiving at least two non-contiguous first carriers.

[0366] For example, if at least two non-contiguous first carriers are received through a shared radio frequency link, the terminal device sends first information to the network device, including: if a first event is met, the terminal device sends first information to the network device; or, if at least two non-contiguous first carriers are not received through a shared radio frequency link, the terminal device sends first information to the network device, including: if a second event is met, the terminal device sends first information to the network device.

[0367] If at least two non-contiguous first carriers are received via a shared radio frequency link, and the carrier aggregation capability changes when the interference between these two carriers is high, the carrier aggregation capability needs to be updated. In this case, the terminal device can estimate or measure that the first event is a strong interference event, i.e., when the interference is high, it sends the first information to the network device. If the first event is a strong interference event, the interference between the at least two non-contiguous first carriers can be represented by RSSI. It is understandable that if the interference between the at least two non-contiguous first carriers can be represented by RSRQ, then the first event can be defined as the interference between the at least two non-contiguous first carriers being less than or equal to a set threshold.

[0368] If at least two non-contiguous first carriers are not received via a shared radio link, or if at least two non-contiguous first carriers are received via an independent radio link, then when the interference between the at least two non-contiguous first carriers is low, the carrier aggregation capability changes and needs to be updated. In this case, the terminal device can estimate or measure that the second event is a weak interference event, i.e., when the interference is low, and then send the first information to the network device. If the second event is a weak interference event, then the interference between the at least two non-contiguous first carriers can be represented by RSSI. It is understood that if the interference between the at least two non-contiguous first carriers can be represented by RSRQ, then the first event can be that the interference between the at least two non-contiguous first carriers is greater than or equal to a set threshold.

[0369] This can be understood as follows: if the terminal device uses an independent radio frequency link to receive at least two non-contiguous first carriers, the terminal device needs to monitor and meet the low interference condition and report it to the network device so that the network device can determine whether to switch to a shared radio frequency link; if the terminal device uses a shared radio frequency link to receive at least two non-contiguous first carriers, the terminal device needs to monitor and meet the strong interference condition and report it to the network device so that the network device can determine whether to switch to an independent radio frequency link to ensure reception performance.

[0370] The method provided in this application embodiment requires that the events to be satisfied when sending the first information are related to the radio frequency link that receives at least two non-contiguous first carriers. Different events are satisfied under different circumstances, which makes it more flexible.

[0371] As can be seen from the method described above, the terminal device needs to measure the interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers. In some examples, the receiving bandwidth of the terminal device is less than the total bandwidth of at least two non-contiguous first carriers, so a measurement interval is required to measure the interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers. The measurement interval can be indicated by the network device or requested by the terminal device from the network device; this embodiment does not limit this.

[0372] In one possible implementation, the protocol predefines that when at least two discontinuous first carriers are received via a shared radio link, the terminal device does not need to measure the interference between the at least two discontinuous first carriers at a measurement interval. When at least two discontinuous first carriers are received via an independent radio link, or in other words, when at least two discontinuous first carriers are not received via a shared radio link, the terminal device needs to measure the interference between the at least two discontinuous first carriers at a measurement interval. Here, the measurement interval can also be referred to as the first interval, and this embodiment does not limit it to that term.

[0373] For example, a network device can send a measurement interval to a terminal device, which then measures the interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers based on the measurement interval.

[0374] In some examples, network devices may send one or more of the following to end devices: the length of the measurement interval, the repetition period, or the interval offset.

[0375] In this way, network devices can determine whether to send measurement intervals according to the rules predefined in the protocol, without the need for additional signaling interaction, which helps to reduce signaling overhead.

[0376] In another possible implementation, the terminal device can determine whether a measurement interval is needed. If a measurement interval is needed, the terminal device can send information to the network device requesting a measurement interval. If a measurement interval is not needed, the terminal device can send information to the network device indicating that a measurement interval is not required.

[0377] For example, the method further includes: the terminal device sending third information to the network device, the third information indicating whether a first interval is needed, the first interval being used to determine interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers. The first interval represents the aforementioned measurement interval.

[0378] Understandably, if the terminal device requires a measurement interval, the third information is used to indicate that a first interval is needed. If the terminal device does not require a measurement interval, the third information is used to indicate that a first interval is not needed.

[0379] This method allows terminal devices to request measurement intervals from network devices based on whether measurement intervals are needed, offering greater flexibility.

[0380] In some examples, whether a terminal device needs a first interval is related to the radio frequency link receiving at least two non-contiguous first carriers. For example, if a terminal device does not need a first interval to measure interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers when receiving at least two non-contiguous first carriers on a shared radio frequency link, then the third information can be used to indicate that a first interval is not needed. If a terminal device needs a first interval to measure interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers when receiving at least two non-contiguous first carriers on an independent radio frequency link, then the third information can be used to indicate that a first interval is needed.

[0381] In this approach, whether the terminal device needs to measure the interval depends on the radio frequency link that receives at least two non-contiguous first carriers, which is beneficial for achieving carrier aggregation communication.

[0382] In other examples, whether the terminal device needs a first interval depends on whether the carrier is active and whether the carrier receives downlink signals or data scheduled by the network device. For example, if a carrier is deactivated and no radio frequency link is allocated on it, the terminal device can complete RRM measurements on the deactivated carrier through the first interval. If a carrier is deactivated and a radio frequency link is allocated on it, the terminal device may not need a first interval to complete RRM measurements on the deactivated carrier.

[0383] In the above embodiments, the terminal device can measure interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers. In some examples, whether the terminal device measures the interference, how it measures it, or one or more of the information related to the measurement can be configured by the network device.

[0384] For example, the method described in FIG9 above may further include: the network device sending fourth information to the terminal device; the terminal device sending first information to the network device in S902 includes: sending first information based on the fourth information. The fourth information is used to indicate one or more of the following: measuring interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers; or, measuring the received signal strength indication (RSSI) of the interval bandwidth between at least two non-contiguous first carriers, the measured quantity indicating interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers; or, a first threshold; or, a second threshold; or, a first event, the first event being: the measured quantity is greater than or equal to the first threshold; or, a second event, the second event being: the measured quantity is less than or equal to the second threshold.

[0385] In one possible implementation, the network device instructs the terminal device to measure the interference between at least two discontinuous first carriers via fourth information. The terminal device then measures the interference between the at least two discontinuous first carriers based on the fourth information. The specific measurement quantity can be preset in the terminal device or indicated by the network device; this embodiment does not limit this. After measuring the interference, the timing of sending the first information can be indicated by the network device or determined by the terminal device; this embodiment does not limit this either.

[0386] This allows for measurements to be taken only when network devices indicate interference, which helps reduce the power consumption of terminal devices.

[0387] In another possible implementation, the network device instructs the terminal device to measure the interference using fourth information. The terminal device can then measure the interference. The measured quantity can be either the Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI) of the bandwidth between at least two non-contiguous first carriers, or the RSRQ of the bandwidth between at least two non-contiguous first carriers; this embodiment does not limit the specific measurement. After measuring the interference, the timing of sending the first information can be indicated by the network device or determined by the terminal device; this embodiment does not limit the timing either.

[0388] In this way, the network device instructs the terminal device on the specific measurement quantity, and the terminal device measures the interference based on the specific measurement quantity, which helps to improve the accuracy and reliability of the measurement results.

[0389] In another possible implementation, the network device indicates a first threshold and / or a second threshold via a fourth information, the first threshold and / or the second threshold being used to estimate whether the measurement meets the corresponding event in order to determine whether to send the first information.

[0390] In this way, network devices can indicate the first threshold and / or the second threshold through the fourth information, which can be changed according to different scenarios, making them more flexible.

[0391] In another possible implementation, the network device can indicate the first event and / or the second event through the fourth information, and the terminal device can determine whether the first event and / or the second event are met in order to determine whether to send the first information.

[0392] In this way, network devices can indicate the first and / or second events through the fourth information, which can be flexibly configured according to different scenarios, increasing flexibility.

[0393] In another possible implementation, the network device uses fourth information to indicate the interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers, the measured quantity, a first threshold, a second threshold, a first event, and a second event. Based on the fourth information, the terminal device can measure the measured quantity and determine, based on the radio frequency link receiving at least two non-contiguous first carriers, whether the first event or the second event is the event that triggers the reporting of the first information. If the first event or the second event is satisfied, the terminal device sends the first information.

[0394] In this way, terminal devices can perform measurements and report based on information indicated by network devices, which helps improve the accuracy and reliability of measurement results.

[0395] In some examples, the fourth information mentioned above can be carried in an RRC reconfiguration message, an RRC resume message, or an RRC establishment message; the first information can be carried in an RRC reconfiguration completion message, an RRC resume completion message, an RRC establishment completion message, or in assistance information, or in a measurement report.

[0396] Optionally, when the terminal device measures the quantity, it may need a measurement interval. The terminal device can send third information to the network device. The third information can be carried in the same message as the first information, such as an RRC reconfiguration completion message. This embodiment of the application does not limit this. This helps to save signaling overhead.

[0397] In the method shown in Figure 9 above, the terminal device reports interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers to the network device. In some examples, the terminal device may report interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers only when the network device allows it to do so.

[0398] For example, the above method further includes: the network device sending fifth information to the terminal device, the fifth information being used to instruct the terminal device to report first information; and the terminal device sending the first information to the network device in step S902 includes: the terminal device sending the first information to the network device based on the fifth information. The first information is used to indicate interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers.

[0399] The network device sends a first carrier combination to the terminal device. The carriers in the first carrier combination can be received through an independent radio frequency link, or the carriers in the first carrier combination can be received through a shared radio frequency link. If the interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers in the first carrier combination changes, it may cause the terminal device to change the radio frequency link for receiving the carriers. Therefore, the network device can instruct the terminal device to report the first information, i.e., the interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers, through the fifth information.

[0400] The fifth information and the first carrier combination can be sent simultaneously by the network device to the terminal device, or they can be sent sequentially. This application embodiment does not limit this.

[0401] In this way, terminal devices do not need to be constantly prepared to report information; they only report when instructed by the network device, which helps reduce the power consumption of terminal devices. For the network device, it can flexibly instruct terminal devices to report information based on network load and other conditions, providing greater flexibility.

[0402] Optionally, the fifth information also instructs the terminal device to report the first information in the second frequency band, which includes one or more frequency bands corresponding to at least two non-contiguous first carriers. In other words, the network device can instruct the terminal device to report the first information at the frequency band level. This can be understood as the terminal device measuring the interference between non-contiguous carriers within the second frequency band and reporting the interference to the network device.

[0403] For example, the first carrier combination includes CC#1, CC#2, and CC#3. Assume each CC corresponds to a cell: CC#1 belongs to band X and corresponds to the primary cell PCell; CC#2 belongs to band X and is discontinuous with CC#1, corresponding to secondary cell 1 (SCell#1); CC#3 corresponds to band Y and corresponds to secondary cell 2 (SCell#2). The network device can report the first information in band X via the fifth information instruction, that is, instructing the measurement and reporting of interference between the discontinuous carriers CC#1 and CC#2 within band X.

[0404] In some examples, the fifth information may include an identifier of the second frequency band to instruct the terminal device to report the first information in the second frequency band.

[0405] In other examples, at least two non-contiguous first carriers may correspond to one or more cells. The second information may also instruct the terminal device to report the first information on the first cell.

[0406] The method provided in this application involves a network device reporting first information based on a granular indication of frequency band or cell. For the terminal device, this focuses on a specific frequency band or cell, which helps reduce the power consumption of the terminal device. For the network device, determining the interference of the terminal device in a specific frequency band or cell helps determine a suitable carrier for communication.

[0407] To better understand the second method provided in the embodiments of this application described above, a specific example will be used for illustration below.

[0408] For example, Figure 10 shows a schematic interactive diagram of a carrier aggregation method provided in an embodiment of this application. This method can be applied to the communication system shown in Figure 1 above, but the embodiments of this application are not limited thereto. As shown in Figure 10, the method may include the following steps:

[0409] S1001. The terminal device reports its capability information to the network device. The capability information indicates the carrier combinations that the terminal device supports when receiving discontinuous carriers through a shared radio frequency link and the carrier combinations that it supports when not receiving discontinuous carriers through a shared radio frequency link. The capability information includes a first carrier combination.

[0410] Terminal devices can report their capability information to network devices, so that network devices can configure the carrier combinations supported by the terminal devices based on the terminal devices' capability information.

[0411] In some examples, the terminal device can report its capability information to the network device based on the network device's request, as shown in Figure 3 above, which will not be elaborated here.

[0412] S1002. Based on the terminal device's capability information, the network device sends a first carrier combination, a fourth information, and a fifth information to the terminal device. The first carrier combination includes at least two non-contiguous first carriers. The fifth information is used to instruct the terminal device to report the first information. The first information is used to indicate interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers. The fourth information is used to indicate information related to the interference. For details, please refer to the above description, which will not be repeated here.

[0413] The fourth piece of information may instruct the terminal device to measure interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers, and may indicate one or more of the measured quantity, threshold, or measurement event. The fifth piece of information is used to instruct the terminal device to report the measurement results to the network device.

[0414] S1003. The terminal device sends third information to the network device, which is used to indicate that a first interval is needed.

[0415] When measuring interference, if a first interval is required, the network device can be instructed to issue the first interval through third information.

[0416] S1004. Based on the third information, the network device sends the first interval to the terminal device.

[0417] S1005. Measure the interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers based on the first interval.

[0418] S1006. Based on the fourth and fifth information, if the first event or the second event is satisfied, the terminal device sends the first information to the network device.

[0419] Based on the first interval, the terminal device can measure the interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers. If the measurement event is met, i.e. the reporting condition is met, the terminal device sends the first information to the network device, i.e., reports the measurement result.

[0420] S1007. Based on the first information, the network device sends the second information to the terminal device.

[0421] Network devices can determine a suitable carrier from a first carrier combination for communication based on interference.

[0422] The method provided in this application embodiment allows the network device to configure a first carrier combination and measure interference-related information based on the capability information reported by the terminal device. The terminal device can measure and report the interference between carriers in the first carrier combination. The network device can determine a suitable carrier for communication based on the interference. In this way, the carriers in the first carrier combination for carrier aggregation can be adjusted based on the interference without reconfiguring the carrier combination, which helps to reduce communication latency and signaling overhead.

[0423] As can be seen from the methods shown in Figures 6 to 10 above, the embodiments of this application provide two methods:

[0424] In the first method, after the network device configures the first carrier combination, the terminal device decides whether to change the radio frequency link for receiving discontinuous carriers based on factors such as interference between carriers in the first carrier combination, power consumption, and battery level, and informs the network device accordingly. If the radio frequency link corresponding to the first carrier combination is a shared radio frequency link, the terminal device decides whether to fall back to using an independent receiving link to receive discontinuous carriers, or in other words, whether to fall back to carrier aggregation capabilities, based on factors such as interference between carriers in the first carrier combination, power consumption, and battery level. This method does not limit the method of measuring interference.

[0425] Terminal devices can dynamically update carrier aggregation capabilities due to changes in the radio frequency link, thereby supporting a larger number of carriers for aggregation under low interference conditions and notifying the network to revert carrier aggregation capabilities under high interference conditions, thus ensuring reception performance on discontinuous carriers.

[0426] In some examples, network devices can indicate interference measurement-related information to terminal devices, such as events, corresponding thresholds, and measurement quantities. The terminal devices then perform interference measurements based on the measurement instructions to decide whether to change the radio frequency link that receives discontinuous carriers and inform the network devices accordingly.

[0427] For example, when the terminal device measures strong interference, it decides to use an independent radio frequency link to receive discontinuous carriers; conversely, when the terminal device measures weak interference, it decides to use a shared radio frequency link to receive discontinuous carriers. Alternatively, when the terminal device measures strong interference, it decides to back off carrier aggregation capability; conversely, when the terminal device measures weak interference, it decides to restore carrier aggregation capability.

[0428] In the second method, after configuring the first carrier combination, the network device also indicates interference measurement-related information to the terminal device, such as events, the threshold corresponding to the events, and the measurement quantity. The terminal device performs interference measurement based on the measurement indication and reports it to the network device. The network device can indicate the carrier used by the terminal device for communication, or indicate the radio frequency link used by the terminal device to receive discontinuous carriers.

[0429] Based on the two methods described above, if the first carrier combination configured by the network device allows the terminal device to update the radio frequency link or carrier aggregation capability, the terminal device may use a shared radio frequency link or an independent radio frequency link to receive discontinuous carriers. This can be determined by the network device based on the interference results reported by the terminal device. The network device can instruct the terminal device on the carrier combination used for communication. This instruction information can be dynamically provided to the terminal device through underlying signaling to reduce latency. The carrier combination used for communication can be the first carrier combination or a subset of the first carrier combination. Alternatively, the network device can instruct the terminal device whether to use a shared radio frequency link. Or, the terminal device can decide; it can instruct the network device on the carrier combination supported for communication, or instruct the network device whether to use a shared radio frequency link. Therefore, the terminal device and the network device can align the carriers for current communication.

[0430] For example, suppose the terminal device has two radio frequency links, and the network device is configured with carrier combinations CC#1, CC#2, and CC#3, where CC#1 and CC#2 correspond to band X, and CC#3 corresponds to band Y. If the current terminal device uses an independent radio frequency link to receive two non-contiguous CCs of band X, then the network device and the terminal device can align the combinations that the terminal device can support using an independent radio frequency link as band X (two non-contiguous CCs) or band X (1 CC) + band Y (1 CC).

[0431] If the terminal device indicates to the network device that it is updating or backing up carrier capabilities, the network device can also align with the terminal device to the carrier capabilities currently supported by the terminal device.

[0432] In the method described above, one carrier can correspond to one cell, or one cell includes one carrier. The carrier combination described above can be replaced by a cell combination. The cell combination can include at least two cells, and the carriers corresponding to the at least two cells are non-contiguous carriers.

[0433] With the development of communications, a scenario may arise where a cell can include multiple discontinuous or contiguous carriers, forming a frequency range. In this scenario, how to perform carrier aggregation becomes a pressing problem to solve.

[0434] This application provides a carrier aggregation method that allows carriers within a cell to be received via a shared radio frequency link when a cell corresponds to a frequency range, thereby increasing the total communication bandwidth.

[0435] For example, Figure 11 shows a schematic interactive diagram of a carrier aggregation method provided in an embodiment of this application. This method can be applied to the communication system shown in Figure 1 above, but the embodiments of this application are not limited thereto. As shown in Figure 11, the method may include the following steps:

[0436] S1101. The network device sends information to the terminal device to query the terminal device's capabilities.

[0437] This step can be referred to as S301 in Figure 3 above, and will not be described in detail here.

[0438] S1102. Based on the information used to query the capabilities of the terminal device, the terminal device sends capability information to the network device. The capability information is used to indicate the first frequency range supported by the terminal device. The first frequency range corresponds to a cell. The terminal device communicates with the network device through the same radio frequency link in the cell corresponding to the first frequency range.

[0439] When a terminal device sends capability information to a network device, it can inform the network device of the first frequency range it supports. The terminal device can communicate with the network device through the same radio frequency link in the cell corresponding to the first frequency range; that is, the terminal device can receive carriers in the first frequency range through a shared radio frequency link.

[0440] Capability information is used to indicate the first frequency range supported by the terminal device, and may include a variety of possible implementations.

[0441] In one possible implementation, the capability information may include the minimum and maximum frequencies of the first frequency range. The network device can determine the first frequency range based on the minimum and maximum frequencies.

[0442] In another possible implementation, the capability information may include at least one frequency band, the frequency range formed by the at least one frequency band being a first frequency range.

[0443] In another possible implementation, the capability information may include the minimum frequency of the first frequency range and the bandwidth corresponding to the first frequency range. The network device can determine the maximum frequency based on the minimum frequency and the bandwidth, and thus determine the first frequency range. Alternatively, the capability information may include the maximum frequency of the first frequency range and the bandwidth corresponding to the first frequency range. The network device can determine the minimum frequency based on the maximum frequency and the bandwidth, and thus determine the first frequency range.

[0444] The method provided in this application involves a terminal device sending capability information to a network device, indicating a first frequency range supported by the terminal device. This first frequency range corresponds to a cell. The terminal device communicates with the network device through the same radio frequency link within the cell corresponding to the first frequency range. This allows the network device to determine the terminal device's carrier aggregation capability, facilitating carrier aggregation communication. Furthermore, since multiple carriers can correspond to one cell, the complexity of resource scheduling and cell management is reduced, as is signaling overhead. In spectrum fragmentation scenarios, this method allows network devices to aggregate multiple non-contiguous carriers belonging to the same operator and allocate and schedule resources through the same cell.

[0445] Optionally, the aforementioned capability information is also used to indicate the maximum channel bandwidth supported by the terminal device on the cell corresponding to the first frequency range, wherein the maximum channel bandwidth is less than or equal to the bandwidth corresponding to the first frequency range.

[0446] The terminal device has a maximum supported channel bandwidth in the cell corresponding to the first frequency range. The maximum channel bandwidth can be understood as the maximum channel bandwidth capability of the terminal device in a single cell. The terminal device informs the network device of its supported maximum channel bandwidth through capability information, so that the network device can flexibly adjust its carrier aggregation capability according to the actual scenario within that maximum channel bandwidth.

[0447] In some examples, the network device may send first information to the terminal device, the first information indicating a first frequency domain location and / or a first channel bandwidth of a first cell, the first frequency domain location belonging to a first frequency range, and the first channel bandwidth being less than or equal to the maximum channel bandwidth supported on the cell corresponding to the first frequency range.

[0448] The network device indicates to the terminal device, via first information, that the bandwidth of the first cell is the first channel bandwidth. The starting position of the first channel bandwidth is the first frequency domain position, which belongs to a first frequency range and can be between the minimum and maximum frequencies within the first frequency range. This embodiment of the application does not limit this. The terminal device can communicate with the network device based on the first channel bandwidth. It is understood that the communication carrier belongs to the range of the first channel bandwidth. The first cell may include one or more carriers. In the case of multiple carriers, they can be non-contiguous carriers, and the multiple carriers may belong to one frequency band or multiple frequency bands.

[0449] Network devices determine the first frequency domain location and / or first channel bandwidth of the first cell, which can include various implementation methods.

[0450] In one possible implementation, the network device can arbitrarily set the first frequency domain position and / or the first channel bandwidth within the maximum channel bandwidth. This provides greater flexibility.

[0451] In another possible implementation, the network device can set a first frequency domain position and / or a first channel bandwidth within the maximum channel bandwidth based on the interference in the inter-carrier spacing bandwidth. For example, if the interference in the inter-carrier spacing bandwidth is high, the first channel bandwidth can be relatively small, such as the first cell including only a single carrier or consecutive carriers. If the interference in the inter-carrier spacing bandwidth is low, the first channel bandwidth can be relatively large, such as the first cell including multiple non-consecutive carriers. This allows for applicability to different scenarios.

[0452] The method provided in this application embodiment allows network devices to set a first frequency domain position and / or a first channel bandwidth within the maximum channel bandwidth, which is beneficial for carrier aggregation communication based on the first frequency domain position and / or the first channel bandwidth.

[0453] Optionally, the aforementioned first information can be carried in RRC signaling, MAC-CE signaling, or DCI signaling. The network device can dynamically update the bandwidth location and / or bandwidth size of the cell within the maximum channel bandwidth through RRC signaling, MAC-CE, or DCI signaling.

[0454] Optionally, after the network device sets the first frequency domain position and / or the first channel bandwidth of the first cell, it can adjust the first frequency domain position and / or the first channel bandwidth according to the interference of the spacing bandwidth between the carriers included in the first cell.

[0455] For example, the terminal device may send second information to the network device, the second information being used to indicate interference in the inter-carrier spacing bandwidth included in the first cell; based on the second information, the network device may send third information to the terminal device, the third information being used to indicate the second frequency domain position and / or the second channel bandwidth of the first cell, the second frequency domain position belonging to the first frequency range, and the second channel bandwidth being less than or equal to the maximum channel bandwidth supported on the cell corresponding to the first frequency range.

[0456] Interference in the spacing bandwidth between carriers included in the first cell can be reflected by RSSI or RSRQ, as shown above, and will not be repeated here. The carriers included in the first cell can be continuous or non-contiguous; this embodiment does not limit this. It is understood that if the carriers included in the first cell are continuous, it is continuous carrier aggregation. If the carriers included in the first cell are non-contiguous, it is non-contiguous carrier aggregation.

[0457] In some examples, the terminal device can send second information to the network device when a reporting event is met. The reporting event can be either the first event or the second event described above, as detailed in the preceding description, and will not be repeated here. The information related to this event can be configured by the network device or determined by the terminal device itself; this embodiment does not limit this.

[0458] After the interference changes, the network device can update the first frequency domain position and / or the first channel bandwidth to obtain the second frequency domain position and / or the second channel bandwidth.

[0459] For example, Figure 12 illustrates a schematic diagram of frequency domain location and / or channel bandwidth location changes. As shown in Figure 12, the first cell includes two non-contiguous carriers, namely CC#1 and CC#2. When the interference on the spacing bandwidth between CC#1 and CC#2 is high, the bandwidth location and bandwidth size configured by the network device for CC#1 and CC#2 can be shown by the dashed lines in Figure 5. If the interference on the spacing bandwidth between CC#1 and CC#2 is low, the network device is configured to include the full bandwidth range of CC#1, CC#2, and the spacing bandwidth between CC#1 and CC#2, as shown by the dashed lines in Figure 5.

[0460] The method provided in this application embodiment allows network devices to update bandwidth location and bandwidth size based on interference, which helps to reduce the impact of interference on carrier aggregation.

[0461] To better understand the embodiments of this application, a specific example is described below.

[0462] For example, Figure 13 shows a schematic interactive diagram of a carrier aggregation method provided in an embodiment of this application. This method can be applied to the communication system shown in Figure 1 above, but the embodiments of this application are not limited thereto. As shown in Figure 13, the method may include the following steps:

[0463] S1301. The network device sends information to the terminal device to query the terminal device's capabilities.

[0464] S1302. Based on the information used to query the capabilities of the terminal device, the terminal device sends capability information to the network device.

[0465] S1303. Based on capability information, the network device sends first information to the terminal device. The first information is used to indicate the first frequency domain location and / or the first channel bandwidth of the first cell. The first frequency domain location belongs to the first frequency range, and the first channel bandwidth is less than or equal to the maximum channel bandwidth supported on the cell corresponding to the first frequency range.

[0466] S1304. The terminal device sends second information to the network device, the second information being used to indicate the interference of the inter-carrier spacing bandwidth included in the first cell.

[0467] S1305. The network device sends third information to the terminal device. The third information is used to indicate the second frequency domain location and / or the second channel bandwidth of the first cell. The second frequency domain location belongs to the first frequency range, and the second channel bandwidth is less than or equal to the maximum channel bandwidth supported on the cell corresponding to the first frequency range.

[0468] Each step can be referred to in the above description, and will not be repeated here.

[0469] The method provided in this application embodiment allows the network device to indicate the first frequency domain position and / or first channel bandwidth of the first cell based on the capability information of the terminal device. It can also update the first frequency domain position and / or first channel bandwidth of the first cell according to the interference reported by the terminal device. This is beneficial to support a larger number of carriers for carrier aggregation under low interference conditions and reduce the impact of interference on carrier aggregation under high interference conditions.

[0470] It is understood that the various numerical designations used in the embodiments of this application are merely for descriptive convenience and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application. The order of the process numbers does not imply the order of execution; the execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic.

[0471] In the various embodiments of this application, unless otherwise specified or in case of logical conflict, the terminology and / or descriptions of different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced by each other. The technical features of different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationship.

[0472] It is understood that, in order to achieve the functions in the above embodiments, the terminal device or network device includes hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to perform each function. Those skilled in the art should readily recognize that, based on the units and method steps of the various examples described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed in this application, this application can be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed by hardware or by computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application scenario and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0473] Figures 14 and 15 are schematic diagrams of possible communication devices provided in embodiments of this application. These communication devices can be used to implement the functions of terminal devices or network devices in the above method embodiments, and thus can also achieve the beneficial effects of the above method embodiments. In the embodiments of this application, the communication device can be the terminal 120 shown in Figure 1, or the base station shown in Figure 1, or a module (such as a chip) applied to the terminal 120 or the base station.

[0474] As shown in Figure 14, the communication device 1400 includes a processing unit 1410 and a transceiver unit 1420. The communication device 1400 is used to implement the functions of the terminal device or network device in the method embodiments shown in Figures 6 to 13 above.

[0475] In one possible implementation, the device 1400 is used to implement the steps corresponding to the terminal device in the method shown in FIG6 or FIG8.

[0476] The transceiver unit 1420 is configured to receive a first carrier combination, which includes at least two non-contiguous first carriers, and the first carrier combination is used for carrier aggregation communication with the network device; the processing unit 1410 is configured to determine first information, which indicates the terminal device's ability to communicate on the carriers of the first carrier combination, and the terminal device's ability to communicate on the carriers of the first carrier combination is related to the radio frequency link corresponding to the carriers in the first carrier combination; the transceiver unit 1420 is also configured to transmit the first information.

[0477] Optionally, the first information may further indicate one or more of the following: a second carrier combination that supports communication on the first carrier combination, wherein the second carrier combination is the first carrier combination or a subset of the first carrier combination; or, the number of carriers that support communication on the first carrier combination; or, at least two non-contiguous second carriers sharing a radio frequency link, or, at least two non-contiguous second carriers sharing a radio frequency link are not supported, wherein the at least two non-contiguous second carriers are some or all of the carriers in the first carrier combination; or, a first frequency band sharing a radio frequency link is supported, or, a first frequency band sharing a radio frequency link is not supported, wherein the first frequency band includes one or more frequency bands corresponding to at least two non-contiguous first carriers.

[0478] Optionally, if the first information indicates a second carrier combination, then the second carrier combination is a combination of carriers activated in the first carrier combination that the terminal device supports.

[0479] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1420 is further configured to receive second information, which is used to instruct the terminal device to report first information; and to send the first information based on the second information.

[0480] Optionally, the second information also instructs the terminal device to report the first information in a second frequency band, the second frequency band including one or more frequency bands corresponding to at least two non-contiguous first carriers.

[0481] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1420 is further configured to report capability information of the terminal device, the capability information indicating the carrier combinations supported by the terminal device when receiving discontinuous carriers through a shared radio frequency link, and the carrier combinations supported when not receiving discontinuous carriers through a shared radio frequency link, the capability information including a first carrier combination.

[0482] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1420 is further configured to receive third information, which is used to indicate a third carrier, the third carrier including a portion of the carriers in the first carrier combination, the third carrier being used to receive downlink signaling or data, and the third carrier corresponding to the terminal device's ability to communicate on the carriers of the first carrier combination.

[0483] Optionally, at least two non-contiguous first carriers correspond to one frequency band, or at least two non-contiguous first carriers correspond to at least two frequency bands.

[0484] In another possible implementation, the device 1400 is used to implement the steps corresponding to the network device in the method shown in FIG6 or FIG8.

[0485] The processing unit 1410 is used to determine a first carrier combination, which includes at least two non-contiguous first carriers, and the first carrier combination is used for carrier aggregation communication with the network device; the transceiver unit 1420 is used to transmit the first carrier combination; and receive first information, which is used to indicate the terminal device's ability to communicate on the carriers of the first carrier combination, and the terminal device's ability to communicate on the carriers of the first carrier combination is related to the radio frequency link corresponding to the carriers in the first carrier combination.

[0486] Optionally, the first information may also indicate information as described above, and will not be repeated here.

[0487] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1420 is further configured to: send second information, the second information being used to instruct the terminal device to report first information; and receive the first information.

[0488] Optionally, the second information may also include information that can be referred to in the above description, and will not be repeated here.

[0489] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1420 is further configured to receive capability information of the terminal device, the capability information indicating the carrier combinations supported by the terminal device when receiving discontinuous carriers through a shared radio frequency link, and the carrier combinations supported when not receiving discontinuous carriers through a shared radio frequency link, the capability information including a first carrier combination.

[0490] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1420 is further configured to transmit third information based on the first information, the third information being used to indicate a third carrier, the third carrier including a portion of the carriers in the first carrier combination, the third carrier being used to receive downlink signaling or data, and the third carrier corresponding to the terminal device's ability to communicate on the carriers of the first carrier combination.

[0491] Optionally, the characteristics of the frequency bands corresponding to at least two non-contiguous first carriers can be referred to the above description, and will not be repeated here.

[0492] In one possible implementation, the device 1400 is used to implement the steps corresponding to the terminal device in the method shown in FIG9 or FIG10.

[0493] The transceiver unit 1420 is configured to receive a first carrier combination, the first carrier combination including at least two non-contiguous first carriers, the first carrier combination being used for carrier aggregation communication with a network device; the processing unit 1410 is configured to determine first information, the first information indicating interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers; the transceiver unit 1420 is further configured to: transmit the first information; receive second information, the second information indicating one or more of the following: a second carrier combination, the second carrier combination being a first carrier combination or a subset of the first carrier combination; or, the number of first carriers, the number of first carriers being less than or equal to the number of carriers included in the first carrier combination; or, indicating that the second carriers or first frequency bands in the first carrier combination share a radio frequency link, the first frequency band being one or more frequency bands corresponding to at least two non-contiguous first carriers; or, indicating that the second carriers or first frequency bands in the first carrier combination do not share a radio frequency link.

[0494] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1420 is further configured to: transmit first information if a first event or a second event is satisfied, wherein the first event is: the interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers is greater than or equal to a first threshold; and the second event is: the interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers is less than or equal to a second threshold.

[0495] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1420 is further configured to: transmit first information if at least two non-contiguous first carriers are received through the shared radio frequency link and a first event is satisfied; or, transmit first information if at least two non-contiguous first carriers are not received through the shared radio frequency link and a second event is satisfied.

[0496] Optionally, the processing unit 1410 is further configured to: if at least two discontinuous first carriers are not received through the shared radio frequency link, determine the interference between the at least two discontinuous first carriers through the first interval.

[0497] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1420 is further configured to: transmit third information, the third information being used to indicate whether a first interval is required, the first interval being used to determine interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers.

[0498] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1420 is further configured to: receive fourth information; and transmit first information based on the fourth information; wherein the fourth information is used to indicate one or more of the following: measuring interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers; or, measuring the received signal strength indication RSSI of the interval bandwidth between at least two non-contiguous first carriers, the measuring quantity being used to indicate interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers; or, a first threshold; or, a second threshold; or, a first event, the first event being: the measuring quantity is greater than or equal to the first threshold; or, a second event, the second event being: the measuring quantity is less than or equal to the second threshold.

[0499] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1420 is further configured to: receive fifth information, the fifth information being used to instruct the terminal device to report the first information;

[0500] Based on the fifth piece of information, send the first piece of information.

[0501] Optionally, the fifth information also instructs the terminal device to report the first information in the second frequency band, which includes one or more frequency bands corresponding to at least two non-contiguous first carriers.

[0502] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1420 is further configured to: report capability information of the terminal device, the capability information indicating the carrier combinations supported by the terminal device when receiving discontinuous carriers through a shared radio frequency link, and the carrier combinations supported when not receiving discontinuous carriers through a shared radio frequency link, the capability information including a first carrier combination.

[0503] Optionally, at least two non-contiguous first carriers correspond to one frequency band, or at least two non-contiguous first carriers correspond to at least two frequency bands.

[0504] In another possible implementation, the device 1400 is used to implement the steps corresponding to the network device in the method shown in FIG9 or FIG10 above.

[0505] The processing unit 1410 is configured to: first carrier combination, the first carrier combination including at least two non-contiguous first carriers, the first carrier combination being used for carrier aggregation communication with a network device; transceiver unit 1420 is configured to: transmit the first carrier combination; receive first information, the first information being used to indicate interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers; the processing unit 1410 is further configured to: determine second information; the transceiver unit 1420 is further configured to: transmit the second information, the second information being used to indicate one or more of the following: a second carrier combination, the second carrier combination being a first carrier combination or a subset of the first carrier combination; or, the number of first carriers, the number of first carriers being less than or equal to the number of carriers included in the first carrier combination; or, indicating that the second carriers or first frequency bands in the first carrier combination share a radio frequency link, the first frequency band being one or more frequency bands corresponding to at least two non-contiguous first carriers; or, indicating that the second carriers or first frequency bands in the first carrier combination do not share a radio frequency link.

[0506] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1420 is further configured to: receive third information, the third information being used to indicate whether a first interval is required, the first interval being used to determine interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers.

[0507] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1420 is further configured to: transmit fourth information; receive first information; wherein the fourth information is configured to indicate one or more of the following: measuring interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers; or, measuring the received signal strength indication RSSI of the interval bandwidth between at least two non-contiguous first carriers, the measured amount being used to indicate interference between at least two non-contiguous first carriers; or, a first threshold; or, a second threshold; or, a first event, the first event being: the measured amount is greater than or equal to the first threshold; or, a second event, the second event being: the measured amount is less than or equal to the second threshold.

[0508] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1420 is further configured to: send a fifth message, the fifth message being used to instruct the terminal device to report the first message;

[0509] Receive the first message.

[0510] Optionally, the fifth information may also indicate information as described above, and will not be repeated here.

[0511] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1420 is further configured to: receive capability information of the terminal device, the capability information indicating the carrier combinations supported by the terminal device when receiving discontinuous carriers through a shared radio frequency link, and the carrier combinations supported when not receiving discontinuous carriers through a shared radio frequency link, the capability information including a first carrier combination.

[0512] Optionally, the characteristics of the frequency bands corresponding to at least two non-contiguous first carriers can be referred to the above description, and will not be repeated here.

[0513] In one possible implementation, the device 1400 is used to implement the steps corresponding to the terminal device in the method shown in FIG11 or FIG13.

[0514] The transceiver unit 1420 is used to receive information from the network device for querying the capabilities of the terminal device; the processing unit 1410 is used to determine the capability information; the transceiver unit 1420 is also used to: send capability information based on the information for querying the capabilities of the terminal device, the capability information being used to indicate a first frequency range supported by the terminal device, the first frequency range corresponding to a cell, and the terminal device communicating with the network device through the same radio frequency link in the cell corresponding to the first frequency range.

[0515] Optionally, the capability information is specifically used to indicate at least one frequency band, and the first frequency range is the frequency range of at least one frequency band.

[0516] Optionally, the capability information is also used to indicate the maximum channel bandwidth supported by the terminal device on the cell corresponding to the first frequency range, wherein the maximum channel bandwidth is less than or equal to the bandwidth corresponding to the first frequency range.

[0517] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1420 is further configured to: receive first information from the network device, the first information being used to indicate a first frequency domain location and / or a first channel bandwidth of a first cell, the first frequency domain location belonging to a first frequency range, and the first channel bandwidth being less than or equal to the maximum channel bandwidth supported on the cell corresponding to the first frequency range.

[0518] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1420 is further configured to: send second information to the network device, the second information being used to indicate interference in the inter-carrier spacing bandwidth included in the first cell; and receive third information from the network device, the third information being used to indicate a second frequency domain position and / or a second channel bandwidth of the first cell, the second frequency domain position belonging to a first frequency range, and the second channel bandwidth being less than or equal to the maximum channel bandwidth supported on the cell corresponding to the first frequency range.

[0519] Optionally, the first cell includes at least two consecutive carriers, or the first cell includes at least two non-consecutive carriers.

[0520] In another possible implementation, the device 1400 is used to implement the steps corresponding to the network device in the method shown in FIG11 or FIG13.

[0521] The processing unit 1410 is used to determine information for querying the capabilities of the terminal device; the transceiver unit 1420 is used to send information for querying the capabilities of the terminal device to the terminal device; and to receive capability information from the terminal device, wherein the capability information is used to indicate a first frequency range supported by the terminal device, the first frequency range corresponding to a cell, and to communicate with the terminal device through a first radio frequency link in the cell corresponding to the first frequency range.

[0522] Optionally, the specific information indicated by the capability information can be found in the above description, and will not be repeated here.

[0523] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1420 is further configured to: send first information to the terminal device, the first information being used to indicate the first frequency domain location and / or the first channel bandwidth of the first cell, the first frequency domain location belonging to the first frequency range, and the first channel bandwidth being less than or equal to the maximum channel bandwidth supported on the cell corresponding to the first frequency range.

[0524] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1420 is further configured to: receive second information from the terminal device, the second information being used to indicate the reference signal quality of the carriers included in the first cell, and / or the interference of the spacing bandwidth between the carriers included in the first cell; and based on the second information, send third information to the terminal device, the third information being used to indicate the second frequency domain position and / or the second channel bandwidth of the first cell, the second frequency domain position belonging to the first frequency range, and the second channel bandwidth being less than or equal to the maximum channel bandwidth supported on the cell corresponding to the first frequency range.

[0525] Optionally, the characteristics of the carriers included in the first cell can be referred to the above description, and will not be repeated here.

[0526] It should be understood that the communication device 1400 here is embodied in the form of a functional unit. The term "unit" here can refer to an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), electronic circuitry, a processor (e.g., a shared processor, a proprietary processor, or a group processor, etc.) and memory for executing one or more software or firmware programs, combined logic circuitry, and / or other suitable components supporting the described functions. In an alternative example, those skilled in the art will understand that the communication device 1400 can specifically be a terminal device or a network device as described in the above embodiments. The communication device 1400 can be used to execute the various processes and / or steps corresponding to the terminal device or network device in the above method embodiments; to avoid repetition, these will not be described again here.

[0527] The communication device 1400 described above has the function of implementing the corresponding steps performed by the terminal device or network device in the above method; the above functions can be implemented by hardware or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions. In the embodiments of this application, the communication device 1400 in FIG14 can also be a chip, such as a SOC.

[0528] As shown in Figure 15, the transmission device 1500 may include a processor 1510, a transceiver 1520, and a memory 1530. The processor 1510, transceiver 1520, and memory 1530 communicate with each other via internal interconnection. The memory 1530 stores instructions, and the processor 1510 executes the instructions stored in the memory 1530 to control the transceiver 1520 to transmit and / or receive signals.

[0529] It should be understood that the communication device 1500 may specifically be a terminal device or a network device as described in the above embodiments, and may be used to execute the various steps and / or processes corresponding to the terminal device or network device in the above method embodiments. Optionally, the memory 1530 may include a read-only memory and a random access memory, and provide instructions and data to the processor. A portion of the memory may also include non-volatile random access memory. For example, the memory may also store device type information. The processor 1510 may be used to execute instructions stored in the memory, and when the processor 1510 executes instructions stored in the memory, the processor 1510 is used to execute the various steps and / or processes of the above method embodiments. The transceiver 1520 may include a transmitter, a receiver, and an antenna. The transmitter may be used to implement the various steps and / or processes corresponding to the transceiver for performing a transmission action. For example, the transmitter may be used to send information to another device via the antenna. The receiver may be used to implement the various steps and / or processes corresponding to the transceiver for performing a reception action. For example, the receiver may be used to receive information from another device via the antenna.

[0530] It should be understood that, in the embodiments of this application, the processor may be a central processing unit (CPU), or it may be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0531] In implementation, each step of the above method can be completed by integrated logic circuits in the processor's hardware or by instructions in software. The steps of the method disclosed in the embodiments of this application can be directly manifested as execution by a hardware processor, or as a combination of hardware and software modules within the processor. The software modules can reside in random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable memory, registers, or other mature storage media in the art. This storage medium is located in memory, and the processor executes the instructions in the memory, combining them with its hardware to complete the steps of the above method. To avoid repetition, detailed descriptions are omitted here.

[0532] Furthermore, the method provided in the embodiments of this application can also be applied to O-RAN chips. O-RAN chips can communicate with core network (CN) devices via a backhaul link, or with terminal devices via an air interface.

[0533] For example, Figure 16 shows a schematic diagram of an O-RAN chip. As shown in Figure 16, the O-RAN chip includes a BBU and a RU, which can communicate via a fronthaul link. The BBU may include at least one CU and at least one DU, which can communicate via a midhaul link.

[0534] The BBU in the O-RAN chip can communicate with the CN device via the backhaul link. The RU in the O-RAN chip can communicate with at least one terminal device via the air interface. The BBU can communicate with at least one RU via the fronthaul link. The BBU and RU can be co-located or not.

[0535] In this embodiment, the O-RAN chip can execute the methods described above for network devices, which will not be repeated here.

[0536] To better understand O-RAN equipment, the following section introduces the network element function division and protocol layer of O-RAN equipment.

[0537] For example, Figure 17 is a diagram illustrating the network element function division and protocol layer structure of an O-RAN device according to an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 17, the CU is a logical node that carries the RRC layer, Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) layer, Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, and other control functions of the access network device. The CU is connected to network nodes such as core network devices through some interfaces, which may be E2 interfaces, etc.

[0538] In some examples, the CU can be split into CU-CP (control unit-control plane) and CU-UP (control unit-user plane). CU-CP is a logical node carrying the RRC layer and PDCP-C (control plane part of PDCP) layer, used to implement the CU's control plane functions. CU-CP can interact with network elements in the core network used to implement control plane functions. CU-UP is a logical node carrying the SDAP layer and PDCP-U (user plane part of PDCP) layer, used to implement the CU's user plane functions. CU-UP can interact with network elements in the core network used to implement user plane functions.

[0539] In some examples, a DU is a logical node that carries the radio link control (RLC) layer, medium access control (MAC) layer, higher physical layer (PHY) layer, and other functions. In some examples, a DU can control at least one RU. The DU connects to the RU through interfaces, which may be fronthaul interfaces. In some examples, the higher PHY layer includes the PHY layer processing, such as forward error correction (FEC) encoding and decoding, scrambling, modulation, and demodulation.

[0540] In some examples, the RU is a logical node carrying both lower physical layer (PHY) and radio frequency (RF) processing, also known as an RF chain. In some examples, the RU can be a 3GPP TRP, a remote radio head (RRH), or other similar entity. In some examples, the low-PHY includes PHY processing functions such as fast Fourier transform (FFT), inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT), digital beamforming, and filtering. The RU communicates with one or more UEs via a radio link.

[0541] The DU and RU can be co-located or not. The DU and RU exchange control plane and user plane information via a lower-layer split-control, user, and synchronization (LLS-CUS) interface through a fronthaul link. LLS-CUS may include LLS-C and LLS-U interfaces, respectively providing the control plane (C-plane) and user plane (U-plane). In some examples, the control plane (C-plane) refers to real-time control between the DU and RU. The DU and RU exchange management information via an LLS-M interface on the fronthaul link; the management plane (M-plane) refers to non-real-time management operations between the DU and RU.

[0542] DU and RU can cooperate to implement the functions of the PHY layer. A DU can be connected to one or more RUs. The functions of DU and RU can be configured in various ways depending on the design. For example, a DU can be configured to implement baseband functions, and an RU can be configured to implement mid-RF functions. Another example is that a DU can be configured to implement higher-level functions in the PHY layer, and an RU can be configured to implement lower-level functions in the PHY layer, or to implement both lower-level and RF functions. Higher-level functions in the physical layer can include a portion of the physical layer's functions that are closer to the MAC layer, while lower-level functions in the physical layer can include another portion of the physical layer's functions that are closer to the mid-RF side.

[0543] In different systems, CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU, or RU may have different names, but those skilled in the art will understand their meaning. For example, in an ORAN system, CU can also be called O-CU (open CU), DU can also be called O-DU, CU-CP can also be called O-CU-CP, CU-UP can also be called O-CU-UP, and RU can also be called O-RU. For ease of description, this application uses CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU, and RU as examples.

[0544] In this embodiment, the DU can execute the method executed by the network device in this embodiment, and the specific implementation will not be described here.

[0545] This application also provides a processor. This processor can execute the various processes and / or steps corresponding to the terminal device in the above method embodiments; to avoid repetition, they will not be described again here.

[0546] This application also provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program for implementing the methods shown in the above-described method embodiments.

[0547] This application also provides a computer program product, which includes a computer program (also referred to as code or instructions) that, when run on a computer, allows the computer to perform the methods shown in the above-described method embodiments.

[0548] Those skilled in the art will recognize that the modules and algorithm steps of the various examples described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are implemented in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0549] Those skilled in the art will understand that, for the sake of convenience and brevity, the specific working processes of the systems, devices, and modules described above can be referred to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0550] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, apparatuses, and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative; for instance, the division of modules is only a logical functional division, and in actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, multiple modules or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not executed. Furthermore, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed may be through some interfaces; the indirect coupling or communication connection between apparatuses or modules may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0551] The modules described as separate components may or may not be physically separate. The components shown as modules may or may not be physical modules; that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network modules. Some or all of the modules can be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0552] In addition, the functional modules in the various embodiments of this application can be integrated into one processing module, or each module can exist physically separately, or two or more modules can be integrated into one module.

[0553] If the aforementioned functions are implemented as software functional modules and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of this application, in essence, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or a portion of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of this application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media capable of storing program code, such as USB flash drives, portable hard drives, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disks, or optical disks.

[0554] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of this application, but the protection scope of the embodiments of this application is not limited thereto. Any variations or substitutions that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in the embodiments of this application should be included within the protection scope of the embodiments of this application. Therefore, the protection scope of the embodiments of this application should be determined by the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A carrier aggregation method, characterized in that, include: Receive a first carrier combination, the first carrier combination comprising at least two non-contiguous first carriers, the first carrier combination being used for carrier aggregation communication with a network device; Send first information, the first information being used to indicate the terminal device's ability to communicate on the carriers of the first carrier combination, the terminal device's ability to communicate on the carriers of the first carrier combination being related to the radio frequency link corresponding to the carriers in the first carrier combination.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first information also indicates one or more of the following: A second carrier combination that supports communication on the first carrier combination, wherein the second carrier combination is the first carrier combination or a subset of the first carrier combination; or, The number of carriers that support communication on the first carrier combination; or, Supports at least two non-contiguous second carriers sharing a radio frequency link, or does not support the at least two non-contiguous second carriers sharing a radio frequency link, wherein the at least two non-contiguous second carriers are some or all of the carriers in the first carrier combination; or... The first frequency band may or may not support a shared radio frequency link. The first frequency band may include one or more frequency bands corresponding to the at least two non-contiguous first carriers.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, If the first information indicates the second carrier combination, then the second carrier combination is a combination of carriers activated in the first carrier combination that the terminal device supports.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receive second information, the second information being used to instruct the terminal device to report the first information; The sending of the first information includes: Based on the second information, the first information is sent.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The second information also instructs the terminal device to report the first information in a second frequency band, the second frequency band including one or more frequency bands corresponding to the at least two non-contiguous first carriers.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that, Prior to receiving the first carrier combination, the method further includes: The terminal device reports its capability information, which indicates the carrier combinations it supports when receiving discontinuous carriers via a shared radio frequency link and the carrier combinations it supports when not receiving discontinuous carriers via the shared radio frequency link. The capability information includes the first carrier combination.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that, The method further includes: The third information is received, which is used to indicate a third carrier, the third carrier including a portion of the carriers in the first carrier combination, the third carrier being used to receive downlink signaling or data, and the third carrier corresponding to the terminal device's ability to communicate on the carriers of the first carrier combination.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that, The at least two non-contiguous first carriers correspond to one frequency band, or the at least two non-contiguous first carriers correspond to at least two frequency bands.

9. A carrier aggregation method, characterized in that, include: Receive a first carrier combination, the first carrier combination comprising at least two non-contiguous first carriers, the first carrier combination being used for carrier aggregation communication with a network device; Send a first message, the first message being used to indicate interference between the at least two non-contiguous first carriers; Receive a second message, which indicates one or more of the following: A second carrier combination, wherein the second carrier combination is the first carrier combination or a subset of the first carrier combination; or, The first number of carriers is less than or equal to the number of carriers included in the first carrier combination; or, Indicates that the second carrier or the first frequency band in the first carrier combination shares a radio frequency link, wherein the first frequency band is one or more frequency bands corresponding to the at least two non-contiguous first carriers; or... This indicates that the second carrier in the first carrier combination or the first frequency band does not share a radio frequency link.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that, The sending of the first information includes: If either the first event or the second event is satisfied, the first information is sent, wherein the first event is: the interference between the at least two non-contiguous first carriers is greater than or equal to a first threshold; and the second event is: the interference between the at least two non-contiguous first carriers is less than or equal to a second threshold.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that, If the at least two non-contiguous first carriers are received via a shared radio frequency link, then transmitting the first information includes: transmitting the first information if the first event is satisfied; or, If the at least two non-contiguous first carriers are not received via the shared radio frequency link, then sending the first information includes: if the second event is satisfied, then sending the first information.

12. The method according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that, If the at least two non-contiguous first carriers are not received via a shared radio frequency link, the method further includes: Interference between the at least two non-contiguous first carriers is determined by the first interval.

13. The method according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that, The method further includes: A third message is sent, which indicates whether a first interval is needed, the first interval being used to determine interference between the at least two non-contiguous first carriers.

14. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 13, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receive the fourth message; The sending of the first information includes: Based on the fourth piece of information, send the first piece of information; The fourth piece of information is used to indicate one or more of the following: Measure the interference between the at least two non-contiguous first carriers; or, The measured quantity is the Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI) of the interval bandwidth between the at least two non-contiguous first carriers, the measured quantity being used to indicate interference between the at least two non-contiguous first carriers; or... First threshold; or, Second threshold; or, The first event is: the measured quantity is greater than or equal to the first threshold; or, The second event is: the measured quantity is less than or equal to the second threshold.

15. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 14, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receive fifth information, the fifth information being used to instruct the terminal device to report the first information; The sending of the first information includes: Based on the fifth piece of information, the first piece of information is sent.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that, The fifth information also instructs the terminal device to report the first information in a second frequency band, the second frequency band including one or more frequency bands corresponding to the at least two non-contiguous first carriers.

17. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 16, characterized in that, Prior to receiving the first carrier combination, the method further includes: The terminal device reports capability information, which indicates the carrier combinations supported by the terminal device when receiving discontinuous carriers through a shared radio frequency link, and the carrier combinations supported when not receiving discontinuous carriers through the shared radio frequency link. The capability information includes the first carrier combination.

18. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 17, characterized in that, The at least two non-contiguous first carriers correspond to one frequency band, or the at least two non-contiguous first carriers correspond to at least two frequency bands.

19. A carrier aggregation method, characterized in that, include: A first carrier combination is transmitted, the first carrier combination comprising at least two non-contiguous first carriers, the first carrier combination being used for carrier aggregation communication with the network device; The terminal device receives first information, which indicates its ability to communicate on the carriers of the first carrier combination. The terminal device's ability to communicate on the carriers of the first carrier combination is related to the radio frequency link corresponding to the carriers in the first carrier combination.

20. The method according to claim 19, characterized in that, The first information specifically indicates one or more of the following: A second carrier combination that supports communication on the first carrier combination, wherein the second carrier combination is the first carrier combination or a subset of the first carrier combination; or, The number of carriers that support communication on the first carrier combination; or, Supports at least two non-contiguous second carriers sharing a radio frequency link, or does not support the at least two non-contiguous second carriers sharing a radio frequency link, wherein the at least two non-contiguous second carriers are some or all of the carriers in the first carrier combination; or... Supports sharing a radio frequency link in the first frequency band, or does not support sharing a radio frequency link in the first frequency band, wherein the first frequency band is one or more frequency bands corresponding to the at least two non-contiguous first carriers.

21. The method according to claim 20, characterized in that, If the first information indicates the second carrier combination, then the second carrier combination is a combination of carriers activated in the first carrier combination that the terminal device supports.

22. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 21, characterized in that, The method further includes: Based on the first information, third information is sent, which is used to indicate a third carrier. The third carrier includes a portion of the carriers in the first carrier combination. The third carrier is used to receive downlink signaling or data. The third carrier corresponds to the terminal device's ability to communicate on the carriers of the first carrier combination.

23. A carrier aggregation method, characterized in that, include: A first carrier combination is transmitted, the first carrier combination comprising at least two non-contiguous first carriers, the first carrier combination being used for carrier aggregation communication with the network device; Receive first information, the first information being used to indicate interference between the at least two non-contiguous first carriers; Based on the first information, a second information is sent, the second information being used to indicate one or more of the following: A second carrier combination, wherein the second carrier combination is the first carrier combination or a subset of the first carrier combination; or, The first number of carriers is less than or equal to the number of carriers included in the first carrier combination; or, Indicates that the second carrier or the first frequency band in the first carrier combination shares a radio frequency link, wherein the first frequency band is one or more frequency bands corresponding to the at least two non-contiguous first carriers; or... This indicates that the second carrier in the first carrier combination or the first frequency band does not share a radio frequency link.

24. The method according to claim 23, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receive third information, the third information being used to indicate whether a first interval is needed, the first interval being used to determine interference between the at least two non-contiguous first carriers; Based on the third information, determine whether to send the first interval.

25. The method according to claim 23 or 24, characterized in that, The method further includes: Send a fourth message, which indicates one or more of the following: Measure the interference between the at least two non-contiguous first carriers; or, The measured quantity is the Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI) of the interval bandwidth between the at least two non-contiguous first carriers, the measured quantity being used to indicate interference between the at least two non-contiguous first carriers; or... First threshold; or, Second threshold; or, The first event is: the measured quantity is greater than or equal to the first threshold; or... The second event is: the measured quantity is less than or equal to the second threshold.

26. A communication device, characterized in that, Includes a module for performing the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 25.

27. A communication device, characterized in that, include: A processor coupled to a memory for storing a computer program, wherein when the processor invokes the computer program, the communication device performs the method of any one of claims 1 to 25.

28. A chip, characterized in that, include: A processor for reading instructions stored in memory, and when the processor executes the instructions, causing the chip to implement the method of any one of claims 1 to 25.

29. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program that, when run on a computer, causes the method of any one of claims 1 to 25 to be performed.

30. A computer program product, characterized in that, The computer program product includes instructions that, when executed, cause the method of any one of claims 1 to 25 to be performed.

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