Communication method and communication apparatus

Abstract

Provided in the present application are a communication method and a communication apparatus, which can improve the inventory efficiency and can be applied to a communication system. The method comprises: a first communication apparatus sending a message 1 to a second communication apparatus, wherein the message 1 is used for requesting access to a network; and the first communication apparatus receiving a first message 2 from the second communication apparatus, wherein the first message 2 is used for responding to a request of at least one of M first-type apparatuses for accessing the network, and is used for determining whether to continue to monitor a message 2 sent by the second communication apparatus, the message 2 is used for responding to a request of a first-type apparatus for accessing the network, the first communication apparatus is one of the M first-type communication apparatuses, and M is a positive integer.

Description

Communication methods and communication devices

[0001] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202510392854.7, 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 communication technology, and in particular to a communication method and communication device. Background Technology

[0003] The reader will send the corresponding message two within the monitoring window based on the received message one. The number and type of message two are unlimited. If the monitoring window for all message two corresponding to message one is shared (common), the monitoring window needs to consider the scenario of all message one instances, so the window for message two will be set very large. If the reader determines that only one message two needs to be sent, the RFID tag will continuously monitor the entire monitoring window for message two (from the start time to the end time of monitoring message two). In this case, the time-frequency resources in the monitoring window after the reader has received message two will be idle, leading to low time-domain efficiency and affecting inventory efficiency. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This application provides a communication method and communication device that can improve inventory efficiency.

[0005] To achieve the above objectives, this application adopts the following technical solution:

[0006] Firstly, a communication method is provided. The communication method includes: a first communication device sending a message 1 to a second communication device, the message 1 being a request to access a network; the first communication device receiving first information from the second communication device, the first information being used to determine whether to continue monitoring a message 2 sent by the second communication device, the message 2 being a response to a request from a first type of device to access the network, wherein the first communication device is one of M first type of communication devices, and M is a positive integer.

[0007] As an example, the first communication device can be a terminal device, such as a tag, a communication module, a circuit or chip responsible for communication functions, a chip system, or other components or parts. This communication module, circuit or chip responsible for communication functions, chip system, or other components or parts can be used in the terminal device.

[0008] Based on the communication method provided in the first aspect, the first information received by the first communication device carries information for determining whether to continue monitoring other message two. This can assist the first communication device in determining whether to end monitoring other message two, thereby ending the monitoring process of message two in a timely manner after the second communication device finishes sending message two, thus improving inventory efficiency.

[0009] In one possible implementation, the first information includes first indication information. This first indication information is used to determine whether to continue monitoring the second message (message 2) sent by the second communication device. The first indication information indicates one or more of the following: the total number of messages 2 sent by the second communication device, or the remaining number of messages 2 that the second communication device needs to send, or whether it is necessary to continue monitoring the messages 2 sent by the second communication device. Thus, the indication of whether to continue monitoring the messages 2 sent by the second communication device can be made in different ways, providing greater flexibility.

[0010] In one possible implementation, the method provided by the first aspect further includes: a first communication device receiving second information from a second communication device, the second information indicating that a message two sent by the second communication device includes a message two responding to one message one and / or multiple messages one. Thus, the number of messages one that the message two responds to can be flexibly configured.

[0011] In one possible implementation, the first information further includes second indication information, which indicates the timing of sending message three. Message three includes an identifier of a first-type device that has successfully accessed the network. Thus, the timing of sending message three can be indicated by the second communication device, thereby reducing the implementation complexity of the second communication device receiving the third information and improving communication efficiency.

[0012] In one possible implementation, message three is sent within a first time threshold after the first type of device receives message two corresponding to message three, or after receiving all messages two sent by the second communication device. Thus, different sending methods can be used to transmit message three.

[0013] In one possible implementation, the first information is further used to indicate the time-frequency resources corresponding to one or more of the M first-type communication devices, and the time-frequency resources corresponding to each of the one or more first-type devices are used to carry message three for each first-type device. Thus, by indicating the time-frequency resources of at least one first-type device by the first information, the first communication device can provide feedback on message three more promptly.

[0014] Secondly, a communication method is provided, comprising: a second communication device receiving a message 1 from M first-type devices, the message 1 being a request to access a network, where M is a positive integer; the second communication device sending first information, the first information being used to determine whether to continue monitoring a message 2 sent by the second communication device, the message 2 being used to respond to the request of the first-type devices to access the network.

[0015] As an example, the second communication device can be a network device, a communication module, a circuit or chip responsible for communication functions, a chip system, or other components or assemblies. This communication module, circuit or chip responsible for communication functions, chip system, or other components or assemblies can be used in a network device. Alternatively, the second communication device can be a terminal device, a communication module, a circuit or chip responsible for communication functions, chip system, or other components or assemblies. This communication module, circuit or chip responsible for communication functions, chip system, or other components or assemblies can be used in a terminal device.

[0016] Based on the communication method provided in the second aspect, the second communication device can carry information in the first message it sends to determine whether it is monitoring message two sent by the second communication device. This can be used to assist the first communication device in determining whether to end monitoring other message two, so that the monitoring of message two can be ended in a timely manner after the second communication device finishes sending message two, thereby improving inventory efficiency.

[0017] In one possible implementation, the first information includes first indication information, which is used to determine whether to continue monitoring the second message sent by the second communication device. The first indication information is used to indicate one or more of the following: the total number of messages sent by the second communication device, or the remaining number of messages to be sent by the second communication device, or whether to continue monitoring the second message sent by the second communication device.

[0018] In one possible implementation, the method provided by the second aspect further includes: the second communication device sending second information, the second information being used to indicate that the message two sent by the second communication device includes a message two for responding to a message one and / or multiple messages one.

[0019] In one possible implementation, the first information further includes second indication information, which is used to indicate the timing of sending message three. Message three includes an identifier of a first type of device that has successfully accessed the network.

[0020] In one possible implementation, message three is sent within a first time threshold after the first type of device receives message two corresponding to message three, or after receiving all messages two sent by the second communication device.

[0021] In one possible implementation, the first information is further used to indicate the time-frequency resources corresponding to one or more of the M first-class communication devices, and the time-frequency resources corresponding to each of the one or more first-class devices are used to carry the message three corresponding to each first-class device.

[0022] Furthermore, the technical effects of the communication method described in the second aspect can be referred to the technical effects of the communication method described in the first aspect, and will not be repeated here.

[0023] Thirdly, a communication method is provided. The communication method includes: a first communication device sending a message 1 to a second communication device, the message 1 being a request to access a network; the first communication device receiving third information from the second communication device, the third information being used to determine the timing for sending a message 3, where M is a positive integer; and the first communication device sending a message 3 according to the timing of the message 3's transmission, the message 3 being used to indicate the identifier of the first communication device.

[0024] Based on the communication method provided in the third aspect, in the process of the first communication device accessing the second communication device, the second communication device can carry information for determining the timing of sending message three in the first message two, so that the first communication device can send message three at the indicated timing, making the timing of sending message three more consistent with the actual scenario.

[0025] In one possible implementation, message three is sent within a first time threshold after the first type of device receives message two corresponding to message three, or after receiving all messages two sent by the second communication device.

[0026] Fourthly, a communication method is provided. This communication method includes: a second communication device receiving a message 1 from each of M first-type devices, each first-type device requesting network access; the second communication device sending third information, the third information used to determine the timing of sending the third message, where M is a positive integer.

[0027] In one possible implementation, message three is sent within a first time threshold after the first type of device receives message two corresponding to message three, or after receiving all messages two sent by the second communication device.

[0028] In one possible implementation, the method provided by the fourth aspect further includes: the second communication device receiving message three from N first-class devices according to the timing of message three transmission, wherein message three of the nth first-class device among the N first-class devices is used to indicate the identifier of the nth first-class device, where n is a positive integer less than or equal to N, and N is a positive integer.

[0029] Furthermore, the technical effects of the communication method described in the fourth aspect can be referred to the technical effects of the communication method described in the third aspect, and will not be repeated here.

[0030] Fifthly, a communication device is provided. This communication device is used to execute the communication method described in any one of the implementations of the first to fourth aspects.

[0031] In this application, the communication device described in the fifth aspect can be a terminal device, a communication module, a circuit with communication function, a chip, a chip system, or other components or assemblies. The communication module, the circuit with communication function, the chip, the chip system, or other components or assemblies can be applied in the terminal device. Alternatively, the communication device can be a network device (such as a radio access network (RAN) node), a communication module, a circuit with communication function, a chip, a chip system, or other components or assemblies. The communication module, the circuit with communication function, the chip, the chip system, or other components or assemblies can be applied in the network device.

[0032] It should be understood that the communication apparatus described in the fifth aspect includes modules, units, or means that implement the communication methods described in any of the first to fourth aspects. These modules, units, or means can be implemented in hardware, software, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules or units for performing the functions involved in the aforementioned communication methods.

[0033] A sixth aspect provides a communication device. The communication device includes a processor configured to execute the communication method described in any of the possible implementations of the first to fourth aspects.

[0034] In one possible implementation, the communication device described in the sixth aspect may further include a transceiver. The transceiver may be a transceiver circuit or an interface circuit. The transceiver can be used for communication between the communication device described in the sixth aspect and other communication devices.

[0035] In one possible implementation, the communication device described in the sixth aspect may further include a memory. This memory may be integrated with the processor or disposed separately. The memory may be used to store computer programs (or code instructions or program instructions) and / or data related to the communication method described in any of the first to fourth aspects.

[0036] In this application, the communication device described in the sixth aspect can be a terminal device, a communication module, a circuit with communication function, a chip, a chip system, or other components or assemblies. The communication module, the circuit with communication function, the chip, the chip system, or other components or assemblies can be applied in a terminal device. Alternatively, the communication device can be a network device, a communication module, a circuit with communication function, a chip, a chip system, or other components or assemblies. The communication module, the circuit with communication function, the chip, the chip system, or other components or assemblies can be applied in a network device.

[0037] A seventh aspect provides a communication device. The communication device includes a processor coupled to a memory, the processor being configured to execute a computer program stored in the memory, such that the communication device performs the communication method described in any of the possible implementations of the first to fourth aspects.

[0038] In one possible implementation, the communication device described in the seventh aspect may further include a transceiver. The transceiver may be a transceiver circuit or an interface circuit. The transceiver can be used for communication between the communication device described in the seventh aspect and other communication devices.

[0039] In this application, the communication device described in the seventh aspect can be a terminal device, a communication module, a circuit with communication function, a chip, a chip system, or other components or assemblies. The communication module, the circuit with communication function, the chip, the chip system, or other components or assemblies can be applied in a terminal device. Alternatively, the communication device can be a network device, a communication module, a circuit with communication function, a chip, a chip system, or other components or assemblies. The communication module, the circuit with communication function, the chip, the chip system, or other components or assemblies can be applied in a network device.

[0040] Eighthly, a communication device is provided, comprising: a processor and a memory; the memory is used to store a computer program, which, when executed by the processor, causes the communication device to perform the communication method described in any one of the first to fourth aspects.

[0041] In one possible implementation, the communication device described in the eighth aspect may further include a transceiver. The transceiver may be a transceiver circuit or an interface circuit. The transceiver can be used for communication between the communication device described in the eighth aspect and other communication devices.

[0042] In this application, the communication device described in the eighth aspect can be a terminal device, a communication module, a circuit with communication function, a chip, a chip system, or other components or assemblies. The communication module, the circuit with communication function, the chip, the chip system, or other components or assemblies can be applied in a terminal device. Alternatively, the communication device can be a network device, a communication module, a circuit with communication function, a chip, a chip system, or other components or assemblies. The communication module, the circuit with communication function, the chip, the chip system, or other components or assemblies can be applied in a network device.

[0043] A ninth aspect provides a communication device comprising: a processor; the processor being configured to be coupled to a memory, and after reading a computer program from the memory, to execute a communication method as described in any one of the first to fourth aspects according to the computer program.

[0044] In one possible implementation, the communication device described in the ninth aspect may further include a transceiver. The transceiver may be a transceiver circuit or an interface circuit. The transceiver can be used for communication between the communication device described in the ninth aspect and other communication devices.

[0045] In this application, the communication device described in the ninth aspect can be a terminal device, a communication module, a circuit with communication function, a chip, a chip system, or other components or assemblies. The communication module, or the circuit, chip, chip system, or other components or assemblies with communication function can be applied in the terminal device. Alternatively, the communication device can be a network device (such as a radio access network (RAN) node), a communication module, a circuit, chip, chip system, or other components or assemblies with communication function. The communication module, the circuit, chip, chip system, or other components or assemblies with communication function can be applied in the network device.

[0046] In a tenth aspect, a communication system is provided. The communication system includes one or more terminal devices and one or more network devices.

[0047] Eleventhly, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, comprising: a computer program or instructions; when the computer program or instructions are executed on a computer, the computer causes the computer to perform the communication method described in any one of the possible implementations of the first to fourth aspects.

[0048] In a twelfth aspect, a computer program product is provided, comprising a computer program or instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the communication method described in any one of the possible implementations of the first to fourth aspects.

[0049] Furthermore, the technical effects of the fifth to twelfth aspects mentioned above can be referred to with reference to the technical effects of the communication methods described in the first to fourth aspects, and will not be repeated here. Attached Figure Description

[0050] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of the communication system provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0051] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of an open radio access network (O-RAN) provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0052] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the chip architecture in the RAN provided in the embodiment of this application;

[0053] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the functional division of RAN network elements and protocol layer structure in the ORAN system provided in the embodiment of this application;

[0054] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating the working principle of the RFID tag provided in the embodiment of this application;

[0055] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of the shared message 2 provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0056] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of the interleaved message type 2 provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0057] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of the centralized message type II provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0058] Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of the access process;

[0059] Figure 10 is a schematic diagram of the temporal location relationship of different messages in the access process;

[0060] Figure 11 is a schematic diagram of the monitoring window for message 2;

[0061] Figure 12 is a flowchart illustrating a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0062] Figure 13 is a schematic diagram of the relationship between two messages provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0063] Figure 14 is a schematic diagram of another message relationship provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0064] Figure 15 is a schematic diagram of another message relationship provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0065] Figure 16 is a schematic diagram of the positional relationship between message two and message three provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0066] Figure 17 is a schematic diagram of the positional relationship between message two and message three provided in another embodiment of this application;

[0067] Figure 18 is a flowchart illustrating another communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0068] Figure 19 is a schematic diagram of the communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0069] Figure 20 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the communication device provided in the embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0070] The technical solutions of this application embodiment can be applied to various communication systems, such as wireless fidelity (WiFi) systems, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication systems, device-to-device (D2D) communication systems, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication systems, 4th generation (4G) mobile communication systems, such as long term evolution (LTE) systems, 5th generation (5G) mobile communication systems, such as new radio (NR) systems, and future communication systems, etc.

[0071] This application will present various aspects, embodiments, or features relating to systems that may include multiple devices, components, modules, etc. It should be understood and appreciated that individual systems may include additional devices, components, modules, etc., and / or may not include all the devices, components, modules, etc. discussed in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Furthermore, combinations of these approaches are also possible.

[0072] Furthermore, in the embodiments of this application, words such as "exemplarily" and "for example" are used to indicate that something is an example, illustration, or description. Any embodiment or design that is described as an "example" in this application should not be construed as being better or more advantageous than other embodiments or designs. Rather, the use of the word "example" is intended to present the concept in a specific manner.

[0073] First, in this application, "for indicating" can include both direct and indirect indication. When describing "information" for indicating A, it can include whether the information directly indicates A or indirectly indicates A, but does not necessarily mean that the information carries A.

[0074] The information indicated by a given piece of information is called the information to be indicated. In the specific implementation process, there are many ways to indicate the information to be indicated, such as, but not limited to, directly indicating the information to be indicated, such as the information to be indicated itself or its index. It can also be indirectly indicated by indicating other information, where there is a relationship between the other information and the information to be indicated. It can also indicate only a part of the information to be indicated, while the other parts are known or pre-agreed upon. For example, the indication of specific information can be achieved by using a pre-agreed (e.g., protocol-defined) arrangement of various pieces of information, thereby reducing the indication overhead to some extent. At the same time, common parts of various pieces of information can be identified and indicated uniformly to reduce the indication overhead caused by individually indicating the same information.

[0075] Furthermore, the specific indication method can also be any existing indication method, such as, but not limited to, the above-mentioned indication methods and their various combinations. Specific details of various indication methods can be found in existing technologies, and will not be repeated here. As described above, for example, when multiple pieces of information of the same type need to be indicated, the indication methods for different pieces of information may differ. In the specific implementation process, the required indication method can be selected according to specific needs. This application embodiment does not limit the selected indication method; therefore, the indication methods involved in this application embodiment should be understood to cover various methods that enable the party to be indicated to obtain the information to be indicated.

[0076] The information to be instructed can be sent as a whole or divided into multiple sub-information messages, and the sending period and / or timing of these sub-information messages can be the same or different. This application does not limit the specific sending method. The sending period and / or timing of these sub-information messages can be predefined, for example, according to a protocol, or configured by the transmitting device by sending configuration information to the receiving device. This configuration information can include, for example, but not limited to, one or a combination of at least two of radio resource control (RRC) signaling, medium access control (MAC) layer signaling, and physical layer signaling. MAC layer signaling includes, for example, a MAC control element (CE); physical (PHY) layer signaling includes, for example, downlink control information (DCI).

[0077] Second, in the embodiments shown below, the first, second, and various numerical designations are merely distinctions for descriptive convenience and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application. For example, to distinguish different indication information.

[0078] Third, "pre-defined," "pre-configured," or "pre-specified" can be achieved by pre-saving corresponding codes, tables, or other means of indicating relevant information in the device (e.g., including terminal devices and network devices), or by pre-defining them in a protocol. This application does not limit the specific implementation method. "Saving" can refer to saving in one or more memories. These memories can be separate installations or integrated into the encoder, decoder, processor, or communication device. Alternatively, some memories can be separately installed, while others are integrated into the decoder, processor, or communication device. The type of memory can be any form of storage medium, and this application does not limit this.

[0079] Fourth, the “protocol” involved in the embodiments of this application may refer to standard protocols in the field of communication, such as 3GPP’s LTE protocols (such as technical specification (TS) 36, i.e., the TS36 series of technical specifications), NR protocols (such as the TS38 series of technical specifications), and related protocols applied to future communication systems. This application does not limit this.

[0080] The network architecture and business scenarios described in the embodiments of this application are for the purpose of more clearly illustrating the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of this application. As those skilled in the art will know, with the evolution of network architecture and the emergence of new business scenarios, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of this application are also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0081] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of this application, the communication system applicable to the embodiments of this application will be described in detail first using the communication system shown in FIG1 as an example. Exemplarily, FIG1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system to which the method provided in the embodiments of this application is applicable.

[0082] As shown in Figure 1, the communication system includes at least one first type of device (first type of device 101a and first type of device 101b) and at least one second type of device (second type of device 102a to second type of device 102e).

[0083] Type I devices and Type II devices can communicate with each other, and different Type II devices can communicate with each other.

[0084] The first and second types of devices will be further described below.

[0085] The first type of device can be a device or module that is connected to the aforementioned communication system and has corresponding communication functions. Furthermore, the first type of device also has reading capabilities, enabling it to read corresponding data or information from the memory address of the first type of device.

[0086] Optionally, the first type of device can be excited to send signals.

[0087] Optionally, the first type of device also possesses at least one of the following capabilities: write capability, counting capability, timing capability, or the ability to actively transmit signals. Write capability refers to the ability of the first type of device to write data or information into its memory. Counting capability refers to the ability of the first type of device to perform counting. Timing capability refers to the ability of the first type of device to perform timing. The ability to actively transmit signals refers to the ability of the first type of device to actively generate a corresponding carrier wave for transmitting signals.

[0088] In one possible implementation, the first type of device can be an Internet of Things (IoT) terminal, such as an ambient IoT (AIoT) terminal or a passive IoT terminal. As an example, an IoT terminal can be a tag, electronic tag, or sensor, or a device equipped with such a tag, electronic tag, or sensor. The first type of device may also include a microcontroller unit (MCU), which can work with technologies such as RFID, communication, and edge computing to achieve mutual sensing, information exchange, computation, and self-identification, thereby enabling connection with other devices.

[0089] Electronic tags can consist of coupling elements, chips, and communication modules. Each electronic tag has a unique identifier (ID) or electronic code, attached or integrated onto an object to identify the target object. Electronic tags are also known as radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, RFID terminals, RFID tags, or transponders. They can exchange and communicate information through information transmission media to achieve intelligent identification, positioning, and management of objects. Electronic tags can be widely used in various fields. For example, in logistics or warehousing, identifying the electronic tag corresponding to an item allows for rapid identification of the item and management of the identified item information. Therefore, in logistics or warehousing, the identification of electronic tags can be referred to as inventory counting. For example, passive or semi-passive electronic tags can be embedded or affixed to goods and stored in warehouses or shopping malls. During the logistics process, the information from the electronic tags is automatically collected by a reader. Managers can then query relevant information about the goods in the inventory system, reducing the risk of goods being lost or stolen, and improving the speed of goods handover. Compared to manual inventory, this effectively improves the accuracy and efficiency of inventory counting, and prevents cross-selling and counterfeiting. Electronic tags can also be applied to asset management or industrial manufacturing. For example, the management of large assets or valuable items in libraries, art galleries, and museums requires complete management procedures or rigorous protection measures. When there are abnormal changes in the storage information of books or valuable items, a preset reminder mechanism can alert managers to handle the situation.

[0090] Sensor-based IoT terminals include temperature sensors, humidity sensors, light sensors, and motion sensors. These sensors detect various parameters in the environment and transmit the data to an IoT platform or other devices for analysis and application. For example, temperature sensors are widely used in smart homes, industrial control, and weather monitoring, accurately measuring ambient temperature and transmitting the data to an IoT platform for remote monitoring and control. As an example, tags or electronic tags can be passive devices, semi-passive devices, or active devices. In some scenarios, the first type of device can also be called a device.

[0091] In this application embodiment, the form of the first type of device is not limited. The device used to implement the function of the first type of device can be the first type of device; it can also be a device that can support the first type of device to implement the function, such as a communication module, or a circuit or chip responsible for communication function, or a chip system, or other components or assemblies. The communication module, or the circuit or chip responsible for communication function, or the chip system, or other components or assemblies can be disposed in an electronic device.

[0092] The second type of device is a handheld or fixed device that reads (and sometimes writes) tag information. It can also be understood as a device that communicates with the tag. It can take the form of a terminal, a base station, or a device with read / write capabilities. It can also be an Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) node or a relay node. This can include a combined router or switch capable of exchanging digital data and radio frequency signals, a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader, an RFID reader or writer, a 5G AP, or other equipment. Alternatively, the second type of device can be a device located in the access network (AN) of a communication system, used to provide access services to terminals. In one possible scenario, the second type of device can be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), an access point (AP), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next-generation NodeB (gNB), or a base station in a future communication system. The second type of device can be a macro base station (as shown in Figure 1, 110a), a micro base station or indoor station (as shown in Figure 1, 110b), a relay node or donor node, or a wireless controller in a cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenario. Optionally, the second type of device can also be a server, wearable device, vehicle or in-vehicle equipment, etc. For example, the access network equipment in V2X technology can be a roadside unit (RSU). All or part of the functions of the second type of device in this application can also be implemented by software functions running on hardware, or by virtualization functions instantiated on a platform (such as a cloud platform). The second type of device in this application can also be a logical node, logical module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the second type of device.

[0093] Optionally, the second type of device integrates a reader / writer function, or there exists a second type of device that is a device with a reader / writer function.

[0094] It should be understood that Figure 1 is a simplified schematic diagram for ease of understanding only, and the communication system may also include other network devices and / or other terminal devices, which are not shown in Figure 1.

[0095] In another possible scenario, the second type of device can be a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU), etc. The CU and DU can be separate entities or included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in radio frequency equipment or radio frequency units, such as a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH).

[0096] In different systems, CU (or centralized unit control plane (CU-CP)) and centralized unit user plane (CU-UP)), DU, or RU may have different names, but those skilled in the art will understand their meaning. For example, in an open RAN (O-RAN or ORAN) system, CU can also be called an open centralized unit (O-CU) (open CU), DU can also be called an open distributed unit (O-DU), CU-CP can also be called an open centralized unit control plane (O-CU-CP), CU-UP can also be called an open centralized unit user plane (O-CU-UP), and RU can also be called an open radio unit (O-RU). For ease of description, this application uses CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU, and RU as examples. Any of the CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU and RU units in this application can be implemented through a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of software and hardware modules.

[0097] The following example illustrates the connection relationship between core network, access network equipment, and terminal equipment in an O-RAN system.

[0098] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the connection architecture of the access network equipment. As shown in Figure 2, the access network equipment communicates with the core network (CN) through a backhaul link and with terminal equipment through an air interface. The access network equipment may include a BBU and a RU. The BBU communicates with the core network through the backhaul link, and the RU communicates with at least one terminal device through an air interface. The BBU communicates with at least one RU through a fronthaul link. The BBU and RU may or may not be co-located.

[0099] A BBU consists of at least one CU and at least one DU, which can communicate with each other via at least one midhaul link. Specifically, the CU in the BBU communicates with the core network via a backhaul link, and the DU in the BBU communicates with the RU via a fronthaul link.

[0100] The chip system architecture in the RAN described above is shown in Figure 3. The RAN is divided into CU, DU, and RU. The CU performs Layer 2 (L2) and Layer 3 (L3) functions. The midhaul link carries information exchanged between the CU and DU, while the backhaul link carries traffic between the CU and the core network. The DU performs Layer 1 (L1) and some L2 functions, while the RU performs L1 computation and radio frequency (RF) digital functions. The fronthaul link carries information exchanged between the RU and DU. The functions of the DU and RU can also be implemented through an integrated DU.

[0101] The CU / DU hardware includes a chassis platform, motherboard, peripherals, and cooling system. The motherboard contains processing units, memory, internal I / O interfaces, and external connection ports. Its hardware accelerator is designed with interfaces, and hardware functional components include: storage for software, hardware, and system debugging interfaces, and a single-board management controller.

[0102] DU systems are typically implemented using multi-core processors and one or more hardware accelerators. Parts of the DU protocol stack can be implemented in software running on the multi-core processor, while computationally intensive L1 and L2 functions can be offloaded to hardware accelerators based on field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) or graphics processing units (GPUs); alternatively, all L1 functions can be offloaded to FPGA- or GPU-based hardware accelerators, while other protocol stack components are implemented in software running on the processor; or the entire protocol stack can be implemented in software running on the processor. Hardware accelerators support interconnection with x86 or non-x86 processors. Similarly, accelerators have a multi-channel peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) interface pointing to the CPU and external connections via gigabit Ethernet (GbE) connectivity.

[0103] The RU consists of three parts: the O-RAN processing unit (OPU), which receives enhanced common public radio interface (eCPRI) frames from the O-RAN fronthaul and performs fronthaul interface operations, the lowest level L1 (coding, scrambling, modulation, layer mapping, precoding), synchronization, beamforming, and resource unit mapping. The OPU can be implemented as a CPU, FPGA, or ASIC. The O-RU's digital processing unit (DPU) performs synchronization, digital downconversion (DDC) in the uplink (UL), digital upconversion (DUC) in the downlink, constant envelope reduction (CFR), and digital pre-distortion (DPD), improving power amplifier efficiency by reducing PAPR / ACLR at the RF front-end; the DPU can be implemented using an FPGA or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The O-RU's RF processing unit includes a transceiver module, up / down converters, power amplifiers (PA), low noise amplifiers (LNA), and transmit / receive (Tx / Rx) filters. The transceiver module can be used to perform all conversions between the analog and digital domains, such as digital-to-analog converters (DACs) and analog-to-digital converters (ADCs). RF sampling is used in up-conversion and down-conversion, and intermediate frequency (LO) is mixed with a local oscillator (LO) for frequency conversion.

[0104] Figure 4 shows a schematic diagram of the functional division of RAN network elements and the protocol layer structure in the O-RAN system.

[0105] In some examples, the CU is a logical node carrying the RRC layer, Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) layer, Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, and other control functions of the access network equipment. The CU connects to network nodes such as the core network through interfaces, which can be interfaces such as E2 interfaces. Optionally, the CU may have some core network functions. The CU (e.g., PDCP layer and higher layers) connects to the DU (e.g., Radio Link Control (RLC) and lower layers) through interfaces, which can be interfaces such as F1 interfaces. In some examples, these interfaces (e.g., F1 interfaces) can provide CP and UP, interface management, system information management, UE context management, RRC message transmission, etc. F1AP is the application protocol of the F1 interface, and in some examples, it defines the signaling procedures of the F1 interface. The F1 interface supports control plane F1-C and user plane F1-U.

[0106] In some examples, the CU can be split into (control unit-control plane, CU-CP) and (control unit-user plane, CU-UP). The CU-CP is a logical node carrying the RRC layer and the control plane part of PDCP (PDCP-C), used to implement the CU's control plane functions. The CU-CP can interact with network elements in the core network used to implement control plane functions. These network elements in the core network can be access and mobility function (AMF) network elements, such as the access and mobility management function (AMF) in a 5G system. AMF network elements are responsible for mobility management in the mobile network, such as terminal device location updates, terminal device registration with the network, and terminal device handover. The CU-UP is a logical node carrying the SDAP layer and the user plane part of PDCP (PDCP-U), used to implement the CU's user plane functions. The CU-UP can interact with network elements in the core network used to implement user plane functions. In the core network, network elements used to implement user plane functions, such as the user plane function (UPF) in a 5G system, are responsible for forwarding and receiving data in terminal devices. The above configuration of CU and DU is merely an example; the functions of CU and DU can be configured as needed. For example, CU or DU can be configured to have more protocol layer functions, or to have only some protocol layer processing functions. For instance, some RLC layer functions and protocol layer functions above the RLC layer can be placed in the CU, while the remaining RLC layer functions and protocol layer functions below the RLC layer can be placed in the DU. Furthermore, the functions of CU or DU can be divided according to service type or other system requirements, such as by latency, placing functions that need to meet low latency requirements in the DU and functions that do not need to meet such latency requirements in the CU.

[0107] In some examples, a DU is a logical node that carries the RLC layer, MAC layer, higher physical layer (Higher PHY) layer, and other functions. In some examples, a DU can control at least one RU. The DU connects to the RU through interfaces, which can be fronthaul interfaces. In some examples, the higher physical layer includes the PHY layer processing, such as forward error correction (FEC) encoding and decoding, scrambling, modulation, and demodulation.

[0108] In some examples, the RU is a logical node carrying both the lower physical layer (Lower PHY) and the RF link. In some examples, the RU can be a 3GPP Transport Receiver Point (TRP) or Receiving RRH (RRH) or other similar entities. In some examples, the Low-PHY includes PHY processing functions such as Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT), digital beamforming, and filtering. The RU communicates with one or more UEs via a radio link.

[0109] The DU and RU can be co-located or not. The DU and RU exchange control plane and user plane information via a lower layer split-control user synchronized plane (LLS-CUS) interface through a fronthaul link. The LLS-CUS may include a lower layer split (LLS-C) interface and a lower layer split (LLS-U) interface providing the control plane (C-Plane) and user plane (U-Plane), respectively. In some examples, the control plane (C-Plane) (e.g., O-RAN CUS-Plane) refers to real-time control between the DU and RU. The DU and RU exchange management information via an LLS-M interface on the fronthaul link; the management plane (M-Plane) (e.g., O-RAN M-Plane) refers to non-real-time management operations between the DU and RU.

[0110] DU and RU can cooperate to implement the functions of the PHY layer. A DU can be connected to one or more RUs. The functions of DU and RU can be configured in various ways depending on the design. For example, a DU can be configured to implement baseband functions, and an RU can be configured to implement mid-RF functions. Another example is that a DU can be configured to implement higher-level functions in the PHY layer, and an RU can be configured to implement lower-level functions in the PHY layer, or to implement both lower-level and RF functions. Higher-level functions in the physical layer can include a portion of the physical layer's functions that are closer to the MAC layer, while lower-level functions in the physical layer can include another portion of the physical layer's functions that are closer to the mid-RF side.

[0111] The management system is used to implement functions such as mobility management, data processing, session management, policy and billing. The device names implementing the management system may differ in systems using different access technologies, and this application does not limit this. Taking a 5G mobile communication system as an example, the management system may include an AMF (Active Mobile Function), a session management function (SMF), a policy control function (PCF), or a UPF (Upload and Utility Function), etc.

[0112] In this application embodiment, the form of the second type of device is not limited. The device used to implement the function of the second type of device can be a second type of device; it can also be a device that can support the second type of device in implementing the function, such as a communication module, chip, chip system, other components or parts, or circuits or functional components. The device can be installed in the second type of device or used in conjunction with the second type of device. The chip system can be composed of chips or can include chips and other discrete devices.

[0113] The following describes the technologies and related terms involved in the embodiments of this application. For ease of understanding, the first type of device is an electronic tag, and the second type of device is a reader / writer, which will not be repeated hereafter.

[0114] 1. Message 2 (Msg2) is used in response to Message 1 (Msg1) used in the random access procedure to request access to the network. Message 2 can be of two types: common message 2 (also known as shared Msg2) and separate message 2 (also known as separate Msg2).

[0115] A shared Msg2 refers to a single Msg2 that responds to multiple Msg1s. Referring to Figure 6, a reader-to-device (R2D) triggering message reserves four Msg1 time-frequency resources. The reader receives information within these four resources and successfully decodes three of them (the time-frequency resource where no Msg1 is decoded may have multiple tags attempting to connect, causing a collision and preventing decoding, or there may be no tag sending Msg1 on that resource). The reader will then use the information from the three received Msg1s that identifies the tag sending the Msg1, such as a random number, to send within a single Msg2. This Msg2 can be called a shared Msg2. All tags that sent Msg1 receive the data packet carrying Msg2, demodulate and decode it, find the information identifying themselves, and can then send the corresponding Msg3. The reader-to-device trigger messages described below are all described using R2D trigger messages, and will not be elaborated further. It is understood that different Msg1 values ​​may occupy different frequency domain resources.

[0116] A single Msg2 refers to each Msg2 responding to only one Msg1. Responding to three Msg1s requires sending three single Msg2s. There are no restrictions on how the electronic tag sends the corresponding Msg3. The electronic tag can send Msg3 immediately after receiving its corresponding Msg2, or it can wait until all single Msg2s have been sent (determined by the monitoring window) before sending Msg3. Single Msg2s include interspersed Msg2s and centralized Msg2s. The temporal relationship between Msg2s and Msg3s differs between interspersed and centralized Msg2s.

[0117] In the interleaved Msg2, Msg2 and the Msg3 responding to it are sent one after another. As shown in Figure 7, assuming the R2D trigger message is configured with three time-frequency resources for Msg1, and electronic tags transmit Msg1 on all three time-frequency resources, and all three electronic tags receive Msg2 carrying their respective RN16, then the Msg3 corresponding to the first Msg2 is sent after receiving the first Msg2, the Msg3 corresponding to the second Msg2 is sent after receiving the second Msg2, and the Msg3 corresponding to the third Msg2 is sent after receiving the third Msg2. Moreover, the time domain position of the Msg3 corresponding to the first Msg2 is earlier than the time domain positions of the Msg3 corresponding to the second and third Msg2, and the time domain position of the Msg3 corresponding to the second Msg2 is earlier than the time domain position of the Msg3 corresponding to the third Msg2. It is understandable that different Msg1 values ​​may occupy different frequency domain resources.

[0118] In a centralized Msg2, after all Msg2 messages are sent, the RFID tag then sends the corresponding Msg3. As shown in Figure 8, assuming the R2D trigger message is configured with three Msg1 time-frequency resources, and RFID tags send Msg1 messages on all three time-frequency resources, and all three RFID tags receive Msg2 messages carrying their respective RN16 values, then the Msg3 messages corresponding to the first, second, and third Msg2 messages are all sent after the third Msg2 message is received. It can be understood that different Msg1 messages can occupy different frequency domain resources.

[0119] The terms "shared Msg2", "separate Msg2", "interspersed Msg2", or "centralized Msg2" are used for description only. In actual implementation, other names may exist, which will not be elaborated here.

[0120] A shared Msg2 carries more information than a standalone Msg2, while a standalone Msg2 offers higher demodulation and decoding accuracy. Whether a communication system uses a shared or standalone Msg2 can be indicated by displaying a prompt in the R2D trigger message or paging message triggering random access information, or it can be determined based on the transport block size (TBS) of the Msg2. Alternatively, it can be determined based on the number of access opportunities X in the time domain and Y in the frequency domain, such as X*Y (e.g., an R2D trigger message triggers X*Y Msg1 access opportunities, where X are time domain access opportunities and Y are frequency domain access opportunities; if X*Y is greater than a first threshold, a standalone Msg2 is used; if X*Y is less than or equal to the first threshold, a shared Msg2 is used). Alternatively, within a Msg2 monitoring window, it is possible to use both a shared Msg2 and a separate Msg2. In this case, within the same Msg2 monitoring window, there may be one or more shared Msg2s and / or one or more separate Msg2s.

[0121] 2. With the increasing application of 5G NR machine-type communication (MTC) and IoT communication, the number of connected IoT devices is growing daily. Therefore, the demand for reduced cost and power consumption of IoT devices is becoming increasingly strong. During the 4G era, 3GPP introduced the narrow-band IoT (NB-IoT) system. NB-IoT terminals in the NB-IoT system still require external power supply, such as through batteries, and have the ability to generate local high-frequency local oscillator carriers. Therefore, these terminals can achieve milliwatt-level power consumption. However, with the evolution and development of 5G IoT, the demand for supporting even lower-power terminals in 5G networks is increasing. RFID technology provides a good technical reference in the low-power direction, supporting microwatt-level power consumption. RFID tags use low-precision, low-power mid-to-low frequency ring oscillators or receive downlink signals without a local oscillator. When the RFID tag is working, the communication energy and carrier are supplied by the reader. The RFID tag communicates based on the reflected carrier, as shown in Figure 5: the reader sends the carrier, and the RFID tag can modulate and transmit information based on the carrier sent by the reader.

[0122] Given the low power consumption advantage of RFID technology, environmental IoT, such as 5G environmental IoT, has emerged. To meet ultra-low power consumption requirements, terminal devices in environmental IoT use low-precision, low-power mid-to-low frequency ring oscillators or receivers without a local oscillator to receive downlink signals. This further reduces the downlink power consumption of the terminal devices. In this case, to improve the accuracy of signal phase demodulation, amplitude detection, such as envelope detection, can be performed.

[0123] Existing RFID tags are low in cost and have low design complexity, while 5G IoT can provide stronger coverage compared to RFID tags.

[0124] In existing technologies, the physical channel for transmitting signals from reader to device (tag-to-reader, D2R) is the physical device-to-reader channel (PDRCH). Before the reader and tag can communicate, the tag needs to connect to the reader. As shown in Figure 9, the connection process in one connection scenario is as follows:

[0125] S901, the reader sends an R2D trigger message. Correspondingly, the electronic tag receives the R2D trigger message from the reader.

[0126] R2D trigger messages can be used to indicate one or more time-frequency resources for carrying Msg1, and each time-frequency resource can be used to carry one Msg1.

[0127] After receiving an R2D trigger message, the counter value of the electronic tag is decremented by 1. Electronic tags with a counter value of 0 can execute S902 to attempt access. For electronic tags, the initial value of the counter value can be a random number, such as a 16-bit random number or other possible random numbers. A 16-bit random number can also be called a random number 16 (RN16).

[0128] S902, the electronic tag sends Msg1. Correspondingly, the reader receives Msg1 from the electronic tag.

[0129] The Msg1 sent by the electronic tag may include information used to identify the electronic tag during the access process. The information used to identify the electronic tag in the Msg1 during the access process may be a random number generated by the electronic tag. The random number used to identify the electronic tag may be RN16 or other possible random numbers. The generation processes of the random number used to identify the electronic tag and the random number used as the counter value are independent of each other.

[0130] S903, the reader sends Msg2. Correspondingly, the electronic tag receives Msg2 from the reader.

[0131] After sending Msg1, the electronic tag will monitor Msg2 and demodulate each received Msg2. If Msg2 contains information sent by the electronic tag to identify the electronic tag, such as RN16, the electronic tag will consider that the reader has received its own Msg1 and determine that the Msg2 is the corresponding Msg2 sent by itself, thus executing S904.

[0132] S904, the electronic tag sends Msg3, and the reader receives Msg3 from the electronic tag accordingly.

[0133] Msg3 may include a second identifier for the electronic tag. This second identifier can be used to identify the electronic tag.

[0134] Once S904 is completed, the electronic tag can be considered to have successfully connected. If the Msg2 received by the electronic tag does not contain the identifier it sent, such as RN16, it is considered that the reader has not responded, indicating that the connection has failed, and it will not send Msg3.

[0135] As shown in Figure 10, the access process provided in Figure 9 is further explained below with reference to multiple electronic tags. In the first access opportunity, assuming the reader sends an R2D trigger message which is received by multiple electronic tags (tags 0 to 8), the electronic tags whose counters have a count of 0 will send Msg1. For example, if the counters of electronic tags 0 to 5 are 0 after receiving the R2D trigger message in the first access opportunity, then all electronic tags 0 to 5 will send Msg1 to request network access. Each electronic tag's Msg1 includes its identifier (e.g., RN16). After receiving Msg1 from electronic tags 0 to 5, the reader can reply with Msg2 in response to their Msg1 messages. If Msg2 includes the identifiers of electronic tags 0 and 5, then electronic tags 0 and 5 can send Msg3, indicating successful access. The process in the second access opportunity is similar to that in the first access opportunity, except that at least some of the electronic tags that failed to access in the second access opportunity, such as electronic tags 1 to 4 and electronic tags 6 and 7, can attempt to access.

[0136] The process shown in Figure 9 above can be used for inventory management. During inventory management, the electronic tag that completes step S704 in Figure 9 can be understood as a successfully completed inventory tag.

[0137] In the access process shown in Figure 9 above, the reader will send the corresponding message two within the monitoring window based on the received message one. The number and type of message two are unlimited. If the monitoring window for all message two corresponding to message one is shared (common), the scenario of all message one needs to be considered when determining the monitoring window, so the window for message two will be set very large. If the reader determines that only one message two needs to be sent, then the electronic tag will continue to monitor the entire monitoring window of message two (from the start time to the end time of monitoring message two). In this way, the time-frequency resources in the monitoring window after the reader has received message two are idle, which will lead to low time-domain efficiency and affect inventory efficiency.

[0138] To address the aforementioned technical problems, this application provides a communication method. In this method, the Msg2 sent by the reader / writer can carry information for determining whether to continue monitoring other Msg2s. This assists the electronic tag in deciding whether to end monitoring other Msg2s, allowing the monitoring process to end promptly after Msg2 transmission, thus improving inventory efficiency.

[0139] The communication method provided in this application can be applied to the interaction between any first-type device and any second-type device shown in FIG1. ​​For specific implementation, please refer to the following method embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0140] It should be noted that the solutions in the embodiments of this application can also be applied to other communication systems, and the corresponding names can be replaced by the names of the corresponding functions in other communication systems.

[0141] The communication method provided in the embodiments of this application will be described below with reference to Figures 12-18. In the following embodiments, the description will be based on a first communication device and a second communication device. The first communication device can be any of the first type of device in the communication system provided in Figure 1, and the second communication device can be any of the second type of device in the communication system provided in Figure 1. Further details will not be repeated hereafter.

[0142] For example, Figure 12 is a flowchart illustrating a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0143] As shown in Figure 12, the communication method includes:

[0144] S1201, M first communication devices (i.e., M first-type devices) send message one to the second communication device. Correspondingly, the second communication device receives message one from the M first communication devices.

[0145] M is a positive integer, and all M first communication devices are of the first type of devices in the communication system provided in Figure 1 above, i.e., M first type devices. The second communication device can be of the second type of devices in the communication system provided in Figure 1 above. The implementation of the first type devices and the second type devices can be referred to the relevant introduction in the communication system provided in Figure 1 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0146] Message 1, also known as Msg1 or the first message, is used to request network access.

[0147] It is understandable that each of the M first communication devices sends a message.

[0148] S1202, the second communication device sends the first information. Correspondingly, M first communication devices receive the first information from the second communication device.

[0149] The first message is used to determine whether to continue monitoring the second message sent by the second communication device. The second message is used to respond to the request of the first type of device to access the network.

[0150] In one possible implementation, the first information includes first indication information. This first indication information is used to determine whether to continue monitoring the second message (message 2) sent by the second communication device. The first indication information indicates one or more of the following: the total number of messages 2 sent by the second communication device, or the remaining number of messages 2 that the second communication device needs to send, or whether it is necessary to continue monitoring the messages 2 sent by the second communication device. Thus, the indication of whether to continue monitoring the messages 2 sent by the second communication device can be made in different ways, providing greater flexibility.

[0151] The first piece of information could be message two, or other information.

[0152] If the first message is message two, optionally, the first indication information can be carried in message two. The first indication information can be carried in a newly added field in message two.

[0153] For example, when the first indication information is used to indicate the total number of messages 2 sent by the second communication device, the first indication information may be carried on the field "num-Msg2" in message 2.

[0154] In this scenario, each first communication device needs to monitor all messages sent by the second communication device before ending the monitoring of messages two. The following example illustrates when the first communication device monitors messages two. As shown in Figure 13, assume the R2D trigger message allocates time-frequency resources for eight messages one (the indices of the eight time-frequency resources are ind1 to ind8). The second communication device sends two messages two. The first indication information in the first message two indicates that the total number of messages two sent by the second communication device is two. The first message two carries RN16, which is carried in messages one on time-frequency resources with indices ind1, ind3, ind3, and ind4. The first indication information in the second message two indicates that the total number of messages two sent by the second communication device is two. The second message two carries RN16, which is carried in messages one on time-frequency resources with indices ind6 and ind8. Therefore, the first communication device ends the monitoring of messages two after receiving the second message two.

[0155] In cases where the first indication information is used to indicate the remaining number of messages that the second communication device needs to send, the first indication information may be carried in the field "remain_Msg2".

[0156] In this scenario, when the first communication device receives message two and deciphers that the remaining number of message two messages to be sent is greater than 0, it will continue monitoring message two. When it deciphers that the remaining number of message two messages to be sent is equal to 0, it will stop monitoring message two. The following example illustrates when the first communication device monitors message two. As shown in Figure 14, assuming the R2D trigger message allocates 8 time-frequency resources for message one (the indices of the 8 time-frequency resources are ind1 to ind8), the second communication device sends two messages two. The first indication information in the first message two indicates that the total number of message two messages sent by the second communication device is 2. The first message two carries RN16, which is carried in message one on time-frequency resources with indices ind1, ind3, ind3, and ind4. The first indication information in the second message two indicates that the total number of message two messages sent by the second communication device is 2. The second message two carries RN16, which is carried in message one on time-frequency resources with indices ind6 and ind8. So, after receiving the first message 2, the first communication device interprets that the number of remaining messages 2 that need to be sent is 1, and continues to monitor message 2; after receiving the second message 2, the first communication device interprets that the number of remaining messages 2 that need to be sent is 0, and regardless of whether the second message 2 carries RN16 sent by the first communication device in message 1, it ends monitoring message 2.

[0157] The first indication information is used to indicate the remaining messages that the second communication device needs to send. It can promptly terminate the monitoring process of message two if the first communication device misses a message two whose time domain position is not the last one or if the decoding of message two whose time domain position is not the last one is incorrect.

[0158] In cases where the first indication information is used to indicate whether it is necessary to continue monitoring the message 2 sent by the second communication device, the first indication information may be carried in the field "if_Msg2".

[0159] In this scenario, when the first communication device receives message two and deciphers that it needs to continue monitoring message two sent by the second communication device, it will continue monitoring message two. When it deciphers that it no longer needs to monitor message two sent by the second communication device, it will stop monitoring message two. The following example illustrates when the first communication device monitors message two. As shown in Figure 15, assuming the R2D trigger message allocates 8 time-frequency resources for message one (the indices of the 8 time-frequency resources are ind1 to ind8), the second communication device sends two messages two. The first indication information in the first message two indicates that the total number of messages two sent by the second communication device is 2. The first message two carries RN16, which is carried in message one on time-frequency resources with indices ind1, ind3, ind3, and ind4. The first indication information in the second message two indicates that the total number of messages two sent by the second communication device is 2. The second message two carries RN16, which is carried in message one on time-frequency resources with indices ind6 and ind8. If _Msg2 = 1, it means that monitoring of message 2 sent by the second communication device needs to continue; if _Msg2 = 0, it means that monitoring of message 2 sent by the second communication device does not need to continue. Therefore, after receiving the first message 2, the first communication device interprets that monitoring of message 2 sent by the second communication device needs to continue and continues monitoring message 2. After receiving the second message 2, the first communication device interprets that monitoring of message 2 sent by the second communication device does not need to continue, and regardless of whether the second message 2 carries RN16 sent by the first communication device in message 1, it ends monitoring message 2.

[0160] The first indication information is used to indicate whether it is necessary to continue monitoring messages sent by the second communication device, which can reduce signaling overhead. For example, the field "if_Msg2" can be a single bit, where a value of 1 indicates that it is necessary to continue monitoring messages sent by the second communication device, and a value of 0 indicates that it is not necessary to continue monitoring messages sent by the second communication device.

[0161] In one possible implementation, the first information further includes second indication information, which indicates the timing of sending message three. Message three includes an identifier of a first-type device that has successfully accessed the network. Thus, the timing of sending message three can be indicated by the second communication device, thereby reducing the implementation complexity of the second communication device receiving the third information and improving communication efficiency.

[0162] Optionally, message 3 can be sent within a first time threshold after the first type of device receives message 2 corresponding to message 3, or after receiving all messages 2 sent by the second communication device. The timing of message 3's transmission can also be understood as the transmission method of message 3. Transmission within the first time threshold after the first type of device receives message 2 corresponding to message 3 is interleaving message 3. Transmission after receiving all messages 2 sent by the second communication device can also be understood as non-interleaving message 3, i.e., centralized transmission of message 3.

[0163] For example, a new field can be added to message two to carry the second instruction information.

[0164] For example, a new field "Msg3_type" can be added to message 2 to indicate whether it is interleaved message 3 or non-interleaved message 3.

[0165] For example, Msg3_type = 0 is used to identify interleaved message three. As shown in Figure 16, assuming that the R2D trigger message allocates 8 time-frequency resources for message one (the indices of the 8 time-frequency resources are ind1 to ind8 respectively), the second communication device sends two messages two. The first indication information in the first message two indicates that the total number of messages two sent by the second communication device is 2. The first message two carries the random numbers carried in message one on the time-frequency resources with indices ind1, ind3, ind3 and ind4, which are R#1, R#2, R#3 and R#4 respectively. The first indication information in the second message two indicates that the total number of messages two sent by the second communication device is 2. The second message two carries R#8 and R#8 carried in message one on the time-frequency resources with indices ind6 and ind8. Therefore, the time domain position of message 3 corresponding to message 1 on the time-frequency resources with indices ind1, ind3, ind3 and ind4 is between message 2 and message 2, while the time domain position of message 3 corresponding to message 1 on the time-frequency resources with indices ind6 and ind8 is after message 2.

[0166] For example, Msg3_type = 1 is used to identify non-interleaved message three. As shown in Figure 17, assuming the R2D trigger message allocates time-frequency resources for 8 messages of the first type (the indices of the 8 time-frequency resources are ind1 to ind8 respectively), the second communication device sends two messages of the second type. The first indication information in the first message of the second type indicates that the total number of messages of the second type sent by the second communication device is 2. The first message of the second type carries RN16 carried in message one on time-frequency resources with indices ind1, ind3, ind3, and ind4. The first indication information in the second message of the second type indicates that the total number of messages of the second type sent by the second communication device is 2. The second message of the second type carries RN16 carried in message one on time-frequency resources with indices ind6 and ind8. Then, the time domain position of message three corresponding to message one on time-frequency resources with indices ind1, ind3, ind3, and ind4 is after the second message of the second type.

[0167] In the case of centralized transmission of message three, each message two can carry its corresponding Msg3 scheduling information, or the last message two can indicate the time-frequency resources of each message three. Each message two carries information indicating the order of the messages three corresponding to that message two. When the other messages two in the second communication transmission are shared messages two, except for the last message two, the number of messages one that the last message two responds to may be less than the maximum number that the last message can respond to, thereby controlling the size of the messages two transmitted by the second communication device. For example, as shown in Figure 17, the first message two carries four RN16s, responding to messages one on the time-frequency resources with indices ind1, ind3, ind3, and ind4. (The indices of the time-frequency resources can be determined according to the order in the access opportunities in X*Y. This order can have different sorting orders, such as time domain first and then frequency domain, or frequency domain first and then time domain, or other orders are possible, and no restrictions are imposed here). Optionally, a new field can be added to message two, such as "res_id" to indicate the order of time-frequency resources in message three. For example, in the first message two in the figure, res_id = 1, 2, 3, 4 indicates that message three corresponding to the second communication device is sent on the time-frequency resources indicated by res_id in the order in which the first communication device sent message one. If the order carried in the first message two is R#1, R#3, R#4, R#2, it can be understood that the first communication device that sent message one at the first position sends message three at the first (res_id[1] = 1) message three position, the first communication device that sent message one at the third position sends message three at the second (res_id[2] = 2) message three position, the first communication device that sent message one at the fourth position sends message three at the third (res_id[3] = 3) message three position, and the first communication device that sent message one at the second position sends message three at the fourth (res_id[4] = 4) message three position. Similarly, the second message carries two RN16s and indicates that the two messages corresponding to the second message will be sent at positions 7 and 8. Since the second message is the last message, it needs to indicate the specific available time-frequency positions for the message. Then, all the first communication devices that need to send the message will determine the resource positions of the message corresponding to the second message based on the resource position set of the message carried on the second message and the res_id indicated in the corresponding second message. In the above example, the last message carries the set of available time-frequency positions for the message, but it is not restricted to which message carries the available time-frequency resource positions for the message. In addition, the position order res_id of each Msg2 carrying Msg3 is based on the overall arrangement order of the time-frequency resources in the entire time-frequency resource set of Msg3.If it is interleaved message three, then when message two carries specific time and frequency information, it is arranged according to the time and frequency resource order of all messages three corresponding to message two.

[0168] Indicating the resources of message three on the last message two sent by the second communication device can reduce the resource overhead of other messages two besides the last message two.

[0169] In one possible implementation, the first information is further used to indicate the time-frequency resources corresponding to one or more first communication devices (i.e., one or more first-class devices) among the M first-class communication devices. The time-frequency resources corresponding to each of the one or more first-class devices are used to carry message three for each first-class device. In this way, by indicating the time-frequency resources of at least one first-class device by the first information, the first communication device can provide feedback on message three more promptly.

[0170] It is understood that, in the case of the first information being message two, the first information is also used to respond to at least one of the M first communication devices (i.e., at least one type of first communication device). In this case, one or more first communication devices are at least a portion of the at least one first communication device.

[0171] Based on the method provided in Figure 12, the first information received by the first communication device carries information for determining whether to continue monitoring other message two. This can help the first communication device determine whether to end monitoring other message two, thereby ending the monitoring process of message two in a timely manner after the second communication device finishes sending message two, thus improving inventory efficiency.

[0172] Optionally, embodiments of this application may further include S1203:

[0173] S1203, one or more of the M first communication devices send message three. Correspondingly, the second communication device receives message three from the one or more first communication devices.

[0174] Alternatively, the method provided in Figure 12 further includes:

[0175] S1200, the second communication device sends the second information. Correspondingly, the first communication device receives the second information from the second communication device.

[0176] The second information is used to indicate whether the second message sent by the second communication device includes a second message responding to one message and / or multiple messages. In other words, the second information is used to indicate whether the types of the second messages sent by the second communication device are consistent.

[0177] In this way, the number of messages that message 2 responds to message 1 can be flexibly configured.

[0178] The second information can be carried in the aforementioned R2D trigger message or paging message. The third information can also be carried in other possible information or signaling, which will not be elaborated here.

[0179] For example, a field such as "Msg2 type (Msg2_type)" can be added to the R2D trigger message or paging message to carry the second information.

[0180] For example, Msg2_type = 1 indicates that all messages sent by the second communication device are either shared Msg2 or individual Msg2, meaning the type of messages sent by the second communication device is uniform. Msg2_type = 0 indicates that messages sent by the second communication device may include shared Msg2, may include individual Msg2, or in other words, the type of Msg2 is not restricted.

[0181] Optionally, the second information can also be used to indicate the type of Msg2 sent by the second communication device.

[0182] For example, if the type of Msg2 is 00, it indicates that the type of Msg2 sent by the second communication device is the common Msg2, that is, the common Msg2 is used to respond to Msg1.

[0183] In this case, the second information can also additionally indicate the maximum number of times the shared Msg2 can respond to Msg1. For example, the second information can indicate a maximum of W messages. In this case, the first communication device can stop monitoring after monitoring a maximum of floor(X*Y / W) Msg2s, which can further improve inventory efficiency. floor() represents rounding up. Alternatively, the second information can also directly indicate the maximum number of shared Msg2s.

[0184] Msg2_type = 01: This indicates that all Msg2 messages sent by the second communication device are of the single Msg2 type, meaning that each response to Msg1 is uniformly a single Msg2. In this case, the maximum number of Msg2 messages is X*Y. The first communication device can stop monitoring after monitoring a maximum of floor(X*Y / W) Msg2 messages, further improving inventory efficiency.

[0185] Msg2_type = 10: The type of Msg2 is not restricted. There may be scenarios where a common Msg2 and a separate Msg2 coexist.

[0186] It is understood that the above-listed implementation methods of the second information are for illustrative purposes only. In actual implementation, there are other possible implementation methods, which will not be elaborated here.

[0187] For example, Figure 18 is a flowchart illustrating another communication method provided in an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 18, the communication method includes:

[0188] S1801, M first communication devices (i.e., M first-type devices) send message 1 to the second communication device. Correspondingly, the second communication device receives message 1 from each of the M first-type devices.

[0189] Message 1 is used to request network access.

[0190] M first communication devices refer to M first type devices. For the implementation of M first communication devices, please refer to the relevant introduction of M first communication devices in the method provided in Figure 12. For the implementation of second communication devices, please refer to the relevant introduction of second communication devices in the method provided in Figure 10. For the implementation of S1801, please refer to S1201 in the method provided in Figure 12. It will not be elaborated here.

[0191] S1802, the second communication device sends the third information. Correspondingly, M first communication devices receive the third information from the second communication device.

[0192] The first message, second in fact, is used to determine when to send message third, where M is a positive integer.

[0193] In one possible implementation, message three is sent within a first time threshold after the first type of device receives message two corresponding to message three, or after receiving all messages two sent by the second communication device.

[0194] The implementation principle of the timing of sending message three can be found in the relevant introduction to the third timing in the method provided in Figure 10, which will not be elaborated here.

[0195] The third message can be carried within message two, or it can be sent separately, or it can be message two itself. For details on the implementation of the third message, please refer to the above description of the second instruction message; further details will not be provided here.

[0196] In the case that the third information is message two, the third information can also be used to indicate a request for at least one of the M first communication devices (i.e., at least one type of first device) to access the network.

[0197] S1803, N of the M first communication devices (i.e., N first-type devices) send message three according to the timing of message three transmission. Correspondingly, the second communication device receives message three from the N first communication devices according to the timing of message three transmission.

[0198] In the case that the third information is message two, N first-class devices are devices in at least one first-class device.

[0199] Message 3 for the nth type of device out of N type-1 devices is used to indicate the identifier of the nth type-1 device, where n is a positive integer less than or equal to N, and N is a positive integer. Based on the communication method provided in Figure 18, in the process of the first communication device accessing the second communication device, the second communication device can carry information in the first message 2 to determine the timing of sending message 3, so that the first communication device can send message 3 at the indicated timing, making the timing of sending message 3 more consistent with the actual scenario.

[0200] The communication method provided by the embodiments of this application has been described in detail above with reference to Figures 12-18. The communication apparatus used to perform the communication method provided by the embodiments of this application is described in detail below with reference to Figures 19-20.

[0201] For example, FIG19 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. As shown in FIG19, the communication device 1900 includes a processing module 1901 and a transceiver module 1902. For ease of explanation, FIG19 only shows the main components of the communication device.

[0202] In some embodiments, the communication device 1900 may be adapted to the communication system shown in FIG1 to perform the functions of the first communication device in the communication method shown in FIG12.

[0203] Among them, the processing module 1901 is used for message one, which is used to request network access.

[0204] The transceiver module 1902 is used to send message 1 to the second communication device. Message 1 is used to request network access.

[0205] The transceiver module 1902 is also used to receive first information from the second communication device. The first information is used to determine whether to continue monitoring the second message sent by the second communication device. The second message is used to respond to the request of the first type of device to access the network. The first communication device is one of M first type of communication devices, where M is a positive integer.

[0206] In one possible implementation, the first information includes first indication information, which is used to determine whether to continue monitoring the second message sent by the second communication device. The first indication information is used to indicate one or more of the following: the total number of the second message sent by the second communication device, or the remaining number of the second message to be sent by the second communication device, or whether it is necessary to continue monitoring the second message sent by the second communication device.

[0207] In one possible implementation, the transceiver module 1902 is used to receive second information from the second communication device, the second information being used to indicate that the second message sent by the second communication device includes a message two for responding to one message one and / or multiple messages one.

[0208] In one possible implementation, the first information further includes second indication information, which is used to indicate the timing of sending message three. Message three includes an identifier of a first type of device that has successfully accessed the network.

[0209] In one possible implementation, message three is sent within a first time threshold after the first type of device receives message two corresponding to message three, or after receiving all messages two sent by the second communication device.

[0210] In one possible implementation, the first message 2 is also used to indicate the time and frequency resources corresponding to one or more of the first type of communication devices among the M first type of communication devices, and the time and frequency resources corresponding to each of the one or more first type of devices are used to carry the message 3 of each first type of device.

[0211] Optionally, the transceiver module 1902 may include a receiving module and a transmitting module (not shown in FIG19). The transceiver module is used to implement the transmitting and receiving functions of the communication device 1900.

[0212] Optionally, the communication device 1900 may further include a storage module (not shown in FIG19) that stores programs or instructions. When the processing module 1901 executes the program or instructions, the communication device 1900 can perform the functions of the first communication device in any of the communication methods shown in FIG12.

[0213] It should be understood that the communication device 1900 may be a terminal device, a communication module, a circuit or chip responsible for communication functions, a chip system, or other components or assemblies. This communication module, circuit or chip responsible for communication functions, chip system, or other components or assemblies can be applied in a terminal device. This application does not limit this.

[0214] Furthermore, the technical effects of the communication device 1900 can be referenced from the technical effects of the communication method shown in any of Figure 12, and will not be repeated here.

[0215] In other embodiments, the communication device 1900 may be adapted to the communication system shown in FIG1 to perform the functions of the second communication device in the communication method shown in FIG12.

[0216] The transceiver module 1902 is used to receive message 1 from M first-type devices. Message 1 is used to request network access, where M is a positive integer.

[0217] The processing module 1901 is used to generate first information, which is used to determine whether to continue monitoring message two sent by the second communication device. Message two is used to respond to the request of the first type of device to access the network.

[0218] The transceiver module 1902 is also used to send the first message.

[0219] In one possible implementation, the first information includes first indication information, which is used to determine whether to continue monitoring the second message sent by the second communication device. The first indication information is used to indicate one or more of the following: the total number of messages sent by the second communication device, or the remaining number of messages to be sent by the second communication device, or whether to continue monitoring the second message sent by the second communication device.

[0220] In one possible implementation, the transceiver module 1902 is further configured to send second information, which is used to indicate that the message two sent by the second communication device includes a message two for responding to one message one and / or multiple messages one.

[0221] In one possible implementation, the first information further includes second indication information, which is used to indicate the timing of sending message three. Message three includes an identifier of a first type of device that has successfully accessed the network.

[0222] In one possible implementation, message three is sent within a first time threshold after the first type of device receives message two corresponding to message three, or after receiving all messages two sent by the second communication device.

[0223] In one possible implementation, the first message 2 is also used to indicate the time and frequency resources corresponding to one or more of the first type of communication devices among the M first type of communication devices, and the time and frequency resources corresponding to each of the one or more first type of devices are used to carry the message 3 corresponding to each first type of device.

[0224] Optionally, the communication device 1900 may further include a storage module (not shown in FIG. 19) that stores programs or instructions. When the processing module 1901 executes the program or instructions, the communication device 1900 can perform the functions of the second communication device in the communication method shown in FIG. 12.

[0225] It should be understood that the processing module 1901 involved in the communication device 1900 can be implemented by a processor or processor-related circuit components, and can be a processor or processing unit; the transceiver module 1902 can be implemented by a transceiver or transceiver-related circuit components, and can be a transceiver or transceiver unit.

[0226] It should be noted that the communication device 1900 can be a network device, a communication module, a circuit or chip responsible for communication functions, a chip system, or other components or assemblies. This communication module, circuit or chip responsible for communication functions, chip system, or other components or assemblies can be used in network devices.

[0227] Furthermore, the technical effects of the communication device 1900 can be referred to in the technical effects of the communication method shown in any of Figure 12, and will not be elaborated here.

[0228] In some embodiments, the communication device 1900 may be adapted to the communication system shown in FIG1 to perform the functions of the first communication device in the communication method shown in FIG18.

[0229] The processing module 1901 is used to generate message 1, which is used to request network access.

[0230] The transceiver module 1902 is used to send message 1 to the second communication device. Message 1 is used to request network access.

[0231] The transceiver module 1902 is also used to receive third information from the second communication device. The third information is used to determine the timing of sending message three, where M is a positive integer. The first communication device sends message three according to the timing of sending message three. Message three is used to indicate the identifier of the first communication device.

[0232] In one possible implementation, message three is sent within a first time threshold after the first type of device receives message two corresponding to message three, or after receiving all messages two sent by the second communication device.

[0233] Optionally, the transceiver module 1902 may include a receiving module and a transmitting module (not shown in FIG19). The transceiver module is used to implement the transmitting and receiving functions of the communication device 1900.

[0234] Optionally, the communication device 1900 may further include a storage module (not shown in FIG19) that stores programs or instructions. When the processing module 1901 executes the program or instructions, the communication device 1900 can perform the functions of the first communication device in any of the communication methods shown in FIG18.

[0235] It should be understood that the communication device 1900 may be a terminal device, a communication module, a circuit or chip responsible for communication functions, a chip system, or other components or assemblies. This communication module, circuit or chip responsible for communication functions, chip system, or other components or assemblies can be applied in a terminal device. This application does not limit this.

[0236] Furthermore, the technical effects of the communication device 1900 can be referenced from the technical effects of the communication method shown in any of Figure 18, and will not be repeated here.

[0237] In other embodiments, the communication device 1900 may be adapted to the communication system shown in FIG1 to perform the functions of the second communication device in the communication method shown in FIG18.

[0238] The transceiver module 1902 is used to receive message 1 from each of the M first-class devices, and message 1 from each first-class device is used to request access to the network.

[0239] Processing module 1901 is used to generate third information, which is used to determine the timing of sending message three, where M is a positive integer.

[0240] The transceiver module 1902 is also used to send a third message, which is used to respond to a request from at least one of the M first-class devices to access the network, and to determine the timing of sending the third message, where M is a positive integer.

[0241] In one possible implementation, message three is sent within a first time threshold after the first type of device receives message two corresponding to message three, or after receiving all messages two sent by the second communication device.

[0242] In one possible implementation, the method provided by the fourth aspect further includes: the second communication device receiving message three from at least one first-type device according to the timing of message three transmission, wherein message three of the nth first-type device in the at least one first-type device is used to indicate the identifier of the nth first-type device, where n is a positive integer less than or equal to N, and N is the number of at least one first-type device, where N is a positive integer.

[0243] Optionally, the communication device 1900 may further include a storage module (not shown in FIG19) that stores programs or instructions. When the processing module 1901 executes the program or instructions, the communication device 1900 can perform the functions of the second communication device in the communication method shown in FIG18.

[0244] It should be understood that the processing module 1901 involved in the communication device 1900 can be implemented by a processor or processor-related circuit components, and can be a processor or processing unit; the transceiver module 1902 can be implemented by a transceiver or transceiver-related circuit components, and can be a transceiver or transceiver unit.

[0245] It should be noted that the communication device 1900 can be a network device, a communication module, a circuit or chip responsible for communication functions, a chip system, or other components or assemblies. This communication module, circuit or chip responsible for communication functions, chip system, or other components or assemblies can be used in network devices.

[0246] Furthermore, the technical effects of the communication device 1900 can be referred to in the technical effects of the communication method shown in any of Figure 18, and will not be repeated here.

[0247] For example, Figure 20 is a second schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. This communication device can be a terminal device or a network device, or it can be a chip (system) or other component or assembly that can be disposed in a terminal device or network device. As shown in Figure 20, the communication device 2000 may include a processor 2001. Optionally, the communication device 2000 may also include a memory 2002 and / or a transceiver 2003. The processor 2001 is coupled to the memory 2002 and the transceiver 2003, for example, they can be connected via a communication bus.

[0248] The following section, with reference to Figure 20, provides a detailed description of each component of the communication device 2000:

[0249] The processor 2001 is the control center of the communication device 2000. It can be a single processor or a collective term for multiple processing elements. For example, the processor 2001 can be one or more central processing units (CPUs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or one or more integrated circuits configured to implement the embodiments of this application, such as one or more digital signal processors (DSPs), or one or more FPGAs.

[0250] Optionally, the processor 2001 can perform various functions of the communication device 2000 by running or executing software programs stored in the memory 2002 and calling data stored in the memory 2002.

[0251] In a specific implementation, as one example, processor 2001 may include one or more CPUs, such as CPU0 and CPU1 shown in FIG20.

[0252] In a specific implementation, as one embodiment, the communication device 2000 may also include multiple processors, such as processors 2001 and 2004 shown in FIG. 20. Each of these processors may be a single-core processor (single-CPU) or a multi-core processor (multi-CPU). Here, a processor may refer to one or more devices, circuits, and / or processing cores for processing data (e.g., computer program instructions).

[0253] The memory 2002 is used to store the software program that executes the solution of this application, and is controlled by the processor 2001 to execute it. The specific implementation method can be referred to the above method embodiment, and will not be repeated here.

[0254] Optionally, the memory 2002 may be a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device capable of storing static information and instructions, random access memory (RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device capable of storing information and instructions, or electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disc storage, optical disc storage (including compressed optical discs, laser discs, optical discs, digital universal optical discs, Blu-ray discs, etc.), magnetic disk storage media or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium capable of carrying or storing desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and accessible by a computer, but not limited thereto. The memory 2002 may be integrated with the processor 2001 or may exist independently and be coupled to the processor 2001 through the interface circuit of the communication device 2000 (not shown in FIG. 20). This application embodiment does not specifically limit this.

[0255] Transceiver 2003 is used for communication with other communication devices. For example, if communication device 2000 is a terminal device, transceiver 2003 can be used to communicate with a network device or with another terminal device. As another example, if communication device 2000 is a network device, transceiver 2003 can be used to communicate with a terminal device or with another network device.

[0256] Optionally, transceiver 2003 may include a receiver and a transmitter (not shown separately in Figure 20). The receiver is used to implement the receiving function, and the transmitter is used to implement the transmitting function.

[0257] Optionally, the transceiver 2003 can be integrated with the processor 2001 or exist independently and be coupled to the processor 2001 through the interface circuit of the communication device 2000 (not shown in FIG20). This application embodiment does not specifically limit this.

[0258] It should be noted that the structure of the communication device 2000 shown in Figure 20 does not constitute a limitation on the communication device. The actual communication device may include more or fewer components than shown, or combine certain components, or have different component arrangements.

[0259] Furthermore, the technical effects of the communication device 2000 can be referred to the technical effects of the communication method described in the above method embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0260] It should be understood that the processor in the embodiments of this application can be a CPU, but it can also be other general-purpose processors, DSPs, ASICs, FPGAs, or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, etc.

[0261] It should also be understood that the memory in the embodiments of this application can be volatile memory or non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memory. Non-volatile memory can be ROM, programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), EEPROM, or flash memory. Volatile memory can be RAM, which is used as an external cache. By way of example, but not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as 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).

[0262] The above embodiments can be implemented, in whole or in part, by software, hardware (such as circuits), firmware, or any other combination thereof. When implemented using software, the above embodiments can be implemented, in whole or in part, in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions or computer programs. When the computer instructions or computer programs are loaded or 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. 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., 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 includes one or more sets of available media. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (e.g., floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., DVD), or a semiconductor medium. A semiconductor medium can be a solid-state drive.

[0263] It should be understood that the term "and / or" in this article is merely a description of the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: A existing alone, A and B existing simultaneously, or B existing alone. A and B can be singular or plural. Additionally, the character " / " in this article generally indicates an "or" relationship between the preceding and following related objects, but it can also represent an "and / or" relationship. Please refer to the context for a more accurate understanding.

[0264] In this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "more than one" means two or more. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or multiple items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can mean: a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, or abc, where a, b, and c can be single or multiple.

[0265] It should be understood that in the various embodiments of this application, the order of the above-mentioned processes does not imply the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of this application.

[0266] Those skilled in the art will recognize that the units and algorithm steps of the various examples described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are implemented in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0267] Those skilled in the art will understand that, for the sake of convenience and brevity, the specific working processes of the systems, devices, and units described above can be referred to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0268] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, apparatuses, and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative; for instance, the division of 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 coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed may be through some interfaces; the indirect coupling or communication connection between apparatuses or units may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0269] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate. The components shown as units may or may not be physical units; that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of the units can be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0270] In addition, the functional units in the various embodiments of this application can be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit can exist physically separately, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit.

[0271] If the aforementioned functions are implemented as software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of this application, in essence, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or a portion of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of this application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media capable of storing program code, such as USB flash drives, portable hard drives, ROM, RAM, magnetic disks, or optical disks.

[0272] 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 in that, Applied to a first communication device, the method includes: Send message 1 to the second communication device, the message 1 being used to request network access; The system receives first information from the second communication device, which is used to determine whether to continue monitoring message two sent by the second communication device. Message two is used to respond to a request from a first type of device to access the network. The first communication device is one of the M first type of communication devices, where M is a positive integer.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first information includes first indication information, which is used to determine whether to continue monitoring the second message sent by the second communication device. The first indication information is used to indicate one or more of the following: the total number of the second message sent by the second communication device, or the remaining number of the second message to be sent by the second communication device, or whether it is necessary to continue monitoring the second message sent by the second communication device.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receive second information from the second communication device, wherein the first information is used to indicate that the second communication device sends a second message including a second message in response to a first message and / or multiple first messages.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that, The first information also includes second indication information, which is used to indicate the timing of sending message three, and message three includes an identifier of a first type of device that has successfully accessed the network.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The timing of sending message three is within a first time threshold after the first type of device receives message two corresponding to message three, or after receiving all messages two sent by the second communication device.

6. The method according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that, The first information is also used to indicate the time-frequency resources corresponding to one or more of the M first-class communication devices, wherein the time-frequency resources corresponding to each of the one or more first-class devices are used to carry the message three of each first-class device.

7. A communication method, characterized in that, Applied to a second communication device, the method includes: Receive message 1 from M first-class devices, the message 1 being a request to access the network, where M is a positive integer; Send a first message, which is used to determine whether to continue monitoring the second message sent by the second communication device, the second message being used to respond to the request of the first type of device to access the network.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that, The first information includes first indication information, which is used to determine whether to continue monitoring the second message 2 sent by the second communication device. The first indication information is used to indicate one or more of the following: the total number of the second message 2 sent by the second communication device, or the remaining number of the second message 2 that the second communication device needs to send, or whether to continue monitoring the second message 2 sent by the second communication device.

9. The method according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that, The method further includes: Send a second message, the second message being used to instruct the second communication device to send a message two including a message two for responding to a message one and / or multiple messages one.

10. The method according to any one of claims 7-9, characterized in that, The first information also includes second indication information, which is used to indicate the timing of sending the third message, and the third message includes an identifier of a first type of device that has successfully accessed the network.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that, The timing of sending message three is within a first time threshold after the first type of device receives message two corresponding to message three, or after receiving all messages two sent by the second communication device.

12. The method according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that, The first information is also used to indicate the time-frequency resources corresponding to one or more of the M first-class communication devices, wherein the time-frequency resources corresponding to each of the one or more first-class devices are used to carry the message three corresponding to each of the first-class devices.

13. A communication method, characterized in that, Applied to a first communication device, the method includes: Send message 1 to the second communication device, the message 1 being used to request network access; Receive third information from the second communication device, the third information being used to determine the timing of sending message three, where M is a positive integer; Message three is sent according to the timing of its transmission, and the message three is used to indicate the identifier of the first communication device.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that, The timing of sending message three is within a first time threshold after the first type of device receives message two corresponding to message three, or after receiving all messages two sent by the second communication device.

15. A communication method, characterized in that, Applied to a second communication device, the method includes: Receive message 1 from each of the M first-class devices, wherein each first-class device's message 1 is used to request network access; Send the first and third information, wherein the third information is used to determine the timing of sending message three, and M is a positive integer.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that, The timing of sending message three is within a first time threshold after the first type of device receives message two corresponding to message three, or after receiving all messages two sent by the second communication device.

17. The method according to claim 15 or 16, characterized in that, The method further includes: Message 3 is received from N first-class devices according to the timing of message 3 transmission. Message 3 of the nth first-class device among the N first-class devices is used to indicate the identifier of the nth first-class device, where n is a positive integer less than or equal to N and N is a positive integer.

18. A communication device, characterized in that, The communication device includes a module for performing the method as described in any one of claims 1-17.

19. A communication device, characterized in that, include: Processor and interface circuits; among which, The interface circuit is used to receive code instructions and transmit them to the processor; The processor is used to run the code instructions to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1-17.

20. A communication device, characterized in that, The communication device includes a processor and a transceiver, the transceiver being used for information exchange between the communication device and other communication devices, and the processor executing code instructions to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1-17.

21. A communication device, characterized in that, Includes: a processor, said processor being configured to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1-17.

22. The communication device according to any one of claims 18-21, characterized in that, The communication device further includes a memory for storing code instructions relating to the method as described in any one of claims 1-17.

23. The communication device according to any one of claims 18-22, characterized in that, The communication device is a chip.

24. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium includes a computer program or instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1-17.

25. A computer program product, characterized in that, The computer program product includes: a computer program or instructions that, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1-17.

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