Reference signal resource measurement method and communication apparatus

Abstract

The present application provides a reference signal resource measurement method and a communication apparatus. The method comprises: a first communication apparatus receiving first signaling, the first signaling being used for indicating a handover from a serving cell to a first cell, the first signaling comprising a target configuration identifier field, and the target configuration identifier field being used for indicating the first cell; measuring one or more reference signal resources of the first cell to obtain a channel state information (CSI) report, configuration information of the first cell comprising a first report configuration, and the first report configuration being associated with the one or more reference signal resources of the first cell; and sending the CSI report to the first cell. The method can improve system transmission performance after the first communication apparatus (such as a terminal) accesses the first cell, and is conducive to improving the reliability and efficiency of data transmission.

Description

A method for measuring reference signal resources and a communication device

[0001] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202510382242.X, filed on March 27, 2025, entitled "A Method for Measuring Reference Signal Resources and a Communication Apparatus", the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0002] This application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a method for measuring reference signal resources and a communication device. Background Technology

[0003] In a wireless communication system, a network device can configure reference signal resources for one or more candidate cells for a terminal. The terminal measures the reference signal resources of these candidate cells. The terminal can then report the measurement results of the reference signal resources for one or more candidate cells. The measurement results for each candidate cell's reference signal resources may include a reference signal resource index and corresponding signal strength information (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP)). Therefore, the network device can determine whether the terminal should perform a cell handover and, if so, which candidate cell to hand over to based on the measurement results reported by the terminal.

[0004] In one example, the system supports obtaining RSRP and other channel state information (CSI) information by measuring the channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) of the candidate cell. To accommodate system transmission performance and terminal measurement complexity, CSI acquisition based on CSI-RS measurement can be performed before or after cell handover. However, currently, there is no solution designed to accommodate both scenarios, which is detrimental to the reliability and efficiency of data transmission. Summary of the Invention

[0005] This application provides a method for measuring reference signal resources and a communication device, which can improve the system transmission performance after the first communication device (such as a terminal) accesses the first cell, and is beneficial to improving the reliability and efficiency of data transmission.

[0006] Firstly, a method for measuring reference signal resources is provided. This method can be applied to a first communication device (or, as can be expressed, the method can be executed by the first communication device), wherein the first communication device can be a terminal or a terminal's communication module / processing module, or a terminal's circuitry or chip (such as a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a system-on-chip (SoC) chip containing a modem core, or a system-in-package (SIP) chip), or a circuitry or chip responsible for communication and / or computing functions (such as a graphics processing unit (GPU), an artificial intelligence (AI) processor, or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)), or a module or software capable of implementing all or part of the terminal's functions.

[0007] Taking the application of this method to a first communication device as an example, in this method, the first communication device receives a first signaling, which is used to indicate a handover from the serving cell to the first cell; measures the first reference signal resources of the first cell at a first measurement timing to obtain channel information, the first measurement timing being either before or after receiving the first signaling; and sends the channel information to the first cell.

[0008] In one possible implementation, the first signaling includes a target configuration identifier field for indicating a first cell. The first signaling is a Layer 1 / Layer 2 triggered mobility cell handover MAC CE signaling (LTM Cell Switch Command MAC CE). The channel information can be a CSI report, and the first reference signal resource is one or more reference signal resources corresponding to the first cell associated with the first report configuration.

[0009] The method may include: receiving a first signaling signal, the first signaling signal being used to indicate a handover from the serving cell to a first cell, the first signaling signal including a target configuration identifier field, the target configuration identifier field being used to indicate the first cell; measuring one or more reference signal resources of the first cell to obtain a channel state information (CSI) report, the configuration information of the first cell including a first report configuration, the first report configuration being associated with one or more reference signal resources of the first cell; and sending the CSI report to the first cell.

[0010] This method is compatible with the first communication device (such as a terminal) measuring the reference signal resources of the target cell (i.e., the first cell) and reporting channel information before or after cell handover. It can improve the system transmission performance after the first communication device accesses the first cell and is conducive to improving the reliability and efficiency of data transmission.

[0011] In this application, the aforementioned channel information may also be referred to as channel measurement results, measurement reports, channel state information reports, channel information corresponding to the first reference signal resource, or channel measurement results corresponding to the first reference signal resource. This application does not limit the name.

[0012] Using the above method, the first communication device can measure the reference signal resources at different measurement times, thereby obtaining the channel information corresponding to the first reference signal resources. By measuring the reference signal resources before receiving the first signaling, the first communication device can directly report the channel information corresponding to the first reference signal resources after receiving the first signaling, without waiting for measurement, thus reducing reporting latency and improving overall measurement performance. By measuring the reference signal resources after receiving the first signaling, the first communication device can measure only the reference signal resources corresponding to the first cell and report the channel information corresponding to the first reference signal resources after receiving the first signaling, thus reducing the measurement complexity of the first communication device and reducing signaling overhead.

[0013] For example, the first signaling can be cell handover signaling, which can be L1 / L2 triggered mobility cell switch command medium access control (LTM cell switch command MAC CE) signaling. In this application, the cell handover signaling and the L1 / L2 triggered mobility cell switch command medium access control - control element can be described interchangeably.

[0014] For example, the first signaling is used to instruct the first communication device to switch from the serving cell to the target candidate cell (i.e., the first cell mentioned above). In this application, the first cell may also be referred to as the target cell or the target candidate cell.

[0015] In this application, the reference signal is carried within a reference signal resource. The terms "reference signal (RS)" and "reference signal resource" are interchangeable. Similarly, the terms "reference signal," "reference signal resource," "reference signal measurement resource," and "measurement resource" are also interchangeable.

[0016] In conjunction with the first aspect, in one possible implementation, the first measurement timing is after receiving the first signaling, and the first reference signal resource of the first cell is measured at the first measurement timing to obtain channel information, including: determining a first report configuration based on the first signaling, the first report configuration being associated with one or more reference signal resources corresponding to the first cell, the one or more reference signal resources including the first reference signal resource; and measuring the first reference signal resource to obtain channel information.

[0017] In this embodiment, after receiving the first information, the first communication device can determine the first cell based on the first signaling. The reference signal resource measured by the first communication device (i.e., the first reference signal resource) belongs to the reference signal resource corresponding to the first cell associated with the first report configuration. This method only measures and reports some or all of the one or more reference signal resources corresponding to the first cell associated with the first report configuration, which can reduce measurement and reporting overhead.

[0018] Optionally, the first report configuration is associated with reference signal resources corresponding to one or more candidate cells, including the first cell. This method does not require reporting and measuring the reference signal resources of other candidate cells, which can reduce measurement and reporting overhead.

[0019] Optionally, the one or more reference signal resources corresponding to the first cell associated with the first report configuration can be part or all of the reference signal resources corresponding to the first cell. For example, the first report configuration is associated with reference signal resources corresponding to one or more candidate cells. The first report configuration can be associated with part or all of the reference signal resources of each of the one or more candidate cells. The one or more candidate cells include the first cell. That is to say, if the one or more reference signal resources corresponding to the first cell associated with the first report configuration are called reference signal resource set 1, the reference signal resources in this set can be part or all of the reference signal resources corresponding to the first cell.

[0020] In conjunction with the first aspect, in one possible implementation, if the first report configuration is associated with a reference signal resource corresponding to the first cell, then the reference signal resource corresponding to the first cell is the first reference signal resource.

[0021] In conjunction with the first aspect, in one possible implementation, if the first report configuration is associated with one or more reference signal resources corresponding to the first cell, then some or all of the one or more reference signal resources are the first reference signal resources.

[0022] In this embodiment of the application, the reference signal resources measured by the first communication device (i.e., the first reference signal resources) can be part or all of the reference signal resources (or reference signal resource set 1) corresponding to the first cell associated with the first report configuration. This method can flexibly determine whether to measure and report all reference signal resources of reference signal resource set 1, which increases the flexibility of the scheme.

[0023] In conjunction with the first aspect, in one possible implementation, the first signaling is also used to indicate a first transmission configuration indicator state (TCI state). For example, the first signaling indicates the first TCI state by indicating a transmission configuration indicator state identity (TCI state ID).

[0024] Wherein, the first reference signal resource and the reference signal resource in the first TCI state satisfy a quasi-colocation (QCL) relationship; or, the first reference signal resource corresponds to the second TCI state, and the reference signal in the first TCI state is the same as the reference signal in the second TCI state, wherein the reference signal is at least one of the following: the reference signal corresponding to QCL type A (or QCL type A RS), the reference signal corresponding to QCL type B (or QCL type B RS), the reference signal corresponding to QCL type C (or QCL type C RS), or the reference signal corresponding to QCL type D (or QCL type D RS); or, the first reference signal resource corresponds to the second TCI state, and the first TCI state is the same as the second TCI state; or, the first reference signal resource corresponds to the second TCI state, and the QCL source reference signal (or QCL source RS) of the first TCI state is the same as the QCL source reference signal of the second TCI state.

[0025] In this application, quasi-co-location can also be called quasi-identical. In this application, the full name of ID can be any one of identifier, indication, indicator, index, identity, and identification, and identifier, indication, indicator, index, identity, and identification can be used interchangeably.

[0026] In this application, two reference signal resources satisfying a quasi-co-location relationship can be understood as the two reference signal resources having certain identical spatial parameters. For example, there are four types of quasi-co-location relationships: type A, type B, type C, and type D. When two reference signal resources satisfy a QCL type A relationship, the aforementioned identical spatial parameters can be understood as the two reference signal resources having the same Doppler offset, Doppler spread, average delay, and delay spread. When two reference signal resources satisfy a QCL type B relationship, the aforementioned identical spatial parameters can be understood as the two reference signal resources having the same Doppler offset and Doppler spread. When two reference signal resources satisfy a QCL type C relationship, the aforementioned identical spatial parameters can be understood as the two reference signal resources having the same Doppler offset and average delay. When two reference signal resources satisfy a QCL type D relationship, the aforementioned identical spatial parameters can be understood as the two reference signal resources having the same spatial reception parameters.

[0027] In this application, the reference signals in the TCI state can be used to configure the reference signals included in the TCI state for network devices. For example, each TCI-state includes its own index tci-StateId and one or two QCL information (QCL-Info). Each QCL-Info includes a cell field and a bwp-Id, indicating which cell and bwp (bandwidth part) the TCI-state applies to, respectively; that is, different cells or different bwp of the same cell can be configured with different QCL-Infos. The QCL-Info also includes a referenceSignal, used to indicate a QCL relationship with the reference signal resource. The QCL-Info also includes another field, qcl-Type, used to indicate any one of type A, type B, type C, and type D. The reference signal in the TCI state is the corresponding reference signal in one of the QCL-Infos within that TCI state. In this application, if the qcl-Type in one of the QCL-Infos in the TCI state is type A, then the corresponding reference signal in that QCL-Info is called QCL type A RS. QCL type B RS, QCL type C RS, and QCL type D RS can be obtained similarly. In this application, the reference signal in the TCI state can also be called the reference signal corresponding to the QCL resource of the TCI state.

[0028] Here's an example: A TCI state includes two QCL-infos. One QCL-info has a qcl-Type of type A and a corresponding reference signal of RS#1. The other QCL-info has a qcl-Type of type D and a corresponding reference signal of RS#2. In this case, the RS for QCL type A in the TCI state is RS#1, and the RS for QCL type D in the TCI state is RS#2.

[0029] In this application, the reference signal resource corresponds to a TCI state. This can be understood as the network device configuring a TCI state for the reference signal resource through higher-layer parameters (e.g., through radio resource control (RRC) signaling), or indicating a TCI state for the reference signal resource through a signaling (e.g., MAC CE signaling or downlink control information (DCI) signaling). The first communication device (e.g., a terminal) can assume that the reference signal resource and the reference signal resource in the TCI state satisfy certain QCL relationships. For example, the reference signal resource corresponds to TCI state #1, which includes two QCL-infos. One QCL-info includes a qcl-Type of type A, corresponding to the reference signal RS#1, and the other QCL-info includes a qcl-Type of type D, corresponding to the reference signal RS#2. Then, the terminal can assume that the reference signal resource satisfies a QCL type A relationship with RS#1 and a QCL type D relationship with RS#2. Typically, this can be understood as the TCI state used by the network device to send the reference signal resource, or the TCI state used by the network device to send the reference signal corresponding to the reference signal resource. Alternatively, it can be understood as the TCI state used by the terminal to receive the reference signal resource, or the TCI state used by the network device to receive the reference signal corresponding to the reference signal resource.

[0030] The QCL source reference signal can be understood as the reference signal corresponding to the source QCL resource of the QCL chain. This reference signal can be a synchronization signal block (SSB) or a CSI-RS. For example, the QCL resource of the TCI state indicated by the network device to the terminal is a CSI-RS resource. The QCL resource in the TCI state corresponding to this CSI-RS resource is a tracking reference signal (TRS) resource. And the QCL resource in the TCI state corresponding to this TRS resource is an SSB resource. Therefore, the QCL resource in the TCI state indicated by the network device to the terminal (such as a CSI-RS resource), the QCL resource in the TCI state corresponding to this CSI-RS resource (such as a TRS resource), and the QCL resource in the TCI state corresponding to this TRS resource (such as an SSB resource) constitute a QCL chain. The source QCL resource of this QCL chain is an SSB resource, therefore the QCL source reference signal of this TCI state can be the SSB corresponding to this SSB resource.

[0031] Optionally, the first measurement timing is after receiving the first signaling. The first communication device can determine the first report configuration based on the first signaling. The first report configuration is associated with one or more reference signal resources (or reference signal resource set 1) corresponding to the first cell. The first signaling is also used to indicate the first TCI state. The first communication device can determine the first reference signal resource from the reference signal resource set 1 based on the first TCI state. The first reference signal resource satisfies any of the following conditions: the first reference signal resource and the reference signal resource in the first TCI state satisfy a QCL relationship; or, the first reference signal resource corresponds to the second TCI state, and the reference signal in the first TCI state is the same as the reference signal in the second TCI state, wherein the reference signal is at least one of QCL type A RS, QCL type B RS, QCL type C RS, or QCL type DRS; or, the first TCI state is the same as the second TCI state; or, the QCL source RS of the first TCI state is the same as the QCL source RS of the second TCI state.

[0032] Optionally, the first TCI state may not be carried in the first signaling; that is, the first TCI state may be sent to the first communication device in other ways. This application does not limit this.

[0033] In this embodiment of the application, the first signaling can also be used to indicate the first TCI state. The first communication device can determine the first reference signal resource based on the first TCI state. The first reference signal resource can be determined from one or more reference signal resources (or reference signal resource set 1) corresponding to the first cell associated with the first report configuration, which can further reduce measurement overhead and reporting overhead.

[0034] In conjunction with the first aspect, in one possible implementation, the first signaling includes an identifier of the first cell, which is used to determine the first report configuration; or, the first signaling includes an identifier of the first report configuration (or a report configuration identifier), which is used to determine the first report configuration. That is to say, determining the first report configuration based on the first signaling can be based on either the identifier of the first cell or the identifier of the first report configuration.

[0035] Optionally, the identifier of the first cell or the identifier configured in the first report may also be carried on other signaling, and this application does not limit this.

[0036] Optionally, the first configuration information configured by the second communication device for the first communication device includes one or more report configurations. If only one of the above one or more report configurations is associated with a reference signal resource of the first cell used for channel information acquisition (such as for CSI acquisition), then the report configuration is the above first report configuration. The number of reference signal resources of the first cell associated with the report configuration for channel information acquisition can be one or more.

[0037] In conjunction with the first aspect, in one possible implementation, the first signaling is also used to indicate a first reference signal resource.

[0038] In this method, the first signaling can directly indicate the first reference signal resource, which can reduce the implementation complexity.

[0039] Optionally, the first measurement timing is after receiving the first signaling. The first communication device can determine the first report configuration based on the first signaling. For example, it can determine the first report configuration based on the identifier of the first cell or the identifier of the first report configuration included in the first signaling. The first report configuration is associated with one or more reference signal resources (or reference signal resource set 1) corresponding to the first cell. The first signaling is also used to indicate the first reference signal resource. The first communication device can determine the first reference signal resource from the reference signal resource set 1.

[0040] In conjunction with the first aspect, in one possible implementation, the first signaling is further used to indicate a first TCI state, wherein the measurement of the first reference signal resource of the first cell at the first measurement timing includes: measuring the first reference signal resource at the first measurement timing based on the first TCI state.

[0041] Optionally, the first communication device may receive the first reference signal resource based on the first TCI state.

[0042] In conjunction with the first aspect, in one possible implementation, the first measurement is performed before receiving the first signaling. For example, before receiving the first signaling, the first communication device can measure the reference signal resources of one or more candidate cells to obtain channel information corresponding to the one or more candidate cells. Each candidate cell corresponds to one set of channel information, and the one or more candidate cells include the target cell. Therefore, after receiving the cell handover signaling, the first communication device can directly report the channel measurement results without further measurement, thereby reducing the delay of cell handover.

[0043] In conjunction with the first aspect, in one possible implementation, the first measurement timing is before receiving the first signaling, the candidate cell includes a first cell, and the method further includes: receiving a second reference signal resource of the candidate cell, the second reference signal resource being used for beam measurement; measuring the second reference signal resource to obtain a first measurement result; and sending the first measurement result; the aforementioned measurement of the first reference signal resource of the first cell at the first measurement timing includes: measuring the first reference signal resource after sending the first measurement result.

[0044] Optionally, the second reference signal resource used for beam measurement can be replaced by the first measurement result including signal quality (such as RSRP).

[0045] It should be noted that the above implementation takes the first measurement result including RSRP as an example. In this application, the second measurement report may include other signal quality, such as the following at least one of the following: signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR), layer 1 reference signal receiving power (L1-RSRP), layer 1 signal to interference plus noise ratio (L1-SINR), synchronization signal reference signal receiving power (SS-RSRP), channel status information reference signal receiving power (CSI-RSRP), synchronization signal to interference plus noise ratio (SS-SINR), or channel status information signal to interference plus noise ratio (CSI-SINR).

[0046] It should be noted that this application uses RSRP or SINR as an example for illustration. For the implementation of other signal quality as described above, please refer to the relevant content on RSRP or SINR as the first measurement result.

[0047] In this application, the first measurement result may also be referred to as the beam measurement result; or, if the first measurement result includes RSRP, then the first measurement result may also be referred to as a measurement report including "RSRP"; or, if the first measurement result includes SINR, then the first measurement result may also be referred to as a measurement report including "SINR", and this application does not limit this.

[0048] In conjunction with the first aspect, in one possible implementation, the candidate cell includes one or more candidate cells; the first measurement result includes RSRP, and the candidate cell corresponding to the largest RSRP in the first measurement result is the first cell; or, the first measurement result includes RSRP, and the candidate cells corresponding to the top K RSRP values ​​in the first measurement result include the first cell, where K is a positive integer.

[0049] For example, in the first measurement result, some or all of the candidate cells corresponding to the top K RSRP values ​​are the first cells.

[0050] Here, "first K" refers to the first K RSRPs arranged in descending order. It should be noted that this arrangement operation is used to determine the first K RSRPs, and the measurement reporting process is independent of this arrangement; that is, this arrangement operation does not affect the measurement reporting process.

[0051] Optionally, the first cell can be any one of the candidate cells whose RSRP values ​​are among the top K in the first measurement results. The number of candidate cells whose RSRP values ​​are among the top K in the first measurement results can be K or less (e.g., a candidate cell may have multiple RSRP values ​​within the top K), and this application does not impose any limitation on this.

[0052] Optionally, the first measurement result includes the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SNR), and the candidate cell corresponding to the largest SNR in the first measurement result is the first cell; or, the first measurement result includes the SNR, and the candidate cells corresponding to the SNR values ​​of the first T are included in the first cell, where T is a positive integer.

[0053] For example, in the first measurement result, some or all of the candidate cells corresponding to the first T signal-to-interference-to-noise ratio are the first cells.

[0054] Here, "top T" refers to the top T signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratios (SNRs) arranged from largest to smallest. It should be noted that this arrangement operation is used to determine the top T SNRs; ​​the measurement and reporting process is independent of this arrangement, meaning that this arrangement operation does not affect the measurement and reporting process.

[0055] Optionally, the first cell can be any one of the candidate cells whose signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SNR) is among the top T in the first measurement results. The number of candidate cells whose SNR is among the top T in the first measurement results can be T or less than T (e.g., a candidate cell may have multiple SNR values ​​within the top T), and this application does not impose any limitation on this.

[0056] In conjunction with the first aspect, in one possible implementation, the method further includes: sending second information, wherein the second information is used to indicate whether the first communication device supports acquiring channel information of a candidate cell, the candidate cell including the first cell, and / or, the second information is used to indicate that the first communication device supports measuring reference signal resources after receiving the first signaling and / or measuring reference signal resources before receiving the first signaling. For example, the second information is used to indicate that the first communication device supports acquiring channel information of candidate cells; or, the second information is used to indicate that the first communication device does not support acquiring channel information of candidate cells; or, the second information is used to indicate that the first communication device supports measuring reference signal resources after receiving the first signaling; or, the second information is used to indicate that the first communication device supports measuring reference signal resources before receiving the first signaling; or, the second information is used to indicate that the first communication device supports measuring reference signal resources both after receiving the first signaling and before receiving the first signaling; or, the second information is used to indicate that the first communication device supports acquiring channel information of candidate cells, and the second information is also used to indicate that the first communication device supports measuring reference signal resources after receiving the first signaling; or, the second information is used to indicate that the first communication device supports acquiring channel information of candidate cells, and the second information is also used to indicate that the first communication device supports measuring reference signal resources both after receiving the first signaling and before receiving the first signaling; or, the second information is used to indicate that the first communication device supports acquiring channel information of candidate cells, and the second information is also used to indicate that the first communication device supports measuring reference signal resources both after receiving the first signaling and before receiving the first signaling.

[0057] In this application, the second information may also be referred to as the capability information of the first communication device.

[0058] Using the above method, the first communication device (such as a terminal) reports capability information, enabling the second communication device (such as a network device) to determine whether the first communication device supports obtaining channel information of candidate cells, including the first cell, and / or the first communication device supports measuring reference signal resources at the appropriate time (i.e., after receiving the first signaling and / or before receiving the first signaling), which facilitates the second communication device to perform corresponding resource configuration and report configuration for the first communication device, thereby improving system transmission performance.

[0059] Secondly, this application provides a communication device comprising units, modules, or means for implementing the method as shown in the first aspect or any possible implementation thereof. The modules, units, or means may be implemented in software, hardware, or a combination of software and hardware.

[0060] Thirdly, this application provides a communication device including a processor. The processor is configured to cause the communication device to implement the method shown in the first aspect or any possible implementation thereof.

[0061] Optionally, the communication device further includes a transceiver for sending and receiving information.

[0062] Optionally, the communication device further includes a memory storing a computer program; the processor and transceiver are used to invoke the computer program in the memory, causing the communication device to implement the method as shown in the first aspect or any possible implementation thereof.

[0063] In one possible design, the communication device can be a chip that implements the above method or a device containing a chip.

[0064] Fourthly, this application provides a communication device including one or more processors, which implement the method as shown in the first aspect or any possible implementation thereof through logic circuits or executable code instructions.

[0065] Optionally, the communication device further includes an interface circuit for receiving signals from other communication devices outside the communication device and transmitting them to the processor, or sending signals from the processor to other communication devices outside the communication device.

[0066] Optionally, the communication device may further include a memory for storing part or all of the computer programs or instructions necessary to implement the functions involved in the first aspect above.

[0067] The aforementioned communication device may be a terminal, a communication module in a terminal, or a chip in a terminal that is responsible for communication functions, such as a modem chip (also known as a baseband chip) or a SoC or SIP chip that contains a modem module.

[0068] Fifthly, this application provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program or instructions that, when executed by a computer, implement the method as shown in the first aspect or any possible implementation thereof.

[0069] In a sixth aspect, this application provides a computer program product, including a program or instructions that, when a computer reads and executes the computer program product, causes the computer to perform the method shown in the first aspect or any possible implementation thereof.

[0070] In a seventh aspect, this application provides a chip system including at least one processor and an interface, the processor being configured to read and execute a computer program or instructions in a memory, wherein when the computer program or instructions are executed, the chip performs the method as shown in the first aspect or any possible implementation thereof. Attached Figure Description

[0071] Figures 1 and 2 are schematic diagrams of a communication system applicable to this application;

[0072] Figure 3 is a diagram showing the network element function division and protocol layer structure of an access network device;

[0073] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a cell handover scenario provided by an exemplary embodiment of this application;

[0074] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of a cell handover process provided by an exemplary embodiment of this application;

[0075] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the MAC CE applicable to an embodiment of this application;

[0076] Figure 7 is a flowchart illustrating a method for measuring reference signal resources according to an embodiment of this application;

[0077] Figures 8 to 10 are schematic diagrams of possible communication devices provided in the embodiments of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0078] The technical solutions in this application will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0079] Before introducing the scheme of this application, the following points should be noted.

[0080] First, in this application, unless otherwise specified or there is a logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions between different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced by each other. The technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationship.

[0081] Second, in this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "more than one" means two or more. "And / or" describes the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, or B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. In the textual description of this application, the character " / " generally indicates that the preceding and following related objects are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, and c can mean: a, or, b, or, c, or, a and b, or, a and c, or, b and c, or, a, b, and c. Here, a, b, and c can each be single or multiple.

[0082] Third, in this application, the terms "first," "second," and various numerical designations (e.g., #1, #2, etc.) indicate distinctions made for ease of description and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application. For example, they distinguish different messages, rather than describing a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that such descriptions can be interchanged where appropriate to describe solutions other than those in the embodiments of this application.

[0083] Fourth, in this application, "instruction" or "for instruction" can include both direct and indirect instruction. When describing instruction information as being used to instruct A, it can include whether the instruction information directly or indirectly instructs A, but does not necessarily mean that the instruction information carries A.

[0084] The indication methods involved in the embodiments of this application should be understood to cover various methods that enable the party to be indicated to obtain the information to be indicated. The information to be indicated can be sent as a whole or divided into multiple sub-information and sent separately. Moreover, the sending period and / or sending time of these sub-information can be the same or different. This application does not limit the sending method, for example.

[0085] The "instruction information" in the embodiments of this application can be an explicit instruction, that is, a direct instruction through signaling, or an instruction obtained by combining other rules or parameters with the parameters indicated by the signaling, or by deduction. It can also be an implicit instruction, that is, an instruction obtained based on rules or relationships, or based on other parameters, or by deduction. This application does not specifically limit it in this regard.

[0086] Fifth, in this application, "protocol" can refer to a standard protocol in the field of communications, such as fifth-generation (5G) protocols. thThis application does not limit the scope of protocols such as generation (5G), new radio (NR), and related protocols applied in future communication systems. "Predefined" may include predefined terms, such as protocol definitions. "Preconfiguration" can be achieved by pre-storing corresponding codes, tables, or other means that can be used to indicate relevant information in the device; this application does not limit the implementation method.

[0087] Sixth, in this application, "communication" can also be described as "data transmission," "information transmission," "data processing," etc. "Transmission" includes "sending" and / or "receiving." "Transmission" can be described as "output."

[0088] Seventh, in this application, "sending information to XX (device)" can be understood as the destination of the information being that device. This can include sending information directly or indirectly to that device. "Receiving information from XX (device), or receiving information from XX (device)" can be understood as the source of the information being that device, and can include receiving information directly or indirectly from that device. Information may undergo necessary processing between the source and destination, such as format changes, but the destination can understand the valid information from the source. Similar expressions in this application can be understood in a similar way, and will not be elaborated further here.

[0089] Eighth, in this application, the words "exemplarily," "for example," etc., are used to indicate examples, illustrations, or descriptions. Any embodiment or design scheme described as an "example" in this application should not be construed as being more preferred or advantageous than other embodiments or design schemes. Specifically, the use of the word "example" is intended to present concepts in a concrete manner. In the embodiments of this application, "of," "corresponding, relevant," and "corresponding" may sometimes be used interchangeably, and it should be noted that their intended meanings are consistent unless their distinction is emphasized.

[0090] Ninth, in this application, when comparing A and B, the description "when A is greater than or equal to B, execute method A; when A is less than or equal to B, execute method B" can be implemented in a way that is "when A is greater than or equal to B, execute method A; when A is less than B, execute method B"; or it can be "when A is greater than B, execute method A; or when A is less than or equal to B, execute method B". This application does not limit this. For ease of description, the implementation methods provided in this application are all illustrated using "when A is greater than or equal to B, execute method A; or when A is less than B, execute method B" as an example.

[0091] In other words, "<" means less than, and "≤" means less than or equal to. "<" and "≤" can sometimes be used interchangeably without limitation. Similarly, ">" means greater than, and "≥" means greater than or equal to. ">" and "≥" can sometimes be used interchangeably without limitation. The examples provided in this application are merely illustrative and do not constitute a limitation on this application.

[0092] The following describes the communication system to which this application applies.

[0093] The technical solutions of this application embodiment can be applied to various communication systems, such as: Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) systems, LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD) systems, 5G or NR systems and future communication systems, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) systems, where V2X can include vehicle-to-network (V2N), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P), long term evolution-vehicle (LTE-V) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), long term evolution-machine (LTE-M) communication, machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, etc.

[0094] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system applicable to an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 1, the communication system 10 includes a radio access network (RAN) 100 and a core network (CN) 200. Optionally, the communication system 10 may also include an Internet 300. The RAN 100 includes at least one RAN node (110a and 110b in Figure 1, collectively referred to as 110) and at least one terminal (120a-120j in Figure 1, collectively referred to as 120). The RAN 100 may also include other RAN nodes, such as wireless relay devices and / or wireless backhaul devices (not shown in Figure 1). The terminal 120 is wirelessly connected to the RAN node 110. The RAN node 110 is wirelessly or wiredly connected to the CN 200. The core network device in the CN 200 and the RAN node 110 in the RAN 100 may be different physical devices, or they may be the same physical device integrating core network logical functions and radio access network logical functions.

[0095] RAN 100 can be used for cellular systems related to the third generation partnership project (3GPP), such as fourth generation (4G). th RAN 100 can be a generation (4G) mobile communication system, a 5G mobile communication system, or a future-oriented evolution system. RAN 100 can also be an open radio access network (O-RAN or ORAN), a cloud radio access network (CRAN), or a wireless fidelity (WiFi) system. RAN 100 can also be a communication system that integrates two or more of the above systems.

[0096] In this application, the first communication device can be one of the terminals 120a-120j shown in FIG1, and the second communication device (such as the network device corresponding to the serving cell) and the third communication device (the network device corresponding to the first cell) can be RAN node 110.

[0097] RAN node 110, sometimes also referred to as network equipment, access network equipment, RAN entity, or access node, constitutes part of the communication system and is used to help terminals achieve wireless access. Multiple RAN nodes 110 in this communication system can be of the same type or different types. In some scenarios, the roles of RAN node 110 and terminal 120 are relative. For example, network element 120i in Figure 1 can be a helicopter or drone, which can be configured as a mobile base station. For terminals 120j accessing RAN 100 through network element 120i, network element 120i is a base station; but for base station 110a, network element 120i is a terminal. RAN node 110 and terminal 120 are sometimes both referred to as communication devices. For example, network elements 110a and 110b in Figure 1 can be understood as communication devices with base station functions, and network elements 120a-120j can be understood as communication devices with terminal functions.

[0098] In one possible scenario, the RAN node can be a base station (BS), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), an access point (AP), a transmission reception point (TRP), a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a WiFi system. The RAN node 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 radio controller in a CRAN scenario. Optionally, the RAN node can also be a server, wearable device, vehicle, or in-vehicle equipment. For example, the access network equipment in V2X technology can be a roadside unit (RSU). All or part of the functions of the RAN node in this application can also be implemented through software functions running on hardware, or through virtualization functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform). The RAN node can also be equipped with communication modules, circuits, or chips that perform corresponding communication functions. The RAN node can also be configured with program instructions for performing corresponding communication functions and corresponding program instructions. The RAN node in this application can also be a logical node, logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the RAN node.

[0099] In another possible scenario, multiple RAN nodes collaborate to assist the terminal in achieving wireless access, with each RAN node performing a portion of the base station's functions. For example, RAN nodes can be central units (CUs), distributed units (DUs), CU-control plane (CPs), CU-user plane (UPs), or radio units (RUs), etc. CUs and DUs can be separate entities or included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). RUs can be included in radio frequency equipment or radio frequency units, such as remote radio units (RRUs), active antenna units (AAUs), or remote radio heads (RRHs).

[0100] In different systems, CU (including open CU-CP (O-CU-CP) and open CU-UP (O-CU-UP), DU, or RU may have different names, but those skilled in the art will understand their meaning. For example, in an ORAN system, CU can also be called an open central unit (O-CU), DU can also be called an open distributed unit (O-DU), 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 units among CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU, and RU in this application can be implemented through software modules, hardware modules, or a combination of software and hardware modules.

[0101] Terminal 120 can be a device or module that accesses the aforementioned communication system and has corresponding communication functions. A terminal can also be called a terminal device, user equipment (UE), mobile station, mobile terminal, etc. Terminals can be widely used in various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D), V2X communication, machine-type communications (MTC), IoT, virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grids, smart furniture, smart offices, smart wearables, smart transportation, smart cities, etc. Terminals can be mobile phones, tablets, computers with wireless transceiver capabilities, wearable devices, vehicles, drones, helicopters, airplanes, ships, robots, robotic arms, smart home devices, transportation vehicles with wireless communication capabilities, communication modules, etc. The embodiments of this application do not limit the device form of the terminal. A communication module, circuit, or chip that performs the corresponding communication function is typically installed within the terminal. The terminal can also be configured with program instructions for performing the corresponding communication function.

[0102] RAN 100 and terminal 120 can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; they can also be deployed on water; and they can also be deployed in the air on aircraft, balloons, and satellites. The embodiments of this application do not limit the scenarios in which RAN 100 and terminal 120 are located.

[0103] CN 200 can be a 5G core network or an evolved 5G core network. Taking a 5G core network as an example, CN 200 includes access and mobility management (AMF) network elements responsible for mobility management and access management services; session management (SMF) network elements responsible for session management; user plane (UPF) network elements responsible for user plane packet routing and forwarding and quality of service (QoS) control; and policy control (PCF) network elements. These core network elements can operate independently or be combined to implement certain control functions; for example, AMF, SMF, and PCF can be combined into a single core network device.

[0104] It should be understood that the above naming is defined solely for the purpose of distinguishing different functions and should not constitute any limitation on this application. This application does not preclude the possibility of using other naming conventions in 5G networks and other future networks. For example, in future networks, some or all of the above-mentioned network elements may use the terminology from 5G, or they may use other names, etc.

[0105] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a communication system applicable to this application, which is an O-RAN system. As shown in Figure 2(a), the O-RAN system may include a core network device (CN), a network device (RAN), and a terminal device (UE). The RAN communicates with the core network device through a backhaul link and with the UE through an air interface. For example, the BBU in the RAN communicates with the core network device through a backhaul link, and the RU in the RAN communicates with the UE through an air interface. The BBU communicates with the RU through a fronthaul link, wherein the BBU and RU may be co-located or not. The BBU includes at least one CU and at least one DU, and the CU and DU can communicate through at least one midhaul link. As shown in Figure 2(b), the O-RAN system includes a RAN intelligent controller (RIC). The RIC includes a near-real-time RIC (near-RT RIC) and a non-real-time RIC (non-RT RIC). Among them, the non-real-time RIC mainly processes non-real-time information, such as data that is not sensitive to latency, and the latency of this data can be on the order of seconds. Real-time RICs primarily process near-real-time information, such as latency-sensitive data with latency in the tens of milliseconds range. Optionally, near-real-time or non-real-time RICs can be configured as separate network elements; alternatively, they can be integrated into other devices. For example, near-real-time RICs can be located in RAN nodes (e.g., CUs or DUs), while non-real-time RICs can be located in operation administration and maintenance (OAM) systems, cloud servers, core network elements, or other network devices.

[0106] It is understood that Figure 1 or Figure 2 above are merely examples for ease of understanding and do not constitute a limitation on the scope of protection of this application. The communication system provided in the embodiments of this application may also include other devices, such as wireless relay devices and / or wireless backhaul devices, which are not shown in Figure 1 or Figure 2.

[0107] Figure 3 is a diagram showing the network element function division and protocol layer structure of an access network device (such as an O-RAN device).

[0108] As an example, an O-RAN device includes a CU (Core Unit). The CU is a logical node that carries the radio resource control (RRC), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer, packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, and other control functions of the access network equipment. The CU can connect to network nodes such as the core network through interfaces, such as the E2 interface. The CU may have some core network functions. The CU (e.g., the PDCP layer and / or higher) connects to the DU (e.g., the radio link control (RLC) layer and lower layers) through interfaces, such as the F1 interface. Optionally, the F1 interface can provide control plane (C-Plane) and user plane (U-Plane) functions (e.g., interface management, system information management, UE context management, RRC message transmission, etc.). F1AP is the application protocol for the F1 interface, defining the signaling procedures for F1 in some examples. The F1 interface supports control plane F1-C and user plane F1-U.

[0109] As an example, a CU includes CU-CP and CU-UP. CU-CP is a logical node carrying the control plane (PDCP-C) layer, which carries the RRC layer and the Packet Data Convergence Protocol layer, and is used to implement the CU's control plane functions. CU-CP can interact with network elements in the core network used to implement control plane functions. These network elements in the core network can be Access and Mobility Function (AMF) network elements, such as the AMF in a 5G system. The AMF network element is responsible for mobility management in the mobile network, such as terminal location updates, terminal registration with the network, and terminal handover. CU-UP is a logical node carrying the user plane (PDCP-U) layer, which carries the SDAP layer and the Packet Data Convergence Protocol layer, and is used to implement the CU's user plane functions. CU-UP can interact with network elements in the core network used to implement user plane functions. These network elements in the core network, such as the UPF in a 5G system, are responsible for forwarding and receiving data in the terminal. The above configuration of CU and DU is merely an example; in practical applications, the functions of CU and DU can be configured as needed. For example, a CU or DU can be configured to have more protocol layer functions, or it can be configured 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. As another example, the functions of the CU or DU can be divided according to service type or other system requirements. For instance, based on latency, functions that need to meet low latency requirements can be placed in the DU, while functions that do not need to meet this latency requirement can be placed in the CU.

[0110] As an example, O-RAN includes a DU. The DU is a logical node that carries the RLC layer, Media Access Control (MAC) layer, higher physical layer (Higher PHY), and other functions. In some examples, the 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 PHY layer includes the PHY layer processing, such as forward error correction (FEC) encoding and decoding, scrambling, modulation, and demodulation.

[0111] As an example, O-RAN includes a RU (Runner Root). The RU is a logical node that carries both lower physical layer (PHY) and radio frequency (RF) processing. In some examples, the RU may be a 3GPP transmission reception point (TRP), a remote radio head (RRH), or other similar entities. In some examples, the Lower-PHY includes the PHY processing portion, 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 (such as an RF chain).

[0112] The DU and RU can be co-located or not. The DU and RU exchange control plane and user plane information via a fronthaul link through the lower-layer split CUS-plane (LLS-CUS-Plane) (or O-RAN CUS-Plane) interface. Here, CUS-Plane represents the control plane (C-Plane), user plane (UPlane), and synchronization plane (S-Plane) (CUS-Plane). LLS-CUS may include a lower-layer split control (LLS-C) interface providing the control plane and a lower-layer split user (LLS-U) interface providing the user plane. Additionally, LLS-CUS may include a lower-layer split synchronization (LLS-S) interface providing the synchronization plane. In some examples, the control plane (or control plane plane) refers to the real-time control between the DU and RU. The DU and RU exchange management plane information via the lower-layer split management (LLS-M) interface of the fronthaul link. The management plane (M-Plane) refers to the non-real-time management operations between the DU and RU.

[0113] 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.

[0114] It is understood that Figure 3 is an example provided for ease of understanding and does not constitute a limitation on the scope of protection of this application. The measurement method for reference signal resources provided in the embodiments of this application may also involve network elements not shown in Figure 3, and of course, the measurement method for reference signal resources provided in the embodiments of this application may also include only some of the network elements shown in Figure 3.

[0115] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of this application, the basic concepts involved in this application will be explained first.

[0116] 1. Beam: A beam is a communication resource. A beam can be wide, narrow, or other types of beams, and the technology used to form a beam can be beamforming technology or other techniques. Beamforming technology can specifically be digital beamforming technology, analog beamforming technology, and hybrid digital / analog beamforming technology. Different beams can be considered different resources.

[0117] In the NR protocol, beaming can be referred to as a spatial domain filter, spatial filter, spatial domain parameter, spatial parameter, spatial domain setting, spatial setting, quasi-colocation (QCL) information, QCL assumption, or QCL indication, etc. Beaming can be indicated by transmission configuration indicator state (TCI state) parameters or by spatial relation parameters. Therefore, in this application, beaming can be replaced by spatial domain filter, spatial filter, spatial parameter, spatial parameter, spatial setting, spatial setting, QCL information, QCL assumption, QCL indication, TCI state (including uplink TCI state and downlink TCI state), or spatial relation, etc. The above terms are also equivalent to each other. Beaming can also be replaced with other beaming terms, which are not limited herein.

[0118] The beam used to transmit signals can be referred to as a transmission beam (Tx beam), a spatial domain transmission filter, a spatial transmission filter, a spatial domain transmission parameter, a spatial transmission parameter, a spatial domain transmission setting, or a spatial transmission setting. The transmission beam can also be called a downlink beam. In this application, the transmission beam, downlink beam, Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS), TCI state, downlink (DL) / joint TCI state, SSB, and tracking reference signal (TRS) can be interchanged. The DL / joint TCI state can also be called a DL or joint TCI state; that is, the DL / joint TCI state and the DL or joint TCI state can be used interchangeably.

[0119] The beam used to receive signals can be referred to as a reception beam (Rx beam), a spatial domain reception filter, a spatial reception filter, a spatial domain reception parameter, a spatial reception parameter, a spatial domain reception setting, or a spatial reception setting. The uplink transmit beam can be indicated by any of the following: spatial relation, uplink TCI state, or sounding reference signal (SRS) resource (indicating the transmit beam using that SRS). The receive beam can also be referred to as the uplink beam. In this application, the receive beam, uplink beam, uplink transmission configuration indication state (uplink TCL state, UL TCI state), DL / joint TCI state, SRS, CSI-RS, SSB, and TRS can be interchanged.

[0120] The transmitting beam can refer to the distribution of signal strength in different directions in space after a signal is transmitted through an antenna, while the receiving beam can refer to the distribution of signal strength in different directions in space of a wireless signal received from an antenna.

[0121] Furthermore, the beam can be a wide beam, a narrow beam, or other types of beam. The beamforming technology can be beamforming technology or other technologies. Specifically, beamforming technology can be digital beamforming technology, analog beamforming technology, hybrid digital beamforming technology, or hybrid analog beamforming technology, etc.

[0122] Beams are generally associated with resources. For example, during beam measurement, network devices measure different beams using different resources. The terminal provides feedback on the measured resource quality, allowing the network device to determine the quality of the corresponding beam. During data transmission, beam information is also indicated through its corresponding resources. For instance, network devices use the Transmission Configuration Indication (TCI) field in downlink control information (DCI) to indicate the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) beam information of the terminal.

[0123] In one possible implementation, multiple beams with the same or similar communication characteristics are considered as a single beam. A beam may include one or more antenna ports for transmitting data channels, control channels, and probe signals, etc. The one or more antenna ports forming a beam can also be considered as a set of antenna ports.

[0124] Alternatively, a beam can refer to the transmit beam of a network device. In beam measurement, each beam of a network device corresponds to a resource, so the beam corresponding to that resource can also be uniquely identified by the resource index.

[0125] 2. Quasi-Co-location: Quasi-co-location indicates that multiple resources share one or more identical or similar communication characteristics. For multiple resources with quasi-co-location, identical or similar communication configurations can be used. For example, if two antenna ports have quasi-co-location, the large-scale channel characteristics of one port transmitting one symbol can be inferred from the large-scale channel characteristics of the other port transmitting one symbol. Large-scale characteristics can include: delay spread, average delay, Doppler spread, Doppler shift, average gain, receive parameters, terminal receive beam number, transmit / receive channel correlation, receive angle of arrival, spatial correlation of receiver antennas, angel of arrival (AoA), average angle of arrival, AoA spread, etc. Specifically, this co-location indication is used to indicate whether at least two sets of antenna ports have a co-location relationship, including: the co-location indication indicating whether the channel state information reference signals transmitted by at least two sets of antenna ports originate from the same transmission point, or the co-location indication indicating whether the channel state information reference signals transmitted by at least two sets of antenna ports originate from the same beamgroup.

[0126] 3. TCI: Also known as TCI state.

[0127] In both uplink and downlink transmissions, correct beamforming is required between network devices and terminals for accurate data transmission. In downlink transmission, the network device needs to indicate its downlink transmit beam to the terminal. The terminal can then determine the appropriate receive beam based on this downlink transmit beam, which is used to receive information from the network device. Similarly, in uplink transmission, the network device needs to indicate to the terminal which uplink transmit beam it uses to send information. The network device can determine the uplink transmit beam with better signal quality for the terminal. Both uplink and downlink transmit beams can be indicated using their respective TCI states. Specifically, the downlink transmit beam can be indicated using the downlink TCI state, and the uplink transmit beam can be indicated using the uplink TCI state.

[0128] In the 3GPP protocol, network devices can indicate the TCI status to terminals through the TCI field in the DCI (Digital Channel Interface). The TCI field is 3 bits in size and can be represented by 8 different field values ​​(codepoints). Each field value of the TCI field can be associated with an index of a TCI status. This TCI status index uniquely identifies a TCI status, which can be a downlink TCI status or an uplink TCI status. Each field value of the TCI field can also be associated with two TCI status indices, which uniquely identify two TCI statuses, including one downlink TCI status and one uplink TCI status.

[0129] The downlink TCI status includes several parameters that the terminal can use to determine information related to the downlink transmit beam, thereby determining the appropriate receive beam to receive information from the network device. The TCI status is indicated or configured to each terminal by the network device. The structure of the downlink TCI status is shown below:

[0130] Each TCI state includes its own index (TCI stateId) and two quasi-colocation information (QCL-info) entries. Each QCL-info entry includes a reference signal resource, indicating that the downlink transmission for that TCI state should use the same downlink timing, frequency offset, or receive beam as that reference signal resource. This is determined by the type of the QCL-info entry. The QCL type can have four values: {typeA, typeB, typeC, typeD}. When the QCL type is typeA, typeB, or typeC, the downlink transmission should use the same downlink timing and frequency offset as that reference signal resource. When the QCL type is typeD, the downlink transmission should use the same receive beam as that reference signal resource. Of the two QCL-info entries mentioned above, one is typeD, and the other is typeA, typeB, or typeC. The terminal can determine which receive beam to use to receive the corresponding downlink transmission by using the typeD QCL-info entry. The specific execution steps are as follows:

[0131] The network device indicates a specific downlink TCI state to the terminal via DCI. The terminal determines the reference signal resource in the QCL information of the downlink TCI state as type D. The terminal uses the receive beam of this reference signal resource as the receive beam for downlink transmission. It should be noted that the receive beam of this reference signal resource is obtained by the terminal in advance through a beam management procedure. Through the beam management procedure, the terminal can determine which receive beam is best for receiving the reference signal resource and use that receive beam as the receive beam for that reference signal resource.

[0132] The uplink TCI state includes a reference signal resource, which indicates that uplink transmissions using this TCI state should employ the same uplink transmit beam as the reference signal resource. The terminal can determine which transmit beam to use for uplink transmission by referring to this reference signal resource. In the uplink TCI state, the reference signal resource is not included in the QCL-info and does not distinguish between QCL types, because it does not need to reference uplink timing and frequency offset information; it only needs to reference the uplink transmit beam. The structure of the uplink TCI state is as follows:

[0133] The specific execution steps are as follows:

[0134] The network device indicates a specific uplink TCI state to the terminal via DCI. The terminal determines the reference signal resource in that uplink TCI state. The terminal uses the transmission beam of this reference signal resource as the transmission beam for uplink transmission. It should be noted that the transmission beam of this reference signal resource is obtained by the terminal in advance through a beam management process.

[0135] The following describes the configuration, activation, and indication of TCI status.

[0136] TCI state configuration: Network devices configure multiple TCI states to terminals via RRC signaling. Each of these TCI states includes a QCL-Info of type type D. Network devices can also configure TCI states that do not include a QCL-Info of type type D; however, these TCI states are not used for data transmission beam indication and will not be discussed further here.

[0137] TCI State Activation: After a network device indicates or configures multiple TCI states, it is necessary to activate eight of them via a Media / Medium Access Control (MAC) CE. These eight TCI states correspond one-to-one with the eight values ​​of the TCI field in the DCI (Distributed Access Control) system. That is, which eight TCI states correspond to the eight values ​​of the DCI's TCI field is determined by the MAC CE.

[0138] TCI state indication: Network devices indicate a specific TCI state through the TCI field in the DCI. For example, if the TCI field value in the DCI sent by the network device to the terminal is 000, it indicates that the data transmission beam uses the TCI state corresponding to 000. The reference signal contained in the type D QCL-Info within this TCI state is CSI-RS with index #1, indicating that the beam used for data transmission is the same as the receiving beam corresponding to CSI-RS with index #1. The receiving beam corresponding to CSI-RS with index #1 can be determined through beam measurement procedures and is known to the terminal. Therefore, through the specific value of the TCI field, the terminal can determine the beam corresponding to the data transmission beam and thus use the appropriate beam to send or receive data.

[0139] It should be noted that the three descriptions of TCI state, TCI state, and TCI state in this article can be used interchangeably.

[0140] 4. Unified TCI.

[0141] Release 17 introduces Unified TCI, a unified beam indication framework that allows network devices to indicate a common beam for terminals. This common beam can be used simultaneously for multiple channels and / or multiple reference signals. The common beam can be an uplink common beam, a downlink common beam, or an uplink-downlink common beam. The terminal can use this common beam in subsequent transmissions. That is, a network device can indicate an uplink common beam for a terminal to transmit multiple uplink channels and / or multiple uplink reference signals. It can also indicate a downlink common beam for a terminal to transmit multiple downlink channels and / or multiple downlink reference signals. Alternatively, it can indicate an uplink-downlink common beam for a terminal to transmit multiple uplink channels and / or multiple uplink reference signals, as well as multiple downlink channels and / or multiple downlink reference signals. In other words, the uplink-downlink common beam can be used for both uplink and downlink transmissions.

[0142] In Release 17 and later, terminals can be configured with two TCI states: DL / joint TCI state and UL TCI state. Here, DL stands for downlink and UL stands for uplink.

[0143] The terminal can be configured with DL / joint TCI states (up to 128) and UL TCI states (up to 64) simultaneously.

[0144] In the RRC signaling configuration (serving cell config), the network device can configure the TCI mode currently used by the terminal as either joint or separate. In joint mode, it indicates that a joint TCI state can be used for uplink and downlink transmission simultaneously; in separate mode, the network device needs to indicate that the DL TCI state and UL TCI state are used for uplink and downlink transmission respectively.

[0145] When the terminal receives a TCI state activation signaling indicated by MAC-CE, the activation signaling includes the identifier (ID) of the TCI state. The terminal determines which TCI is activated by MAC-CE based on the RRC signaling.

[0146] 5. Spatial relation.

[0147] In the current protocol, the uplink transmission beam is indicated by spatial relationships, which functions similarly to TCI-state, informing the terminal which transmission beam to use for uplink transmission.

[0148] Spatial relationships also need to be configured via RRC signaling. The configuration structure can include the spatial relationship ID, cell ID, target reference signal resource, path loss measurement reference signal, power control parameters, etc. The target reference signal resource (which can be one of SRS / SSB / CSI-RS) is used to indicate the corresponding uplink beam. If the uplink transmission uses spatial relationship #1, and this spatial relationship #1 includes a target reference signal resource #2, it indicates that the transmit beam used for this uplink transmission is the transmit / receive beam of the target reference signal. For example, when the target reference signal resource is an uplink resource SRS, it means that the transmit beam used for the uplink transmission is the transmit beam of that SRS (the transmit beam of that SRS is known). As another example, if the target reference signal resource is a downlink resource such as SSB / CSI-RS, it means that the transmit beam used for the uplink transmission is the receive beam of that SSB / CSI-RS (the receive beam of that SSB / CSI-RS is known).

[0149] Network devices can configure multiple spatial relationships for terminals. Then, one of these relationships is activated via MAC-CE for the corresponding data transmission. Uplink transmission includes the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), SRS, and Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), all requiring corresponding spatial relationships. The spatial relationship for PUCCH is indicated by MAC-CE signaling. The spatial relationship for SRS is also indicated by MAC-CE signaling. During PUSCH transmission, a specific SRS is associated, and the spatial relationship of that SRS is used for transmission.

[0150] In this application, MAC CE, MAC-CE, and MAC-CE signaling can be used interchangeably.

[0151] 6. Resources.

[0152] In communication protocols, reference signals are configured in the form of resources. Network devices configure various reference signals to terminals in the form of resources. A resource is a configuration information unit, which usually includes parameters related to a reference signal, such as the time-frequency resource location of the reference signal, the number of ports, and the time domain type (periodic / semi-static / aperiodic).

[0153] Resources can be either uplink or downlink signal resources. Network devices can configure different reference signal resources via RRC signaling.

[0154] 7. Reference signal.

[0155] Network devices can configure different reference signals for terminals. Uplink reference signals include, but are not limited to: Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) and Demodulation Reference Signal (DM-RS). Downlink reference signals include, but are not limited to: Channel State Information Reference Signal Interference Measurement Reference Signal (CSI-IM RS), Cell Specific Reference Signal (CS-RS), User Equipment Specific Reference Signal (US-RS), DM-RS, and Synchronization Signal / Physical Broadcast Channel Block (SS / PBCH block). The SS / PBCH block can be abbreviated as the synchronization signal block (SSB). CSI-RS also includes: Non-Zero Power CSI-RS (NZP CSI-RS) and Zero Power CSI-RS (ZP CSI-RS).

[0156] The reference signal can be the reference signal of the serving cell. For example, the serving cell can be a primary cell (Pcell), a secondary cell (Scell), or a primary secondary cell (Pscell). Among them, a cell with a primary component carrier (PCC) can be called a Pcell, and a cell with a secondary component carrier (SCC) can be called an Scell.

[0157] The reference signal can be the reference signal of the neighboring cells of the serving cell (such as the reference signal of the cell corresponding to the additional physical cell identifier (additional PCI)).

[0158] The reference signal can also be a reference signal associated with the handover candidate cell configuration. The handover candidate cell can also be called a candidate cell or a neighboring cell. The handover candidate cell can be the current serving cell or a non-serving cell. The physical cell identifier (PCI) of the handover candidate cell is different from that of the current primary cell (Pcell).

[0159] For example, the terminal can be configured with one or more candidate cells, and the configuration of each candidate cell can include the configuration of reference signal resources, which can be SSB or CSI-RS.

[0160] In this application, the terms "reference signal" and "reference signal resource" can be used interchangeably.

[0161] 8. Reference signal resource index, reference signal resource identifier, reference signal resource indicator.

[0162] Specifically, the network device configures one or more reference signal resources for the terminal. These reference signal resources are used to carry reference signals. In this application, the terms "reference signal" and "reference signal resource" are interchangeable. During configuration, each reference signal resource corresponds to a reference signal resource index or a reference signal resource identifier (id) for distinguishing reference signal resources. Furthermore, the network device can configure one or more sets of reference signal resources for the terminal. Each set of reference signal resources includes one or more reference signal resources, and each set corresponds to a reference signal resource set identifier. Within each set, each reference signal resource corresponds to a reference signal resource indicator. For example, a reference signal resource indicator of 0 indicates the first reference signal resource in the set, a reference signal resource indicator of 1 indicates the second reference signal resource, and so on. When the network device indicates or configures a reference signal resource in the set, or when the terminal reports the measurement result of a reference signal resource in the set, the reference signal resource indicator can indicate the corresponding reference signal resource.

[0163] For example, a network device configures one or more NZP CSI-RS resources for a terminal. These NZP CSI-RS resources are used to carry NZP CSI-RS. The terms "NZP CSI-RS" and "NZP CSI-RS resource" are interchangeable. Each NZP CSI-RS resource corresponds to a non-zero power CSI-RS resource identifier (NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceId) used to distinguish each NZP CSI-RS resource. Furthermore, a network device can configure one or more NZP CSI-RS resource sets. Each NZP CSI-RS resource set includes one or more NZP CSI-RS resources, and each NZP CSI-RS resource set includes an NZP CSI-RS resource set identifier (NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceSetId). Within each NZP CSI-RS resource set, each NZP CSI-RS resource corresponds to a CSI-RS resource indicator (CRI). For example, a CRI of 0 indicates the first NZP CSI-RS resource in the NZP CSI-RS resource set, a CRI of 1 indicates the second NZP CSI-RS resource in the same set, and so on. When a network device indicates or configures NZP CSI-RS resources within a specific NZP CSI-RS resource set, or when a terminal measures and reports NZP CSI-RS resources within a specific NZP CSI-RS resource set, the CRI can be used to indicate the corresponding NZP CSI-RS resource. The NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceId can be understood as a global identifier within a configured NZP-CSI-RS-Resource, while the CRI can be understood as a local identifier within an NZP-CSI-RS-Resource within the same NZP CSI-RS resource set.

[0164] For example, a network device configures one or more ZP CSI-RS resources for a terminal. These ZP CSI-RS resources are used to carry ZP CSI-RS. The terms "ZP CSI-RS" and "ZP CSI-RS resource" are often used interchangeably. Each NP CSI-RS resource corresponds to a Zero Power CSI-RS Resource Identifier (ZP-CSI-RS-ResourceId) used to distinguish each ZP CSI-RS resource. Furthermore, a network device can configure one or more ZP CSI-RS resource sets. Each ZP CSI-RS resource set includes one or more ZP CSI-RS resources, and each ZP CSI-RS resource set includes a ZP CSI-RS Resource Set Id. Within each ZP CSI-RS resource set, each ZP CSI-RS resource corresponds to a CRI. For example, a CRI of 0 indicates the first ZP CSI-RS resource in the ZP CSI-RS resource set, a CRI of 1 indicates the second ZP CSI-RS resource in the same set, and so on. ZP-CSI-RS-ResourceId can be understood as a global identifier within the configured ZP-CSI-RS-Resource, while CRI can be understood as a local identifier within the ZP-CSI-RS-Resource set.

[0165] For example, a network device configures one or more Channel State Information Interference Measurement (CSI-IM) resources for a terminal. These CSI-IM resources carry the Channel State Information Interference Measurement Reference Signal (CSI-IM RS). The terms CSI-IM RS and CSI-IM resource are interchangeable. Each CSI-IM resource corresponds to a CSI-IM resource identifier (CSI-IM-ResourceId) used to distinguish each CSI-IM resource. Furthermore, the network device can configure one or more CSI-IM resource sets. Each CSI-IM resource set includes one or more CSI-IM resources, and each CSI-IM resource set includes a CSI-IM resource set identifier (CSI-IM-ResourceSetId). Within a CSI-IM resource set, each CSI-IM resource corresponds to a CRI. For example, a CRI of 0 indicates the first CSI-IM resource in the set, a CRI of 1 indicates the second CSI-IM resource, and so on. When a network device indicates or configures CSI-IM resources within a specific CSI-IM resource set, or when a terminal measures and reports CSI-IM resources within a specific CSI-IM resource set, the corresponding CSI-IM resource can be indicated using the CRI. CSI-IM-ResourceId can be understood as a global identifier within a configured CSI-IM resource, while CRI can be understood as a local identifier within a CSI-IM resource set.

[0166] For example, a network device configures one or more SSB resources for a terminal. These SSB resources are used to carry SSBs. The terms "SSB" and "SSB resource" are interchangeable. Each SSB resource corresponds to an SSB resource index (SSB-Index) used to distinguish each SSB resource. Furthermore, a network device can configure one or more SSB resource sets. Each SSB resource set includes one or more SSB resources, and each SSB resource set includes an SSB resource set identifier (CSI-SSB-ResourceSetId). Within an SSB resource set, each SSB resource corresponds to an SSB resource indicator (SS / PBCH block resource indicator, SSBRI). For example, an SSBRI of 0 indicates the first SSB resource in the SSB resource set, an SSBRI of 1 indicates the second SSB resource, and so on. When a network device indicates or configures SSB resources within an SSB resource set, or when a terminal measures and reports SSB resources within an SSB resource set, the SSBRI can be used to indicate the corresponding SSB resource. SSB-Index can be understood as a global identifier in the configured SSB resources, while SSBRI can be understood as a local identifier in the SSB resources within the SSB resource set.

[0167] For example, a network device configures one or more SRS resources for a terminal. These SRS resources are used to carry SRS (Service Provider Information). The terms "SRS" and "SRS resource" are interchangeable. Each SRS resource corresponds to an SRS resource index (SRS-ResourceId) used to distinguish each SRS resource. Furthermore, a network device can configure one or more SRS resource sets. Each SRS resource set includes one or more SRS resources, and each SRS resource set includes an SRS resource set identifier (SRS-ResourceSetId). Within an SRS resource set, each SRS resource corresponds to an SRS resource indicator (SRI). For example, an SRI of 0 indicates the first SRS resource in the set, an SRI of 1 indicates the second SRS resource, and so on. When a network device indicates or configures SRS resources within a specific SRS resource set, or when a terminal reports SRS resources from a specific SRS resource set, the corresponding SRS resource can be indicated using the SRI. SRS-ResourceId can be understood as a global identifier in the configured SRS resource, while SRI can be understood as a local identifier in the SRS resource set.

[0168] The terminal can be configured with one or more candidate cells, and the configuration of each candidate cell can include the configuration of reference signal resources. The reference signal carried by these reference signal resources can be an SSB (Security Signal Branch), CSI-RS (Central Signal Indicator), etc. This embodiment of the application mainly uses CSI-RS as an example for illustrative purposes.

[0169] In mobile communication systems, a common method to help network devices determine transmission parameters is for terminals to measure signals transmitted by network devices and report the measurement results. For example, a network device may transmit multiple signals, which may be transmitted using different time-domain resources or different beams. The terminal measures these multiple signals and reports the measurement results for each signal, thereby helping the network device determine the transmission parameters used for communication transmission. These parameters may include, for example, beamforming and channel coding rate.

[0170] In scenarios involving terminals moving between multiple cells, network devices need to make decisions based on the measurement results of reference signals from candidate cells (not only geographically, but also logically) fed back by the terminals, such as whether the terminals should prepare for cell handover, whether to perform cell handover, or which candidate cell to hand over to.

[0171] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a cell handover scenario provided by an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 4, the terminal is located in the serving cell and receives cell handover signaling. This cell handover signaling is used to indicate handover to candidate cell #2. The terminal can handover to candidate cell #2.

[0172] The following are examples of several technical solutions related to this application.

[0173] Technical Solution 1: Cell handover process.

[0174] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a cell handover process exemplarily provided in an embodiment of this application. The process includes the following steps:

[0175] Step 1: The serving cell sends the measurement resources and reporting configuration information of the candidate cells to the terminal.

[0176] For example, the network device to which the candidate cell belongs sends an LTM CSI report configuration (LTM-CSI-ReportConfig) to the terminal via RRC signaling. This report configuration is associated with the reference signal resources of one or more candidate cells. The report configuration also includes the content information to be reported, such as the number of candidate cells L to which the terminal reports measurement results, the number of reference signals M reported by each cell, and whether to report the measurement results of the current serving cell. L and M are positive integers.

[0177] Step 2: The candidate cell sends reference signal resources to the terminal. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the reference signal resources.

[0178] Step 3: The terminal sends the reference signal resource measurement results of the candidate cell to the serving cell. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the reference signal resources.

[0179] For example, the terminal measures reference signals and reports the measurement results. These results include measurements from L cells, with each cell containing measurements of M reference signals. Each reference signal measurement includes a reference signal resource index (e.g., SSBRI) and corresponding signal strength information (e.g., RSRP or differential RSRP). Currently, only configuring the SSB resources of candidate cells for measurement is supported, reporting the SSB's RSRP or differential RSRP (i.e., the difference from the reported maximum RSRP).

[0180] Step 4: The serving cell (or the network device to which the serving cell belongs) sends a cell handover signaling message to the terminal. This cell handover signaling message instructs the terminal to hand over to the target candidate cell. Accordingly, the terminal receives the cell handover signaling message.

[0181] Cell handover signaling can be L1 / L2 triggered mobility cell switch command medium access control (LTM cell switch command MAC CE) signaling. It should be noted that in this application, cell handover signaling and L1 / L2 triggered mobility cell switch command medium access control – control elements – can be described interchangeably.

[0182] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the MAC CE applicable to an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 6, the cell handover signaling includes the following information:

[0183] (1) C: Indicates whether the MAC-CE includes contention-free random access (CFRA) related fields (such as random access preamble index, synchronization signal block / physical broadcast channel index (SSB / PBCH index), physical random access channel (PRACH) mask index, auxiliary uplink / normal uplink (S / U), repetition number). A value of 1 for the C field indicates inclusion; a value of 0 indicates exclusion.

[0184] (2) Target Config ID: This indicates the candidate target configuration index for cell handover, corresponding to LTM candidate identifier-1 (ltm-CandidateId-1), indicating that the handover is to the target candidate cell corresponding to ltm-CandidateId. The Target Config ID field is indicated by 3 bits.

[0185] (3) TA command: Timing advance (TA) for the target candidate cell. A value of all 1s in this field indicates invalidity (i.e., no valid TA is indicated).

[0186] (4) TCI state ID: Indicates the TCI state of the target candidate cell (indicates one from the TCI state list in ltm-candidate);

[0187] (5) UL TCI state ID: Indicates the UL TCI state of the target candidate cell (one is indicated from the UL TCI state list in ltm-candidate). (5) above exists only in separate mode. When the terminal uses joint mode, the terminal transmits using the TCI state indicated by the TCI state ID in (4) above. When the terminal uses separate mode, in the downlink direction, the terminal transmits using the TCI state indicated by the TCI state ID in (4) above. In the uplink direction, the terminal transmits using the UL TCI state indicated by the UL TCI state ID in (5) above.

[0188] (6) Random Access Preamble index: Indicates the preamble ID of CFRA, used to trigger CFRA.

[0189] (7) SSB / PBCH index: Indicates the SSB corresponding to CFRA.

[0190] (8) PRACH Mask index: Used to indicate an RO from the random access channel occasion (RACH occasion, RO) associated with the above SSB. When the repetition number is non-zero, the terminal ignores this field.

[0191] (9) Repetition number: The number of times the CFRA preamble is repeated (the field value k indicates that it is sent 2k times, and 0 indicates that it is not sent repeatedly). The length of this field is 2 bits.

[0192] (10) S / U: Indicates the uplink subcarrier of CFRA. 1 indicates supplementary uplink (SUL), and 0 indicates normal uplink (NUL).

[0193] (11)R: Reserved field.

[0194] Technical Solution 2: Channel measurement of reference signal resources of the serving cell.

[0195] In the current protocol, network devices configure reference signal resources (e.g., CSI-RS) for the serving cell for channel measurement. Terminals then feed back channel state information (CSI) based on the measurement results. The network devices then select appropriate uplink and downlink data scheduling methods for the terminal based on the fed-back CSI. CSI is mainly composed of one or more of the following: CQI (Channel Quality Indicator), PMI (Precoding Matrix Indicator), CRI (CSI-RS Resource Indicator), SSBRI (SSB Resource Indicator), LI (Layer Indicator), RI (Rank Indicator), L1-RSRP (Layer 1 Reference Signal Received Power), L1-SINR (Layer 1 Signal to Interference Plus Noise Ratio), and codebook index i1. The specific CSI information fed back by the terminal is determined by the report quantity configured by the network devices.

[0196] Technical Solution 3: In the R19 LTM project, it supports obtaining RSRP and other CSI information through CSI-RS measurement of candidate cells. Network devices can be configured to report one or more of CQI, PMI, CRI, SSBRI, LI, RI, L1-RSRP, L1-SINR, and codebook index i1.

[0197] To accommodate transmission performance and UE measurement complexity, CSI-RS measurements (excluding RSRP and SINR) acquired based on CSI can be performed either before or after cell handover signaling, while reporting is always done after cell handover signaling.

[0198] The basic UE capability can be: supporting CSI measurement and reporting after CSC (cell switch command). Optionally, the UE capability can also include supporting CSI measurement before CSC and CSI reporting after CSC.

[0199] In summary, the communication system supports measurement based on the candidate cell's SSB (SSB) to obtain the candidate cell's RSRP (Resonance Ratio) for cell handover. That is, before cell handover, the terminal measures the SSB to obtain the candidate cell's RSRP (which is generally used to determine one or more beam strengths of the candidate cell). Release 19 supports obtaining the RSRP and other CSI information (e.g., signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio, precoding matrix indicator (PMI), rank indicator (RI), layer indicator (LI), channel quality indicator (CQI), or codebook index i1, etc.) through candidate cell CSI-RS measurement. To accommodate transmission performance and terminal measurement complexity, CSI can be obtained based on CSI-RS measurement either before or after cell handover; however, no specific schemes for measuring CSI-RS in these two scenarios have been designed, which cannot guarantee system transmission performance.

[0200] In view of this, embodiments of this application provide a method and a communication device for measuring reference signal resources. This method is compatible with measuring the reference signal resources of the target cell (i.e., the first cell) and reporting channel information before the first communication device (such as a terminal) receives the first signaling (or before cell handover) or after receiving the first signaling (after cell handover). This can improve the system transmission performance after the first communication device accesses the first cell and is beneficial to improving the reliability and efficiency of data transmission.

[0201] Optionally, the second communication device (such as a network device) can configure one or more reference signal resources (such as CSI-RS) of one or more candidate cells for the first communication device (such as a terminal). The first communication device can determine which reference signal resources to measure at different measurement times based on the first signaling or the first measurement result (or beam measurement result), wherein the different measurement times are before or after receiving the first signaling. For ease of description, this application refers to the time when the first communication device measures the reference signal resources as the first measurement time, and the reference signal resources determined by the first communication device for channel information acquisition as the first reference signal resources.

[0202] The following detailed description, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, illustrates the method for measuring reference signal resources provided in the embodiments of this application, which can be applied to the communication system described above. It should be understood that the embodiments of this application are applicable to scenarios involving communication between the transmitting and receiving ends. Specifically, the technical solution of this application is applicable to uplink transmission, downlink transmission, or sidelink transmission scenarios, etc.

[0203] It should also be understood that the embodiments shown below do not specifically limit the structure of the execution subject of the methods provided in the embodiments of this application, as long as communication can be performed according to the methods provided in the embodiments of this application by running the code or program that records the methods provided in the embodiments of this application. For example, the methods provided in the embodiments of this application can be executed by terminals and network devices. Unless otherwise specified, "terminal or network device" in this application can refer to the device itself, or a component in the device (e.g., a communication module, processor, circuit, chip, or chip system, etc.), or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the device functions.

[0204] Figure 7 is a flowchart illustrating a method for measuring reference signal resources according to an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 7, the method includes several steps, and details not covered herein can be found in existing related descriptions.

[0205] S701: The first communication device receives a first signaling message, which is used to indicate a handover from the serving cell to the first cell.

[0206] For example, the serving cell sends a first signaling message to the first communication device, and correspondingly, the first communication device receives the first signaling message sent by the serving cell. In other words, the second communication device sends a first signaling message to the first communication device, and correspondingly, the first communication device receives the first signaling message sent by the second communication device. The cell corresponding to the second communication device (such as a network device) (or the cell managed by the second communication device) includes the aforementioned serving cell. Or, the second communication device is the network device to which the aforementioned serving cell belongs.

[0207] Optionally, the first signaling is used to instruct the first communication device to switch from the serving cell to the first cell.

[0208] For example, the first signaling includes a target configuration ID field, which can be used to indicate the identifier of the first cell or to indicate the candidate cell index-1 (ltm-CandidateId-1) corresponding to the first cell.

[0209] For example, the first signaling may be called cell switch command (CSC), or layer 1 / layer 2 triggered mobility (LTM) cell switch command MAC CE, or handover signaling, etc. This application does not limit its specific name.

[0210] For example, the first communication device is a terminal, and the second communication device is a network device. The network device can configure one or more candidate cells for the terminal, or in other words, the terminal can be configured with one or more candidate cell configurations, wherein the configuration of each candidate cell may include the configuration of reference signal resources. The network device can transmit reference signals on the reference signal resources in the configuration of each candidate cell. The terminal can measure the reference signals on the reference signal resources in the configuration of each candidate cell and send the measurement results of the reference signals of one or more candidate cells to the network device. The one or more candidate cells include a first cell. The network device determines the first cell based on the received measurement results of the reference signals of one or more candidate cells. For example, the signal quality of the first cell is better than that of the terminal's serving cell. The network device can send a first signaling to the terminal to instruct the terminal to switch to the first cell.

[0211] In this application, a candidate cell can be understood as one or more cells that the network device indicates or configures for possible handover. The candidate cell may also include the terminal's current serving cell. For example, the candidate cell index can be the ltm-CandidateId configured by the network. The ltm-CandidateId is associated with a PCI (physical cell identifier).

[0212] In this application, the terms "cell," "serving cell," and "component carrier (CC)" are used interchangeably. A serving cell can be a primary cell (Pcell), a secondary cell (Scell), or an auxiliary primary cell (Pscell). Specifically, a cell with a primary component carrier (PCC) can be called a Pcell, and a cell with a secondary component carrier (SCC) can be called an Scell. Furthermore, a cell can also configure corresponding candidate cells for neighboring cells (e.g., additional PCI), candidate cells, or LTM. Optionally, a candidate cell can include the serving cell, and a candidate cell can include a target cell, wherein the serving cell can be the target cell.

[0213] S702: The first communication device measures the first reference signal resource of the first cell at the first measurement time to obtain channel information. The first measurement time is before or after receiving the first signaling.

[0214] This application does not limit the execution order of S701 and S702. If S701 is executed first and then S702 is executed, the specific implementation of S702 can be referred to as Method 1 below; or, if S702 is executed first and then S701 is executed, the specific implementation of S702 can be referred to as Method 2 below.

[0215] Optionally, the first communication device may measure the first reference signal resources of the first cell to obtain channel information before receiving the first signaling; or, after receiving the first signaling, it may measure the first reference signal resources of the first cell to obtain channel information.

[0216] In this application, "before receiving the first signaling" can refer to: before cell handover, or before handover to (or access) the first cell; "after receiving the first signaling" can refer to: after cell handover, or after cell handover is completed, or after handover to (or access) the first cell. That is to say, the first communication device can measure the first reference signal resources of the first cell before cell handover to obtain channel information; or, the first communication device can measure the first reference signal resources of the first cell after cell handover to obtain channel information.

[0217] The cell handover described in this application may also be referred to as handover, or LTM cell handover, etc., and this application does not limit it to any particular term. The following sections describe the measurement of reference signal resources before or after receiving the first signaling.

[0218] For ease of description, measuring the reference signal resources after receiving the first signaling is referred to as Mode 1, and measuring the reference signal resources before receiving the first signaling is referred to as Mode 2.

[0219] For example, method one includes:

[0220] In one implementation, the first communication device may determine a first report configuration based on a first signaling, the first report configuration being associated with one or more reference signal resources corresponding to a first cell, the one or more reference signal resources including the first reference signal resource; and measure the first reference signal resource to obtain channel information.

[0221] Optionally, the first signaling may include an identifier (or index or identifier) ​​of the first cell, which is used to determine the first report configuration; or, the first signaling may include an identifier of the first report configuration, which is used to determine the first report configuration. That is, the first communication device may determine the first report configuration based on the identifier of the first cell (for ease of description, referred to as implementation 1), or the second communication device may determine the first report configuration based on the identifier of the first report configuration (for ease of description, referred to as implementation 2).

[0222] For example, the identifier of the first cell can be an LTM candidate identifier (e.g., ltm-CandidateId), which is directly the LTM candidate identifier corresponding to the first cell. Alternatively, the identifier of the first cell can be an LTM candidate identifier - 1 (e.g., ltm-CandidateId-1), in which case adding 1 to the identifier of the first cell gives the LTM candidate identifier corresponding to the first cell. In summary, the identifier of the first cell can be used to determine the first cell.

[0223] The following provides an exemplary description of Implementation 1 and Implementation 2.

[0224] Implementation 1: The first signaling implicitly indicates the first report configuration through the identifier of the first cell. In other words, the first communication device can implicitly determine which report configuration corresponds to which measurement report to report based on the identifier of the first cell in the first signaling.

[0225] In one possible manner, the first communication device may determine a report configuration for a first report configuration based on the identifier of the first cell in the first signaling, which is associated with the reference signal resources of the first cell used for CSI acquisition of the first cell.

[0226] For example, if the first signaling is CSC, the first communication device is a terminal, and the identifier of the first cell can be a Target Config ID, then the terminal can determine the candidate cell corresponding to the "Target Config ID" in the CSC as the first cell (or target cell). If the reference signal resources used by the first cell for CSI acquisition are associated with only one report configuration, then the terminal can implicitly determine that the report configuration is the first report configuration based on the "Target Config ID," and the terminal can report the measurement report corresponding to that report configuration. For example, if a network device configures one or more report configurations, where only one report configuration is associated with the reference signal resources used by the first cell for CSI acquisition, the terminal determines the first cell based on the "Target Config ID" in the first signaling and determines the report configuration associated with the reference signal resources used by the first cell for CSI acquisition.

[0227] For example, if the first signaling is CSC, the first communication device is a terminal, and the identifier of the first cell can be a Target Config ID, then the terminal can determine the candidate cell corresponding to the "Target Config ID" in the CSC as the first cell (or target cell). If the reference signal resources used by the first cell for CSI acquisition are associated with multiple report configurations, then the terminal can implicitly determine the multiple report configurations to be reported as the first report configuration based on the "Target Config ID". The terminal can report the measurement report corresponding to the multiple report configurations, or the terminal can report the measurement report corresponding to any one of the multiple report configurations.

[0228] Optionally, the first report configuration may also associate reference signal resources of other candidate cells. The terminal may only measure the reference signal resources associated with the first cell associated with the first report configuration and only report the measurement results of the reference signal resources associated with the first cell associated with the first report configuration.

[0229] In another possible manner, the first communication device may determine the report configuration in the configuration information of the first cell as the first report configuration based on the identifier of the first cell in the first signaling.

[0230] For example, the first signaling is CSC, the first communication device is a terminal, the identifier of the first cell can be a Target Config ID, the configuration information of the first cell is LTM-Candidate, the Target Config ID corresponds to ltm-CandidateId-1, the LTM-Candidate of the first cell includes ltm-CandidateId, and the ltm-CandidateId in the LTM-Candidate is the same as the Target Config ID+1 in the first signaling. The LTM-Candidate includes one or more reporting configurations, which are associated with the reference signal resources of the first cell. The reference signal resources are used for CSI acquisition of the first cell, and the terminal determines one or more reporting configurations in the LTM-Candidate as the first reporting configuration.

[0231] Implementation 2: The first signaling includes an identifier for the first report configuration, which directly indicates (i.e., explicitly indicates) the first report configuration. In other words, the first communication device explicitly determines which report configuration corresponds to which measurement report to report based on the first signaling.

[0232] For example, the determination method may include determination method 1 and determination method 2 as described below.

[0233] Method 1 may include: the first signaling (such as CSC) includes field 1, which is used to indicate the report configuration identifier, and the terminal reports the measurement report corresponding to the report configuration corresponding to the report configuration identifier.

[0234] One possibility is that the report configuration is contained under the information element CSI-MeasConfig, which includes N1 report configurations (LTM-CSIreportconfig). Each of these N1 report configurations includes reference signal resources for one or more candidate cells. In this case, the length of this field is ceil(log2(N1)), where N1 is a positive integer. Alternatively, the protocol specifies that the length of this field is P, and the first N1 values ​​of this field correspond one-to-one with the N1 report configurations. p Greater than or equal to N1, where P is a positive integer. Another possibility is that the report configuration is contained (or configured) under the LTM-Candidate information element. If the LTM-Candidate of the candidate cell corresponding to the "Target Config ID" contains X report configurations, and all X report configurations include the reference signal resources of that candidate cell, then the length of this field is ceil(log2(X)). Alternatively, the protocol specifies that the length of this field is 0, and the first X values ​​of this field correspond one-to-one with the X report configurations. o Greater than X, where O and X are positive integers.

[0235] Method 2 may include: the first signaling (such as CSC) includes field 2, which is used to indicate the local report configuration identifier.

[0236] One possibility is that the report configuration is contained under the information cell CSI-MeasConfig, which includes N1 report configurations (LTM-CSIreportconfig). M of these report configurations include the reference signal resources of the first cell. In this case, the field length is ceil(log2(M)), with the M possible values ​​corresponding to the M report configurations, where N1 and M are positive integers. Alternatively, the protocol specifies that the field length is W, and the first M values ​​of this field correspond one-to-one with the M report configurations. w The value is greater than M, where w and M are positive integers.

[0237] Optionally, the first communication device may determine the first reference signal resource based on the first report configuration.

[0238] For example, if the first report is configured to associate a reference signal resource corresponding to the first cell, then the reference signal resource corresponding to the first cell is the first reference signal resource. As another example, if the first report is configured to associate one or more reference signal resources corresponding to the first cell, then some or all of the one or more reference signal resources are the first reference signal resource.

[0239] In one possible implementation, the first signaling is further used to indicate a first TCI state, and the first communication device can determine a first reference signal resource based on the first TCI state. For example, the first communication device first determines a first report configuration based on the first signaling, and then, based on the first TCI state indicated by the first signaling, determines the first reference signal resource from one or more reference signal resources (referred to as reference signal resource set 1) corresponding to the first cell associated with the first report configuration.

[0240] The determination method may be as follows: the reference signal resource in the reference signal resource set 1 that satisfies the first condition is determined as the first reference signal resource. The first condition may be any one or more of the following conditions: the first reference signal resource satisfies the QCL relationship with the reference signal resource in the first TCI state; or, the first reference signal resource corresponds to the second TCI state, and the reference signal in the first TCI state is the same as the reference signal in the second TCI state. For example, it is ensured that one or two QCL type RSs in the two TCI states (i.e., the first TCI state and the second TCI state) are the same, wherein the QCL type RS is at least one or more of QCL type A RS, QCL type B RS, QCL type C RS, or QCL type D RS; or, the first TCI state is the same as the second TCI state; or, the QCL source RS of the first TCI state is the same as the QCL source RS of the second TCI state.

[0241] In another exemplary manner, the first communication device first determines a first cell based on a first signaling, and then determines a first reference signal resource from one or more reference signal resources corresponding to the configured first cell (referred to as reference signal resource set 2 for ease of description). For example, the process of determining the first reference signal resource from reference signal resource set 2 can be referred to the process of determining the first reference signal resource from reference signal resource set 1 described below, which will be described using reference signal resource set 1 as an example.

[0242] For example, the first signaling includes a TCI state identifier (e.g., TCI state ID), which indicates the first TCI state. For instance, if the first report is configured to associate one or more reference signal resources corresponding to the first cell (referred to as reference signal resource set 1 for convenience), where each of these reference signal resources is configured with a corresponding TCI state(s), then the first communication device (e.g., a terminal) can measure only the reference signal resources in reference signal resource set 1 whose configured TCI state identifier is the same as the TCI state identifier indicated by the first signaling (e.g., CSC) (referred to as the first TCI state identifier for convenience). If the TCI state identifier of the first reference signal resource is the same as the first TCI state identifier, then the first TCI state indicated by the first signaling can be considered the same as the second TCI state corresponding to the first reference signal resource; that is, the first reference signal resource is the reference signal resource that the first communication device needs to measure. For example, the first report configures N2 reference signal resources corresponding to the first cell, namely reference signal resource #1, reference signal resource #2, ..., reference signal resource #N2. These N2 reference signal resources correspond to TCI state #1, TCI state #2, ..., TCI state #N2, respectively. Since the first TCI state indicated by the first signaling is TCI state #2, the first reference signal resource is reference signal resource #2, and N2 is a positive integer. Optionally, the first report configures one or more reference signal resources corresponding to the first cell to be periodic reference signal resources.

[0243] For example, the first report configuration is associated with one or more reference signal resources corresponding to the first cell. These one or more reference signal resources are semi-persistent reference signal resources. Before the first signaling, the network device activates some or all of the one or more reference signal resources through activation signaling and indicates the TCI state(s) of the corresponding activated reference signal resources. Then, the first communication device (such as a terminal) can only measure the reference signal resources in the one or more reference resources whose TCI state identifier is the same as the TCI state identifier indicated by the first signaling (such as CSC) (for convenience, it is referred to as the first TCI state identifier).

[0244] For example, if each of the N2 reference signal resources associated with the first cell corresponds to a TCI state, then the first communication device (e.g., a terminal) can measure only the reference signal resources whose QCL type A RS in the corresponding TCI state is the same as the QCL type A RS in the TCI state indicated by the first signaling (e.g., CSC). For example, if the aforementioned N2 reference signal resources are reference signal resource #1, reference signal resource #2, ..., reference signal resource #N2, and these N2 reference signal resources correspond to TCI state #1, TCI state #2, ..., TCI state #N2 respectively, and if the QCL type A RS in TCI state #2 is the same as the QCL type A RS in the TCI state indicated by the first signaling (e.g., CSC), then the first reference signal resource is reference signal resource #2.

[0245] For example, if each of the N2 reference signal resources associated with the first cell corresponds to a TCI state, then the first communication device (e.g., a terminal) can measure only the reference signal resources whose QCL type B RS in the corresponding TCI state is the same as the QCL type B RS in the TCI state indicated by the first signaling (e.g., CSC). For example, if the aforementioned N2 reference signal resources are reference signal resource #1, reference signal resource #2, ..., reference signal resource #N2, and these N2 reference signal resources correspond to TCI state #1, TCI state #2, ..., TCI state #N2 respectively, and if the QCL type B RS in TCI state #2 is the same as the QCL type B RS in the TCI state indicated by the first signaling (e.g., CSC), then the first reference signal resource is reference signal resource #2.

[0246] For example, if each of the N2 reference signal resources associated with the first cell corresponds to a TCI state, then the first communication device (e.g., a terminal) can only measure the reference signal resources whose QCL type CRRS in the corresponding TCI state is the same as the QCL type CRRS in the TCI state indicated by the first signaling (e.g., CSC). For example, if the aforementioned N2 reference signal resources are reference signal resource #1, reference signal resource #2, ..., reference signal resource #N2, and these N2 reference signal resources correspond to TCI state #1, TCI state #2, ..., TCI state #N2 respectively, and if the QCL type CRRS in TCI state #2 is the same as the QCL type CRRS in the TCI state indicated by the first signaling (e.g., CSC), then the first reference signal resource is reference signal resource #2.

[0247] For example, if each of the N2 reference signal resources associated with the first cell corresponds to a TCI state, then the first communication device (e.g., a terminal) can measure only the reference signal resources whose QCL type D RS in the corresponding TCI state is the same as the QCL type D RS in the TCI state indicated by the first signaling (e.g., CSC). For example, if the aforementioned N2 reference signal resources are reference signal resource #1, reference signal resource #2, ..., reference signal resource #N2, and these N2 reference signal resources correspond to TCI state #1, TCI state #2, ..., TCI state #N2 respectively, and if the QCL type D RS in TCI state #2 is the same as the QCL type D RS in the TCI state indicated by the first signaling (e.g., CSC), then the first reference signal resource is reference signal resource #2.

[0248] For example, if each of the N2 reference signal resources associated with the first cell corresponds to a TCI state, then the first communication device (such as a terminal) can measure that at least two of the TCI state corresponding to the N2 reference signal resources have the same reference signal resources as at least two of the QCL type A RS, QCL type B RS, QCL type C RS, or QCL type D RS indicated by the first signaling (such as CSC). Taking QCL type A RS and QCL type B RS as examples, the above N2 reference signal resources are reference signal resource #1, reference signal resource #2, ..., reference signal resource #N2, respectively. These N2 reference signal resources correspond to TCI state #1, TCI state #2, ..., TCI state #N2. If the QCL type A RS in TCI state #2 is the same as the QCL type A RS in the TCI state indicated by the first signaling (such as CSC), and the QCL type B RS in TCI state #2 is the same as the QCL type B RS in the TCI state indicated by the first signaling (such as CSC), then the first reference signal resource is reference signal resource #2.

[0249] For example, if the first report configuration associates N2 reference signal resources corresponding to the first cell, each reference signal resource corresponds to one TCI state, then the terminal can only measure the reference signal resources whose QCL source RS in the corresponding TCI state is the same as the QCL source RS in the TCI state indicated by the first signaling (e.g., CSC). For example, the above N2 reference signal resources are reference signal resource #1, reference signal resource #2, ..., reference signal resource #N2, which correspond to TCI state #1, TCI state #2, ..., TCI state #N2 respectively. If the QCL source RS in TCI state #2 is the same as the QCL source RS in the TCI state indicated by the first signaling (e.g., CSC), then the first reference signal resource is reference signal resource #2.

[0250] In this application, the TCI state corresponding to the reference signal resource (such as the TCI state corresponding to the N2 reference signal resources mentioned above) can be configured by the network device, indicated in the MAC CE that activates the reference signal resource, indicated in the "Transmission configuration indication" field in the DCI, or indicated by other signaling. This application does not limit this.

[0251] The aforementioned first reference signal resource is only one reference signal resource as an example. In reality, there can be multiple reference signal resources. That is, the reference signal resource that satisfies the first condition can be one or more, and this application does not limit it.

[0252] In another implementation, the first signaling is also used to indicate a first reference signal resource. In other words, the first signaling is also used to indicate a reference signal resource measured by the first communication device, which is used to acquire channel information.

[0253] For example, the first signaling includes first indication information, which is used to indicate the first reference signal resource. For example, the first indication information may be a reference signal resource identifier, a reference signal resource index, or a reference signal resource set identifier corresponding to the first reference signal resource.

[0254] The reference signal resource identifier is used to indicate one or more reference signal resources. The reference signal resource set identifier is used to indicate one or more sets of reference signal resources.

[0255] For example, the first indication information is used to indicate the first reference signal resource, which may include two possibilities: the first possibility is that the first indication information is used to indicate one or more reference signal resources in the first report configuration, and the second possibility is that the first indication information is used to indicate one or more reference signal resources corresponding to the first cell.

[0256] Optionally, in the first possibility, the first indication information can be a local reference signal resource identifier (or simply local ID) or a global reference signal resource identifier (or simply global ID). The sequence corresponding to the local ID can be determined based on the number of associated local IDs configured in the first report. This application does not limit the sorting method of the local IDs or the number of bits required for the local ID. The global reference signal resource identifier can be understood as an identifier configured when configuring reference signal resources in the network device; each reference signal resource corresponds to one global reference signal resource identifier.

[0257] For example, if the first report is configured to associate reference signal resources of one or more candidate cells, totaling Q, and the number of reference signal resources of the target cell associated with the first report is P, then the first indication information can be used to indicate local reference signal resource identifiers (or the first indication information is a local reference signal resource identifier). Each local reference signal resource identifier is represented by ceil(log2(P)), where P values ​​correspond one-to-one with the reference signal resources of the P target cells, and Q and P are positive integers. For example, the reference signal resources of the target cells associated with the first report are P reference signal resources, namely reference signal resource #1, reference signal resource #2, ..., reference signal resource #P. Each of these P reference signal resources corresponds to a local reference signal resource identifier, that is, there are a total of P local reference signal resource identifiers. The first indication information can be at least one of the P local reference signal resource identifiers. For example, the P values, from smallest to largest, can sequentially correspond to the P reference signal resources with global reference signal resource identifiers from smallest to largest.

[0258] Optionally, the aforementioned first instruction information may not be carried in the first signaling; that is, the aforementioned first instruction information may also be sent to the first communication device in other ways, and this application does not limit this.

[0259] In some embodiments of this application, the first communication device may measure the first reference signal resource based on the aforementioned first TCI state at the first measurement timing. It should be noted that this step is optional; this step may belong to the same embodiment as other steps in Method 1, or it may be an independent step (or independent of other steps). This application does not limit this.

[0260] For example, method two includes:

[0261] In one implementation, after reporting measurement results of signal quality including candidate cells (as described below as first measurement results), the first communication device begins to measure reference signal resources for channel information acquisition, wherein the reference signal resources for channel information acquisition include the first reference signal resources.

[0262] For example, the candidate cell includes a first cell, and the first communication device can receive a second reference signal resource of the candidate cell. The second reference signal resource is used for beam measurement (e.g., the second reference signal resource is associated with a repetition parameter, or the reporting amount associated with the second reference signal resource is any one of RSRP, SINR, or None). The second reference signal resource is measured to obtain a first measurement result, which includes signal quality. After sending the first measurement result, the first reference signal resource is measured.

[0263] Optionally, signal quality may include at least one of the following: RSRP, SINR, L1-RSRP, L1-SINR, SS-RSRP, CSI-RSRP, SS-SINR, or CSI-SINR.

[0264] In one possible implementation, the first communication device may determine a first reference signal resource based on a first measurement result. Alternatively, the first communication device may determine at least one reference signal resource based on the first measurement result, wherein the at least one reference signal resource includes the first reference signal resource.

[0265] The following section uses RSRP or SINR as examples to illustrate signal quality.

[0266] For example, a candidate cell includes one or more candidate cells; the first measurement result includes the RSRP of one or more reference signal resources corresponding to one or more candidate cells. The candidate cell corresponding to the reference signal resource with the largest RSRP in the first measurement result is the first cell. For example, a first communication device (such as a terminal) reports the RSRP of four reference signal resources, namely CSI-RS#1, CSI-RS#2, CSI-RS#3, and CSI-RS#4. These four CSI-RS belong to candidate cell #1, candidate cell #2, candidate cell #1, and candidate cell #2, respectively, and the RSRP from largest to smallest is CSI-RS#1, CSI-RS#3, CSI-RS#2, and CSI-RS#4. If the first communication device only measures the reference signal resource of the candidate cell corresponding to the largest RSRP in the reported first measurement result, then the first communication device only measures the reference signal resource of candidate cell #1; or, the first measurement result includes one or more candidate cells. The RSRP corresponding to one or more reference signal resources in the area. In the first measurement result, the candidate cells corresponding to the top K RSRP values ​​include the first cell, where K is a positive integer. For example, the first communication device reports the RSRP of 4 reference signal resources, namely CSI-RS#1, CSI-RS#2, CSI-RS#3, CSI-RS#4, CSI-RS#5, and CSI-RS#6. The 6 CSI-RS belong to candidate cells #1, #2, #3, and #3 respectively, and the RSRP values ​​from largest to smallest are CSI-RS#5, CSI-RS#6, CSI-RS#1, CSI-RS#3, CSI-RS#2, and CSI-RS#4. If the first communication device only measures the reference signal resources of the candidate cells corresponding to the top 3 RSRP values ​​in the reported first measurement result, then the first communication device can measure the reference signal resources of candidate cells #3 and #1.

[0267] In this application, one or more reference signal resources corresponding to one or more candidate cells may refer to: one or more reference signal resources of a candidate cell; or one or more reference signal resources of multiple candidate cells.

[0268] For example, the first measurement result includes the signal interference noise ratio corresponding to one or more reference signal resources corresponding to one or more candidate cells, and the candidate cell corresponding to the largest signal interference noise ratio in the first measurement result is the first cell; or, the first measurement result includes the signal interference noise ratio corresponding to one or more reference signal resources corresponding to one or more candidate cells, and the candidate cells corresponding to the first T with the signal interference noise ratio in the first measurement result include the first cell, where T is a positive integer.

[0269] Optionally, the values ​​of K and T can be determined based on one or more of the capabilities of the first communication device, protocol specifications, and network configuration. For example, if the first communication device only supports measuring the reference signal resources of one candidate cell for channel information acquisition before the first signaling, then K and T are 1. Alternatively, if the first communication device supports measuring the reference signal resources of two candidate cells for channel information acquisition before the first signaling, and the network device is configured to measure the reference signal resources of only one candidate cell for CSI acquisition, then K and T are 1.

[0270] In another implementation, the first communication device can determine the reference signal resource (i.e., the first reference signal resource) that needs to be measured and reported from the RS that reports beam measurement results, based on the TCI state.

[0271] For example, the first communication device (such as a terminal) can first determine the TCI state corresponding to the RS that uploads the beam measurement results, and then determine the RS that satisfy a preset relationship with these TCI states. For example, the terminal reports the beam measurement results corresponding to reference signal resource #4 of candidate cell #1. The network device configures the reference signal resources used by candidate cell #1 for CSI acquisition to include reference signal resource #1, reference signal resource #2, and reference signal resource #3. The TCI states corresponding to reference signal resources #2 and #3 satisfy a preset relationship with the TCI state corresponding to reference signal resource #4. Then, the terminal measures reference signal resources #2 and #3, that is, reference signal resources #2 and #3 are the first reference signal resources. For example, the preset relationship can be seen in the following example.

[0272] Optionally, the terminal only measures reference signal resources whose RS, which corresponds to the reported beam measurement results, satisfies one or more of the relationships of QCL type A, QCL type B, QCL type C, or QCL type D. For example, the terminal only measures reference signal resources whose RS, which corresponds to the reported beam measurement results, satisfies the relationship of QCL type D. The terminal reports the beam measurement results corresponding to reference signal resource #4 of candidate cell #1. The network device configures the reference signal resources for CSI acquisition in candidate cell #1 to include reference signal resource #1, reference signal resource #2, and reference signal resource #3. Among these, reference signal resources #2, #3, and #4 satisfy the relationship of QCL type D. Then, the terminal measures reference signal resources #2 and #3, meaning that reference signal resources #2 and #3 are the first reference signal resources.

[0273] Optionally, the terminal only measures reference signal resources that have the same QCL source RS as the RS that reported the beam measurement results. For example, the terminal only measures reference signal resources that have the same QCL source RS as the RS that reported the beam measurement results. The terminal reports the beam measurement results corresponding to reference signal resource #4 of candidate cell #1. The network device configures the reference signal resources used by candidate cell #1 for CSI acquisition to include reference signal resource #1, reference signal resource #2, and reference signal resource #3. Among them, reference signal resources #2, reference signal resource #3, and reference signal resource #4 have the same QCL source RS. Then, the terminal measures reference signal resources #2 and reference signal resource #3, that is, reference signal resources #2 and reference signal resource #3 are the first reference signal resources.

[0274] Optionally, the first communication device (e.g., a terminal) may only measure reference signal resources that satisfy one or more of the following relationships: QCL type A, QCL type B, QCL type C, or QCL type D, with the RS of the K1 preceding the beam measurement results. For example, the terminal may only measure reference signal resources that satisfy the QCL type D relationship with the RS of the K1 preceding the beam measurement results. The terminal reports the beam measurement results corresponding to reference signal resource #4 of candidate cell #1. The network device configures the reference signal resources of candidate cell #1 for CSI acquisition to include reference signal resource #1, reference signal resource #2, and reference signal resource #3, where reference signal resources #2, #3, and #4 satisfy the QCL type D relationship. Then, the terminal measures reference signal resources #2 and #3, i.e., reference signal resources #2 and #3 are the first reference signal resources. Optionally, the first communication device (e.g., a terminal) may only measure reference signal resources that have the same QCL source RS as the RS of the K2 preceding the beam measurement results. K1 and K2 are positive integers. For example, the terminal only measures reference signal resources that have the same QCL source RS as the RS of K2 before reporting the beam measurement results. The terminal reports the beam measurement results corresponding to reference signal resource #4 of candidate cell #1. The network device configures the reference signal resources of candidate cell #1 for CSI acquisition to include reference signal resource #1, reference signal resource #2, and reference signal resource #3. Among them, reference signal resources #2, reference signal resource #3 and reference signal resource #4 have the same QCL source RS. Then the terminal measures reference signal resources #2 and reference signal resources #3, that is, reference signal resources #2 and reference signal resources #3 are the first reference signal resources.

[0275] Optionally, the values ​​of K1 and K2 can be determined based on one or more of the capabilities of the first communication device (e.g., terminal capabilities), protocol specifications, and network configuration. For example, if the first communication device (e.g., the terminal) only supports measuring the reference signal resources of one candidate cell for CSI acquisition before CSC, then K1 or K2 is 1. Alternatively, if the first communication device (e.g., the terminal) supports measuring the reference signal resources of two candidate cells for CSI acquisition before CSC, and the network device is configured to measure the reference signal resources of only one candidate cell for CSI acquisition, then K1 or K2 is 1.

[0276] In another implementation, after receiving configuration information for a periodic reference signal resource, if the configuration information is effective, the first communication device may begin to measure the periodic reference signal resource, wherein the periodic reference signal resource includes the first reference signal resource.

[0277] In another implementation, after receiving an activation signaling for a semi-persistent reference resource, the first communication device begins to measure the activated semi-persistent reference signal resource, wherein the semi-persistent reference resource includes the aforementioned first reference signal resource.

[0278] The following example uses a first communication device as the terminal (e.g., UE), a second communication device as the network device, a first signaling system (CSC), a channel information system (CSI), and a reference signal resource (CSI-RS) to provide a detailed description of the above-mentioned methods one and two.

[0279] (1) The terminal uses method one to obtain the CSI of the candidate cell. In this method, the terminal can know which candidate cell (i.e. the target cell) to hand over to through the CSC. Therefore, after receiving the CSC, the terminal only needs to measure the reference signal resources of the target cell.

[0280] For example, the terminal may perform the following steps S1 and S2.

[0281] Step S1: The terminal determines which report configuration to send based on the CSC. Alternatively, the terminal determines the first report configuration based on the CSC.

[0282] In the first implementation, CSC implicitly indicates the first report configuration. In other words, the terminal can implicitly determine which report configuration corresponds to which measurement report to report based on CSC.

[0283] In the second implementation, the CSC directly indicates (i.e., explicitly indicates) the first report configuration, which is the report configuration information that needs to be reported. In other words, the terminal explicitly determines which report configuration corresponds to which measurement report to report based on the CSC. For example, the process by which the terminal determines the first report configuration based on the identifier of the first report configuration can be found in determination method 1 and determination method 2 described above, and will not be repeated here.

[0284] Step S2: The terminal determines which reference signal resources are associated with the measurement report configuration. In other words, the terminal determines the first reference signal resource.

[0285] In one implementation, if the report configuration is associated with reference signal resources of one or more candidate cells, the terminal may measure only the reference signal resources of the first cell.

[0286] Optionally, the terminal determines which reference signal resources of the first cell associated with the measurement report configuration.

[0287] In the first case, if the report configuration determined by the CSC (i.e., the first report configuration) is associated with only one reference signal resource belonging to the first cell, then the terminal measures the reference signal resource, that is, the reference signal resource is the first reference signal resource.

[0288] Optionally, the terminal assumes that the reference signal resource (i.e., the first reference signal resource) and the reference signal in the TCI state indicated by the CSC (i.e., the TCI state corresponding to the TCI state ID in the CSC) satisfy a QCL relationship. That is, the terminal measures the reference signal resource that satisfies a QCL relationship with the reference signal in the TCI state indicated by the CSC. For example, if there is a reference signal resource in the TCI state with qcl-Type set to 'typeD', then the terminal assumes that the reference signal resource associated with the report configuration satisfies a QCL type D relationship with that reference signal resource.

[0289] In the second scenario, if one or more reference signal resources belonging to the first cell are associated with the report configuration determined by the CSC (i.e., the first report configuration), then the terminal may execute either implementation one, implementation two, or implementation three below to determine the first reference signal resource.

[0290] Implementation 1: The terminal measures all reference signal resources of the first cell associated with the first report configuration.

[0291] Optionally, the terminal assumes that the one or more reference signal resources satisfy the QCL relationship with the reference signals in the TCI state indicated by the CSC (i.e., the TCI state corresponding to the TCI state ID in the CSC). For example, if there is a reference signal resource in the TCI state with qcl-Type set to 'typeD', then the terminal assumes that the one or more reference signal resources associated with the first report configuration satisfy the QCL type D relationship with that reference signal resource.

[0292] Implementation 2: The terminal measures a portion of the reference signal resources of the first cell associated with the first report configuration.

[0293] For example, the terminal can determine and measure the first reference signal resource from one or more reference signal resources (referred to as reference signal resource set 1) corresponding to the first cell associated with the first report configuration, based on the first TCI state indicated by the first signaling. That is, the terminal measures the reference signal resource in reference signal resource set 1 that satisfies a first condition, which can be any one or more of the following conditions: the first reference signal resource satisfies a QCL relationship with the reference signal resource in the first TCI state; or, the first reference signal resource corresponds to a second TCI state, and the reference signal in the first TCI state is the same as the reference signal in the second TCI state. For example, it is ensured that the two QCL type RS in the two TCI states (i.e., the first TCI state and the second TCI state) are the same, wherein the QCL type RS is at least one or more of QCL type A RS, QCL type B RS, QCL type C RS, or QCL type D RS; or, the first TCI state is the same as the second TCI state, such as the two having the same TCI state identifier; or, the QCL source RS of the first TCI state is the same as the QCL source RS of the second TCI state.

[0294] For example, if one or more reference signal resources associated with the first cell in the first report configuration are semi-persistent reference signal resources, and an activation signaling for the semi-persistent reference signal resources is received before cell handover, the terminal can measure the reference signal resources of the activated first cell associated with the first report configuration.

[0295] Optionally, the terminal assumes that the activated reference signal resource and the reference signal in the TCI state indicated by the CSC satisfy the QCL relationship.

[0296] For example, if one or more reference signal resources associated with the first cell in the first report configuration are semi-persistent reference signal resources, and an activation signaling for the semi-persistent reference signal resources is received before cell handover, the terminal measures the reference signal resources of the first cell that are activated and whose TCI state indicated by the activation signaling is the same as the TCI state in the CSC. For example, if the activation signaling activates one or more reference signal resources of the first cell and indicates one or more TCI states, and the indicated TCI states correspond one-to-one with the reference signal resources, then the terminal only measures the reference signal resources that are the same as the TCI state in the CSC.

[0297] Implementation 3: CSC directly instructs which reference signal resources are associated with the first measurement report configuration.

[0298] For example, the CSC directly indicates one or more reference signal resource identifiers.

[0299] (2) If the terminal uses method two (i.e., CSI-RS measurement is performed before cell handover) to obtain the CSI of the candidate cell. Understandably, in this method, since the terminal does not know which cell is the first cell, it usually does not only measure the reference signal resources of the first cell.

[0300] In the first implementation, after the terminal receives the periodic reference signal resource configuration, it begins to perform measurements once the configuration information takes effect.

[0301] In the second implementation, after the terminal completes and reports the beam measurement of the candidate cell, it begins measuring the reference signal resources used for CSI acquisition. This can be understood as the terminal measuring the reference signal resources used for RSRP or SINR measurement and reporting its measurement results before starting to measure the reference signal resources used for CSI acquisition. Alternatively, after the terminal sends a measurement report (or beam measurement result, i.e., the aforementioned first measurement result) containing "RSRP" or "SINR" in the first report configuration, it begins measuring the reference signal resources used for CSI acquisition.

[0302] For example, the terminal can determine the first reference signal resource based on the beam measurement results.

[0303] For example, the terminal only measures the reference signal resources of candidate cells that have reported beam measurement results. These reference signal resources are used for CSI acquisition. Reference signal resources used for CSI acquisition can also be referred to as reference signal resources without an associated "repetition" parameter, or reference signal resource sets to which the reference signal resources belong do not have the "repetition" parameter configured. For example, if the first report is configured to associate candidate cell #1, candidate cell #2, and candidate cell #3, and the terminal has reported beam measurement results for candidate cell #1 and candidate cell #2, then the terminal measures the reference signal resources of candidate cell #1 and candidate cell #2 for CSI acquisition.

[0304] Optionally, the terminal can determine the first reference signal resource from the reference signal resources of the candidate cells that have reported beam measurement results. The specific process can be found above and will not be repeated here.

[0305] In the third implementation, after receiving the activation signaling of the semi-persistent reference resource, the terminal begins to measure the activated semi-persistent reference signal resource.

[0306] S703: The first communication device sends channel information to the first cell.

[0307] Correspondingly, the first cell receives the channel information sent by the first communication device.

[0308] In other words, the first communication device sends channel information to the third communication device, and correspondingly, the third communication device receives the channel information sent by the first communication device. The cell corresponding to the third communication device (such as a network device) (or the cell managed by the third communication device) includes the aforementioned first cell. Alternatively, the network device to which the first cell belongs is the aforementioned third communication device.

[0309] It should be noted that the entities corresponding to the serving cell and the first cell can be the same or different. For example, the serving cell and the first cell may be cells of the same network device (i.e., the second communication device and the third communication device mentioned above are the same entity), or the serving cell and the first cell may correspond to two different network devices (i.e., the second communication device and the third communication device mentioned above are different entities). This application does not limit this.

[0310] In one implementation, the first communication device can send channel information to the first cell after switching to the first cell.

[0311] Optionally, the embodiment shown in FIG7 further includes step S700 (not shown in the figure). Optionally, step S700 may be performed before step S702. For example, the embodiment shown in FIG7 may include steps S700, S701, S702, and S703, wherein the order of steps S701 and S702 is not limited.

[0312] Step S700: The first communication device sends second information, wherein the second information is used to indicate whether the first communication device supports acquiring channel information of candidate cells, the candidate cells including the first cell, and / or, the second information is used to indicate whether the first communication device supports measuring reference signal resources after receiving the first signaling and / or measuring reference signal resources before receiving the first signaling.

[0313] For example, the first communication device may send second information to the serving cell (or the second communication device).

[0314] The following example uses the first communication device as the terminal and the second communication device as the network device to describe step S700.

[0315] In one implementation, the terminal sends second information to the network device, and the network device receives the second information sent by the terminal.

[0316] The second information (or terminal capability information) includes at least one of the following:

[0317] Capability 1: Does the terminal support the acquisition of channel information (such as channel state information) of candidate cells? In other words, does the terminal support the measurement of reference signal resources of candidate cells?

[0318] Alternatively, capability 2: CSI acquisition methods supported by the terminal.

[0319] The aforementioned CSI acquisition methods include two types:

[0320] Method 1: Both CSI-RS measurement and CSI reporting occur after cell handover signaling; or in other words, CSI-RS measurement occurs after cell handover signaling.

[0321] Method 2: CSI-RS measurement is performed before cell handover signaling, and CSI reporting is performed after cell handover signaling; or, in other words, CSI-RS measurement is performed before cell handover signaling.

[0322] In one implementation, the terminal can report, through one or more terminal capability parameters, whether it supports CSI acquisition methods one or two, or both. Alternatively, the terminal can report whether it supports method one through a single terminal capability parameter. Or, the terminal can report whether it supports method two through a single terminal capability parameter. Alternatively, if the terminal only supports CSI acquisition for candidate cells (i.e., capability 1), meaning the terminal reports support for CSI acquisition for candidate cells, it defaults to supporting method one and does not need additional reporting. Alternatively, if the terminal only supports CSI acquisition for candidate cells (i.e., capability 1), it defaults to supporting method two and does not need additional reporting. Or, if the terminal reports support for method two, it defaults to supporting both methods one and two.

[0323] In this application, the CSI mentioned above can be understood as any one or more of PMI, RI, LI, CQI, and i1.

[0324] In this application, a candidate cell can be understood as a cell in which the network device configuration may be switched, or it can be the currently serving cell. The candidate cell index can be the ltm-CandidateId configured in the network. The ltm-CandidateId is associated with a PCI (physical cell identifier).

[0325] Regarding the determination of terminal capability information, this application does not impose any limitations. In one implementation, the terminal can indicate whether it supports a capability by whether or not it reports the capability information. For example, if the terminal reports the capability information, it indicates that the terminal supports the capability indicated by the capability information; if the terminal does not report the capability information, it indicates that the terminal does not support the capability indicated by the capability information.

[0326] In another implementation, the terminal can also indicate whether it supports the capability by reporting parameters. For example, if the terminal reports the capability information, it means that the terminal supports the capability indicated by the capability information; if the terminal reports that it does not support the capability indicated by the capability information, it means that the terminal does not support the capability indicated by the capability information. For example, the size of the reporting parameter can be 1 bit, where bit "1" indicates that the terminal supports the capability, and bit "0" indicates that the terminal does not support the capability. So when the terminal reports bit "1", it means that the terminal supports the capability; when the terminal reports bit "0", it means that the terminal does not support the capability, and vice versa.

[0327] In another implementation, if the terminal supports some of the capabilities indicated by the aforementioned capability information, then the terminal must also support other capabilities indicated by the capability information. That is, if the terminal does not report the other capabilities, it also means that the terminal supports the other capabilities. This application does not limit this.

[0328] Optionally, the embodiment shown in FIG7 further includes step S704 (not shown in the figure). Optionally, step S704 may be performed before step S702, and / or step S704 may be performed after step S700. For example, the embodiment shown in FIG7 may include steps S700, S704, S701, S702, and S703, wherein the order of steps S701 and S702 is not limited. As another example, the embodiment shown in FIG7 may include steps S704, S701, S702, and S703, wherein the order of steps S701 and S702 is not limited.

[0329] Step S704: The second communication device sends first configuration information to the first communication device. Correspondingly, the first communication device receives the first configuration information sent by the second communication device.

[0330] In this application, at least one report configuration in the first configuration information is associated with the reference signal resources of the first cell; or, each of the at least one report configurations is associated with a resource configuration, and the resource configuration associated with the at least one report configuration includes the reference signal resources of the first cell. Optionally, the first report configuration can be one or more of the at least one report configuration.

[0331] The following example uses the first communication device as the terminal and the second communication device as the network device to describe step S704.

[0332] In one implementation, the network device sends first configuration information to the terminal, and the terminal receives the first configuration information from the network device accordingly.

[0333] For example, network devices can send the first configuration information via higher-layer signaling, such as RRC signaling. The first configuration information includes one or more report configurations; for example, the report configuration may be a Layer 1 / L2 triggered mobility channel state information report configuration (LTM-CSI-ReportConfig). This report configuration is used to configure relevant parameters for CSI reporting by candidate cells during cell handover.

[0334] Optionally, the aforementioned report configuration associates one or more reference signal resources of one or more candidate cells for CSI acquisition.

[0335] This application does not limit the name of the reference signal resource used for CSI acquisition. The reference signal resource used for CSI acquisition (such as the first reference signal resource) may also be referred to in the protocol as a reference signal resource without associated repeating parameters (such as the "repetition" parameter), or the reference signal resource set to which the reference signal resource (such as the first reference signal resource) belongs is not configured with the "repetition" parameter.

[0336] In this application, a report configuration associates one or more reference signal resources of one or more candidate cells, specifically including the following two methods.

[0337] Implementation Method 1: A report configuration is associated with the reference signal resources of a candidate cell.

[0338] One implementation method includes: a report configuration is associated with only one reference signal resource of a candidate cell, or a report configuration is associated with one or more reference signal resources of a candidate cell.

[0339] In this case, the above report configuration can be configured under the information element LTM-Candidate, then the reference signal resource associated with the report configuration belongs to the candidate cell corresponding to LTM-CandidateId in LTM-Candidate; the above report configuration can also be configured under the information element CSI-MeasConfig, that is, under the serving cell, in which case LTM-CandidateId needs to be additionally configured in the report configuration to indicate which candidate cell the reference signal resource associated with the report configuration belongs to.

[0340] Implementation Method 2: A report configuration is associated with the reference signal resources of one or more candidate cells.

[0341] The second implementation method includes: a report configuration associated with one or more reference signal resources of one or more candidate cells, wherein each candidate cell corresponds to only one reference signal resource; or, a report configuration associated with one or more reference signal resources of one or more candidate cells, wherein each candidate cell may correspond to one or more reference signal resources.

[0342] In this case, the above report configuration can be configured under the information element CSI-MeasConfig. The report configuration needs to configure LTM-CandidateId, and LTM-CandidateId corresponds one-to-one with the reference signal resource identifier, which is used to indicate which candidate cell each reference signal resource belongs to.

[0343] In this application, the report configuration is mainly used for CSI acquisition, that is, the reference signal resources in the report configuration are used for CSI acquisition; for example, the reporting quantity in the report configuration includes any one or more of PMI, RI, LI, CQI, and i1.

[0344] Optionally, the network device can also be configured to use either Method 1 or Method 2 to measure and / or report the CSI-RS of candidate cells. If the network device can be configured to use Method 1, the terminal uses Method 1. If the network device can be configured to use Method 2, the terminal uses Method 2. Alternatively, no network device configuration is required; if the terminal supports Method 2, the terminal uses Method 2. If the terminal does not support Method 2 (only supports Method 1), the terminal uses Method 1. Optionally, network device configuration is only required if the terminal supports both Method 1 and Method 2.

[0345] Conversely, "terminal adopting mode one" can mean that the terminal's capabilities only support mode one, and / or, "terminal adopting mode one" can mean that the network device is configured to use mode one. "Terminal adopting mode two" can mean that the terminal's capabilities support mode two, and / or, "terminal adopting mode two" can mean that the network device is configured to use mode two.

[0346] As mentioned above, the network device involved in the technical solution of this application can be an O-RAN. Under the O-RAN architecture, the RIC can directly control both the CU and the DU, requiring the "network device (e.g., RAN or BS)" in the reference signal resource measurement method shown in Figure 7 to be expanded to "CU" and "DU". Optionally, in various embodiments of this application, if the network device is a CU-DU separated architecture, the CU can forward the information to the DU after receiving it from the core network element; or, the DU can forward the information to the CU after receiving it from the terminal. The remaining steps can be referred to the relevant description in Figure 7 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0347] For example, in the above method, the CU of the network device can first send the information that needs to be sent to the terminal (e.g., the first signaling or the first configuration information) to the DU of the network device, and then the DU sends it to the terminal. For the specific interpretation of the first signaling or the first configuration information, as well as the specific implementation of each step, please refer to the relevant description of the above method. For the sake of brevity, it will not be explained here.

[0348] The communication devices provided in this application will now be described in detail with reference to Figures 8 to 10. These communication devices can be used to implement the functions of the various communication devices in the above method embodiments, and thus can also achieve the beneficial effects of the above method embodiments.

[0349] It is understood that, in order to achieve the functions in the above embodiments, the communication device includes hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to each function. Those skilled in the art should readily recognize that, based on the units and method steps described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed in this application, this application can be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed by hardware or by computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application scenario and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0350] Figures 8 to 10 are schematic diagrams illustrating the possible communication devices provided in the embodiments of this application. These communication devices can be used to implement the functions of the first communication device in the above method embodiments, and thus can also achieve the beneficial effects of the above method embodiments. In the embodiments of this application, the communication device can be the first communication device, such as one of the terminals 120a-120j shown in Figure 1. Optionally, it can also be a module (such as a chip) applied to the first communication device.

[0351] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 8, the communication device may include a transceiver unit 10 and a processing unit 20.

[0352] The communication device includes a processing unit 20 and a transceiver unit 10. The transceiver unit 10 and the processing unit 20 can be software, hardware, or a combination of both. Optionally, the communication device may further include a storage unit for storing device program code and / or data, not shown in Figure 8.

[0353] The transceiver unit 10 can implement sending and / or receiving functions. Optionally, the transceiver unit 10 can also be called a communication unit or an acquisition unit, etc. The transceiver unit 10 may further include a receiving unit and / or a sending unit, wherein the receiving unit is used to implement the receiving function, and the sending unit is used to implement the sending function. Optionally, the transceiver unit 10 can be used to receive information sent by other devices, and can also be used to send information to other devices.

[0354] In some embodiments of this application, the communication device may be the first communication device shown above, or a module, chip, or circuit disposed in the first communication device. That is, the communication device may be used to perform the steps or functions performed by the first communication device in the method embodiments described above. For example, the communication device may be a terminal, a module in the terminal (e.g., a circuit, chip, or chip system), or a logic node, logic module, or software that can implement all or part of the terminal functions.

[0355] For example, the first communication device includes a transceiver unit 10 and a processing unit 20, and the processing unit 20 may further include multiple modules.

[0356] In one design, the transceiver unit 10 is configured to: receive a first signaling instruction, the first signaling instruction being used to indicate a handover from the serving cell to the first cell; the processing unit 20 is configured to: measure the first reference signal resources of the first cell at a first measurement timing to obtain channel information, the first measurement timing being before or after receiving the first signaling instruction; and the transceiver unit 10 is configured to: send the channel information to the first cell.

[0357] In one possible implementation, the first measurement timing is after receiving the first signaling, and the processing unit 20 is specifically used to: determine a first report configuration based on the first signaling, the first report configuration being associated with one or more reference signal resources corresponding to the first cell, the one or more reference signal resources including the first reference signal resource; and measure the first reference signal resource to obtain channel information.

[0358] In one possible implementation, if the first report configuration is associated with a reference signal resource corresponding to the first cell, then the reference signal resource corresponding to the first cell is the first reference signal resource.

[0359] In one possible implementation, if the first report configuration is associated with one or more reference signal resources corresponding to the first cell, then some or all of the one or more reference signal resources are the first reference signal resources.

[0360] In one possible implementation, the first signaling is also used to indicate a first TCI state, wherein:

[0361] The first reference signal resource satisfies a QCL relationship with the reference signal resource in the first TCI state; or, the first reference signal resource corresponds to the second TCI state, and the reference signal in the first TCI state is the same as the reference signal in the second TCI state, wherein the reference signal is at least one of the reference signal corresponding to QCL type A, QCL type B, QCL type C, or QCL type D; or, the first reference signal resource corresponds to the second TCI state, and the first TCI state is the same as the second TCI state; or, the first reference signal resource corresponds to the second TCI state, and the QCL source reference signal of the first TCI state is the same as the QCL source reference signal of the second TCI state.

[0362] In one possible implementation, the first signaling includes an identifier of a first cell, which is used to determine the first report configuration; or, the first signaling includes an identifier of the first report configuration, which is used to determine the first report configuration.

[0363] In one possible implementation, the first signaling is also used to indicate a first reference signal resource.

[0364] In one possible implementation, the first signaling is further used to instruct a first TCI state to measure a first reference signal resource of the first cell at a first measurement timing, including: measuring the first reference signal resource based on the first TCI state at the first measurement timing.

[0365] In one possible implementation, the first measurement timing is before receiving the first signaling, the candidate cell includes a first cell, and the transceiver unit 10 is further configured to: receive the second reference signal resource of the candidate cell, the second reference signal resource being used for beam measurement; the processing unit 20 is further configured to: measure the second reference signal resource to obtain a first measurement result, the first measurement result including RSRP; the transceiver unit 10 is further configured to: transmit the first measurement result; the aforementioned processing unit 20 is specifically configured to: measure the first reference signal resource after transmitting the first measurement result.

[0366] In one possible implementation, the candidate cell includes one or more candidate cells; the first measurement result includes RSRP, and the candidate cell corresponding to the largest RSRP in the first measurement result is the first cell; or, the first measurement result includes RSRP, and the candidate cells corresponding to the top K RSRP values ​​in the first measurement result include the first cell, where K is a positive integer.

[0367] In one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 10 is further configured to: transmit second information, wherein the second information is configured to indicate whether the first communication device supports acquiring channel information of a candidate cell, the candidate cell including the first cell, and / or, the second information is configured to indicate that the first communication device supports measuring reference signal resources after receiving the first signaling and / or measuring reference signal resources before receiving the first signaling.

[0368] It is understood that the specific descriptions of the transceiver unit 10 and processing unit 20 shown in the embodiments of this application are merely examples. For the specific functions or execution steps of the transceiver unit 10 and processing unit 20, please refer to the method embodiment shown in FIG. 7 above, which will not be described in detail here. In addition, the technical effects of the embodiments of this application are the same as those in the method embodiment shown in FIG. 7 above, which will not be repeated here for the sake of brevity.

[0369] It is understood that the division of units in the above-described device is merely a logical functional division. Each function can correspond to a functional unit, or two or more functions can be integrated into one functional unit. In actual implementation, all or some units can be integrated into a single physical entity, or they can be distributed across different physical entities. Furthermore, the aforementioned functional units can be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of both. Whether a function is executed 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.

[0370] In one example, the functional unit in any of the above devices may be one or more integrated circuits configured to implement the above methods, such as: one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or one or more central processing units (CPUs), one or more microcontroller units (MCUs), one or more digital signal processors (DSPs), or one or more field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or a combination of at least two of these integrated circuit forms.

[0371] In one example, the storage unit described in this application may include random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable memory, and / or registers, etc.

[0372] As shown in Figure 9, the communication device 900 includes a processor 910, and optionally an interface circuit 920. The processor 910 and the interface circuit 920 are coupled to each other. It is understood that the interface circuit 920 can be a transceiver or an input / output interface. Optionally, the communication device 900 may also include a memory 930 for storing computer programs or instructions executed by the processor 910, or storing input data required by the processor 910 to execute instructions, or storing data generated by the processor 910 after executing computer programs or instructions.

[0373] When the communication device 900 is used to implement the method shown in FIG7, the processor 910 is used to implement the function of the processing unit 20, and the interface circuit 920 is used to implement the function of the transceiver unit 10.

[0374] When the aforementioned communication device is a chip applied to the first communication device, the first communication device chip implements the functions of the first communication device in the above method embodiments. The first communication device chip receives information sent to the first communication device by other communication devices (such as network devices) through other modules (such as radio frequency modules or antennas) in the first communication device; or, the first communication device chip sends information to other modules (such as radio frequency modules or antennas) in the first communication device, and this information is sent by the first communication device to other communication devices.

[0375] As shown in Figure 10, the communication device includes a processor 1010, a memory 1020, and a transceiver 1030. The processor 1010 is mainly used for processing communication protocols and communication data; controlling the first communication device; executing software programs; and processing data from the software programs. The memory 1020 can store computer program code, software programs, and data. The transceiver 1030 includes a transmitter 1031, a receiver 1032, radio frequency circuitry (not shown in Figure 10), and an antenna 1033.

[0376] The processor 1010 can also be called a processing unit, processing board, processing module, or processing device. The transceiver 1030 can also be called a transceiver unit, transceiver, or transceiver device.

[0377] Optionally, the device in transceiver 1030 used to implement the receiving function can be considered a receiving module, and the device in transceiver 1030 used to implement the transmitting function can be considered a transmitting module. That is, transceiver 1030 includes a receiver and / or a transmitter. A transceiver may also be called a transceiver unit, transceiver module, or transceiver circuit, etc. A receiver may also be called a receiver unit, receiving module, or receiving circuit, etc. A transmitter may also be called a transmitter, transmitting module, or transmitting circuit, etc.

[0378] The processor 1010 is used to execute the processing actions of the first communication device in the embodiment shown in FIG7 above; the transceiver 1030 is used to execute the sending and receiving actions of the first communication device in the embodiment shown in FIG7 above.

[0379] When the communication device 1000 is a chip, the chip includes a processor and a transceiver. The transceiver can be an input / output circuit or a communication interface. The processor can be a processing module integrated on the chip, a microprocessor, or an integrated circuit. In the above method embodiments, the transmitting operation of the first communication device can be understood as the chip's output, and the receiving operation of the first communication device in the above method embodiments can be understood as the chip's input.

[0380] This application also provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program or instructions for implementing the method executed by the first communication device in the above method embodiments.

[0381] For example, when the computer program is executed by the computer, it enables the computer to implement the method executed by the first communication device in the above method embodiment.

[0382] This application also provides a computer program product containing a program or instructions, which, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to implement the method executed by the first communication device in the above method embodiments.

[0383] This application also provides a chip device, including a processor, for calling a computer program or computer instructions stored in the memory, so that the processor executes the method provided in the embodiment shown in FIG7 above.

[0384] In one possible implementation, the input of the chip device corresponds to the receiving operation in the embodiment shown in FIG7 above, and the output of the chip device corresponds to the sending operation in the embodiment shown in FIG7 above.

[0385] Optionally, the processor is coupled to the memory via an interface.

[0386] Optionally, the chip device may also include a memory in which computer programs or computer instructions are stored.

[0387] It is understood that the processor in the embodiments of this application can be a central processing unit (CPU), or other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. A general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0388] The method steps in the embodiments of this application can be implemented in hardware or in software instructions executable by a processor. The software instructions can consist of corresponding software modules, which can be stored in random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, erasable programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, registers, hard disks, portable hard disks, CD-ROMs, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to a processor, enabling the processor to read information from and write information to the storage medium. The storage medium can also be a component of the processor. The processor and storage medium can reside in an ASIC. Additionally, the ASIC can reside in a second communication device or a first communication device. The processor and storage medium can also exist as discrete components in the second or first communication device.

[0389] In the above embodiments, implementation can be achieved entirely or partially through software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented entirely or partially in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of this application are performed entirely or partially. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, a network device, a user equipment, or other programmable device. The computer program or instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transferred from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer program or instructions can be transferred from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired or wireless means. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The available medium can be a magnetic medium, such as a floppy disk, hard disk, or magnetic tape; it can also be an optical medium, such as a digital video optical disc; or it can be a semiconductor medium, such as a solid-state drive. The computer-readable storage medium may be a volatile or non-volatile storage medium, or may include both types of storage media.

[0390] In the various embodiments of this application, unless otherwise specified or in case of logical conflict, the terminology and / or descriptions of different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced by each other. The technical features of different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationship.

[0391] It is understood that the various numerical designations used in the embodiments of this application are merely for descriptive convenience and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application. The order of the process numbers described above does not imply the order of execution; the execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic.

Claims

1. A method for measuring a reference signal resource, characterized in that, The method is applied to a first communication device, and the method comprises: receiving first signaling, the first signaling being used to indicate switching from a serving cell to a first cell, the first signaling comprising a target configuration identification field, the target configuration identification field being used to indicate the first cell; measuring one or more reference signal resources of the first cell to obtain a channel state information (CSI) report, configuration information of the first cell comprising a first report configuration, the first report configuration being associated with the one or more reference signal resources of the first cell; sending the CSI report to the first cell.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, The first signaling is layer 1 / layer 2 triggered mobility cell switch command medium access control control element (LTM cell switch command MAC CE) signaling.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein, The configuration information of the first cell comprises one report configuration, the one report configuration being the first report configuration, the one report configuration being associated with the one or more reference signal resources of the first cell, the one or more reference signal resources of the first cell being used for CSI acquisition of the first cell.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein, The configuration information of the first cell is layer 1 / layer 2 triggered mobility candidate (LTM-Candidate).

5. The method of any one of claims 1-4, wherein, The first report configuration is associated with reference signal resources of one or more candidate cells, the one or more candidate cells comprising the first cell; The measuring the one or more reference signal resources of the first cell comprises: only measuring the reference signal resources associated with the first cell associated with the first report configuration.

6. The method of any one of claims 1-5, wherein, The target configuration identification field is used to indicate the first cell, comprising: the target configuration identification field comprises a target configuration identification, the target configuration identification corresponding to a candidate cell index-1, the candidate cell index-1 being included in the configuration information of the first cell.

7. The method of any one of claims 1-6, wherein, The reference signal resources in the first report configuration are used for CSI acquisition; and / or, the reporting quantity in the first report configuration comprises any one or more of a precoding matrix indicator (PMI), a rank indicator (RI), a layer indicator (LI), a channel quality indicator (CQI), and a codebook index i1.

8. The method of any one of claims 2-7, wherein, The first signaling is also used to indicate a first transmission configuration indication (TCI) state, wherein: The one or more reference signal resources satisfy a quasi co-location (QCL) relationship with reference signal resources in the first TCI state; Or, the one or more reference signal resources correspond to a second TCI state, reference signals in the first TCI state being the same as reference signals in the second TCI state, wherein the reference signals are at least one of a QCL type A corresponding reference signal, a QCL type B corresponding reference signal, a QCL type C corresponding reference signal, or a QCL type D corresponding reference signal; Or, the one or more reference signal resources correspond to the second TCI state, the first TCI state being the same as the second TCI state. Alternatively, the one or more reference signal resources correspond to the second TCI state, and a QCL source reference signal of the first TCI state is the same as a QCL source reference signal of the second TCI state.

9. The method of any one of claims 1-8, wherein, The first signaling includes an identity of the first cell, and the identity of the first cell is used to determine the first reporting configuration; or the first signaling includes an identity of the first reporting configuration, and the identity of the first reporting configuration is used to determine the first reporting configuration.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein, The first signaling is further used to indicate the one or more reference signal resources.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein, The first signaling is further used to indicate a first TCI state, and the measurement of the one or more reference signal resources of the first cell at the first measurement occasion includes: measuring the one or more reference signal resources at the first measurement occasion based on the first TCI state.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein, The first measurement occasion is before the reception of the first signaling, the candidate cell includes the first cell, and the method further includes: receiving second reference signal resources of a candidate cell, the second reference signal resources being used for beam measurement; measuring the second reference signal resources to obtain a first measurement result; sending the first measurement result; The measurement of the one or more reference signal resources of the first cell at the first measurement occasion includes: measuring the one or more reference signal resources after the sending of the first measurement result.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein, The first measurement result includes a reference signal received power, and the candidate cell includes one or more candidate cells; The candidate cell corresponding to the maximum reference signal received power in the first measurement result is the first cell; Alternatively, the candidate cell corresponding to the top K reference signal received power in the first measurement result includes the first cell, and the K is a positive integer.

14. The method of any one of claims 1-13, wherein, The method further includes: sending second information, wherein the second information is used to indicate whether the first communication device supports obtaining channel information of a candidate cell, the candidate cell including the first cell, and / or the second information is used to indicate that the first communication device supports measuring reference signal resources after receiving the first signaling and / or measuring reference signal resources before receiving the first signaling.

15. A method of measuring a reference signal resource, the method comprising: The method is applied to a first communication device, and the method includes: receiving first signaling, the first signaling being used to indicate switching from a serving cell to a first cell; measuring first reference signal resources of the first cell at a first measurement occasion to obtain channel information, the first measurement occasion being before or after the reception of the first signaling; sending the channel information to the first cell.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein, The first measurement occasion is after the reception of the first signaling, and the measurement of the first reference signal resources of the first cell at the first measurement occasion to obtain channel information includes: determining a first reporting configuration based on the first signaling, the first reporting configuration being associated with one or more reference signal resources corresponding to the first cell, and the one or more reference signal resources including the first reference signal resources; measure the first reference signal resource to obtain the channel information.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein, If the first reporting configuration is associated with one reference signal resource corresponding to the first cell, the one reference signal resource corresponding to the first cell is the first reference signal resource.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein, If the first reporting configuration is associated with one or more reference signal resources corresponding to the first cell, part or all of the one or more reference signal resources are the first reference signal resource.

19. The method of any one of claims 16-18, wherein, The first signaling is further used to indicate a first transmission configuration indication state (TCI state), wherein: The first reference signal resource and a reference signal resource in the first TCI state satisfy a quasi co-location (QCL) relationship; Or, the first reference signal resource corresponds to a second TCI state, and a reference signal in the first TCI state is the same as a reference signal in the second TCI state, wherein the reference signal is at least one of a QCL type A corresponding reference signal, a QCL type B corresponding reference signal, a QCL type C corresponding reference signal, or a QCL type D corresponding reference signal; Or, the first reference signal resource corresponds to the second TCI state, and the first TCI state is the same as the second TCI state. Or, the first reference signal resource corresponds to the second TCI state, and a QCL source reference signal of the first TCI state is the same as a QCL source reference signal of the second TCI state.

20. The method of any one of claims 16-19, wherein, The first signaling includes an identifier of the first cell, and the identifier of the first cell is used to determine the first reporting configuration; or the first signaling includes an identifier of the first reporting configuration, and the identifier of the first reporting configuration is used to determine the first reporting configuration.

21. The method of claim 15 or 16 or 20, wherein, The first signaling is further used to indicate the first reference signal resource.

22. The method of any one of claims 15-21, wherein, The first signaling is further used to indicate a first TCI state, and the measurement of the first reference signal resource of the first cell at the first measurement occasion includes: The measurement of the first reference signal resource at the first measurement occasion is based on the first TCI state.

23. The method of claim 15, wherein, The first measurement occasion is before the reception of the first signaling, the candidate cell includes the first cell, and the method further includes: receiving a second reference signal resource of a candidate cell, the second reference signal resource being used for beam measurement; measuring the second reference signal resource to obtain a first measurement result; sending the first measurement result; The measurement of the first reference signal resource of the first cell at the first measurement occasion includes: The first measurement result includes a reference signal received power, and the candidate cell includes one or more candidate cells; 24. The method of claim 23, wherein, The candidate cell corresponding to the maximum reference signal received power in the first measurement result is the first cell; The first measurement result includes a reference signal received power, and the candidate cell includes one or more candidates; Alternatively, the candidate cells corresponding to the first K reference signal received power sizes in the first measurement results include the first cell, and the K is a positive integer.

25. The method of any one of claims 15-24, wherein, The method further includes: sending second information, wherein the second information is used to indicate whether the first communication device supports acquiring channel information of candidate cells including the first cell, and / or the second information is used to indicate that the first communication device supports measuring reference signal resources after receiving the first signaling and / or measuring reference signal resources before receiving the first signaling.

26. A communications device, characterized by The communication device includes at least one processor; the at least one processor is used to execute the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 25.

27. A communications device, characterized by The communication device includes at least one processor; the at least one processor is used to execute the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 25.

28. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer readable storage medium includes a program or instructions, when the program is executed on the device, so that the device executes the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 25.

29. A computer program product, characterised in that, The computer program product includes a program or instructions, when the program or instructions are executed by the device, so that the device executes the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 25.

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