Communication method and communication apparatus

Abstract

Provided in the present application are a communication method and a communication apparatus. The method may comprise: a terminal device monitoring a wake-up signal in a first BWP; and after a BWP timer for switching from a non-default BWP to a default BWP expires, the terminal device continuing to monitor the wake-up signal in the first BWP until the wake-up signal is detected, and upon detecting the wake-up signal, the terminal device monitoring a PDCCH in a second BWP, wherein the first BWP is the non-default BWP, and the second BWP is the default BWP. In this way, even if the BWP timer expires, if the terminal device has not detected a wake-up signal, the terminal device can continue to monitor the wake-up signal in the non-default BWP. Since a terminal device generally uses a low-power receiver to monitor a wake-up signal, continuing to monitor the wake-up signal in a non-default BWP can achieve a significant energy-saving effect.

Description

Communication methods and communication devices

[0001] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202510372194.6, filed on March 26, 2025, entitled "Communication Method and Communication Device", and Chinese Patent Application No. 202510404230.2, filed on March 28, 2025, entitled "Communication Method and Communication Device", the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0002] This application relates to the field of wireless communication, and more specifically, to a communication method and a communication device. Background Technology

[0003] In wireless communication, the bandwidth part (BWP) is a crucial concept used for flexible management of spectrum resources. Specifically, network devices can configure multiple downlink BWPs (DL BWPs) and multiple uplink BWPs (UL BWPs) for terminal devices. The network device can activate at least one DL BWP and / or at least one UL BWP. The terminal device can receive downlink signals transmitted by the network device on the activated DL BWP and transmit uplink signals on the activated UL BWP. Furthermore, the terminal device can switch between BWPs, meaning it can switch from one BWP to another.

[0004] Terminal devices can receive signals (such as wake-up signals) through low-power circuits (such as wake-up radio, WUR) while keeping the main receiver in sleep mode, thereby achieving energy savings. In this scenario, how to combine the wake-up signal with the BWP switching mechanism to achieve continuous energy saving for the terminal device is a question worth considering. Summary of the Invention

[0005] This application provides a communication method and a communication device that can achieve continuous energy saving of terminal devices.

[0006] Firstly, a communication method is provided. This method can be executed by a communication device. This communication device can be a terminal device, or a component for the terminal device (such as a chip or circuit, which can be a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a system-on-chip (SoC) or system-in-package (SIP) chip containing a modem core, etc.), or a logic module or software capable of implementing some or all of the functions of the terminal device, etc. The following example uses a terminal device for illustration.

[0007] The method may include: monitoring a wake-up signal within a first BWP; if the BWP timer times out before the wake-up signal is detected, continuing to monitor the wake-up signal within the first BWP; and after the wake-up signal is detected, monitoring the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) within a second BWP, wherein the wake-up signal is used to wake up the terminal device, the first BWP is a non-default BWP, the second BWP is a default BWP, and the BWP timer is used to switch from the non-default BWP to the default BWP.

[0008] Based on the above technical solution, if the terminal device monitors for the wake-up signal within a non-default BWP and the BWP timer times out during the wake-up signal monitoring process, the terminal device can continue monitoring for the wake-up signal within the non-default BWP until a wake-up signal is detected. After detecting the wake-up signal, it can then monitor the PDCCH within the default BWP. Therefore, even if the BWP timer times out during wake-up signal monitoring, if the terminal device has not yet detected a wake-up signal, it can continue monitoring for the wake-up signal within the non-default BWP. Since terminal devices generally use low-power receivers to monitor the wake-up signal, continuing to monitor for the wake-up signal within the non-default BWP can achieve excellent energy-saving effects, i.e., continuous energy saving for the terminal device.

[0009] Furthermore, if the terminal device detects a wake-up signal, and considering that the BWP timer has expired, the PDCCH can be monitored within the default BWP after the terminal device switches from a non-default BWP to the default BWP to meet the terminal device's service requirements. The default BWP typically has narrow bandwidth. If the terminal device receives a small number of services, the efficiency of transmitting service data within the default BWP is sufficient, and the terminal device can complete data transmission on the default BWP, thus maintaining low power consumption while meeting service requirements. If the terminal device receives a large number of services, the efficiency of transmitting service data within the default BWP is low, and the network side can further switch the terminal device to a non-default BWP via BWP handover indication information.

[0010] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the start time of monitoring the PDCCH in the second BWP is related to the wake-up delay; or, the start time of monitoring the PDCCH in the second BWP is related to the wake-up delay and the BWP switching delay, where the wake-up delay represents the time required from detecting the wake-up signal to the terminal device being woken up, and the BWP switching delay represents the time required to switch from the first BWP to the second BWP.

[0011] Based on the above technical solution, in order to enable terminal devices to monitor wake-up signals and thus save energy even within the default BWP, the effective time of BWP switching can be defined, which is also the start time for monitoring PDCCH within the second BWP. Specifically, the effective time of BWP switching is related not only to the BWP timer timeout but also to the wake-up latency, such as being related to the wake-up latency itself, or to both the wake-up latency and the BWP switching latency. Thus, after the BWP timer expires, the terminal device does not immediately perform BWP switching and use the switched default BWP to monitor PDCCH. Instead, it switches BWP only after receiving a wake-up signal (meaning the service has arrived) or after the terminal device is woken up. Considering that there may be no wake-up signal resources within the default BWP, switching BWP only after the terminal device is woken up, i.e., the terminal device reverts to the default BWP, can achieve continuous energy saving for the terminal device.

[0012] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the start time of monitoring PDCCH within the second BWP satisfies: T is later than or equal to (A+B+C), where T represents the start time of monitoring PDCCH within the second BWP, A represents the time when the wake-up signal is detected, B represents the wake-up delay, C represents the BWP switching delay, and B and C are greater than or equal to 0.

[0013] Based on the above technical solution, the effective time of BWP handover (that is, the start time of monitoring PDCCH in the second BWP) is directly determined to be later than or equal to (A+B+C). This not only takes into account the BWP handover delay, but also the time when the terminal device detects the wake-up signal and the wake-up delay. Moreover, the design is simple and easy to implement.

[0014] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the start time of monitoring PDCCH within the second BWP satisfies: T is later than or equal to (A+B), where T represents the start time of monitoring PDCCH within the second BWP, A represents the time when the wake-up signal is detected, B represents the wake-up delay, and B and C are greater than or equal to 0.

[0015] Based on the above technical solution, considering that the BWP handover delay is short, or the BWP has been logically handed over before the terminal device is woken up, it can be determined that the effective time of BWP handover (that is, the start time of monitoring PDCCH in the second BWP) is later than or equal to (A+B). This takes into account the time when the terminal device detects the wake-up signal and the wake-up delay, and the design is simple and easy to implement.

[0016] With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, when A+B<C+D, the start time of monitoring PDCCH in the second BWP satisfies: T is later than or equal to (A+B+C); or, when A+B>C+D, the start time of monitoring PDCCH in the second BWP satisfies: T is later than or equal to (A+B); wherein D represents the timeout time of the BWP timer.

[0017] Based on the above technical solution, if the terminal device detects the wake-up signal and has not completed the handover from the non-default BWP to the default BWP before being woken up, the effective time of BWP handover (that is, the start time of monitoring PDCCH in the second BWP) is later than or equal to (A+B+C); if the terminal device detects the wake-up signal and has logically completed the handover from the non-default BWP to the default BWP before being woken up, the effective time of BWP handover (that is, the start time of monitoring PDCCH in the second BWP) is later than or equal to (A+B). In this way, different schemes can be designed based on different scenarios, which improves the practicability of the scheme.

[0018] With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, when the activated BWP does not include the wake-up signal, the terminal device does not support monitoring the wake-up signal.

[0019] The above technical solution can be applied to some terminal devices. For example, when the activated BWP does not include the wake-up signal (that is, the activated BWP does not include a complete wake-up signal), and the terminal device does not support monitoring the wake-up signal, the terminal device can determine the effective time of BWP handover based on the above technical solution.

[0020] With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes: receiving first information and / or second information, where the first information is used to configure a wake-up signal, and the second information is used to configure a BWP timer.

[0021] Secondly, a communication method is provided. This method can be executed by a communication device. This communication device can be a terminal device, or a component for the terminal device (such as a chip or circuit, which can be a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a SoC or SIP chip containing a modem core, etc.), or a logic module or software capable of implementing some or all of the functions of the terminal device, etc. The following example uses a terminal device for illustration.

[0022] The method may include: monitoring a wake-up signal within a first BWP; if a wake-up signal is detected and the BWP timer times out, monitoring the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) within a second BWP, wherein the start time of PDCCH monitoring within the second BWP is related to the wake-up delay and the BWP handover delay, or the start time of PDCCH monitoring within the second BWP is related to the BWP handover delay; wherein the wake-up signal is used to wake up the terminal device, the first BWP is a non-default BWP, the second BWP is a default BWP, the BWP timer is used to switch from the non-default BWP to the default BWP; the wake-up delay is the time required from detecting the wake-up signal to the terminal device being woken up, and the BWP handover delay is the time required to switch from the first BWP to the second BWP.

[0023] Based on the above technical solution, the terminal device can monitor the start time of the PDCCH within the second BWP, which is related not only to the BWP timer timeout but also to the BWP handover latency, or even the wake-up latency and BWP handover latency. In this way, when monitoring the wake-up signal and performing BWP handover, the terminal device can simultaneously consider both the wake-up signal monitoring status and the BWP timer timeout status, enabling the network device and the terminal device to align their PDCCH monitoring times, thus improving the user experience.

[0024] In conjunction with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the start time of monitoring PDCCH within the second BWP satisfies: T is later than or equal to (A+B+C); where T represents the start time of monitoring PDCCH within the second BWP, A represents the time when the wake-up signal is detected, B represents the wake-up delay, C represents the BWP switching delay, and B and C are greater than or equal to 0.

[0025] In conjunction with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the start time of monitoring PDCCH within the second BWP satisfies: T is later than or equal to max{D+C,A+B}, where T represents the start time of monitoring PDCCH within the second BWP, A represents the time when the wake-up signal is detected, B represents the wake-up delay, C represents the BWP switching delay, D represents the BWP timer timeout, max{} represents the maximum value operation, and B and C are greater than or equal to 0.

[0026] Based on the foregoing technical solution, if the BWP timer expires when the terminal device is monitoring a wake-up signal, and the terminal device logically completes BWP switching before being woken up, that is, A+B>D+C, then the effective time of BWP switching (that is, the start time of monitoring PDCCH in the second BWP) is greater than or equal to (A+B); if the BWP timer expires when the terminal device is monitoring a wake-up signal, and the terminal device does not complete BWP switching before being woken up, that is, A+B<D+C, then the effective time of BWP switching (that is, the start time of monitoring PDCCH in the second BWP) is greater than or equal to (D+C). In this way, different solutions can be designed based on different scenarios, improving the practicability of the solution.

[0027] In combination with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the BWP timer expires after the wake-up signal is monitored and before the terminal device is woken up.

[0028] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in some implementations, when the activated BWP does not include the wake-up signal, the terminal device does not support monitoring the wake-up signal.

[0029] In a third aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be performed by a communication apparatus. The communication apparatus may be a terminal device, or may be a component for a terminal device (such as a chip or a circuit, which may be a modem chip, also called a baseband chip, or a SoC or SIP chip including a modem core, etc.), or may also be a logic module or software that can implement part or all of the functions of a terminal device, etc. The following description is given by taking a terminal device as an example.

[0030] The method may include: determining that the BWP timer does not run when monitoring a wake-up signal in a first BWP, where the wake-up signal is used to wake up the terminal device, the first BWP is a non-default BWP, and the BWP timer is used to switch from the non-default BWP to the default BWP.

[0031] Based on the foregoing technical solution, when the terminal device monitors the wake-up signal, the BWP timer does not run, which means that the BWP timer will not automatically decrement over time. Since the BWP timer does not decrement, the BWP timer will not expire either. Based on this, the BWP timer will not expire when the terminal device monitors the wake-up signal. Since the BWP timer does not expire, the terminal device will not fall back to (that is, switch to) the default BWP, and thus the situation that the terminal device cannot monitor the wake-up signal in the default BWP will not occur.

[0032] In combination with the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, when the activated BWP does not include the wake-up signal, the terminal device does not support monitoring the wake-up signal.

[0033] The above technical solution can be applied to some terminal devices. For example, if the BWP activation does not include a wake-up signal (i.e., the BWP activation does not include a complete wake-up signal), the terminal device does not support monitoring the wake-up signal. In this case, the terminal device will determine that the BWP timer does not run when monitoring the wake-up signal.

[0034] Fourthly, a communication method is provided. This method can be executed by a communication device. This communication device can be a network device, or a component for a network device (such as a chip or circuit, which can be a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a SoC or SIP chip containing a modem core, etc.), or a logic module or software capable of implementing some or all of the functions of a network device, etc. An example of a network is given below for illustration.

[0035] The method may include: if a wake-up signal is configured for the terminal device, then determining not to configure a BWP timer for the terminal device; or, if a BWP timer is configured for the terminal device, then determining not to configure a wake-up signal for the terminal device; wherein the wake-up signal is used to wake up the terminal device, and the BWP timer is used to switch from a non-default BWP to the default BWP.

[0036] Fifthly, a communication method is provided. This method can be executed by a communication device. The communication device can be a terminal device, or a component for the terminal device (such as a chip or circuit, which can be a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a SoC or SIP chip containing a modem core, etc.), or a logic module or software capable of implementing some or all of the functions of the terminal device, etc. The following example uses a terminal device for illustration.

[0037] The method may include: determining that if the network device configures a wake-up signal for the terminal device, then it does not configure a BWP timer for the terminal device; or, determining that if the network device configures a BWP timer for the terminal device, then it does not configure a wake-up signal for the terminal device, wherein the wake-up signal is used to wake up the terminal device, and the BWP timer is used to switch from a non-default BWP to the default BWP.

[0038] Based on the above technical solution, terminal devices do not expect to configure both a wake-up signal and a BWP timer simultaneously; that is, network devices will not configure both a wake-up signal and a BWP timer for terminal devices at the same time. Thus, the BWP timer will not time out when the terminal device monitors the wake-up signal. Since the BWP timer will not time out, the terminal device will not fall back to (or switch to) the default BWP, and consequently, the situation where the terminal device cannot monitor the wake-up signal within the default BWP will not occur.

[0039] In conjunction with the fifth aspect, in some implementations of the fifth aspect, the method further includes: receiving first information, the first information being used to configure the wake-up signal; receiving second information, the second information being used to configure the BWP timer; monitoring the wake-up signal based on the first information, and determining not to start the BWP timer; or, starting the BWP timer based on the second information, and determining not to monitor the wake-up signal.

[0040] In conjunction with the fourth or fifth aspect, in some implementations, when BWP activation does not include a wake-up signal, the terminal device does not support monitoring the wake-up signal.

[0041] The above technical solution can be applied to some terminal devices. For example, if the BWP activation does not include a wake-up signal (i.e., the BWP activation does not include a complete wake-up signal), the terminal device does not support monitoring the wake-up signal. Therefore, the terminal device does not expect to configure both the wake-up signal and the BWP timer at the same time.

[0042] Sixthly, a communication method is provided. This method can be executed by a communication device. The communication device can be a terminal device, or a component for the terminal device (such as a chip or circuit, which can be a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a SoC or SIP chip containing a modem core, etc.), or a logic module or software capable of implementing some or all of the functions of the terminal device, etc. The following example uses a terminal device for illustration.

[0043] The method may include: receiving first information, the first information being used to configure a wake-up signal; receiving second information, the second information being used to configure a BWP timer; monitoring the wake-up signal based on the first information, and determining that the BWP timer should not be started; or, starting the BWP timer based on the second information, and determining that the wake-up signal should not be monitored.

[0044] Based on the above technical solution, terminal devices do not expect to configure both wake-up signals and BWP timers simultaneously. If network devices configure both wake-up signals and timers, terminal devices can default to invalidating either the wake-up signal configuration or the BWP timer configuration, thus preventing situations where terminal devices cannot monitor wake-up signals within the default BWP.

[0045] In conjunction with the sixth aspect, in some implementations of the sixth aspect, when activating BWP does not include a wake-up signal, the terminal device does not support monitoring the wake-up signal.

[0046] Seventhly, a communication method is provided. This method can be executed by a communication device. The communication device can be a terminal device, or a component for the terminal device (such as a chip or circuit, which can be a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a SoC or SIP chip containing a modem core, etc.), or a logic module or software capable of implementing some or all of the functions of the terminal device, etc. The following example uses a terminal device for illustration.

[0047] The method may include: receiving first information, the first information being used to configure a wake-up signal; receiving second information, the second information being used to configure a BWP timer, the BWP timer being used to switch from a non-default BWP to a default BWP; if the second BWP includes frequency domain resources for monitoring the wake-up signal, then monitoring the wake-up signal based on the first information and starting the BWP timer based on the second information; or, if the second BWP does not include frequency domain resources for monitoring the wake-up signal, then monitoring the wake-up signal based on the first information and determining not to start the BWP timer, or starting the BWP timer based on the second information and determining not to monitor the wake-up signal; wherein the wake-up signal is used to wake up the terminal device, and the second BWP is the default BWP.

[0048] Based on the above technical solution, when a terminal device is configured with a wake-up signal, if the frequency domain resources of the wake-up signal are not included in the default BWP, the terminal device can consider the wake-up signal configuration invalid (i.e., the first information is invalid), meaning the terminal device determines not to monitor the wake-up signal. Alternatively, the terminal device can also consider the BWP timer configuration invalid (i.e., the second information is invalid), meaning the terminal device determines not to start the BWP timer. This ensures that the terminal device will not fail to monitor the wake-up signal due to BWP timer timeout, thus achieving energy saving for the terminal device.

[0049] In conjunction with the seventh aspect, in some implementations of the seventh aspect, if both the first BWP and the second BWP include frequency domain resources for monitoring wake-up signals, the method further includes: monitoring wake-up signals on the frequency domain resources within the first BWP before the terminal device switches from the first BWP to the second BWP; and monitoring wake-up signals on the frequency domain resources within the second BWP after the terminal device switches from the first BWP to the second BWP, wherein the first BWP is a non-default BWP.

[0050] Based on the above technical solution, before the terminal device switches from a non-default BWP to the default BWP, it monitors the wake-up signal on the frequency domain resources within the non-default BWP; after the terminal device switches from a non-default BWP to the default BWP, it monitors the wake-up signal on the frequency domain resources within the default BWP. This enables continuous energy saving for the terminal device.

[0051] Eighthly, a communication method is provided. This method can be executed by a communication device. This communication device can be a terminal device, or a component for the terminal device (such as a chip or circuit, which can be a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a SoC or SIP chip containing a modem core, etc.), or a logic module or software capable of implementing some or all of the functions of the terminal device, etc. The following example uses a terminal device for illustration.

[0052] The method may include: monitoring a wake-up signal within a first BWP; if the BWP timer times out before the wake-up signal is detected, then monitoring a PDCCH within a second BWP, wherein the start time of PDCCH monitoring within the second BWP is related to the wake-up delay and the BWP switching delay, or the start time of PDCCH monitoring within the second BWP is related to the wake-up delay; wherein the wake-up signal is used to wake up the terminal device, the first BWP is a non-default BWP, the second BWP is a default BWP, the BWP timer is used to switch from the non-default BWP to the default BWP; the wake-up delay is the time required from detecting the wake-up signal to the terminal device being woken up, and the BWP switching delay is the time required to switch from the first BWP to the second BWP.

[0053] Based on the above technical solution, the terminal device can monitor the start time of the PDCCH within the second BWP, which is related not only to the BWP timer timeout but also to the wake-up latency, or even more specifically, to both the wake-up latency and the BWP handover latency. In this way, when monitoring the wake-up signal and performing BWP handover, the terminal device can simultaneously consider both the wake-up signal monitoring status and the BWP timer timeout status, enabling the network device and the terminal device to align their PDCCH monitoring times, thus improving the user experience.

[0054] In conjunction with the eighth aspect, in some implementations of the eighth aspect, the start time of monitoring PDCCH within the second BWP satisfies: T is later than or equal to (D+max{C,B}), or T is later than or equal to (D+B); where T represents the start time of monitoring PDCCH within the second BWP, B represents the wake-up delay, C represents the BWP switching delay, and B and C are greater than or equal to 0.

[0055] In conjunction with the eighth aspect, in some implementations of the eighth aspect, when activating the BWP does not include a wake-up signal, the terminal device does not support monitoring the wake-up signal.

[0056] A ninth aspect provides a communication apparatus for performing the methods of any one of the first to eighth aspects and any possible implementation thereof. Specifically, the apparatus may include units and / or modules for performing the methods of any one of the first to eighth aspects and any possible implementation thereof, such as processing units and / or communication units.

[0057] In one implementation, the device is a communication device (such as a terminal device or a network device). When the device is a communication device, the communication unit can be a transceiver or an input / output interface; the processing unit can be at least one processor. Optionally, the transceiver can be a transceiver circuit. Optionally, the input / output interface can be an input / output circuit.

[0058] In another implementation, the device is a chip, chip system, or circuit for communication equipment (such as terminal equipment or network equipment). When the device is a chip, chip system, or circuit for communication equipment, the communication unit can be an input / output interface, interface circuit, output circuit, input circuit, pin, or related circuit on the chip, chip system, or circuit; the processing unit can be at least one processor, processing circuit, or logic circuit.

[0059] A tenth aspect provides a communication apparatus, comprising: at least one processor for executing a computer program or instructions stored in a memory to perform a method in any possible implementation of any of the first to eighth aspects described above. Optionally, the apparatus further comprises a memory for storing the computer program or instructions; correspondingly, the at least one processor is configured to execute the computer program or instructions in the memory. Optionally, the apparatus further comprises a communication interface coupled to the processor, which can be used to input information to the processor or output information from the processor. Optionally, the processor reads the computer program or instructions from the memory through the communication interface.

[0060] In one implementation, the device is a communication device (such as a terminal device or a network device).

[0061] In another implementation, the device is a chip, chip system, or circuit for communication equipment (such as terminal equipment or network equipment).

[0062] Eleventhly, a processor is provided for performing the methods provided in any one of the first to eighth aspects described above.

[0063] Unless otherwise specified, or if it does not contradict its actual function or internal logic in the relevant description, the transmission and acquisition / reception operations involved in the processor can be understood as processor output and reception, input and other operations, or as transmission and reception operations performed by radio frequency circuits and antennas. This application does not limit them in this regard.

[0064] In a twelfth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, on which a computer program or instructions are stored, which, when executed on a communication device, cause the communication device to perform the method provided in any one of the first to eighth aspects.

[0065] In a thirteenth aspect, a computer program product is provided, comprising a computer program or instructions for performing the methods of any possible implementation of the first to eighth aspects. In other words, when the computer program product is run on a computer, it causes the computer to perform the methods provided in any of the first to eighth aspects.

[0066] In a fourteenth aspect, a chip is provided, the chip including a processor and a communication interface, wherein the processor reads instructions from a memory through the communication interface and executes the methods provided in any one of the first to eighth aspects.

[0067] Optionally, as one implementation, the chip further includes a memory storing computer programs or instructions, and a processor for executing the computer programs or instructions in the memory. When the computer programs or instructions are executed, the processor is used to perform the methods provided in any one of the first to eighth aspects described above.

[0068] In a fifteenth aspect, a communication system is provided, including the aforementioned terminal equipment and network equipment. Attached Figure Description

[0069] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system applicable to an embodiment of this application.

[0070] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the main circuit and the wake-up circuit.

[0071] Figure 3 is a waveform diagram of the signal when OOK modulation is used.

[0072] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the waveform of the signal after Manchester encoding.

[0073] Figure 5 is another schematic diagram of the waveform of the signal after Manchester encoding.

[0074] Figures 6 and 7 are schematic diagrams of the OOK symbol in the time and frequency domains.

[0075] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of a communication method 800 provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0076] Figures 9 to 11 are schematic diagrams of BWP switching latency and wake-up latency applicable to embodiments of this application.

[0077] Figure 12 is a schematic diagram of a communication method 1200 provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0078] Figure 13 is a schematic diagram of a communication method 1300 provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0079] Figure 14 is a schematic diagram of a communication method 1400 provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0080] Figure 15 is a schematic diagram of wake-up signal monitoring applicable to embodiments of this application.

[0081] Figure 16 is a schematic diagram of a communication method 1600 provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0082] Figures 17 and 18 are schematic diagrams of BWP switching latency and wake-up latency applicable to embodiments of this application.

[0083] Figure 19 is a schematic diagram of a communication device 1900 provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0084] Figure 20 is a schematic diagram of another communication device 2000 provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0085] Figure 21 is a schematic diagram of a chip system 2100 provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0086] The technical solutions in this application will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0087] Before introducing the scheme of this application, the following points should be noted.

[0088] (1) In this application, "instruction" can include direct instruction, indirect instruction, explicit instruction, implicit instruction, etc. When describing a certain instruction information as being used to instruct A, it can be understood that the instruction information carries A, carries the identifier of A, carries B which is associated with A, carries the identifier of B which is associated with A, etc. In other words, if the receiving side of a certain instruction information can determine A based on the instruction information, it can be described as the instruction information being used to instruct A, and the specific method of determination is not limited. When it is understood that the instruction information carries A, "instruction" or "used to instruct" can be replaced with "includes". In this case, a statement similar to "sending / receiving instruction information, the instruction information being used to instruct A" can be replaced with "sending / receiving A".

[0089] In this application, the information indicated by the instruction information is called the information to be instructed. In specific implementations, there are many ways to indicate the information to be instructed, such as, but not limited to, directly indicating the information to be instructed, such as the information to be instructed itself or its index. It can also indirectly indicate the information to be instructed by indicating other information, where there is a relationship between the other information and the information to be instructed. It can also indicate only a part of the information to be instructed, while the other parts are known or pre-agreed upon. For example, the instruction of specific information can be achieved by using a pre-agreed (e.g., protocol-defined) arrangement of various pieces of information, thereby reducing instruction overhead to some extent. Furthermore, the information to be instructed can be sent as a whole or divided into multiple sub-information pieces, and the sending period and / or timing of these sub-information pieces can be the same or different.

[0090] (2) In this application, the expression " / " is used to indicate that the objects before and after are in an "or" relationship; for example, A / B can mean: A or B. The expression "and / or" is used to indicate that the objects before and after are in a relationship of either "and" or "or"; for example, A and / or B can mean the following: A exists alone, B exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, where A and B can be single or multiple. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions are used to indicate any combination of the listed items; for example, at least one of A, B and / or C can mean the following: A exists alone, B exists alone, C exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, B and C exist simultaneously, A and C exist simultaneously, A, B and C exist simultaneously, where A, B, and C can be single or multiple.

[0091] (3) In this application, "send" and "receive" indicate the direction of signal transmission. For example, "send information to XX" can be understood as the destination of the information being XX, which may include direct transmission via the air interface or indirect transmission by other units or modules via the air interface. "Receive information from YY" can be understood as the source of the information being YY, which may include direct reception from YY via the air interface or indirect reception from YY by other units or modules via the air interface. "Send" can also be understood as the "output" of the chip interface, and "receive" can also be understood as the "input" of the chip interface. In other words, sending and receiving can occur between devices, such as between network devices and terminal devices, or within a device, such as between components, modules, chips, software modules, or hardware modules within the device via a bus, wiring, or interface.

[0092] (4) In the various embodiments of this application, unless otherwise specified or in case of logical conflict, the terms 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.

[0093] (5) In this application, "first", "second", "#1", "#2", "#A", and "#B" are merely for descriptive convenience and are used to distinguish objects, and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application. For example, T#1, T#2, T#3, T#4, T#5, and T#6 represent different times.

[0094] (6) In this application, "predefined" can mean a standard protocol predefined, or it can mean a pre-agreed or pre-negotiated agreement between devices. Here, "protocol" can refer to a standard protocol in the field of communications, for example, it may include fourth-generation (4G) protocols. th Generation 4G network, fifth generation (5G) network th 5G network protocol, New Radio (NR) protocol, 5.5G network protocol, sixth generation (6G) network protocol th This application does not limit the scope of 6G (6G) systems (or 6G radio, 6GR) and related protocols used in future communication networks.

[0095] (7) In this application, the configuration can be signaling configuration, such as radio resource control (RRC) messages, control information (such as downlink control information (DCI)), or medium access control (MAC) signaling (e.g., MAC control element (MAC CE / MAC-CE)). As an example, signaling configuration can be configured by signaling to the terminal device. For example, the network device configures frequency resources (or the network device configures frequency resources for the terminal device). This can be understood as the network device indicating the location of the frequency resources to the terminal device through signaling.

[0096] (8) In this application, the words “exemplary,” “for example,” etc., are used to indicate examples, illustrations, or descriptions. Any embodiment or design described as an “example” in this application should not be construed as being more preferred or advantageous than other embodiments or designs. Specifically, the use of the word “example” is intended to present the concept in a concrete manner. In the embodiments of this application, “of,” “corresponding, relevant,” and “corresponding” may sometimes be used interchangeably, and it should be noted that their intended meanings are consistent unless their distinction is emphasized.

[0097] First, let me introduce the communication system to which this application applies.

[0098] The technical solutions provided in this application can be applied to various communication systems, such as 5th generation (5G) or new radio (NR) systems, frequency division duplex (FDD) systems, and time division duplex (TDD) systems. The technical solutions provided in this application can also be applied to 6G and future communication networks. Furthermore, the technical solutions provided in this application can be applied to device-to-device (D2D) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), and Internet of Things (IoT) communication systems. The technical solutions provided in this application can also be applied to non-terrestrial network (NTN) systems such as inter-satellite communication and satellite communication.

[0099] As an example, a satellite communication system includes a satellite base station and terminal equipment. The satellite base station provides communication services to the terminal equipment. Satellite base stations can also communicate with each other. A satellite can act as a base station or as a terminal device. Here, "satellite" can refer to drones, hot air balloons, low-Earth orbit satellites, medium-Earth orbit satellites, high-Earth orbit satellites, etc. "Satellite" can also refer to non-terrestrial base stations or non-terrestrial equipment.

[0100] As an example, V2X communication can include: vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication, vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P) communication, and vehicle-to-network (V2N) communication.

[0101] In a communication system, a device can send signals to or receive signals from another device. These signals can include information, signaling, or data. The device can also be replaced by an entity, network entity, communication equipment, communication module, node, communication node, etc. This application uses a device as an example for description.

[0102] The terminal device in this application embodiment can be a device or module that accesses the aforementioned communication system and has corresponding communication functions. The terminal device can include various devices with wireless communication capabilities, which can be used to connect people, objects, machines, etc. The terminal device can be widely applied in various scenarios, such as: cellular communication, D2D, V2X, peer-to-peer, M2M, MTC, IoT, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grids, smart furniture, smart offices, smart wearables, smart transportation, smart cities, drones, robots, remote sensing, passive sensing, positioning, navigation and tracking, autonomous delivery, etc. The terminal device can be a terminal in any of the above scenarios, such as an MTC terminal, an IoT terminal, etc. Terminal equipment can be user equipment (UE), terminal, fixed equipment, mobile station equipment or mobile equipment, subscriber unit, handheld device, vehicle-mounted equipment, wearable device, cellular phone, smartphone, session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, wireless data card, personal digital assistant (PDA), computer, tablet computer, laptop computer, wireless modem, handset, laptop computer, computer with wireless transceiver capability, smart book, vehicle, satellite, global positioning system (GPS) device, target tracking device, aircraft (e.g., drone, helicopter, multiple helicopters, four helicopters, or airplanes), ship, remote control device, smart home device, industrial equipment, transportation vehicle with wireless communication capability, communication module, or roadside unit with terminal function, all conforming to the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) standard. The device may be a wireless communication unit (RSU), or a device built into the aforementioned device (e.g., a communication module, modem, or chip in the aforementioned device), or other processing devices connected to the wireless modem.

[0103] It should be understood that in certain scenarios, a UE can also be used as a base station. For example, a UE can act as a scheduling entity, providing sidelink signaling between UEs in scenarios such as V2X, D2D, or end-to-end.

[0104] In this embodiment, the device for implementing the functions of a terminal device, i.e., the terminal device, can be the terminal device itself, or it can be any device capable of supporting the terminal device in implementing the functions, such as a chip system, chip, circuit, or communication module (i.e., a communication module that performs communication functions). This device can be installed in the terminal device. In this embodiment, the chip system can be composed of chips, or it can include chips and other discrete devices. Furthermore, the device can also be configured with program instructions for performing corresponding communication functions.

[0105] The network device in this application embodiment can be a device or module with corresponding communication functions. The network device can be a device used to communicate with terminal devices; it can also be called an access network device or a wireless access network device, such as a base station. In this application embodiment, the network device can refer to a radio access network (RAN) node (or device) that connects the terminal device to the wireless network. A base station can broadly encompass, or be replaced by, various names including: NodeB, evolved NodeB (eNB), next-generation NodeB (gNB), relay station, access point, transmitting and receiving point (TRP), transmitter, master station, auxiliary station, multiple standard radio (MSR) node, home base station, network controller, access node, wireless node, access point (AP), transmission node, transceiver node, baseband unit (BBU), remote radio unit (RRU), active antenna unit (AAU), remote radio head (RRH), central unit (CU), distributed unit (DU), positioning node, etc. A base station can be a macro base station, micro base station, relay node, donor node, or similar, or a combination thereof. A base station can also refer to a communication module, modem, or chip installed within the aforementioned equipment or apparatus. A base station can also be a mobile switching center, a device that performs base station functions in D2D, V2X, and M2M communications, or a device that performs base station functions in future communication systems. A base station can support networks using the same or different access technologies. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technologies or device forms used in the network equipment.

[0106] Base stations can be fixed or mobile. For example, a helicopter or drone can be configured to act as a mobile base station, and one or more cells can move depending on the location of the mobile base station. In other examples, a helicopter or drone can be configured as a device to communicate with another base station.

[0107] In some deployments, the network devices mentioned in the embodiments of this application may be devices including CU, or DU, or devices including CU and DU, or devices with control plane CU nodes (central unit-control plane (CU-CP)) and user plane CU nodes (central unit-user plane (CU-UP)) and DU nodes.

[0108] In some deployments, multiple RAN nodes collaborate to assist terminal devices in achieving wireless access, with different RAN nodes each implementing some of the base station's functions. For example, RAN nodes can be CUs, DUs, CU-CPs, CU-UPs, or radio units (RUs). CUs and DUs can be configured separately or included in the same network element, such as a BBU. RUs can be included in radio equipment or radio units, such as RRUs, AAUs, or RRHs.

[0109] 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, a radio access network can also be an open radio access network (O-RAN or ORAN) architecture. In an O-RAN system, CU can also be called an open CU (open CU, O-CU), DU can also be called an open DU (open DU, O-DU), CU-CP can also be called an open CU-CP (O-CU-CP), CU-UP can also be called an open CU-UP (O-CU-UP), and RU can also be called an open RU (open RU, O-RU). Any of the units among CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU, and RU in this application can be implemented through software modules, hardware modules, or a combination of software modules and hardware modules.

[0110] In this embodiment, the device for implementing the functions of a network device can be a network device itself, or a device capable of supporting the network device in implementing those functions, such as a chip system, chip, circuit, or communication module (i.e., a communication module that performs communication functions). This device can be installed within the network device. In this embodiment, the chip system can be composed of chips, or it can include chips and other discrete devices. Furthermore, the device can be configured with program instructions for performing corresponding communication functions. This embodiment only uses a network device as an example to illustrate the device for implementing the functions of a network device, and does not limit the solution of this embodiment.

[0111] Network devices and terminal devices can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; they can also be deployed on water; and they can also be deployed in the air on airplanes, balloons, and satellites. This application does not limit the scenario in which the network devices and terminal devices are located.

[0112] Referring to Figure 1, as an example, Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system applicable to an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 1, the wireless communication system includes a wireless access network 100. The wireless access network 100 may be a next-generation (e.g., future or higher version) wireless access network or a traditional (e.g., 5G, 4G, 3G, or 2G) wireless access network. One or more terminal devices (120a-120j, collectively referred to as 120) may be interconnected or connected to one or more network devices (110a, 110b, collectively referred to as 110) in the wireless access network 100. Network elements in the wireless communication system are connected through interfaces (e.g., NG, Xn) or air interfaces.

[0113] When network devices and terminal devices communicate, the network device can manage one or more cells, and a cell can include at least one terminal device. A cell can be understood as an area within the wireless signal coverage range of the network device.

[0114] Figure 1 is just a schematic diagram. The wireless communication system may also include other devices, such as core network devices, wireless relay devices and / or wireless backhaul devices, which are not shown in Figure 1.

[0115] To facilitate a better understanding of the technical solutions of this application, some terms or concepts involved in the technical solutions of this application are introduced. The terms or concepts introduced below are merely illustrative examples for ease of understanding and do not limit the scope of protection of the embodiments of this application.

[0116] 1. Wake-up circuit: Also known as a wake-up receiver / radio (WUR), low-power wake-up receiver (LP-WUR), or wake-up module, it can be understood as a single, low-power small circuit, such as the circuit used by a terminal device in the idle state. This low-power small circuit can be implemented using a simple, single small circuit or chip with low power consumption. It is understood that the term "wake-up circuit" is merely a designation for differentiation, and its specific naming does not limit the scope of protection of this application. For example, without loss of generality, a wake-up circuit can also be described as a first circuit (or first module). The following description will uniformly refer to it as a wake-up circuit.

[0117] The signal received by the terminal device through the wake-up circuit can be referred to as being transmitted on the wake-up link. The wake-up link represents a connection relationship between the terminal device and the network device; it is a logical concept, not a physical entity. It is understood that the term "wake-up link" is merely a designation for differentiation, and its specific naming does not limit the scope of protection of this application. For example, without loss of generality, a wake-up link can also be described as a first link. Hereinafter, it will be uniformly referred to as a wake-up link.

[0118] The signals received by the terminal device using the wake-up circuit may include, but are not limited to: a wake-up signal (WUS) (or low-power wake-up signal (LP-WUS)) and a low-power synchronization signal (LP-SS). It is understood that the terms "wake-up signal" and "low-power synchronization signal" are merely designations for distinction, and their specific names do not limit the scope of protection of this application. For example, without loss of generality, the wake-up signal may also be referred to as a signal.

[0119] 2. Main Circuit: Also known as the main receiver (MR) or main module, this can be understood as the circuit used by the terminal device during normal data transmission, or the circuit used by the terminal device during data transmission in the connected state. For example, the circuit or module used by the terminal device when performing the paging process in the idle or inactive state, or the circuit or module used by the terminal device when transmitting and receiving data in the connected state, can all be considered main circuits or main modules. Terminal devices consume significant power when transmitting data through the main circuit. It is understood that the term "main circuit" is merely a designation for differentiation and does not limit the scope of protection of this application. For example, without loss of generality, the main circuit can also be described as a second circuit (or second module). The following text will uniformly describe it as a main circuit.

[0120] Signals received by a terminal device through the main circuit can be referred to as being transmitted on the main link. The main link represents a connection between the terminal device and the network device; it is a logical concept, not a physical entity. It is understood that the term "main link" is merely a designation for distinction, and its specific naming does not limit the scope of protection of this application. For example, without loss of generality, the main link can also be described as a second link. The following text will uniformly refer to it as the main link.

[0121] In the following text, for the sake of distinction, the signals transmitted by the main circuit of the terminal device will be referred to as data signals.

[0122] Referring to Figure 2, as an example, Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the main circuit and the wake-up circuit.

[0123] As shown in Figure 2, the terminal device can receive (or detect, or monitor) a wake-up signal through a wake-up circuit, and can receive data signals through the main circuit. Assume the terminal device receives the wake-up signal through the wake-up circuit. If the terminal device does not detect the wake-up signal, it continues to receive it through the wake-up circuit, and the main circuit can be in a closed state (or sleep state). If the terminal device detects the wake-up signal, it triggers the main circuit to wake up, that is, it puts the main circuit into / switches to an open state (or working state, or active state). After the main circuit is turned on, the terminal device can transmit data signals through the main circuit.

[0124] As an example, when the terminal device is in idle or inactive state, the wake-up signal can be used to carry paging-related information. When the terminal device is in connected state, the wake-up signal can be used to carry scheduling-related information, such as indicating whether the terminal device needs to activate the main circuit to receive scheduling information (e.g., whether it needs to monitor the PDCCH).

[0125] 3. On-Off-Key (OOK) Modulation: This modulates information based on whether a signal is transmitted or not. The corresponding wake-up circuit can use envelope detection to receive the signal. OOK modulation technology can be demodulated using a low-complexity receiver, thus achieving the low-power goal of the wake-up circuit. To ensure power efficiency, the wake-up signal can use OOK modulation. It is understood that other modulation methods can also be used for the wake-up signal; there are no restrictions on this.

[0126] When a signal uses OOK modulation, each bit (i.e., the encoded bit) corresponds to a symbol, where the encoding can include Manchester encoding. Equivalently, a symbol can also be called a chip, or other names, without restriction here.

[0127] For example, when a bit is "1", a signal is transmitted within the symbol length (i.e., the signal transmission power within that symbol length is not 0); when a bit is "0", no signal is transmitted within the symbol length (i.e., the signal transmission power within that symbol length is 0). Alternatively, it can be understood that in OOK modulation, transmitting energy represents "1", and not transmitting energy represents "0".

[0128] For example, when the bit is "0", a signal is transmitted within the symbol length (i.e., the signal transmission power within that symbol length is not 0); when the bit is "1", no signal is transmitted within the symbol length (i.e., the signal transmission power within that symbol length is 0). Alternatively, it can be understood that in OOK modulation, transmitting energy represents "0", and not transmitting energy represents "1".

[0129] For ease of description, the following text will primarily use the example of a signal being emitted within the symbol length when the bit is "1" and no signal being emitted within the symbol length when the bit is "0" as an example for illustration.

[0130] Furthermore, for ease of description, if a symbol emits a signal, it is denoted as an ON symbol; if a symbol emits no signal, it is denoted as an OFF symbol. Taking the example that when a bit is "1", a signal is emitted within the length of the symbol; and when a bit is "0", no signal is emitted within the length of the symbol, the ON symbol represents an information bit of "1", and the OFF symbol represents an information bit of "0". The ON symbol can also be called an ON signal, and the OFF symbol can also be called an OFF signal; for consistency, the ON and OFF symbols will be used in the following description.

[0131] In this context, the signal amplitude of the ON symbol is greater than or equal to a threshold (e.g., threshold #A), and the signal amplitude of the OFF symbol is less than or equal to a threshold (e.g., threshold #B); or, the signal amplitude of the ON symbol is greater than the signal amplitude of the OFF symbol; or, within a preset time period, the signal amplitude of the ON symbol is greater than the signal amplitude of the OFF symbol; or, within a preset time period, the signal power of the ON symbol is greater than the signal power of the OFF symbol; or, within a preset time period, the signal power of the ON symbol is greater than or equal to threshold #A, and the signal power of the OFF symbol is less than or equal to threshold #B; or, within a preset time period, the signal power of the ON symbol is greater than or equal to threshold #A. The signal power of the ON symbol is equal to threshold #A, and the signal power of the OFF symbol is less than or equal to threshold #B; or the signal level of the ON symbol is greater than the signal level of the OFF symbol; or, within a preset time period, the signal level of the ON symbol is greater than the signal level of the OFF symbol; or the signal level of the ON symbol is greater than or equal to threshold #A, and the signal level of the OFF symbol is less than or equal to threshold #B; or, within a preset time period, the signal level of the ON symbol is greater than or equal to threshold #A, and the signal level of the OFF symbol is less than or equal to threshold #B; or, the ON symbol indicates (or corresponds to, or represents) the first bit value, and the OFF symbol indicates (or corresponds to, or represents) the second bit value. The first bit value and the second bit value are different. For example, the first bit value is "1", and the second bit value is "0".

[0132] Furthermore, the OOK symbol mentioned below refers to a symbol obtained by OOK modulation. An OOK symbol can be either an ON symbol or an OFF symbol. For example, if the information bit is "1", the OOK symbol obtained by OOK modulation is an ON symbol; if the information bit is "0", the OOK symbol obtained by OOK modulation is an OFF symbol. The OOK symbol can also be called an OOK signal; for consistency, it will be described as an OOK symbol below.

[0133] Referring to Figure 3, as an example, Figure 3 is a waveform diagram of a signal using OOK modulation.

[0134] As an example, suppose that when the bit is "1", a signal is transmitted within the length of the OOK symbol; when the bit is "0", no signal is transmitted within the length of the OOK symbol. Therefore, the waveform shown in Figure 3 can represent the four bits "0100", that is, the first is the OFF symbol, the second is the ON symbol, and the third and fourth are both OFF symbols. As shown in Figure 3, communication systems generally use a certain frequency to transmit, and the transmitted signal needs to be modulated onto the carrier wave. At the receiving end, the receiver detects the envelope (or energy) of the received signal to determine whether the OOK symbol corresponds to a bit "0" or a bit "1", thereby completing demodulation.

[0135] After a signal passes through a channel, it may be distorted due to factors such as channel conditions. Therefore, to determine whether the signal corresponds to a bit "0" or a bit "1", the receiver can compare the received signal level with a threshold. For example, if the received signal level is greater than the threshold, it means the signal corresponds to a bit "1"; if the received signal level is less than the threshold, it means the signal corresponds to a bit "0". However, setting the threshold is difficult. For instance, an inappropriate threshold selection may lead to demodulation errors. To solve this problem, one possible approach is to use Manchester encoding.

[0136] 4. Manchester encoding: This is a biphase encoding method that uses high-low level switching to represent bits "0" or "1". For example, Manchester encoding can encode a raw bit "0" as bit "10" and a raw bit "1" as bit "01". To distinguish them, the encoded bits, such as bits "10" and "01", are called encoded bits. When transmitting a signal, the transmitter can use two OOK symbols to send one bit of original information. If the raw bit "0" is encoded as bit "10" and the raw bit "1" is encoded as bit "01", then the raw bit "0" corresponds to one ON symbol followed by one OFF symbol, and the raw bit "1" corresponds to one OFF symbol followed by one ON symbol. When the receiver demodulates the Manchester encoded signal, it can compare the relative magnitudes of the signal power (or signal amplitude) within two adjacent OOK symbols. If the signal power (or signal amplitude) in the preceding OOK symbol is greater than the signal power (or signal amplitude) in the following OOK symbol, the received information bit is considered to be "0"; otherwise, it is considered to be "1". This method avoids using an absolute threshold for decision-making.

[0137] It is understood that the above example of encoding a raw bit "0" as bit "10" and a raw bit "1" as bit "01" is for illustrative purposes only and is not intended to be limiting. For example, a raw bit "0" can be encoded as bit "01" and a raw bit "1" can be encoded as bit "10".

[0138] As an example, a signal can be generated based on an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) transmitter, that is, an OFDM transmitter can be used to modulate the signal.

[0139] One possible approach is to transmit an OOK symbol within the length of an OFDM symbol, or in other words, an OOK symbol occupies one OFDM symbol. For example, to transmit an ON symbol within the length of an OOK symbol, the transmitter can send a specific signal whose contour within the OOK symbol length is as square as possible; to transmit an OFF symbol within the length of an OOK symbol, the transmitter can turn off the signal for the length of an OOK symbol.

[0140] Referring to Figure 4, as an example, Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the waveform of a signal after Manchester encoding. As shown in Figure 4, the original bits are "0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0". Assuming that the original bit "0" is encoded as "10" and the original bit "1" is encoded as "01", then the encoded bits after Manchester encoding are "10 10 01 10 10 01 10 01 01 10", as shown in Figure 4. The time length corresponding to each encoded bit can be considered as the length of one OFDM symbol, that is, one OOK symbol is transmitted within the length of one OFDM symbol, or one OOK symbol occupies one OFDM symbol. When demodulating the signal, the receiver can compare the relative magnitudes of the signal power (or signal amplitude) within two adjacent OOK symbols, and determine the demodulated information bits based on the comparison results.

[0141] In the above method, one OOK symbol is transmitted within the length of one OFDM symbol. This method is simple, but it also supports a relatively low data rate. This is because, regardless of the signal bandwidth, only one OOK symbol is transmitted within the length of one OFDM symbol. If the system uses a sub-carrier space (SCS) of 30 GHz (kHz), a slot length of 0.5 ms, and one slot contains 14 OFDM symbols, assuming no coding is used and each OOK symbol carries 1 bit of information, then the maximum supported data rate is 1 / 0.5 × 14 × 1000 = 28 kbps.

[0142] To increase the data rate of OOK symbols, one possible approach is to shorten the length of the OOK symbols, that is, to transmit at least two OOK symbols within the length of one OFDM symbol, or in other words, to have at least two OOK symbols occupy one OFDM symbol.

[0143] Referring to Figure 5, as an example, Figure 5 is another schematic diagram of the waveform after the signal is encoded using Manchester encoding. As shown in Figure 5, the original bits are "0 0 0 1". Assuming that the original bit "0" is encoded as "10" and the original bit "1" is encoded as "01", then the encoded bits after Manchester encoding are "10 10 10 10 01", as shown in Figure 5. Within one OFDM symbol length (2192 sampling points in Figure 5), eight OOK symbols are transmitted: ON symbol-OFF symbol-ON symbol-OFF symbol-ON symbol-OFF symbol-OFF symbol-ON symbol. When demodulating the signal, the receiver can compare the relative magnitudes of the signal power (or signal amplitude) of two adjacent OOK symbols, and determine the demodulated information bits based on the comparison results.

[0144] To generate the above waveform, one possible approach is to first determine the target waveform x in the time domain, and then perform some operations, such as discrete fourier transformation (DFT) and inverse fast fourier transform (IFFT), to obtain the sequence to be sent.

[0145] Referring to Figures 6 and 7, as examples, Figures 6 and 7 are schematic diagrams of the OOK symbol in the time and frequency domains. As shown in Figure 6, assuming we want to generate an "ON symbol - OFF symbol - ON symbol - OFF symbol" waveform, the target waveform can be set to: x = [1,1,…,1,0,0,…,0,1,1,…,1,0,0,…,0], or, That is, the amplitude of part of the ON symbol is 1, and the phase of part of the ON symbol can be inconsistent, as shown in Figure 6. As shown in Figure 7, a DFT can be performed on x to obtain the frequency domain sequence y corresponding to x; then y is mapped to a frequency resource (such as the frequency resource corresponding to the wake-up signal); then an IFFT is performed on the frequency domain signal; and a cyclic prefix (CP) is added to the signal after the IFFT to obtain the sequence to be transmitted x' (see the curve in Figure 6). As can be seen from Figure 6, x and x' have similar shapes, so at least two OOK symbols can be transmitted within the length of one OFDM symbol.

[0146] For the receiving end, one possible implementation is to use envelope detection or energy detection to receive the signal. For example, the signal received by the receiver (for distinction, it is called an OOK receiver) first passes through a matching network and a radio frequency (RF) filter to filter out out-of-band noise / interference; then, the spectrum is shifted to baseband (BB) by a mixer, and further filtered out out-of-band noise / interference by a baseband filter; then, envelope detection / energy detection is performed on the signal (at this time, the value of the baseband signal is mathematically represented as a real number, with only amplitude and no phase). Specifically, the OOK receiver can determine whether the received signal is ON or OFF by detecting the energy level in different time ranges, and then perform subsequent processing.

[0147] To further improve demodulation performance, a more advanced receiver can be considered, such as a receiver with both in-phase (I) and quadrature (Q) paths (referred to as an OFDM receiver for distinction).

[0148] One possible implementation involves the OFDM receiver receiving a signal that first passes through a matching network and an RF filter to remove out-of-band noise / interference. Then, a mixer shifts the spectrum to baseband. During this shift, two branches, I and Q (corresponding to a phase difference of pi / 2), are distinguished. The signals on each branch are further filtered by a baseband filter to remove out-of-band noise / interference. The two signals are then combined, at which point the baseband signal is mathematically represented as a complex number, possessing both amplitude and phase. Further processing is then performed on the baseband signal.

[0149] When receiving the aforementioned OOK symbol using an OFDM receiver, the OFDM receiver's ability to detect signal phase allows it to further detect the sequence information within the ON symbol of the OOK symbol. For example, if the OFDM receiver knows in advance (e.g., predefined by the protocol, or pre-configured parameters by the network device for the terminal device), it can generate a local sequence based on this sequence. By correlating the received signal with the local sequence, it can mitigate the impact of unfiltered noise (such as in-band noise) and / or interference, thereby improving demodulation performance. Alternatively, if there may be multiple sequences generating the ON symbol, the OFDM receiver can identify which sequence is being transmitted, thus obtaining more information. For example, assuming there may be four sequences generating the ON symbol, each corresponding to the information {00, 01, 10, 11}, the OFDM receiver can obtain an additional 2 bits of information by detecting which sequence is being used. This can increase the data rate carried by the wake-up signal. The method described above, which "allows the OFDM receiver to know the sequence information used to generate the OOK symbol, thereby improving demodulation performance and / or increasing the data rate," can be called sequence on top of OOK or overlaid sequence over OOK.

[0150] 5. Wake-up Signal Monitoring: In connected mode, before the terminal device begins monitoring the wake-up signal, the network device configures the relevant parameters of the wake-up signal. These parameters may include at least one of the following: the time-domain monitoring location of the wake-up signal (e.g., monitoring occasion (MO)), the frequency-domain resource location of the wake-up signal, the signal length of the wake-up signal, and the format of the wake-up signal. The time-domain monitoring location of the wake-up signal refers to the time-domain resource location for monitoring the wake-up signal, such as the wake-up signal occasion or low-power wake-up signal occasion (LP-WUS occasion, LO). An LO may include one or more MOs; that is, the time-domain monitoring location of the wake-up signal may include one or more MOs. An MO can also be called a wake-up signal MO (LP-WUS MO). An MO can be the basic time unit (or time-domain unit) for the wake-up circuit to operate. A wake-up signal may occupy one or more MOs. MO and OFDM symbol are similar concepts; that is, an MO is a unit (e.g., the smallest unit) of time-domain resource scheduling, meaning that one time unit (or time-domain unit) can be one MO. As an example, an MO may include one or more OOK symbols, or an MO may include one or more OFDM symbols, etc.

[0151] 6. BWP: A portion of the system bandwidth. System bandwidth can refer to the bandwidth of a single carrier wave. System bandwidth can be very large, such as 100MHz or 200MHz. Some terminal devices cannot support such a large system bandwidth. Therefore, network devices can configure a portion of the system bandwidth for terminal devices (i.e., configure BWP for the terminal devices), such as 20MHz. The terminal devices can then communicate with the network devices on 20MHz.

[0152] Network Controllers (BWPs) can be divided into downlink BWPs (DL BWPs) and uplink BWPs (UL BWPs). UL BWPs are used to transmit signals from the terminal device to the network device; in other words, the terminal device can send signals (or uplink signals) on a UL BWP. Downlink BWPs are used to transmit signals from the network device to the terminal device; in other words, the terminal device can receive signals from the network device (or downlink signals) on a DL BWP.

[0153] In this application embodiment, the terms activated BWP, default BWP, and non-default BWP are mentioned, and will be explained uniformly here.

[0154] 1) Active BWP: Also known as the currently active BWP or the active BWP. As mentioned in the background, a network device can configure multiple DL BWPs and multiple UL BWPs for an end device. For example, in connected mode, a network device can configure up to four BWPs for an end device. At any given time, the end device typically operates on one of these BWPs, which can be called the active BWP. For instance, a network device can configure up to four DL BWPs for an end device, and the end device operates on one of these four DL BWPs; this DL BWP is the active DL BWP mentioned earlier.

[0155] 2) Default BWP: This is the BWP used by the terminal device when it falls back to (or switches to) a lower bandwidth. The default BWP is typically a smaller bandwidth portion configured by the network device to save power. The default BWP is generally smaller than the bandwidth of the active BWP. A network device can configure a default BWP for a terminal device.

[0156] 3) Non-default BWP: This is relative to the default BWP. In other words, the BWP configured on network devices other than the default BWP can be called a non-default BWP.

[0157] Terminal devices can switch between BWPs, a process known as BWP switching or BWP change. BWP switching means that the terminal device can switch from one BWP to another, or in other words, switch from receiving / transmitting signals within one BWP to receiving / transmitting signals within another BWP. Currently, there are three main methods for BWP switching.

[0158] One approach is to perform handover based on DCI indications. For example, a terminal device receives signaling (such as DCI) from a network device, which instructs the terminal device to switch from one BWP to another. In other words, the signaling instructs the terminal device to perform a BWP handover, and the terminal device performs the BWP handover according to the received signaling.

[0159] Another approach is to perform handover based on RRC reconfiguration. For example, a terminal device receives RRC signaling from a network device, which instructs the terminal device to switch from one BWP to another. In other words, the RRC signaling instructs the terminal device to perform a BWP handover. Upon receiving the RRC signaling, the terminal device performs the BWP handover.

[0160] Another approach is to fallback to the default BWP based on a timer. Specifically, the network device can configure a BWP inactivity timer for the terminal device. When this timer is running, if the restart condition is not met, the terminal device can decrement the value of the BWP inactivity timer at the end of each subframe (frequency range (FR) 1) or at the end of each half-frame (FR2). If the restart condition is met, the terminal device can restart the BWP inactivity timer. When the BWP inactivity timer times out (i.e., decrements to 0), the terminal device can switch to the default BWP. This switching takes a certain amount of time, which can be called the BWP switching delay. During the BWP switching delay, the terminal device can not transmit or receive signals. Here, FR1 represents the low-frequency band; for example, the frequency range corresponding to FR1 can be 450MHz to 6000MHz. FR2: Millimeter wave high-frequency band with abundant spectrum resources. As an example, the frequency range corresponding to FR2 can be 24250MHz to 52600MHz.

[0161] In connected mode, network devices can configure the frequency domain location of the wake-up signal for terminal devices. This raises the question of whether the wake-up signal's frequency domain location should be configured within or outside the active BWP (i.e., within the default BWP). If the wake-up signal's frequency domain location can be configured either way, another problem arises: not all terminal devices support this feature. That is, some terminal devices may only support configuring the wake-up signal's frequency domain location within the active BWP. For such terminal devices, if they switch to the default BWP, and the default BWP does not contain (partially or entirely) the wake-up signal's resources, the wake-up signal cannot be monitored on the default BWP, thus preventing energy saving.

[0162] In view of this, this application proposes some solutions to address the aforementioned technical problems. These are described in detail below with reference to Figures 8 to 15.

[0163] The methods provided by the embodiments of this application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The embodiments provided by this application can be applied to the scenarios shown in the above figures and are not limited thereto. Furthermore, the terms used below are as explained above and will not be repeated hereafter. For ease of description, terminal devices and network devices are used as examples for illustrative purposes. The terminal device can be replaced by components of the terminal device (e.g., a chip, chip system, circuit, or communication module), and the network device can be replaced by components of the network device (e.g., a chip, chip system, circuit, or communication module). Furthermore, the steps described below as being performed by a single execution entity can also be divided into steps performed by multiple execution entities, which can be logically and / or physically separated.

[0164] Referring to Figure 8, as an example, Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of a communication method 800 provided in an embodiment of this application. The method 800 shown in Figure 8 may include the following steps.

[0165] S810, terminal device monitors wake-up signals.

[0166] For example, the terminal device monitors the wake-up signal within the first BWP, which is a non-default BWP.

[0167] The wake-up signal is used to wake up the terminal device. The wake-up signal can be used to wake up at least one terminal device; or, the wake-up signal can be used to wake up at least one group of terminal devices, each group including at least one terminal device; this is not limited. Taking the wake-up signal as an example, after receiving the wake-up signal, the terminal device can trigger the wake-up of the main circuit, that is, put the main circuit into / switch to an on state (or working state, or active state). After the main circuit is turned on, the terminal device can transmit signals through the main circuit. In the following embodiments, the wake-up of the terminal device's main circuit is used as an example. It can be understood that "the main circuit of the terminal device is woken up" or "the main circuit is awakened" can also be replaced with "the terminal device is woken up".

[0168] Optionally, prior to S810, method 800 further includes S801: the terminal device receives first information. Accordingly, the network device sends the first information.

[0169] The first information is used to configure the wake-up signal. Specifically, in connected mode, before the terminal device begins monitoring the wake-up signal, the network device first configures the relevant parameters of the wake-up signal; that is, the first information indicates the relevant parameters of the wake-up signal. The relevant parameters of the wake-up signal are described in the preceding terminology explanation section and will not be repeated here. As an example, the first information carries at least one of the following: RRC signaling, DCI, and MAC signaling (such as MAC CE), meaning the network device can configure the relevant parameters of the wake-up signal through at least one of the above signaling methods.

[0170] The following describes two possible scenarios.

[0171] Scenario #1: The BWP timer times out before the terminal device detects the wake-up signal.

[0172] In this case, method 800 further includes S820. In S820, the terminal device continues to monitor the wake-up signal within the first BWP. That is, if the BWP timer times out before the terminal device detects the wake-up signal, the terminal device continues to monitor the wake-up signal within the first BWP.

[0173] Specifically, if the BWP timer times out during the process of the terminal device monitoring the wake-up signal and the terminal device has not yet detected the wake-up signal, the terminal device can continue to monitor the wake-up signal within the first BWP.

[0174] The BWP timer, also known as the BWP inactivity timer, as described above, is used to manage BWP switching. Its purpose is to trigger a fallback (or switch to) of the default BWP after the terminal device stops data transmission, thereby reducing power consumption and optimizing resource utilization. Specifically, the BWP timer starts after the terminal device completes its last data transmission on the active BWP (such as the first BWP). If no new data transmission occurs before the BWP timer expires, the terminal device automatically switches to the default BWP (such as the second BWP). If data transmission occurs during the BWP timer's expiration period, the BWP timer resets and restarts its countdown. For details, please refer to the relevant descriptions in the preceding sections and the protocol; they will not be repeated here.

[0175] Optionally, after the BWP timer expires, the terminal device can switch from the first BWP to the second BWP. The second BWP is the default BWP. The effective time of the BWP switch will be explained in detail later.

[0176] Optionally, method 800 prior to S820 also includes S802: the terminal device receives the second information. Accordingly, the network device sends the second information.

[0177] The second information is used to configure the BWP timer. Specifically, the network device can send the second information to the terminal device, which includes relevant parameters of the BWP timer.

[0178] As an example, the relevant parameters of the BWP timer include at least one of the following: the duration of the BWP timer, the BWP associated with the BWP timer, etc. The duration of the BWP timer can be in milliseconds (ms) or symbols, and its value range can be, for example, from 1ms to several seconds (e.g., 1ms to 2560ms). The BWP associated with the BWP timer represents the non-default BWP and / or the default BWP that is associated with it. As an example, the second information is carried in at least one of the following: RRC signaling, DCI, MAC signaling (such as MAC CE), that is, the network device can configure the relevant parameters of the BWP timer through at least one of the above signaling. The first and second information can be carried in one signaling or in different signaling; this is not limited.

[0179] In addition, method 800 also includes S830, whereby the terminal device operates on the second BWP after detecting the wake-up signal.

[0180] Specifically, it operates on the second BWP, meaning the terminal device sends and / or receives signals on the second BWP.

[0181] One possible implementation is that after the terminal device detects the wake-up signal, it monitors the PDCCH within the second BWP. Based on this, the operation of S830 on the second BWP can be replaced by: monitoring the PDCCH within the second BWP. However, monitoring the PDCCH within the second BWP is not limited to monitoring the PDCCH at all frequency domain locations within the second BWP. Rather, it refers to the terminal device monitoring the PDCCH at certain frequency domain locations within the second BWP, such as partial or all frequency domain resources within the second BWP.

[0182] Scenario #2: After the terminal device detects the wake-up signal, the BWP timer times out.

[0183] For example, the BWP timer times out before the terminal device detects a wake-up signal and before the terminal device's main circuit is woken up. Let D represent the BWP timer timeout. In this scenario, D can be later than or equal to A, and earlier than or equal to (A+B), where A represents the time when the wake-up signal is detected, and B represents the wake-up delay. The wake-up delay will be explained in detail later.

[0184] In this scenario, method 800 includes S830, which means the terminal device operates on the second BWP. Specifically, if the terminal device detects a wake-up signal, and the main circuit of the terminal device is woken up, and the BWP switches from the first BWP to the second BWP, then the terminal device operates on the second BWP.

[0185] Optionally, the start time of operation on the second BWP is related to the wake-up latency and / or BWP switching latency. The meanings of these parameters are explained below.

[0186] 1) Start time of operation on the second BWP: This indicates the start time at which communication can be performed on the second BWP. In the embodiments of this application, the start time of operation on the second BWP can also be replaced by any of the following: the completion time of BWP handover, the effective time of BWP handover, the time when monitoring PDCCH on the second BWP begins, and the time when receiving and / or transmitting signals on the second BWP begins.

[0187] 2) Wake-up delay: This represents the time required from detecting a wake-up signal to the terminal device being woken up. For example, wake-up delay includes the time interval between the terminal device detecting the wake-up signal and the main circuit being woken up. This application's embodiments are not limited to this; for example, wake-up delay may also include the decoding time of the wake-up signal, such as the delay caused by the terminal device decoding the wake-up signal after detecting it. As another example, wake-up delay may also include the time for the terminal device to perform time-frequency synchronization, such as the time for the terminal device's main circuit to perform time-frequency synchronization based on the synchronization signal block (SSB) after being woken up. The magnitude of the wake-up delay mainly depends on the state of the terminal device (e.g., whether the sleep state is deep sleep or light sleep) and / or the processing power of the terminal device, and is not limited thereto.

[0188] 3) BWP switching delay: This represents the time required to switch from the first BWP to the second BWP. For example, the BWP switching delay includes the time required for the terminal device to switch from the frequency resources of the first BWP to the frequency resources of the second BWP, and to stop using the first parameter and start using the second parameter. Here, the first parameter represents the parameter used for communication on the first BWP, and the second parameter represents the parameter used for communication on the second BWP. The BWP switching delay may also include the time for automatic gain control (AGC) adjustment. This application's embodiments are not limited to this. For example, if the terminal device has multiple RF modules, and different RF modules support signal transmission on different BWPs, the BWP switching delay may also include the terminal device turning off (or deactivating, or disabling, or stopping use) the RF module used for signal transmission on the first BWP, and turning on (or activating, or enabling, or starting use) the RF module used for signal transmission on the second BWP. The magnitude of the BWP switching delay mainly depends on the processing capability of the terminal device and is not limited thereto. As an example, the terminal device can determine the BWP switching delay based on Table 1.

[0189] Table 1

[0190] Wherein, Type 1 and Type indicate the processing capability of the terminal device. Taking Table 1 as an example, when the processing capability of the terminal device is Type 1, the numerology for BWP is {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}, and the time slot lengths of BWP are {1ms, 0.5ms, 0.25ms, 0.125ms, 0.03125ms, 0.015625ms}. When the processing capability of the terminal device is Type 1, the BWP switching delay is {1 time slot, 2 time slots, 3 time slots, 6 time slots, 20 time slots, 39 time slots}; when the processing capability of the terminal device is Type 2, the BWP switching delay is {3 time slots, 5 time slots, 9 time slots, 18 time slots, 65 time slots, 129 time slots}.

[0191] Table 1 is only an example, for specific details, reference may be made to the description in the protocol, for example, reference may be made to the relevant description in Table 8.6.2.1 of protocol 38.133. In addition, the embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific value of the BWP switching delay.

[0192] Various parameters are introduced above, and several implementation manners of the start time of operating on the second BWP are provided below. For brevity and distinction, T is used to represent the start time of operating on the second BWP (that is, the effective time of BWP switching), A represents the time when a wake-up signal is detected, B represents the wake-up delay, C represents the BWP switching delay, D represents the time when the BWP timer expires, and B and C are greater than or equal to 0.

[0193] In a first possible implementation manner, T is later than or equal to (A+B+C). For example, T is equal to (A+B+C); for another example, T is later than (A+B+C), which may specifically depend on the implementation of the terminal device, such as when the terminal device intends to transmit a signal.

[0194] Example 1: in the case where A+B < C+D, T is later than or equal to (A+B+C). Based on this, if the BWP timer expires during the process of the terminal device detecting the wake-up signal (for example, the BWP timer expires before the terminal device detects the wake-up signal, and for another example, the BWP expires after the terminal device detects the wake-up signal), and the terminal device does not complete BWP switching before the main circuit is woken up, then the start time of the terminal device operating on the second BWP is later than or equal to (A+B+C).

[0195] Referring to FIG. 9 to FIG. 11, as an example, FIG. 9 to FIG. 11 are schematic diagrams of BWP switching delay and wake-up delay applicable to the embodiments of the present application.

[0196] As shown in Figure 9, the terminal device monitors the wake-up signal (LP-WUS monitoring). After the terminal device detects the wake-up signal, the main circuit is woken up after a wake-up delay. Before the main circuit is woken up, the terminal device has not completed the BWP switching. Therefore, the earliest start time for the terminal device to work on the second BWP is T#1. T#1 is the time after the terminal device detects the wake-up signal, the wake-up delay, and the BWP switching delay, i.e., A+B+C.

[0197] Example 2: In the case of A+B>C+D, T is later than or equal to (A+B). Based on this, if the BWP timer times out during the terminal device's monitoring of the wake-up signal (e.g., the BWP timer times out before the terminal device detects the wake-up signal, or the BWP timer times out after the terminal device detects the wake-up signal), and the terminal device logically completes the BWP switching before the main circuit is woken up, then the start time of the terminal device working on the second BWP is later than or equal to (A+B).

[0198] In the embodiments of this application, the phrase "logically completed BWP handover" is mentioned several times, and a unified explanation is provided here. Logically completed BWP handover means that the conditions for switching from the first BWP to the second BWP have been met, but communication using the second BWP has not yet been (or cannot yet be) initiated. For example, logically completed BWP handover means that the RF module has completed the switch, but communication using the switched RF module has not yet begun. Specifically, as shown in Figure 9, assuming the BWP timer times out at time D, after the BWP handover delay, i.e., time (D+C), it indicates that the BWP handover is logically complete. However, the specific time at which the second BWP is used for communication may depend on other configurations (such as PDCCH configuration).

[0199] As shown in Figure 9, after the terminal device detects the wake-up signal, the main circuit is woken up after a wake-up delay. Before the main circuit is woken up, the terminal device logically completes the BWP switch. Therefore, the earliest start time for the terminal device to work on the second BWP is T#2, which is the wake-up delay time after the terminal device detects the wake-up signal, i.e., A+B.

[0200] The second possible implementation is that T is later than or equal to max{D+C,A+B}.

[0201] Example 1, when A+B>C+D, T is later than or equal to (A+B). For example, T is equal to (A+B); for another example, T is later than (A+B). Based on this, if the BWP timer expires during the terminal device's monitoring of the wake-up signal (for example, the BWP timer expires before the terminal device detects the wake-up signal, and for another example, the BWP timer expires after the terminal device detects the wake-up signal), and the terminal device logically completes BWP switching before the main circuit is woken up, then the start time for the terminal device to work on the second BWP is later than or equal to (A+B).

[0202] For example, as shown in FIG. 9, after detecting the wake-up signal, the terminal device wakes up the main circuit after the wake-up delay, and before the main circuit is woken up, the terminal device logically completes BWP switching, then the earliest start time for the terminal device to work on the second BWP is T#2, where T#2 is the time after the wake-up delay counted from the terminal device detecting the wake-up signal, that is, A+B.

[0203] For another example, as shown in FIG. 10, the terminal device detects the wake-up signal, and the BWP timer expires during the process of waking up the main circuit (or during the process of the main circuit switching from the off state to the on state, or before the terminal device starts monitoring PDCCH), and the terminal device logically completes BWP switching before the main circuit is woken up, then the earliest start time for the terminal device to work on the second BWP is T#3, where T#3 is the time after the wake-up delay counted from the terminal device detecting the wake-up signal, that is, A+B.

[0204] Example 2, when A+B<C+D, T is later than or equal to (C+D). For example, T is equal to (C+D); for another example, T is later than (C+D). Based on this, if the BWP timer expires during the terminal device's monitoring of the wake-up signal (for example, the BWP timer expires before the terminal device detects the wake-up signal, and for another example, the BWP timer expires after the terminal device detects the wake-up signal), and the terminal device does not complete BWP switching before the main circuit is woken up, then the start time for the terminal device to work on the second BWP is later than or equal to (C+D).

[0205] As shown in FIG. 11, the terminal device detects the wake-up signal, and the BWP timer expires during the process of waking up the main circuit (or during the process of the main circuit switching from the off state to the on state, or before the terminal device starts monitoring PDCCH), and the terminal device does not complete BWP switching before the main circuit is woken up, then the earliest start time for the terminal device to work on the second BWP is T#4, where T#4 is the time after the BWP switching delay counted from the expiration of the BWP timer, that is, C+D.

[0206] Optionally, when the BWP activation does not include a wake-up signal, the terminal does not support monitoring the wake-up signal. Specifically, for terminal devices that do not support monitoring the wake-up signal when the wake-up signal does not include a wake-up signal, the start time for working on the second BWP can be determined based on the above-mentioned implementation methods.

[0207] The active BWP does not include the wake-up signal, meaning that the frequency domain resources of the wake-up signal are not included in the active BWP. This can be either completely excluded from the active BWP or not fully included in the active BWP (i.e., the active BWP does not include the complete frequency domain resources of the wake-up signal, or some frequency domain resources are included in the active BWP and some are not).

[0208] It is understood that the above is an illustrative example, and the embodiments of this application can also be applied to scenarios where both the activated BWP and the default BWP contain frequency domain resources with wake-up signals.

[0209] In the above scheme, to enable the terminal device to monitor wake-up signals and thus save energy even on the default BWP, the effective time of BWP switching can be defined, that is, the start time for working on the default BWP can be defined. Specifically, the effective time of BWP switching is related not only to the BWP timer timeout but also to the wake-up latency, such as being related to the wake-up latency itself, or to both the wake-up latency and the BWP switching latency. Thus, after the BWP timer expires, the terminal device does not immediately perform BWP switching and use the switched default BWP for communication. Instead, it switches the BWP only after receiving a wake-up signal (meaning the service has arrived) or after the main circuit is woken up. Considering that there may be no wake-up signal resources in the default BWP, switching the BWP after the terminal is woken up, i.e., the terminal reverts to the default BWP, can achieve continuous energy saving for the terminal.

[0210] Referring to Figure 12, as an example, Figure 12 is a schematic diagram of a communication method 1200 provided in an embodiment of this application. The method 1200 shown in Figure 12 may include the following steps.

[0211] Method 1200 includes S1230. Optionally, method 1200 also includes S1210 and S1220.

[0212] S1210, the terminal device receives the first information. Correspondingly, the network device sends the first information.

[0213] The first information is used to configure the wake-up signal. Regarding the first information, refer to the relevant description in method 800 above; it will not be repeated here. S1220, the terminal device receives the second information. Correspondingly, the network device sends the second information.

[0214] The second piece of information is used to configure the BWP timer, which is used by the terminal device to switch from a non-default BWP to the default BWP. For details regarding the second piece of information and the BWP timer, please refer to the relevant descriptions in Method 800 above; they will not be repeated here.

[0215] S1230, When the terminal device determines that the BWP timer does not run when monitoring the wake-up signal in the first BWP.

[0216] The first BWP is a non-default BWP. In other words, when the terminal device monitors the wake-up signal within a non-default BWP, it determines that the BWP timer is not running, that is, it does not perform a BWP switch.

[0217] Specifically, the terminal device monitors the wake-up signal based on the first piece of information and determines that the BWP timer does not run when the wake-up signal is being monitored. In other words, if the wake-up signal is being monitored, the BWP timer does not run, meaning the BWP timer does not automatically decrement over time. Since the BWP timer does not decrement, it will not time out. Therefore, the BWP timer will not time out when the terminal device monitors the wake-up signal. Because the BWP timer does not time out, the terminal device will not revert to the default BWP, and consequently, the terminal device will not be unable to monitor the wake-up signal on the default BWP.

[0218] The option "BWP timer not running" can be replaced with any of the following: BWP timer not active, BWP timer pending, BWP timer stopped, BWP timer deactivated, BWP timer cancelled, etc.

[0219] Optionally, when the activated BWP does not include a wake-up signal, the terminal does not support monitoring the wake-up signal. Specifically, for terminal devices that do not support monitoring the wake-up signal when the wake-up signal is not included, when monitoring the wake-up signal in a non-default BWP, it is determined that the BWP timer will not run.

[0220] Referring to Figure 13, as an example, Figure 13 is a schematic diagram of a communication method 1300 provided in an embodiment of this application. The method 1300 shown in Figure 13 may include the following steps.

[0221] S1310, If the network device configures a wake-up signal for the terminal device, it determines that a BWP timer will not be configured for the terminal device; or, if the network device configures a BWP timer for the terminal device, it determines that a wake-up signal will not be configured for the terminal device.

[0222] In other words, the terminal device does not expect to be configured with both a wake-up signal and a BWP timer simultaneously; that is, the terminal device will not be configured with both a wake-up signal and a BWP timer at the same time. Based on this, the BWP timer will not time out when the terminal device monitors the wake-up signal. Since the BWP timer will not time out, the terminal device will not revert to the default BWP, and therefore, the situation where the terminal device cannot monitor the wake-up signal on the default BWP will not occur.

[0223] Optionally, method 1300 further includes S1320, in which the network device sends first information or second information to the terminal device.

[0224] The first information is used to configure the wake-up signal, and the second information is used to configure the BWP timer. The BWP timer is used for the terminal device to switch from a non-default BWP to the default BWP. For details regarding the first information, the second information, and the BWP timer, please refer to the relevant descriptions in Method 800 above; they will not be repeated here.

[0225] In one possible scenario, the network device sends first information to the terminal device. Based on this, the terminal device can monitor the wake-up signal based on the first information.

[0226] In another possible scenario, the network device sends a second piece of information to the terminal device. Based on this, the terminal device can determine the working state / mode of the BWP timer. For example, if the terminal device starts the BWP timer after completing the last data transmission on the activated BWP, and there is no new data transmission before the BWP timer expires, the terminal device switches to the default BWP; if there is data transmission during the BWP timer expiration period, the BWP timer is reset and restarts counting.

[0227] As described above, since the network device only configures one of the wake-up signal and BWP timer for the terminal device, it will not send both the first information and the second information to the terminal device. As an exception, for example, after sending the first information (for configuring the wake-up signal), the network device may decide that it needs to configure the BWP timer but not the wake-up signal; or, after sending the second information (for configuring the BWP timer), the network device may decide that it needs to configure the wake-up signal but not the BWP timer; or, as another embodiment, the network device may not make a choice between configuring the wake-up signal and the BWP timer, and may send both the first and second information to the terminal device.

[0228] In this scenario, since the terminal device does not expect to configure both the wake-up signal and the BWP timer simultaneously—that is, the terminal device determines that if the network device configures a wake-up signal for the terminal device, it will not configure a bandwidth-partial BWP timer for the terminal device; or, the terminal device determines that if the network device configures a BWP timer for the terminal device, it will not configure a wake-up signal for the terminal device—if the network device configures both a wake-up signal and a BWP timer for the terminal device, the terminal device can consider the first information and / or the second information invalid. For example, the terminal device can ignore the first and second information. Another example is that the terminal device can consider the second information invalid, meaning it monitors the wake-up signal based on the first information and determines that the BWP timer is not running. Yet another example is that the terminal device can consider the first information invalid, meaning it starts the BWP timer based on the second information and determines that it does not monitor the wake-up signal. Correspondingly, the network device can also consider the first information and / or the second information invalid based on the same rule, ensuring that the terminal device and the network device have the same consensus regarding whether the terminal device starts the BWP timer and / or monitors the wake-up signal.

[0229] Optionally, when BWP activation does not include a wake-up signal, the terminal does not support monitoring the wake-up signal. Specifically, for terminal devices that do not support monitoring the wake-up signal when the wake-up signal is not included, both the wake-up signal and the BWP timer will not be configured simultaneously.

[0230] Referring to Figure 14, as an example, Figure 14 is a schematic diagram of a communication method 1400 provided in an embodiment of this application. The method 1400 shown in Figure 14 may include the following steps.

[0231] S1410, the terminal device receives the first information. Correspondingly, the network device sends the first information.

[0232] The first piece of information is used to configure the wake-up signal. For details regarding the first piece of information, please refer to the relevant description in method 800 above; it will not be repeated here.

[0233] S1420, the terminal device receives the second information. Accordingly, the network device sends the second information.

[0234] The second piece of information is used to configure the BWP timer, which is used by the terminal device to switch from a non-default BWP to the default BWP. For details regarding the second piece of information and the BWP timer, please refer to the relevant descriptions in Method 800 above; they will not be repeated here.

[0235] The following describes several possible scenarios.

[0236] In the first possible scenario, the default BWP (i.e., an example of the second BWP) includes frequency domain resources for monitoring the wake-up signal. Optionally, in this case, method 1400 further includes S1431: the terminal device monitors the wake-up signal based on the first information. Based on this, when the terminal device is configured with a wake-up signal, the frequency domain resources for the wake-up signal can be included in the default BWP; that is, the terminal device does not expect the wake-up signal resources to be excluded from the default BWP. Thus, even if the BWP timer times out and the terminal device reverts to the default BWP when monitoring the wake-up signal, the terminal device can still monitor the wake-up signal within the default BWP. Therefore, this embodiment allows the terminal device to monitor the wake-up signal while simultaneously configuring the BWP timer, and the BWP timer is still running normally and effective, ensuring that the terminal device will not be unable to monitor the wake-up signal due to the BWP timer timeout, thereby achieving energy saving for the terminal device.

[0237] In the second possible scenario, the default BWP (i.e., an example of the second BWP) does not include frequency domain resources for monitoring wake-up signals. In this case, alternatively, method 1400 further includes S1432: the terminal device determines that the first information and / or the second information is invalid. For example, the terminal device may ignore the first and second information. As another example, the terminal device may consider the second information invalid, i.e., the terminal device monitors the wake-up signal based on the first information and determines not to start the BWP timer. As yet another example, the terminal device may consider the first information invalid, i.e., the terminal device manages the BWP timer based on the second information and determines not to monitor the wake-up signal. Regarding the management of the BWP timer, refer to the description in method 1300 above; it will not be repeated here.

[0238] The third possible scenario is that both the default BWP and the non-default BWP (i.e., an example of the first BWP) contain frequency domain resources for the wake-up signal. In this case, the terminal device monitors the wake-up signal in the non-default BWP before switching from the non-default BWP to the default BWP; and monitors the wake-up signal in the default BWP after switching from the non-default BWP to the default BWP.

[0239] Referring to Figure 15, which is a schematic diagram of wake-up signal monitoring applicable to embodiments of this application, as an example, assuming the first BWP is a non-default BWP and the second BWP is the default BWP, the terminal device monitors the wake-up signal within the first BWP before switching from the first BWP to the second BWP; after switching from the first BWP to the second BWP, the terminal device monitors the wake-up signal within the second BWP. During the process of the terminal device switching from the first BWP to the second BWP, i.e., at the shaded area in Figure 15, the terminal device does not monitor the wake-up signal.

[0240] Monitoring the wake-up signal within the first BWP does not mean monitoring the wake-up signal at all frequency domain locations within the first BWP. Rather, it means that the terminal device monitors the wake-up signal at certain frequency domain locations, where the frequency domain location refers to the frequency domain resources occupied by the wake-up signal within the first BWP. For example, the frequency domain location may be part of the frequency domain resources within the first BWP, or it may be all of the frequency domain resources within the first BWP. Similarly, monitoring the wake-up signal within the second BWP does not mean monitoring the wake-up signal at all frequency domain locations within the second BWP.

[0241] Furthermore, the parameters related to the wake-up signal monitored by the terminal device in the first BWP and the parameters related to the wake-up signal monitored by the terminal device in the second BWP can be configured through the same signaling or through different signaling, and there is no limitation on this.

[0242] In one possible implementation, in S1410, the terminal device receives first information indicating first parameters and second parameters. The first parameters are parameters related to the wake-up signal monitored by the terminal device in the first BWP, and the second parameters are parameters related to the wake-up signal monitored by the terminal device in the second BWP. In other words, the network device configures the wake-up signals in the first BWP and the second BWP for the terminal device using the first information.

[0243] In another possible implementation, in S1410, the terminal device receives first information #1 and first information #2. First information #1 indicates a first parameter, and first information #2 indicates a second parameter. The first parameter is a parameter related to the wake-up signal monitored by the terminal device within the first BWP, and the second parameter is a parameter related to the wake-up signal monitored by the terminal device within the second BWP. In other words, the network device configures the wake-up signal within the first BWP for the terminal device using first information #1, and the network device configures the wake-up signal within the second BWP for the terminal device using first information #2.

[0244] It is understood that the phrase "later than or equal to" is mentioned multiple times in the embodiments of this application. Here, it is explained as T being later than or equal to (A+B). T equal to (A+B) means that the BWP (such as the default BWP) starts working from the time (A+B). T being later than (A+B) means that the BWP (such as the default BWP) can (or is able to, or logically can) work at the time (A+B), but the actual position of receiving and / or transmitting signals may be determined based on other configurations (such as PDCCH configuration, etc.), so the actual time of working on the BWP is later than (A+B).

[0245] It is also understood that in the various embodiments of this application, "monitoring" can be used interchangeably with "receiving," "detecting," or "reading." For example, "monitoring wake-up signal" can also be replaced with "receiving wake-up signal," "detecting wake-up signal," or "reading wake-up signal."

[0246] It is also understood that, in the various embodiments of this application, the interaction between a terminal device and a network device is mainly used as an example for illustrative purposes. This application is not limited thereto. The terminal device can be replaced by a receiving device, which can be either a terminal device or a network device; the network device can be replaced by a sending device, which can be either a terminal device or a network device. For example, "terminal device" can be replaced by "first terminal device," and "network device" can be replaced by "second terminal device."

[0247] The methods provided by the embodiments of this application have been described in detail above with reference to Figures 8 to 15. The apparatus provided by the embodiments of this application will be described in detail below with reference to Figures 16 to 18. It should be understood that the descriptions of the apparatus embodiments correspond to the descriptions of the method embodiments; therefore, any content not described in detail can be referred to the method embodiments above, and for the sake of brevity, will not be repeated here.

[0248] Referring to Figure 16, as an example, Figure 16 is a schematic diagram of a communication method 1600 provided in an embodiment of this application. The method 1600 shown in Figure 16 may include the following steps.

[0249] S1610, Terminal device monitors wake-up signal.

[0250] The method for terminal devices to monitor wake-up signals can be found in the relevant description in Method 800 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0251] Optionally, prior to S1610, method 1600 further includes S1601: the terminal device receives first information. Accordingly, the network device sends the first information.

[0252] The first piece of information is used to configure the wake-up signal. For details regarding the first piece of information, please refer to the relevant description in method 800 above; it will not be repeated here.

[0253] The BWP timer times out before the terminal device detects a wake-up signal.

[0254] In this case, method 1600 further includes S1620. In S1620, after the BWP timer expires, the terminal device operates on the second BWP. That is, if the BWP timer expires before the terminal device detects a wake-up signal, the terminal device switches from the first BWP to the second BWP.

[0255] Specifically, it operates on the second BWP, meaning the terminal device sends and / or receives signals on the second BWP.

[0256] One possible implementation is that after the terminal device detects the wake-up signal, it monitors the PDCCH within the second BWP. Based on this, the operation of S830 on the second BWP can be replaced by: monitoring the PDCCH within the second BWP. However, monitoring the PDCCH within the second BWP is not limited to monitoring the PDCCH at all frequency domain locations within the second BWP. Rather, it refers to the terminal device monitoring the PDCCH at certain frequency domain locations within the second BWP, such as partial or all frequency domain resources within the second BWP.

[0257] Optionally, the start time of operation on the second BWP is related to the wake-up latency and / or BWP switching latency.

[0258] For simplicity and clarity, T represents the start time of operation on the second BWP (i.e., the effective time of BWP switching), B represents the wake-up delay, C represents the BWP switching delay, and D represents the BWP timer timeout. For explanations of T, B, C, and D, please refer to the relevant descriptions in Method 800 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0259] One possible implementation is that T is later than or equal to D+max{C,B} (which can also be expressed as max{D+C,D+B}).

[0260] Example 1: When C > B, T is later than or equal to (D + C). For example, T equals (D + C); another example is that T is later than (D + C). Based on this, if the BWP timer times out during the terminal device's monitoring of the wake-up signal (e.g., the BWP timer times out before the terminal device detects the wake-up signal), and the time required for the terminal device to complete the BWP switch is longer than the time required for wake-up, then the start time of the terminal device working on the second BWP is later than or equal to (D + C).

[0261] For example, as shown in Figure 17, during the process of the terminal device monitoring the wake-up signal (before the wake-up signal is detected), if the BWP timer times out, the terminal determines that it needs to switch to the second BWP. At this time, if the time required for the terminal device to complete the BWP switch is longer than the time required to wake up (i.e., C>B), then the earliest start time for the terminal device to work on the second BWP is T#5, where T#5 is the time after the BWP timer times out, after the BWP switch delay, i.e., D+C.

[0262] Example 2, when C < B, T is later than or equal to (D+B). For example, T is equal to (D+B); for another example, T is later than (D+B). Based on this, if the BWP timer expires while the terminal device monitors the wake-up signal (for example, the BWP timer expires before the terminal device detects the wake-up signal), and the time required for the terminal device to complete BWP switching is shorter than the time required for wake-up, the start time for the terminal device to operate on the second BWP is later than or equal to (D+B).

[0263] For example, as shown in FIG. 18, during the process that the terminal device monitors the wake-up signal (before detecting the wake-up signal), the BWP timer expires, and the terminal determines that it needs to switch to operate on the second BWP. At this time, if the time required for the terminal device to complete BWP switching is longer than the time required for wake-up (that is, C < B), the earliest start time for the terminal device to operate on the second BWP is T#6, which is the time after the wake-up delay following the expiration of the BWP timer, that is, D+B.

[0264] In another possible implementation, T is later than or equal to (D+B).

[0265] As an example, when the minimum value of the value range of B is greater than or equal to the maximum value of the value range of C, the terminal device only needs to consider the wake-up delay. For example, also as shown in FIG. 18, the earliest start time for the terminal device to operate on the second BWP is T#6, which is the time after the wake-up delay following the expiration of the BWP timer, that is, D+B.

[0266] Optionally, before S1620, method 1600 further comprises S1602: the terminal device receives second information. Correspondingly, the network device sends the second information.

[0267] Optionally, when the activated BWP does not include the wake-up signal, the terminal does not support monitoring the wake-up signal. Specifically, for a terminal device that does not support monitoring the wake-up signal when the activated BWP does not include the wake-up signal, the start time for operating on the second BWP can be determined based on the foregoing implementation manners.

[0268] Wherein, that the activated BWP does not include the wake-up signal means that the frequency domain resource of the wake-up signal is not included in the activated BWP, for example, the frequency domain resource of the wake-up signal is completely not included in the activated BWP, for another example, the frequency domain resource of the wake-up signal is not completely included in the activated BWP (that is, the complete frequency domain resource of the wake-up signal is not included in the activated BWP, that is, part of the frequency domain resource is included in the activated BWP and part of the frequency domain resource is not included in the activated BWP).

[0269] In the above scheme, to ensure sufficient processing time before the terminal device can operate on the default BWP, a BWP switching effective time can be defined, which is also the start time for operating on the default BWP. Specifically, the BWP switching effective time is related not only to the BWP timer timeout but also to the wake-up latency, such as being related to the wake-up latency itself, or to both the wake-up latency and the BWP switching latency. Thus, after the BWP timer expires, the terminal device does not immediately use the switched-to-default BWP for communication after the BWP switching latency has elapsed. Instead, it must consider the maximum value of the BWP switching latency and the wake-up latency, and only after the terminal device has completed both the BWP switching and wake-up actions can it operate on the default BWP.

[0270] Referring to Figure 19, as an example, Figure 19 is a schematic diagram of a communication device 1900 provided in an embodiment of this application. The communication device 1900 includes a transceiver unit 1910. The transceiver unit 1910 can be used to implement corresponding communication functions. The transceiver unit 1910 can also be referred to as a communication interface or a communication unit. Optionally, the communication device 1900 further includes a processing unit 1920. The processing unit 1920 can be used to perform processing, such as determining the effective time of BWP handover.

[0271] Optionally, the device 1900 may further include a storage unit for storing instructions and / or data, and the processing unit 1920 may read the instructions and / or data from the storage unit to enable the device to implement the aforementioned method embodiments.

[0272] In a first possible design, the device 1900 can be the terminal device in the aforementioned embodiments, which can implement the steps or processes corresponding to those executed by the terminal device in the above method embodiments. Specifically, the transceiver unit 1910 can be used to perform transceiver-related operations (such as sending and / or receiving data or messages) of the terminal device in the above method embodiments, and the processing unit 1920 can be used to perform processing-related operations of the terminal device in the above method embodiments, or operations other than transceiver (such as operations other than sending and / or receiving data or messages).

[0273] In one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1910 is used to monitor a wake-up signal within the first BWP, the wake-up signal being used to wake up the terminal device; if the BWP timer times out before the wake-up signal is detected, the transceiver unit 1910 is also used to continue monitoring the wake-up signal within the first BWP; after the wake-up signal is detected, the transceiver unit 1910 is also used to monitor the PDCCH within the second BWP, wherein the first BWP is a non-default BWP, the second BWP is a default BWP, and the BWP timer is used to switch from the non-default BWP to the default BWP.

[0274] Another possible implementation is that the transceiver unit 1910 is used to monitor a wake-up signal in the first BWP, the wake-up signal being used to wake up the terminal device; if a wake-up signal is detected and the BWP timer times out, the transceiver unit 1910 is also used to monitor the PDCCH in the second BWP, wherein the start time of monitoring the PDCCH in the second BWP is related to the wake-up delay and the BWP switching delay, or the start time of monitoring the PDCCH in the second BWP is related to the BWP switching delay, the first BWP is a non-default BWP, the second BWP is a default BWP, and the BWP timer is used to switch from the non-default BWP to the default BWP.

[0275] Another possible implementation is that the processing unit 1920 is used to determine that when a wake-up signal is monitored in the first BWP, the BWP timer does not run, wherein the first BWP is a non-default BWP, and the BWP timer is used to switch from the non-default BWP to the default BWP.

[0276] Another possible implementation is that the processing unit 1920 is used to determine whether the network device configures a wake-up signal for the terminal device and does not configure a BWP timer for the terminal device; or whether the network device configures a BWP timer for the terminal device and does not configure a wake-up signal for the terminal device, wherein the wake-up signal is used to wake up the terminal device and the BWP timer is used to switch from the non-default BWP to the default BWP.

[0277] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1910 is configured to receive first information, which is used to configure a wake-up signal; the transceiver unit 1910 is also configured to receive second information, which is used to configure a BWP timer; the processing unit 1920 is configured to monitor the wake-up signal based on the first information and determine not to start the BWP timer; or, to start the BWP timer based on the second information and determine not to monitor the wake-up signal.

[0278] Another possible implementation is as follows: Transceiver unit 1910 is used to receive first information, which is used to configure a wake-up signal; transceiver unit 1910 is also used to receive second information, which is used to configure a BWP timer, which is used to switch from a non-default BWP to a default BWP; if the second BWP includes frequency domain resources for monitoring the wake-up signal, then transceiver unit 1910 is used to monitor the wake-up signal based on the first information, and processing unit 1920 is used to start the BWP timer based on the second information; or, if the second BWP does not include frequency domain resources for monitoring the wake-up signal, then processing unit 1920 is used to monitor the wake-up signal based on the first information and determine not to start the BWP timer, or, then processing unit 1920 is used to start the BWP timer based on the second information and determine not to monitor the wake-up signal; wherein, the second BWP is the default BWP.

[0279] In a second possible design, the device 1900 can be a network device as described in the foregoing embodiments. This device 1900 can implement the steps or processes performed by the network device corresponding to those described in the method embodiments above. Specifically, the transceiver unit 1910 can be used to perform transceiver-related operations (such as sending and / or receiving data or messages) of the network device described in the method embodiments above, and the processing unit 1920 can be used to perform processing-related operations of the network device described in the method embodiments above, or operations other than transceiver operations (such as operations other than sending and / or receiving data or messages).

[0280] One possible implementation is that the processing unit 1920 is configured not to configure a BWP timer for the terminal device if a wake-up signal is configured for the terminal device, or not to configure a wake-up signal for the terminal device if a BWP timer is configured for the terminal device, wherein the wake-up signal is used to wake up the terminal device and the BWP timer is used to switch from a non-default BWP to the default BWP.

[0281] It should be understood that the specific process of each unit performing the above-mentioned corresponding steps has been described in detail in the above method embodiments, and will not be repeated here for the sake of brevity.

[0282] It should also be understood that the device 1900 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 device 1900 can be specifically the communication device in the above embodiments, and can be used to execute the various processes and / or steps corresponding to the communication device in the above method embodiments; to avoid repetition, these will not be described again here.

[0283] The apparatus 1900 of each of the above-described schemes has the function of implementing the corresponding steps performed by the communication device (such as a terminal device or a network device) in the above-described methods. The function can be implemented in hardware or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions; for example, the transceiver unit can be replaced by a transceiver (e.g., the transmitting unit in the transceiver unit can be replaced by a transmitter, and the receiving unit in the transceiver unit can be replaced by a receiver), and other units, such as processing units, can be replaced by processors, each performing the transceiver operations and related processing operations in the respective method embodiments.

[0284] In addition, the transceiver unit 1910 may also be a transceiver circuit (for example, it may include a receiving circuit and a transmitting circuit), and the processing unit may be a processing circuit.

[0285] It should be noted that the device in Figure 19 can be the communication device (such as a terminal device or a network device) in the foregoing embodiments, or it can be a chip or a chip system, such as a SoC. The transceiver unit can be an input / output circuit or a communication interface; the processing unit is a processor, microprocessor, or integrated circuit integrated on the chip. No limitations are imposed here.

[0286] Referring to Figure 20, as an example, Figure 20 is a schematic diagram of another communication device 2000 provided in an embodiment of this application. The device 2000 includes a processor 2010, which is coupled to a memory 2020. The memory 2020 is used to store computer programs or instructions and / or data. The processor 2010 is used to execute the computer programs or instructions stored in the memory 2020, or to read the data stored in the memory 2020, in order to execute the methods in the above method embodiments.

[0287] Optionally, there may be one or more processors 2010.

[0288] Optionally, the memory 2020 may be one or more.

[0289] Alternatively, the memory 2020 can be integrated with the processor 2010, or it can be set up separately.

[0290] Optionally, as shown in FIG20, the device 2000 further includes a transceiver 2030 for receiving and / or transmitting signals. For example, the processor 2010 is used to control the transceiver 2030 to receive and / or transmit signals.

[0291] As an example, processor 2010 may have the functions of processing unit 1920 shown in FIG19, memory 2020 may have the functions of storage unit, and transceiver 2030 may have the functions of transceiver unit 1910 shown in FIG19.

[0292] As one option, the device 2000 is used to implement the operations performed by a communication device (such as a terminal device or a network device) in the various method embodiments described above.

[0293] For example, processor 2010 is used to execute computer programs or instructions stored in memory 2020 to implement the relevant operations of the communication device in the various method embodiments above.

[0294] It should be understood that the processor mentioned in the embodiments of this application can be a central processing unit (CPU), or 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. A general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0295] It should also be understood that the memory mentioned in the embodiments of this application can be volatile memory and / or non-volatile memory. Non-volatile memory can be read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or flash memory. Volatile memory can be random access memory (RAM). For example, RAM can be used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, RAM includes the following forms: static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous linked dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM).

[0296] It should be noted that when the processor is a general-purpose processor, DSP, ASIC, FPGA, or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, or discrete hardware component, the memory (storage module) can be integrated into the processor.

[0297] It should also be noted that the memory described herein is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0298] Referring to Figure 21, as an example, Figure 21 is a schematic diagram of a chip system 2100 provided in an embodiment of this application. The chip system 2100 (or may also be referred to as a processing system) includes logic circuitry 2110 and an input / output interface 2120.

[0299] The logic circuit 2110 can be a processing circuit in the chip system 2100. The logic circuit 2110 can be coupled to a memory unit, calling instructions from the memory unit, enabling the chip system 2100 to implement the methods and functions of the embodiments of this application. The input / output interface 2120 can be an input / output circuit in the chip system 2100, outputting processed information from the chip system 2100, or inputting data or signaling information to be processed into the chip system 2100 for processing.

[0300] As one approach, the chip system 2100 is used to implement operations performed by communication devices (such as terminal devices or network devices) in the various method embodiments described above.

[0301] For example, logic circuit 2110 is used to implement processing-related operations performed by a communication device (such as a terminal device or a network device) in the above method embodiments; input / output interface 2120 is used to implement sending and / or receiving-related operations performed by a communication device (such as a terminal device or a network device) in the above method embodiments.

[0302] This application also provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program or instructions for implementing the methods executed by a communication device (such as a terminal device or a network device) in the above-described method embodiments. For example, when the computer program or instructions are run on the communication device, the communication device (such as a terminal device or a network device) performs the above-described methods (such as method 800, method 1200, method 1300, or method 1400).

[0303] This application also provides a computer program product comprising instructions that, when executed by a computer, implement the methods described above as performed by a communication device (such as a terminal device or a network device). For example, when the computer program or instructions are run on the communication device, the communication device (such as a terminal device or a network device) performs the methods described above (such as method 800, method 1200, method 1300, or method 1400).

[0304] This application also provides a communication system that includes the terminal device and / or network device described in the embodiments above. For example, the system includes the terminal device and network device shown in the embodiment of FIG8. As another example, the system includes the terminal device and network device shown in the embodiment of FIG12. As yet another example, the system includes the terminal device and network device shown in the embodiment of FIG13. As yet another example, the system includes the terminal device and network device shown in the embodiment of FIG14.

[0305] The explanations and beneficial effects of the relevant contents in any of the devices provided above can be found in the corresponding method embodiments provided above, and will not be repeated here.

[0306] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative; for instance, the division of units is only a logical functional division, and in actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not executed. Furthermore, the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed may be through some interfaces, and the indirect coupling or communication connection of apparatus or units may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0307] In the above embodiments, implementation can be achieved entirely or partially through software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented entirely or partially in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of this application are generated. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. For example, the computer can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) means. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The available media can be magnetic media (e.g., floppy disks, hard disks, magnetic tapes), optical media (e.g., DVDs), or semiconductor media (e.g., solid-state disks, SSDs). For example, the aforementioned available media include, but are not limited to, USB flash drives, portable hard drives, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disks, or optical disks, and other media capable of storing program code.

[0308] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of this application, but the scope of protection of this application is not limited thereto. Any variations or substitutions that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art within the scope of the technology disclosed in this application should be included within the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be determined by the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method characterized by comprising: Comprising: monitoring a wake-up signal within a first Bandwidth Part (BWP); if the BWP timer expires before the wake-up signal is detected, continuing to monitor the wake-up signal within the first BWP; after detecting the wake-up signal, monitoring a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) within a second BWP; wherein the wake-up signal is used to wake up a terminal device, the first BWP is a non-default BWP, the second BWP is a default BWP, and the BWP timer is used for switching from the non-default BWP to the default BWP.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, a starting time of monitoring the PDCCH within the second BWP is related to a wake-up delay; or, the starting time of monitoring the PDCCH within the second BWP is related to the wake-up delay and a BWP switching delay; wherein the wake-up delay represents a time required from detecting the wake-up signal to the terminal device being woken up, and the BWP switching delay represents a time required for switching from the first BWP to the second BWP.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, the starting time of monitoring the PDCCH within the second BWP satisfies: T is greater than or equal to (A+B), or T is greater than or equal to (A+B+C); wherein T represents the starting time of monitoring the PDCCH within the second BWP, A represents the time when the wake-up signal is detected, B represents the wake-up delay, C represents the BWP switching delay, and B and C are greater than or equal to 0.

4. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, when A+B < C+D, the starting time of monitoring the PDCCH within the second BWP satisfies: T is greater than or equal to (A+B+C); or, when A+B > C+D, the starting time of monitoring the PDCCH within the second BWP satisfies: T is greater than or equal to (A+B); wherein D represents an expiration time of the BWP timer.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that, when an activated BWP does not comprise a wake-up signal, the terminal device does not support monitoring a wake-up signal.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that, the method further comprises: receiving first information and / or second information, wherein the first information is used to configure a wake-up signal, and the second information is used to configure the BWP timer.

7. A communication method, characterized in that, Comprising: monitoring a wake-up signal within a first Bandwidth Part (BWP); if the wake-up signal is detected and the BWP timer expires, monitoring a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) within a second BWP, wherein a starting time of monitoring the PDCCH within the second BWP is related to a wake-up delay and a BWP switching delay, or the starting time of monitoring the PDCCH within the second BWP is related to the BWP switching delay; wherein the wake-up signal is used to wake up a terminal device, the first BWP is a non-default BWP, the second BWP is a default BWP, and the BWP timer is used for switching from the non-default BWP to the default BWP; the wake-up delay is a time required from detecting the wake-up signal to the terminal device being woken up, and the BWP switching delay is a time required for switching from the first BWP to the second BWP.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that, the starting time of monitoring the PDCCH within the second BWP satisfies: T is later than or equal to (A+B+C); Where T represents the start time of monitoring PDCCH within the second BWP, A represents the time when the wake-up signal is detected, B represents the wake-up delay, C represents the BWP switching delay, and B and C are greater than or equal to 0.

9. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that, The start time for monitoring the PDCCH within the second BWP satisfies: T is later than or equal to max{D+C,A+B}; Where T represents the start time of monitoring PDCCH in the second BWP, A represents the time when the wake-up signal is detected, B represents the wake-up delay, C represents the BWP switching delay, D represents the BWP timer timeout, max{} represents the maximum value operation, and B and C are greater than or equal to 0.

10. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 9, characterized in that, The BWP timer times out after the wake-up signal is detected but before the terminal device is woken up.

11. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 10, characterized in that, When BWP activation does not include a wake-up signal, the terminal device does not support monitoring the wake-up signal.

12. A communication method, comprising: include: When it is determined that the wake-up signal is monitored within the first bandwidth portion of the BWP, the BWP timer does not run; The wake-up signal is used to wake up the terminal device, the first BWP is a non-default BWP, and the BWP timer is used to switch from the non-default BWP to the default BWP.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein, When BWP activation does not include a wake-up signal, the terminal device does not support monitoring the wake-up signal.

14. A communication method, comprising: include: If a wake-up signal is configured for the terminal device, then it is determined that a bandwidth portion BWP timer will not be configured for the terminal device; or, if a BWP timer is configured for the terminal device, then it is determined that a wake-up signal will not be configured for the terminal device. The wake-up signal is used to wake up the terminal device, and the BWP timer is used to switch from the non-default BWP to the default BWP.

15. A method of communication, comprising: include: If the network device configures a wake-up signal for the terminal device, then it will not configure a bandwidth portion BWP timer for the terminal device; or, if the network device configures a BWP timer for the terminal device, then it will not configure a wake-up signal for the terminal device. The wake-up signal is used to wake up the terminal device, and the BWP timer is used to switch from the non-default BWP to the default BWP.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein, The method further includes: Receive first information, the first information being used to configure the wake-up signal; Receive second information, which is used to configure the BWP timer; Based on the first information, monitor the wake-up signal and determine not to start the BWP timer; or, based on the second information, start the BWP timer and determine not to monitor the wake-up signal.

17. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 16, characterized in that, When BWP activation does not include a wake-up signal, the terminal device does not support monitoring the wake-up signal.

18. A method of communication, comprising: include: Receive first information, which is used to configure a wake-up signal; Receive second information, which is used to configure the bandwidth portion BWP timer; If the second BWP includes frequency domain resources for monitoring wake-up signals, then the wake-up signal is monitored based on the first information, and the BWP timer is started based on the second information; or, If the second BWP does not include frequency domain resources for monitoring wake-up signals, then the wake-up signal is monitored based on the first information, and it is determined that the BWP timer will not be started; or, the BWP timer is started based on the second information, and it is determined that the wake-up signal will not be monitored. The wake-up signal is used to wake up the terminal device, the second BWP is the default BWP, and the BWP timer is used to switch from the non-default BWP to the default BWP.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein, If both the first BWP and the second BWP include frequency domain resources for monitoring wake-up signals, then the method further includes: Before the terminal switches from the first BWP to the second BWP, a wake-up signal is monitored on the frequency domain resources within the first BWP; or, After the terminal switches from the first BWP to the second BWP, a wake-up signal is monitored on the frequency domain resources within the second BWP; The first BWP is a non-default BWP.

20. A method of communication, comprising: include: The wake-up signal is monitored within the first bandwidth portion (BWP). If the BWP timer times out before the wake-up signal is detected, the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) is monitored in the second BWP. The start time of PDCCH monitoring in the second BWP is related to the wake-up delay and the BWP handover delay, or the start time of PDCCH monitoring in the second BWP is related to the wake-up delay. The wake-up signal is used to wake up the terminal device. The first BWP is a non-default BWP, the second BWP is a default BWP, and the BWP timer is used to switch from the non-default BWP to the default BWP. The wake-up latency is the time required from the detection of the wake-up signal to the waking up of the terminal device, and the BWP switching latency is the time required to switch from the first BWP to the second BWP.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein, The start time for monitoring the PDCCH within the second BWP satisfies: T is later than or equal to (D+max{C,B}), or T is later than or equal to (D+B); Where T represents the start time of monitoring PDCCH within the second BWP, B represents the wake-up delay, C represents the BWP switching delay, and B and C are greater than or equal to 0.

22. The method of claim 20 or 21, wherein, When BWP activation does not include a wake-up signal, the terminal device does not support monitoring the wake-up signal.

23. A communication device, characterized in that, Includes modules or units for performing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 22.

24. A communication device, characterized in that, Includes a processor, the processor being configured to cause the communication device to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 22.

25. The apparatus according to claim 24, characterized in that, The device further includes the memory and / or a communication interface, the communication interface being coupled to the processor. The communication interface is used for inputting and / or outputting information.

26. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program or instructions that, when executed on a communication device, cause the communication device to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 22.

27. A computer program product, characterized in that, The computer program product includes a computer program or instructions that, when executed on a communication device, cause the communication device to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 22.

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