WO2022120710A1 - Communication method, apparatus and system - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided are a communication method, apparatus and system, which are used for reducing overheads and energy consumption during a carrier adding process, reducing time delays, and quickly adding an activated carrier. The method comprises: a terminal device receiving a first message on a first carrier, wherein the first message comprises configuration information, and the configuration information is used for the terminal device to receive a signal on a second carrier; and on the basis of the configuration information, the terminal device receiving a signal group on the second carrier in each measurement period, wherein each signal group comprises a plurality of signal blocks, and the signal blocks are used for the terminal device to acquire timing and frequency synchronization on the second carrier.

Description

A communication method, device and system technical field

The present application relates to the field of wireless communication technologies, and in particular, to a communication method, device, and system.

Background technique

New radio (NR) inherits the characteristics of carrier aggregation (CA) in long term evolution (LTE). The CA technology can configure multiple continuous or non-consecutive carriers in the frequency domain to a terminal device at the same time to increase the total bandwidth of the terminal device, thereby achieving the effect of increasing user capacity.

The terminal device measures other cells according to the configuration information of the network device, and reports the measurement results. The network device configures the terminal device to add a secondary cell according to the measurement result. The terminal device establishes a connection with the secondary cell based on the random access procedure. After the terminal device completes adding the secondary cell, the network device may schedule the terminal device to transmit data on the secondary cell, thereby realizing the addition of the carrier.

In order for the network device to synchronize the terminal device on the new carrier, it needs to always turn on and broadcast the synchronization signal, which has a large overhead and energy consumption. And when the terminal equipment cross-carrier needs to re-acquire the target cell, and re-synchronize the timing and frequency of the carrier, the delay is large, and when the data transmission is performed across the carrier, the beam scanning needs to be performed again, and the carrier activation delay is large.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present application provide a communication method, device, and system, which are used to reduce overhead and energy consumption in a carrier addition process, reduce delay, and rapidly add active carriers.

In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, comprising: a terminal device receiving a first message on a first carrier, the first message including configuration information, and the configuration information is used by the terminal device to receive a signal on a second carrier ; the terminal device receives a signal group on the second carrier in each measurement period based on the configuration information; each signal group includes a plurality of signal blocks, and the signal blocks are used for the terminal device Timing and frequency synchronization with the network equipment on the second carrier.

The first carrier and the second carrier may be located in the same frequency band, or may be located in different frequency bands. The first carrier may be understood as the current carrier, and the second carrier may be understood as the added new carrier. Each signal block may include one or more signals.

The terminal device has completed the synchronization and established connection on the first carrier and can communicate normally. The network device can indicate to the terminal device the configuration information of receiving signals on the second carrier. The signal can be searched in the beam direction, no blind search is required, and the delay for the terminal equipment to re-beam scanning and carrier synchronization is reduced. The terminal equipment can obtain the downlink timing in a short time and complete the frequency synchronization with the network equipment. and beam alignment, the network device does not need to always/periodically turn on and broadcast the synchronization signal on a specific carrier, and only needs to send the signal of the scanned part of the beam to the terminal device, which can reduce the air interface resource overhead and energy consumption of the network device. consumption, so that active carriers can be added quickly.

In a possible design, the terminal device may use the same spatial filter to receive a signal of a signal group on the second carrier. That is, in one measurement period, the terminal device adopts the same parameters of the spatial filter, that is, in one measurement period, the terminal device may not change the parameters of the spatial filter. It can also be understood that in one measurement period, the terminal equipment adopts the same receiving beam, that is, in one measurement period, the terminal equipment may not change the receiving beam.

The measurement period is also called the measurement window or the receiving period. The terminal equipment can use a fixed receiving beam to receive signals in a complete signal group within one measurement period, so that the terminal equipment can search for signals in a specific beam direction. , so that the terminal device determines the receiving beam used on the second carrier during the service communication process.

In this design, the terminal device can use a fixed receiving beam to receive signals during a measurement period, or can receive signals according to the receiving beam indicated by the network device, so that the terminal device can search for a specific beam direction. signal so that terminal equipment can quickly complete frequency synchronization and beam alignment with network equipment.

In a possible design, the terminal device may also receive the first downlink reference signal on the first carrier; the terminal device may assume that the first downlink reference signal and the On the premise that one or more signal blocks in the signal group received in the measurement period satisfy a quasi-co-located QCL relationship, the parameters of the spatial filter for receiving the signal group in the measurement period are determined.

Assuming that the first downlink reference signal and one or more signal blocks in the signal group satisfy the QCL relationship, the network device may use the first downlink reference signal to indicate the spatial resource when the terminal device receives the signal, and the terminal According to the first downlink reference signal, the device can determine the receiving parameter of the spatial filter or the receiving beam, so as to search for a signal in a specific beam direction.

In this design, the network device can indicate the airspace resource through the first downlink reference signal, for example, the network device can use the first downlink reference signal as the reference source signal of QCL Type-D included in the TCI status indication, so that the terminal The device can search for signals in a specific beam direction, thereby quickly completing frequency synchronization and beam alignment with network devices.

In a possible design, a plurality of signal blocks included in each signal group may be consecutive in the time domain; and/or two consecutively received signal groups may be separated by one or more OFDM symbols.

In this design, the signal blocks are continuous in the time domain, and the signals are arranged more closely, which shortens the time for the terminal equipment to receive signals in one measurement period, and further reduces the delay. In addition, consider the delay when the terminal equipment switches the receiving beam and/or the receiving antenna panel between different measurement periods, or when switching the receiving beam and/or the receiving antenna panel between different signal blocks in one measurement period. , by setting a protection symbol between two consecutive signal groups or two signal blocks, the terminal equipment can receive signals more completely and accurately.

In a possible design, the signal block includes a primary synchronization signal PSS and a secondary synchronization signal SSS; or the signal block includes any one of the following signals: PSS, SSS, channel state information-reference signal CSI-RS, Tracking reference signal TRS.

In this design, only PSS and SSS can be reserved in the signal block, or only PSS can be reserved to reduce the number of OFDM symbols occupied by the signal block in time, and further reduce the overhead and the delay of beam scanning.

In a possible design, the first message includes one or more of the following information: a measurement period, the number of measurement periods, a frequency domain range, a starting frequency point, an offset value relative to an absolute frequency point, or , the index of the signal block or signal. By instructing the terminal device to receive the time-frequency resource when the reference signal is received, the network device enables the terminal device to search for a signal in a specific beam direction according to the reference signal after receiving the reference signal, thereby quickly completing the communication with the network device. frequency synchronization and beam alignment between

In a possible design, based on the configuration information, in each measurement period, after receiving a signal group on the second carrier, the terminal device may further report the second message to A network device, wherein the second message includes a measurement result of a downlink signal sent by the network device on the second carrier.

In this design, the terminal device can report the measurement result in an explicit or implicit manner. The measurement result may indicate the optimal receiving beam measured by the terminal device, that is, the receiving beam used by the terminal device on the second carrier during the service communication process, that is, it may indicate the receiving beam used by the terminal device on the second carrier. The transmission beam used by the network device on the second carrier during the service communication process.

In a possible design, before the terminal device receives the first message on the first carrier, the terminal device may further receive a third message, and the third message is used by the terminal device on the second carrier The receiving parameters of the received signal group are determined on the carrier, and the receiving parameters include at least one of the following: a spatial relationship, a transmission configuration indication TCI, and associated reference signal information; the TCI is used to indicate that the first downlink reference signal is related to the a QCL relationship of one or more signal blocks in a signal group, the QCL relationship being used to determine parameters of the spatial filter and/or receive beams used by the terminal device to receive the signal group during the measurement period. Or the QCL relationship can also be used to determine one or more of the following information: Doppler shift (Doppler shift), Doppler spread (Doppler spread), average delay (average delay), delay spread (delay spread), the QCL relationship can be further used by the terminal device to determine the time-frequency synchronization information of the signal received on the second carrier.

In this design, the network device may instruct the terminal device to receive beams on the second carrier to enable rapid addition of active carriers.

In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, comprising: a network device sending a first message on a first carrier, the first message including configuration information, and the configuration information is used by a terminal device to receive a signal on a second carrier; In each measurement period, the network device sends a signal group on the second carrier, and each signal group includes one or more signal blocks, and the signal blocks are used by the terminal device on the second carrier. Timing and frequency synchronization between Internet and network devices.

The first carrier and the second carrier may be located in the same frequency band, or may be located in different frequency bands. The first carrier may be understood as the current carrier, and the second carrier may be understood as the added new carrier. Each signal block may include one or more signals.

The terminal device has completed the synchronization and established connection on the first carrier and can communicate normally. The network device can indicate to the terminal device the configuration information of receiving signals on the second carrier. The signal can be searched in the beam direction, no blind search is required, and the delay for the terminal equipment to re-beam scanning and carrier synchronization is reduced. The terminal equipment can obtain the downlink timing in a short time and complete the frequency synchronization with the network equipment. and beam alignment, the network device does not need to always/periodically turn on and broadcast the synchronization signal on a specific carrier, and only needs to send the signal of the scanned part of the beam to the terminal device, which can reduce the air interface resource overhead and energy consumption of the network device. consumption, so that active carriers can be added quickly.

In a possible design, the network device may use the same spatial filter to transmit a signal of a signal group on the second carrier. That is, in one measurement period, the network device adopts the same parameters of the spatial filter, that is, in one measurement period, the network device may not change the parameters of the spatial filter. It can also be understood that in one measurement period, the network device uses the same transmission beam, that is, in one measurement period, the network device may not change the transmission beam.

In a possible design, the network device may also send a first downlink reference signal on the first carrier; within a measurement period, the network device assumes that the first downlink reference signal and the On the premise that one or more signal blocks in the signal group sent in the measurement period satisfy a quasi-co-located QCL relationship, the parameters of the spatial filter for transmitting the signal group in the measurement period are determined.

In a possible design, a plurality of signal blocks included in each signal group may be consecutive in the time domain; and/or two consecutively received signal groups may be separated by one or more OFDM symbols.

In a possible design, the signal block includes a primary synchronization signal PSS and a secondary synchronization signal SSS; or the signal block includes any one of the following signals: PSS, SSS, channel state information-reference signal CSI-RS , the tracking reference signal TRS.

In a possible design, the first message may include one or more of the following information: a measurement period, the number of measurement periods, a frequency domain range, a starting frequency point, an offset value relative to an absolute frequency point, Alternatively, the index of the signal block or signal.

In a possible design, after the network device sends a signal group on the second carrier in each measurement period, the network device may further receive a second message, where the second message includes the The measurement result of the downlink signal sent by the network device on the second carrier.

In a possible design, before the network device sends the first message on the first carrier, the network device may also send a third message, where the third message is used by the terminal device on the second carrier The receiving parameters of the received signal group are determined on the carrier, and the receiving parameters include at least one of the following: a spatial relationship, a transmission configuration indication TCI, and associated reference signal information; the TCI is used to indicate that the first downlink reference signal is related to the a QCL relationship of one or more signal blocks in a signal group, the QCL relationship being used to determine parameters of the spatial filter and/or receive beams used by the terminal device to receive the signal group during the measurement period.

In a third aspect, a communication device is provided, and the device has the function of implementing any possible design method in the first aspect or the second aspect. This function can be implemented by hardware or by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions.

In a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising: a transceiver, a processor, and a memory; the transceiver is used to send and receive data or information, the memory is used to store computer-executed instructions, and when the device is running, the processor executes the The computer-executed instructions stored in the memory cause the apparatus to perform a method as implemented in any possible design of the first or second aspect above.

In a fifth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, comprising: comprising means or means for performing various steps in any possible designs of the first aspect or the second aspect above.

In a sixth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising a processor and an interface circuit, wherein the processor is configured to communicate with other devices through the interface circuit, and execute the method provided by any possible design of the above first aspect or the second aspect. The processor includes one or more.

In a seventh aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, comprising a processor for invoking a program stored in a coupled memory to perform the method in any possible design of the first aspect or the second aspect. The memory may be located within the device or external to the device. And the processor includes one or more.

In an eighth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, where instructions are stored in the computer-readable storage medium, when the computer-readable storage medium is run on a computer, the processor is made to execute any possible design in the first aspect or the second aspect. method.

In a ninth aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any possible design of the first or second aspect above.

According to a tenth aspect, a chip system is provided, including: a processor configured to execute the method of any possible design in the first aspect or the second aspect.

In an eleventh aspect, a communication system is provided, including a terminal device for executing the first aspect or any method for implementing the first aspect, and a network device for executing the second aspect or any method for implementing the second aspect .

A twelfth aspect provides a chip system including a transceiver for implementing the function of a network device in any possible design method in the first aspect above, or implementing any possible design method in the second aspect above The functions of the user equipment, for example, such as receiving or transmitting data and/or information involved in the above methods. In one possible design, the chip system further includes a memory for storing program instructions and/or data. The chip system may be composed of chips, or may include chips and other discrete devices.

For the technical effects that can be achieved by any one of the above-mentioned second aspect to the twelfth aspect and any one of the possible implementations thereof, please refer to the description of the technical effects that can be brought about by any of the above-mentioned aspects, which will not be repeated here.

Description of drawings

1 is a schematic diagram of carrier aggregation;

2 is a schematic structural diagram of a synchronization signal;

Fig. 3, Fig. 5 are the schematic diagrams of the synchronization signal scanning process;

4 is a schematic diagram of a transmission pattern of a synchronization signal under each subcarrier interval;

FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 are schematic diagrams of a communication scenario according to an embodiment of the application;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a communication flow according to an embodiment of the application;

FIG. 9 , FIG. 10 , FIG. 11 , and FIG. 13 are schematic diagrams of a signal pattern according to an embodiment of the application;

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of a signal structure according to an embodiment of the application;

FIG. 14 , FIG. 15 , and FIG. 16 are schematic diagrams of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed ways

The present application will be described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

This application will present various aspects, embodiments, or features around a system that may include a plurality of devices, components, modules, and the like. It is to be understood and appreciated that the various systems may include additional devices, components, modules, etc., and/or may not include all of the devices, components, modules, etc. discussed in connection with the figures. In addition, combinations of these schemes can also be used.

In addition, in the embodiments of the present application, the word "exemplary" is used to mean serving as an example, illustration or illustration. Any embodiment or design described in this application as "exemplary" should not be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, the use of the word example is intended to present a concept in a concrete way.

The network architecture and service scenarios described in the embodiments of the present application are for the purpose of illustrating the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application more clearly, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application. The evolution of the architecture and the emergence of new business scenarios, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application are also applicable to similar technical problems.

Some terms in the embodiments of the present application are explained below to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art.

1) User equipment (UE), also known as terminal equipment, is a device with wireless transceiver function/wireless communication function, which can be accessed through the access network equipment ( Alternatively, it may be referred to as an access device) to communicate with one or more core network (core network, CN) devices (or may also be referred to as a core device).

User equipment may also be called an access terminal, terminal, subscriber unit, subscriber station, Mobile Station (MS), mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, user agent, or user device etc. User equipment can be deployed on land, including indoor or outdoor, handheld or vehicle; can also be deployed on water (such as ships, etc.); can also be deployed in the air (such as aircraft, balloons and satellites, etc.). The user equipment may be a cellular phone (cellular phone), a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a smart phone (smart phone), a mobile phone (mobile phone), a wireless local loop (WLL) Station, wireless data card, personal digital assistant (PDA), computer, tablet computer, wireless modem (modem), laptop computer (laptop computer), machine type communication (Machine Type Communication, MTC) terminal, etc. . Alternatively, the user equipment may also be a handheld device with a wireless communication function, a computing device or other device connected to a wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a drone device, or a terminal in the Internet of Things, the Internet of Vehicles, Any form of terminal, relay user equipment, or terminal in a future evolved PLMN in the fifth-generation mobile communication (5th-generation, 5G) network and future networks, etc. The relay user equipment may be, for example, a 5G home gateway (residential gateway, RG). For example, the user equipment can be a virtual reality (VR) terminal, an augmented reality (AR) terminal, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless terminal in self driving, telemedicine Wireless terminals in remote medical, wireless terminals in smart grid, wireless terminals in transportation safety, wireless terminals in smart city, wireless terminals in smart home wireless terminals, etc. This embodiment of the present application does not limit the type or type of the terminal device.

2) Network equipment, which refers to equipment that can provide wireless access/communication functions for terminals. The network device may support at least one wireless communication technology, such as long term evolution (LTE), new radio (NR), wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA), and the like.

For example, network equipment may include access network equipment. Exemplarily, the network equipment includes, but is not limited to: a next-generation base station or a next-generation node B (generation nodeB, gNB), an evolved node B (evolved node B, eNB), a radio network controller (radio network controller, RNC), node B (node B, NB), base station controller (BSC), base transceiver station (base transceiver station, BTS), home base station (for example, home evolved node B, or home node B, HNB ), baseband unit (BBU), transmitting and receiving point (TRP), transmitting point (TP), mobile switching center, base station, micro base station (also known as small cell), micro cell, etc. . The network device may also be a wireless controller, a centralized unit (CU), and/or a distributed unit (DU) in a cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenario, or the network device may It is a relay station, an access point, a vehicle-mounted device, a terminal, a wearable device, and a network device in future mobile communications or a network device in a future evolved public land mobile network (PLMN).

For another example, the network device may include a core network (CN) device, and the core network device includes, for example, an AMF and the like.

In systems using different radio access technologies, the names of network devices may vary. For example, the base transceiver station (BTS) in the global system for mobile communication (GSM) or code division multiple access (CDMA) network, wideband code division multiple access (wideband code) NB in division multiple access, WCDMA), eNB or eNodeB in LTE.

3) A beam, a communication resource. The beams can be wide beams, or narrow beams, or other types of beams. The beam forming technology may be beamforming technology or other technical means. The beamforming technology may be specifically a digital beamforming technology, an analog beamforming technology, and a hybrid digital/analog beamforming technology. Different beams can be considered as different resources. The same information or different information can be sent through different beams. Optionally, multiple beams with the same or similar communication characteristics may be regarded as one beam. A beam may include one or more antenna ports for transmitting data channels, control channels and sounding signals, etc. For example, a transmit beam may refer to the distribution of signal strengths formed in different directions in space after a signal is transmitted through an antenna, The receiving beam may refer to the signal strength distribution of the wireless signal received from the antenna in different directions in space. It can be understood that one or more antenna ports forming a beam can also be regarded as an antenna port set.

It should be noted that the receiving beam in this application can be embodied as a set of receiving parameters of the terminal device, or the spatial filter parameters of the antenna, or the spatial correlation, or it can be indicated by the same parameters as other signals received. For indirect indication, it may also be other similar definitions adopted by the agreement, which is not limited in this application. The receive beam, or the spatial domain receive filter, in this text can be equivalently replaced by the other definitions mentioned above.

When using the low frequency or intermediate frequency band, the signal can be sent omnidirectionally or through a wider angle, while when using the high frequency band, thanks to the small carrier wavelength of the high frequency communication system, the signal can be sent at the sending end The antenna array composed of many antenna elements is arranged with the receiving end. The transmitting end transmits signals with a certain beamforming weight, so that the transmitted signal forms a beam with spatial directivity. Receiving, can improve the received power of the signal at the receiving end and resist path loss.

A network device can receive or transmit a signal using a spatial filter, which is equivalent to receiving a signal using a receive beam or transmitting a signal using a transmit beam. The terminal device can receive or transmit signals using the spatial filter, which is equivalent to receiving signals using the receive beam or transmitting signals using the transmit beam. Generally, when the parameters of the spatial filter do not change, the beam (transmitting beam or receiving beam) corresponding to the spatial filter does not change.

4) Quasi-co-location (QCL) relationship, refers to the co-location relationship, which is used to indicate that multiple resources have one or more identical or similar communication characteristics. resources, the same or similar communication configuration can be used. For example, if two antenna ports have a co-location relationship, then the large-scale characteristics of the channel transmitting one symbol at one port can be inferred from the large-scale characteristics of the channel transmitting one symbol at the other port. Large-scale properties can include: delay spread, average delay, Doppler spread, Doppler shift, average gain, receive parameters, receive beam number of terminal equipment, transmit/receive channel correlation, receive angle of arrival, receiver antenna The spatial correlation of , the main angle of arrival (angel-of-arrival, AoA), the average angle of arrival, the extension of AoA, etc. Specifically, the co-location indication is used to indicate whether the at least two groups of antenna ports have a co-location relationship: the co-location indication is used to indicate whether the channel state information reference signals sent by the at least two groups of antenna ports come from the same transmission point , or the colocation indication is used to indicate whether the channel state information reference signals sent by the at least two groups of antenna ports come from the same beam group.

Quasi-co-location/quasi-co-location assumption (QCL assumption) refers to the assumption that there is a QCL relationship between two ports. The configuration and indication of the quasi-co-location assumption can be used to assist the receiving end in signal reception and demodulation. For example, the receiving end can confirm that the A port and the B port have a QCL relationship, that is, the large-scale parameters of the signal measured on the A port can be used for signal measurement and demodulation on the B port.

Spatial quasi-co-location/quasi-co-location (spatial QCL), spatial QCL can be considered as a type of QCL. There are two angles to understand spatial: from the sender or from the receiver. From the perspective of the transmitting end, if two antenna ports are said to be quasi-co-located in the spatial domain, it means that the corresponding beam directions of the two antenna ports are spatially consistent. From the perspective of the receiving end, if the two antenna ports are quasi-co-located in the spatial domain, it means that the receiving end can receive the signals sent by the two antenna ports in the same beam direction.

5) Reference Signal, according to the long-term evolution LTE/NR protocol, at the physical layer, uplink communication includes uplink physical channel and uplink signal transmission. The uplink physical channel includes physical random access channel (PRACH), uplink physical control channel (physical uplink control channel, PUCCH), uplink physical data channel (physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH), etc. The uplink signal includes channel Sounding reference signal (SRS), uplink control channel demodulation reference signal (PUCCH de-modulation reference signal, PUCCH-DMRS), uplink data channel demodulation reference signal PUSCH-DMRS, uplink phase noise tracking signal (phase noise) tracking reference signal, PTRS), uplink positioning reference signal (uplink positioning RS), etc. Downlink communication includes the transmission of downlink physical channels and downlink signals. The downlink physical channel includes the physical broadcast channel (PBCH), the downlink physical control channel (PDCCH), the downlink physical data channel (physical downlink shared channel, PDSCH), etc. The downlink signal includes the primary synchronization signal ( primary synchronization signal, PSS), secondary synchronization signal (SSS), downlink control channel demodulation reference signal PDCCH-DMRS, downlink data channel demodulation reference signal PDSCH-DMRS, phase noise tracking reference signal (phase-tracking reference signal) signal, PTRS), channel status information reference signal (CSI-RS), cell signal (cell reference signal, CRS) (NR does not have), fine synchronization signal/time-frequency tracking reference signal (time/frequency tracking) reference signal, TRS) (LTE does not have), LTE/NR positioning signal (positioning RS), etc.

6) Carrier aggregation (CA), which is a key technology in LTE-A. In order to meet the requirements of single-user peak rate and system capacity improvement, one of the most direct methods is to increase the system transmission bandwidth. Therefore, the LTE-Advanced system introduces a technology to increase the transmission bandwidth, that is, CA. The CA technology can configure multiple continuous or non-consecutive carriers in the frequency domain to a terminal device at the same time to increase the total bandwidth of the terminal device, thereby achieving the effect of increasing user capacity. This feature of LTE is inherited in NR, that is, CA technology can also be applied in NR to increase the transmission bandwidth.

As shown in (a) of FIG. 1 , the bandwidth of each carrier is 20 megahertz (MHz), and five consecutive carriers are configured to be used by one terminal device at the same time, and the total bandwidth of the terminal device can reach 100MHz. As shown in (b) in Figure 1, the bandwidth of each carrier is 20MHz, and five non-consecutive carriers are configured to be used by one terminal device at the same time, and the total bandwidth of the terminal device can reach 100MHz.

Concepts such as "scanning", "detection", "searching", "measurement" involved in this application can be used interchangeably.

In this application, "and/or" describes the association relationship between associated objects, and means that there can be three kinds of relationships, for example, A and/or B, which can mean that A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. a situation. The character "/" generally indicates that the associated objects are an "or" relationship.

The plural referred to in this application refers to two or more.

In addition, it should be understood that in the description of this application, words such as "first" and "second" are only used for the purpose of distinguishing the description, and should not be understood as indicating or implying relative importance, nor should it be understood as indicating or implied order.

The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems. Communication systems generally include, but are not limited to, 4th-generation (4th-generation, 4G) networks, LTE systems, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) systems, LTE time division duplex (TDD), Universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication system, 5G communication system or NR, and other communication systems in the future such as 6G, etc.

In order to facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, an application scenario of the embodiments of the present application will be described first.

In a cellular network, a general terminal device needs to complete time and frequency synchronization with the network device before it can perform normal data communication with the network device. This is because if the terminal device is not time synchronized with the network device, it is difficult for the receiving end to simply and accurately process the received signal when the terminal device and the network device (such as a base station) transmit, and it will also cause serious interference to other users in the network. . If the terminal device is not frequency synchronized with the network device, the signal at the receiving end will be affected by the frequency offset, which will lead to unsatisfactory reception performance or even demodulation failure.

In LTE, the terminal equipment realizes synchronization through the primary synchronization sequence and the secondary synchronization sequence broadcast and sent by the base station. In NR, the concept of synchronization signal block (synchronization signal/physical broadcast channel block, SS/PBCH block, generally referred to as SSB) is proposed. As shown in Figure 2, it consists of primary synchronization sequence PSS, secondary synchronization sequence SSS, physical broadcast Signal PBCH and demodulation reference signal DMRS are received in four consecutive orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols to form SSB, SSB is mainly used for downlink synchronization, and DMRS exists in some subcarriers of PBCH symbols Above (not shown in FIG. 2 ), in FIG. 2 , the horizontal axis represents the time domain, and the vertical axis represents the frequency domain. One SSB occupies 4 OFDM symbols in the time domain and 240 subcarriers in the frequency domain.

Different from LTE, the SSB period in NR is configured in system information block (SIB) 1, which may be 5 milliseconds (ms), 10ms, 20ms, 40ms, 80ms, or 160ms, etc. The SSB cycle indicates the interval when the terminal device scans the SSB. If the SSB cycle is 20ms, the terminal device performs an SSB scan every 20ms. During initial access, the terminal device does not receive SIB1, and searches for SSB according to the default 20ms period. As shown in Fig. 3, in each SSB period, there may be a series of SSBs, and each SSB corresponds to a beam direction (ie, corresponds to a lobe). The SSB in one SSB cycle will be sent in one half frame according to the standard, and one half frame is 5ms for illustration. The terminal device can perform SSB scanning in each beam direction within 5ms at most, and complete one/round SSB scan. If the SSB period is 20ms, the base station scans every 20ms, and each scan can be completed within 5ms at most.

Various sub-carrier spaces (SCS) are supported in NR, and the synchronization signal transmission pattern (pattern) under each sub-carrier space is defined in the standard. The pattern pattern refers to the position of the SSB on the symbol within several symbols in one period of time, that is, the time domain position of the SSB. In NR, the time domain position of the SSB is divided according to the difference of the subcarrier spacing. In FIG. 4 , the time domain position of the SSB is divided into 5 different cases (cases) according to different subcarrier spacings, including caseA, caseB, caseC, caseD and caseE. Among them, for different subcarrier intervals, the number of potential transmission positions of SSBs is different, and the potential transmission positions of SSBs are also different, that is, Figure 4 specifies the potential transmission positions of various numbers of SSBs under each subcarrier interval (Figure 4). shown with squares or slashes). The time domain position of the SSB in Figure 4 is the potential transmission position of the SSB within 5ms allowed in the standard. In actual communication, the base station can only occupy part of the potential transmission position to send part of the SSB according to the actual situation, that is to say, the base station can send some SSBs in some potential transmission positions. SSB is not sent on the location. In caseA, the subcarrier spacing SCS is 15kHz, the number L of potential transmission positions for SSB is 4 or 8, in caseB, the subcarrier spacing SCS is 30kHz, the number L of potential transmission positions for SSB is 4, in caseC, The subcarrier spacing SCS is 30kHz, the number L of potential transmission positions for SSB is 8, in caseD, the subcarrier spacing SCS is 120kHz, the number L of potential transmission positions for SSB is 64, in caseE, the subcarrier spacing SCS is 240kHz , the number L of potential sending locations for SSB is 64. Each grid (the grid where the square or slash is located) represents a time slot or subframe, and a maximum of two SSBs can be transmitted within the time of each grid. It can be understood that the division of the grid in FIG. 4 is for illustration only, and does not constitute a limitation on the time domain position of the SSB.

CA is one of the effective means to increase the transmission bandwidth of terminal equipment and improve the transmission capacity of users. In 5G NR, a carrier aggregation method similar to that in LTE is also supported. The process includes: the terminal device, according to the configuration information of the base station, assigns the current cell (the cell that the terminal device initially accesses by default to the primary serving cell/primary cell, Cells other than PCell) are measured, and the measurement results are reported to the base station; the base station configures the terminal equipment to add a secondary cell (SCell) according to the measurement results; the terminal equipment is based on the random access procedure, and all The secondary cell establishes a connection; after the terminal device completes adding the secondary cell, the network device may schedule the terminal device to perform data transmission on the secondary cell, thereby realizing the addition of the carrier.

In order to achieve synchronization with the terminal device on a new carrier, the network device needs to turn on and broadcast the synchronization signal all the time, and the overhead and energy consumption are relatively large. If the terminal device accesses an out-of-band carrier (such as adding a cell or carrier with other frequency bands or frequency ranges), it needs to re-acquire the target cell, re-synchronize timing and frequency, the delay is large, and the inter-band carrier (inter-band CC) The beams between them are not directly related. When a terminal device performs data transmission across carriers, it needs to perform beam scanning again, and the carrier activation delay is large.

As shown in FIG. 5 , due to the related art, the period of the synchronization signal is at least 20ms (even as long as 160ms). According to a typical implementation manner, the terminal equipment generally fixes the receiving beam within a period (eg, the above-mentioned one SSB period). After several cycles of scanning, the terminal device can find the best receiving beam and the SSB with the best reference signal received power (RSRP). That is, the terminal equipment can find the best receiving beam and the SSB with the best RSRP after several 20ms. Because in the standard protocol of NR, random access resources and SSB have an associated mapping relationship. By selecting a specific random access resource, the terminal device can implicitly tell the base station which is the optimal SSB for the terminal device. type signal to start normal communication.

To sum up, carrier aggregation can only be completed in the defined partial carrier combination. When the two carriers of carrier aggregation come from different frequency ranges (FR) defined by the standard protocol, the time-frequency synchronization established by the terminal equipment on one carrier , cannot be used directly for carriers in another frequency range. In the related art, although terminal equipment is supported to add a carrier, the adding process involves many signal interactions, many processes, and a large overall delay, which makes it impossible to quickly add an activated carrier.

In view of this, in order to reduce the overhead and energy consumption during the carrier addition process, and reduce the time delay, the embodiment of the present application provides a communication method. In this method, the terminal device has completed synchronously establishing a connection on the first carrier and can communicate normally, the network device can indicate to the terminal device the configuration information for receiving signals on the second carrier, and the terminal device only needs to specify the network device It is enough to search for signals in a specific one or several beam directions, and no blind search is required, which reduces the delay for the terminal equipment to perform beam scanning and re-synchronize the carrier with the network equipment, and the network equipment does not need to be turned on all the time on a specific carrier. And broadcast the synchronization signal, which can reduce overhead and energy consumption, and reduce the delay of terminal equipment in the process of carrier addition, so as to quickly add active carriers. And when the synchronization signals are more closely arranged, the network device can densely send multiple synchronization signals in a continuous short period in one measurement period, so that the terminal equipment can repeat the short period in one measurement period in each beam direction. Receive synchronization signal, so as to quickly complete the timing and frequency synchronization between terminal equipment and network equipment on other carriers.

The communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application can be applied to the carrier aggregation scenario shown in FIG. 6 . In this scenario, a terminal device accesses the network on a cell (generally the primary cell), and the network device configures the terminal device to add other carriers (or cells) as additional serving cells (generally referred to as secondary cells) through signaling. ). The primary cell and the secondary cell may be cells in the same frequency band, or may be cells in different frequency bands.

The communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application can also be applied to the multi-frequency coordinated transmission scenario shown in FIG. 7 . In this scenario, the terminal device is in a connected state in a low-frequency band (for example, the carrier frequency center frequency is less than 6GHz, that is, FR1), and the network device issues commands through the low-frequency cell to configure the terminal device to maintain the low-frequency cell connection. On the basis of , a high-frequency (for example, the carrier frequency center frequency is in the frequency band near 28 GHz, or the frequency band near 39 GHz, that is, FR2) cell is further added as a serving cell. The high-frequency cells also include cells in other frequency bands, such as frequency bands above 6 GHz, or frequency bands above 52.6 GHz, or frequency bands above 71 GHz.

Because the wavelength of high-frequency electromagnetic waves is shorter, the transmission loss in free space is greater than that of low-frequency electromagnetic waves. Therefore, under the same power, the coverage distance of low-frequency cells may be greater than that of high-frequency cells. It can be understood that FIG. 7 provides a schematic coverage situation, and does not limit the actual coverage situation.

The communication process provided by the embodiment of the present application can be applied to the scenarios shown in Figure 6 and Figure 7, as shown in Figure 8, the process includes:

S801: The network device sends a first message on the first carrier, and the terminal device receives the first message on the first carrier, where the first message includes configuration information, and the configuration information is used by the terminal device on the second carrier receive signal.

The network device may be an access network device or a core network device, and in the embodiments of the present application, the network device is an access network device (such as a base station) as an example for description.

Before S801, the terminal device has completed synchronously establishing a connection with the network device on the first carrier and can communicate normally, and the first carrier may be a low-frequency carrier or a high-frequency carrier. The terminal device may request to add the second carrier for communication, or the network device may determine that the terminal device adds the second carrier for communication. The second carrier may be a carrier in a low frequency band, or may be a carrier in a high frequency band, that is, the second carrier may be a carrier in the same frequency band as the current first carrier, or may be a carrier in the same frequency band as the current first carrier. The first carrier is located in a carrier of a different frequency band, that is, the second carrier may be located in the same frequency band as the first carrier, or may be located in a different frequency band with the first carrier.

The configuration information is specifically used to configure configuration information for the terminal device to receive signals on the second carrier, and the configuration information includes at least one of the following information: measurement period, number of measurement periods, frequency domain range, start The frequency point, the offset value relative to the absolute radio-frequency channel number (ARFCN), or, the index of the signal block or signal, the starting position of the measurement period.

The measurement period is used to indicate a period during which the terminal device performs one signal scan, and the measurement period may also be referred to as a reception period or a measurement window or a scan window or a (synchronization) signal period. Optionally, the terminal equipment does not change the parameters of the spatial filter within one measurement period, that is, the terminal equipment fixes the receiving beam within one measurement period. The measurement period may be a period at the level of time slot slots (eg, X slots), or may be a period at the level of milliseconds (eg, Y ms). The measurement period may be carried in the first message or the configuration information, and the measurement period may also be predefined by a protocol.

The number of measurement cycles is used to instruct the terminal device to perform several signal scans, or to instruct the terminal device, the number of cycles of the signal that the base station will send, and the terminal device can Determine the measurement result. The number of measurement cycles can also be understood as the maximum number of cycle repetitions. Optionally, the terminal device can report how many cycles are required according to how many receiving beams are required, that is, the terminal device can report the number of the measurement cycles. If the terminal equipment fixes the receiving beams in one measurement period, the number of the measurement periods can also be understood as the number of receiving beams that the terminal equipment scans. It is only necessary to scan in part of the beam or in the direction of arrival of part of the signal.

The frequency domain range, the starting frequency point, and the offset value relative to the absolute frequency point are used by the terminal device to determine the frequency domain information when receiving the first downlink reference signal, so that the terminal device can Determine the frequency domain position where the first downlink reference signal needs to be received, so that the first downlink reference signal is received based on the frequency domain position of the first downlink reference signal, and the terminal device can receive the first downlink reference signal according to the frequency domain position of the first downlink reference signal. The received first downlink reference signal determines the parameters of the spatial filter and/or the information of the receiving beam.

The index of the signal block or signal is used to indicate the location of the signal block or signal. The index of the signal block or signal may be a set of pre-configured indices, may also be a continuous number starting from "0", or may be a continuous or discontinuous number arranged from small to large. The terminal device may determine that the network device sends signals in sequence within one measurement period, or only sends signals indicated by a signal block or an index of the signal. Each signal block may include one or more signals. The signal block or signal can be regarded as a reference signal for realizing timing and frequency synchronization between the terminal device and the network device.

Optionally, the network device may also send a first downlink reference signal on the first carrier, and the terminal device receives the first downlink reference signal on the first carrier. The first downlink reference signal is used by the terminal device to determine the parameters of the spatial filter and/or the information of the receiving beam, for example, the terminal device determines the (receive) value of the spatial filter based on the first downlink reference signal. ) parameters, and/or determine the receive beam. In another example, within a measurement period, the terminal equipment assumes that the first downlink reference signal and one or more signal blocks in the signal group received within the measurement period satisfy the quasi-co-located QCL relationship. Next, parameters of the spatial filter for the received signal group during the measurement period are determined. The reception parameters of the spatial filter can be used for subsequent reception of signals by the terminal device. In this way, the terminal device can scan for signals on a specific beam or beams, so as to avoid the terminal device from performing a blind search on all beams.

Optionally, before S801, the network device may also send a third message, the terminal device receives the third message, and the third message is used by the terminal device to determine the received signal on the second carrier The group's receive parameters. The third message may be understood as beam indication information. The reception parameters include at least one of the following: a spatial relation (spatial relation), a transmission configuration indicator (transmission configuration indicator, TCI), or associated reference signal information. The TCI is used to indicate the QCL relationship between the first downlink reference signal and one or more signal blocks in the signal group, and the QCL relationship is used to determine the amount of time that the terminal device uses to receive the signal group in the measurement period. Parameters of the spatial filter and/or receive beam. That is, within one measurement period of the terminal device, the first downlink reference signal and one or more signal blocks in the signal group satisfy the QCL relationship. The signal block may be SSB (or SS/PBCH), or may be tracking reference signal (TRS), or may be channel state information-reference signal (channel state information-reference signal, CSI-RS), Or it can be DMRS etc. The first downlink reference signal and one or more signal blocks in the signal group satisfy the QCL relationship, which can be simply understood as the terminal device can receive the first downlink reference signal in the beam direction in which the first downlink reference signal is received. one or more signal blocks in the signal group.

S802: The network device sends a signal group on the second carrier in each measurement period, and the terminal device receives on the second carrier in each measurement period based on the configuration information a signal group; each signal group includes one or more signal blocks, each signal block may include one or more signals, the signal blocks are used by the terminal device to communicate with the network device on the second carrier timing and frequency synchronization between.

In each measurement period, the terminal device may receive a signal of a signal group on the second carrier using the same spatial filter.

The signal group is a set of multiple signal blocks. Optionally, the signal block may also be a synchronization signal or a tracking reference signal (tracking reference signal, TRS). For the convenience of description, the SSB is mainly used as an example for description in the embodiments of the present application. The SSB involved in the embodiments of the present application may also be replaced by TRS or other signals that can be used for the terminal device to achieve timing and frequency synchronization with the network device, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

The plurality of signal blocks in each signal group may be consecutive in the time domain, or one or more symbols may be spaced between the plurality of signal blocks in each signal group. One or more symbols may be spaced between two consecutively received signal groups, or two consecutively received signal groups may be consecutive in the time domain. The pattern of continuous or spaced symbols of the signal block and the pattern of continuous or spaced symbols of the signal group can be arbitrarily combined. In this way, the network device can configure the dedicated measurement window for the terminal device to perform continuous short-period measurement on the signal or signal block, so that the terminal device can scan the signal or the signal block.

In a possible situation, multiple signal blocks in each received signal group are consecutive in the time domain, and two received signal groups are consecutive in the time domain. As shown in FIG. 9 , the network device continuously sends synchronization signals (such as SSB signals) of multiple measurement periods, and each measurement period includes 4 synchronization signals. The terminal device uses a fixed receiving beam in one measurement period, measures all SSBs in the current period, then replaces the receiving beam before the next measurement period starts, and uses the next measurement period as the current period, and continues to measure the current period. All SSBs until measurements are done on the receive beam. If the terminal device has 4 possible receiving beams, the terminal device can find the best receiving beam after 4 measurement periods.

For example, in the situation shown in FIG. 9 , the terminal device has 4 possible receiving beams, and the terminal device uses the first beam to measure 4 SSBs in the first measurement period fixedly in the first measurement period. , to complete the measurement of the first measurement period. Then the terminal device switches from the first beam to the second beam, and in the second measurement period, uses the second beam to measure 4 SSBs in the second measurement period, and completes the second measurement Period measurement. Then, the terminal device switches from the second beam to the third beam, and in the third measurement period, uses the third beam to measure 4 SSBs in the third measurement period, and completes the third measurement period. Measurements within a measurement period. Finally, the terminal device is switched from the third beam to the fourth beam, and in the fourth measurement period, the fourth beam is used to measure 4 SSBs in the fourth measurement period. In this way, the terminal equipment can find the best receiving beam and/or the SSB with the best RSRP after completing the measurement for 4 measurement periods.

In another possible situation, multiple signal blocks in each received signal group are consecutive in the time domain, and symbols are spaced between the two received signal groups. As shown in Figure 10, a guard symbol is spaced between every two signal groups. In this way, one or more symbols (eg, OFDM symbols) can be reserved as switching gaps between the SSBs of two measurement periods in consideration of the time delay when the terminal device switches the receiving beam and/or the receiving antenna panel. Optionally, the number of symbols can be directly predefined. Alternatively, the terminal device may report the switching delay requirement to assist the network device in determining the SSB pattern to be sent downlink. For example, the terminal device may report the required number of protection symbols, or report the required switching time, such as The switching time required for reporting is 10 microseconds (μs).

In the synchronization signal transmission patterns shown in Figures 9 and 10, the synchronization signals are arranged more closely, and the network device can intensively send the synchronization signal of the terminal device multiple times in a short period of time, so as to quickly complete the communication between the terminal device and the network on other carriers. Timing and frequency synchronization between devices. 9 and 10 can be understood as proposing new signal patterns.

In another possible situation, symbols are spaced between a plurality of signal blocks in each received signal group, and symbols are spaced between two received signal groups. As shown in FIG. 11 , the network device can transmit the synchronization signal by multiplexing the time domain transmission position of the SSB defined in the standard, that is, periodically sending the synchronization signal at the pattern position defined in the standard. It is equivalent to define the measurement window and measurement behavior of a new terminal device on the basis of the signal pattern defined in the multiplexing standard. In this case, considering the time delay when switching the receive beam and/or the receive antenna panel between receiving different signal blocks in one measurement period, by setting the interval symbol/guard symbol between the two signal blocks, the terminal can be made The device receives the signal more completely and accurately.

At this time, the network device may further indicate to the terminal device the number of measured continuous synchronization signals, the period of the measurement window, and the offset. The period of the measurement window can be characterized by the number of symbols or time slots, or the number of synchronization signals or groups of synchronization signals. In the synchronization signal sending pattern shown in FIG. 11 , the network device can repeatedly send the synchronization signal in a short period within one synchronization signal period, thereby quickly completing the timing and frequency synchronization between the terminal device and the network device on other carriers.

In a possible implementation manner, the embodiment of the present application further provides a simplified synchronization signal, which is used for fast synchronization and beam alignment between the terminal device and the network device. The signals of each signal group may not include PBCH signals, and different signals may be distinguished by means of, for example, a signal time index, or different signals may be distinguished by time-domain OFDM symbols occupied by different signals. The simplified synchronization signal provided by the embodiment of the present application includes the synchronization signal shown in the following improved structure 1, the synchronization signal shown in the improved structure 2, and the synchronization signal shown in the improved structure 3. The synchronization signal in the improved structure 1 does not include PBCH, including PSS and SSS, and the synchronization signal in the improved structure 2 does not include PBCH, including PSS and SSS, and the PSS and SSS are placed continuously in the time domain. The improved structure 3. The synchronization signal does not include PBCH and SSS, including PSS.

As shown in FIG. 12 , the SS/PBCH structure in the related art includes PSS, SSS and PBCH. In the improved structure 1, the PBCH is removed from the synchronization signal, and only the PSS and SSS are reserved, which saves the overhead brought by the PBCH. In the improved structure 2, on the basis of the improved structure 1, the reserved PSS and SSS are placed continuously in the time domain, so that a synchronization signal occupies 2 OFDM symbols instead of 4 OFDM symbols, The delay in beam scanning performed by the network device and the terminal device is reduced. In the improved structure 3, PBCH and SSS are removed from the synchronization signal, and only PSS is reserved for timing and frequency offset estimation. Such a synchronization signal occupies only one OFDM symbol in time, which further reduces overhead.

In the related art, the PBCH includes a signal block or signal index (eg, SSB index), and the terminal device can obtain the signal block or signal index by detecting the PBCH. However, the PBCH is removed from the improved structure, and the terminal device can no longer determine the index of the currently received signal block or signal through the PBCH. Therefore, in this implementation manner, as shown in FIG. 13 , taking the improved structure 3 as an example, the terminal device can determine the starting position of the measurement period within a time slot according to the configuration of the measurement period (for example, starting from the measurement period). The starting position is the X-th symbol, and X is any integer from 0 to 13), and then the terminal device determines, according to the number of synchronization signals included in the measurement period, the currently received synchronization signal is the number of signals in the current measurement period . For example, in FIG. 13 , the starting position of the measurement period is the 0th symbol, and the end position is the 13th symbol. It is assumed that a measurement period includes 2 synchronization signals, and each synchronization signal occupies 4 in the time domain. symbol, if the terminal device receives a signal block or signal PSS with a time index of 5, it can be determined that the received PSS belongs to the first synchronization signal, or if the terminal device receives the 5th symbol in the time domain Signal block or signal PSS, it can be determined that the PSS received on the fifth symbol belongs to the first synchronization signal. The terminal device may refer to the method shown in S801 to indicate the information of the synchronization signal or the beam to the network device, for example, the terminal device feeds back the index in the measurement window of one measurement cycle to the network device (as shown in FIG. 13 ). , the feedback of the first synchronization signal PSS is realized by feeding back index 5), or the terminal device can feed back the symbol index of the signal in the time slot or time domain position (for example, by feeding back symbol index 5 in FIG. 13 , The first synchronization signal (PSS) corresponding to the fifth symbol is fed back, so as to indicate to the network device the indices of one or more synchronization signals that receive the best RSRP. Exemplarily, the numbers of the indices may be sequentially arranged from 0 in one cycle. Regardless of whether there is a PBCH to provide a frame number, the terminal device can feed back the index of the signal to the network device by means of a signal time index or by means of time domain OFDM symbols occupied by different signals.

In this implementation manner, the transmission overhead on the network device side can be further reduced by changing the design of the synchronization signal. And correspondingly, since the number of symbols occupied by a synchronization signal is reduced, the active carrier can also be added quickly. In addition, the terminal device may also introduce a symbol index in a new measurement period to indicate the synchronization signal or the beam signal to the network device.

S803: The terminal device reports a second message to the network device, and the network device receives the second message, where the second message includes the measurement result of the downlink signal sent by the network device on the second carrier .

The second message includes a measurement result, and the terminal device may report the measurement result in an explicit or implicit manner.

If the terminal device explicitly reports the measurement result, the second message may include an index of a downlink signal sent by the network device on the second carrier, where the index is used to indicate a signal (such as receiving The SSB with the best RSRP), the network device can determine the best receiving beam when the terminal device receives the downlink signal and the SSB with the best RSRP according to the index, and then use the signal corresponding to the signal indicated by the index. The beam communicates with end devices. The transmit beam in this embodiment can also be understood as a parameter of the spatial filter when the reference signal is transmitted.

If the terminal device implicitly reports the measurement result, the terminal device may use pre-configured or pre-acquired uplink resources (such as random access resources, including non-contention random access resources) on the second carrier , and send the second message to the network device. There is an associated mapping relationship between the uplink resource and the index of the synchronization signal, and the network device can determine the index of the synchronization signal corresponding to the specific resource position by receiving the second message at the specific resource position, Thereby, the best receive beam when the terminal device receives the downlink signal and the SSB with the best RSRP are determined, and then the transmit beam corresponding to the index is used for normal communication. The association mapping relationship between the uplink resource and the index of the synchronization signal may be predefined or configured by the network device.

The optimal receiving beam refers to the receiving beam used by the terminal device when receiving the downlink signal on the second carrier in the subsequent service communication process.

With the method provided in this embodiment of the present application, the terminal device can complete frequency synchronization and beam alignment with the network device in a relatively short period of time, and the network device does not need to periodically broadcast a synchronization signal. The part of the beam scanned by the terminal equipment transmits signals, and the terminal equipment implements short-period scanning, which reduces the energy consumption of the terminal equipment and the overhead of air interface resources, so that active carriers can be added quickly. Alternatively, the terminal device does not need to receive the synchronization signal broadcast by the network device, but only receives the signal sent through a part of the beam, so that short-period scanning can be implemented, thereby reducing the energy consumption and resource overhead of the terminal device's access carrier.

It can be understood that, the various embodiments provided in this application may be used alone or in combination.

As shown in FIG. 14 , which is a possible exemplary block diagram of the communication apparatus involved in the present application, the communication apparatus 1400 may exist in the form of software or hardware. The communication apparatus 1400 may include: a processing unit 1402 and a transceiving unit 1403 . As an implementation manner, the transceiver unit 1403 may include a receiving unit and a sending unit. The processing unit 1402 is used to control and manage the operation of the communication device 1400 . The transceiver unit 1403 is used to support the communication between the communication device 1400 and other network entities. The communication apparatus 1400 may further include a storage unit 1401 for storing program codes and data of the communication apparatus 1400 .

The processing unit 1402 may be a processor or a controller, such as a CPU, a general-purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, an FPGA, or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. It may implement or execute the various exemplary logical blocks, modules and circuits described in connection with this disclosure. The processor may also be a combination that implements computing functions, such as a combination of one or more microprocessors, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, and the like. The storage unit 1401 may be a memory. The transceiver unit 1403 is an interface circuit of the device for receiving signals from other devices. For example, when the device is implemented in the form of a chip, the transceiver unit 1403 is an interface circuit used by the chip to receive signals from other chips or devices, or an interface circuit used by the chip to send signals to other chips or devices.

The communication apparatus 1400 may be the terminal device and/or the network device in any of the foregoing embodiments, and may also be a chip used for the terminal device and/or the network device. For example, when the communication apparatus 1400 is a terminal device and/or a network device, the processing unit 1402 may be, for example, a processor, and the transceiver unit 1403 may be, for example, a transceiver. Optionally, the transceiver may include a radio frequency circuit, and the storage unit may be, for example, a memory. For example, when the communication apparatus 1400 is a chip for terminal equipment and/or network equipment, the processing unit 1402 may be, for example, a processor, and the transceiver unit 1403 may be, for example, an input/output interface, a pin, or a circuit. The processing unit 1402 can execute the computer-executed instructions stored in the storage unit. Optionally, the storage unit is a storage unit in the chip, such as a register, a cache, etc., and the storage unit can also be in the terminal device and/or the network device. A storage unit located outside the chip, such as ROM or other types of static storage devices that can store static information and instructions, RAM, etc.

In the first embodiment, the apparatus 1400 can be applied to terminal equipment. Specifically, the transceiver unit 1403 is configured to receive a first message on the first carrier, where the first message includes configuration information, and the configuration information is used by the terminal device to receive signals on the second carrier; the The processing unit 1402 is configured to determine the configuration information; the transceiver unit 1403 is further configured to receive a signal group on the second carrier in each measurement period based on the configuration information; each signal group A plurality of signal blocks are included, and the signal blocks are used for timing and frequency synchronization of the terminal device with the network device on the second carrier.

In an implementation manner, when the transceiver unit 1403 receives a signal group on the second carrier, it may be specifically configured to use the same spatial filter to receive a signal of a signal group on the second carrier.

In an implementation manner, the terminal device may not change the parameters of the spatial filter within one measurement period;

Or the terminal device receives the first downlink reference signal within one measurement period, and determines the spatial filtering on the premise that the first downlink reference signal and one or more signal blocks in the signal group satisfy the QCL relationship receiving parameters of the transmitter, wherein the first downlink reference signal is a downlink reference signal on the first carrier. Specifically, the transceiver unit 1403 is further configured to receive the first downlink reference signal on the first carrier by the terminal device; the processing unit 1402 is further configured to, within a measurement period, be configured to On the premise that the first downlink reference signal and one or more signal blocks in the signal group received in the measurement period satisfy the QCL relationship, determine the signal block used for receiving the signal group in the measurement period. Parameters of the spatial filter.

In an implementation manner, a plurality of signal blocks included in each signal group are consecutive in the time domain; and/or two signal groups received in succession are separated by one symbol.

In one implementation, the signal block may include PSS and SSS; or the signal block may include any one of the following signals: PSS, SSS, CSI-RS, TRS.

In an implementation manner, the first message includes one or more of the following information: a measurement period, the number of measurement periods, a frequency domain range, a starting frequency point, an offset value relative to an absolute frequency point, or a signal The index of the block or signal.

In an implementation manner, the transceiver unit 1403 is further configured to, based on the configuration information, in each measurement period, after receiving a signal group on the second carrier, report the second message to the network device , the second message includes the measurement result of the downlink signal sent by the network device on the second carrier.

In an implementation manner, the transceiver unit 1403 is further configured to receive a third message before receiving the first message on the first carrier, where the third message is used by the terminal device to determine on the second carrier receiving parameters of the received signal group, where the receiving parameters include at least one of the following: spatial relationship, TCI, and associated reference signal information;

The TCI is used to indicate a QCL relationship between the first downlink reference signal and one or more signals in the signal group, where the QCL relationship is used to determine the Parameters of the spatial filter and/or receive beam.

In another embodiment, the apparatus 1400 can be applied to network equipment. Specifically, the processing unit 1402 is configured to determine a first message, where the first message includes configuration information, and the configuration information is used by the terminal device to receive signals on the second carrier; The first message is sent on the first carrier; in each measurement period, a signal group is sent on the second carrier, and each signal group includes a plurality of signal blocks, and the signal blocks are used by the terminal equipment in the The timing and frequency are synchronized with the network device on the second carrier.

In an implementation manner, when the transceiver module 1403 sends a signal group on the second carrier, it is specifically configured to use the same spatial filter to send a signal of a signal group on the second carrier.

In an implementation manner, the network device may not change the parameters of the spatial filter within a measurement period; or the network equipment may assume that the first downlink reference signal and the signal group are within a measurement period One or more signal blocks in satisfies the QCL relationship, and the first downlink reference signal is the downlink reference signal on the first carrier. Specifically, the transceiver unit 1403 is further configured to send the first downlink reference signal on the first carrier; the processing unit 1402 is further configured to, within a measurement period, assume the first downlink On the premise that the line reference signal and one or more signal blocks in the signal group sent in the measurement period satisfy the QCL relationship, determine the parameters of the spatial filter used for transmitting the signal group in the measurement period .

In one implementation, the plurality of signal blocks included in each signal group may be consecutive in the time domain; and/or two signal groups received in succession are separated by one symbol.

In one implementation, the signal block may include PSS and SSS; or the signal block may include any one of the following signals: PSS, SSS, CSI-RS, TRS.

In an implementation manner, the first message includes one or more of the following information: a measurement period, the number of measurement periods, a frequency domain range, a starting frequency point, an offset value relative to an absolute frequency point, or a signal The index of the block or signal.

In an implementation manner, the transceiver unit 1403 is further configured to, in each measurement period, receive a second message after sending a signal group on the second carrier, where the second message includes the network device The measurement result of the downlink signal sent on the second carrier.

In an implementation manner, the transceiver unit 1403 is further configured to send a third message before sending the first message on the first carrier, where the third message is used by the terminal device to determine on the second carrier receiving parameters of the received signal group, where the receiving parameters include at least one of the following: spatial relationship, TCI, and associated reference signal information;

The TCI is used to indicate the QCL relationship between the first downlink reference signal and one or more signals in the signal group, where the QCL relationship is used by the terminal device to determine the number of signals used to receive the signal group in the measurement period. Parameters of the spatial filter and/or receive beam.

It can be understood that, for the specific implementation process and the corresponding beneficial effects when the communication device is used in the above communication method, reference may be made to the relevant descriptions in the foregoing method embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

As shown in FIG. 15 , a schematic diagram of a communication apparatus provided by the present application, the communication apparatus may be the above-mentioned terminal equipment. The communication device 1500 includes a processor 1501 , a memory 1502 and a transceiver 1503 , the transceiver 1503 includes a transmitter 1531 , a receiver 1532 and an antenna 1533 .

As shown in FIG. 16 , a schematic diagram of a communication apparatus provided for the application, the communication apparatus may be the above-mentioned network equipment. The communication device 1600 includes a processor 1601 , a memory 1602 and a transceiver 1603 including a transmitter 1631 , a receiver 1632 and an antenna 1633 .

The receiver 1532 may be used to receive transmission control information sent by the communication device 1600 through the antenna 1533 , and the transmitter 1531 may be used to send transmission feedback information to the communication device 1600 through the antenna 1533 . The transmitter 1631 may be configured to transmit transmission control information to the communication device 1500 through the antenna 1633 , and the receiver 1632 may be configured to receive transmission feedback information sent by the communication device 1500 through the antenna 1633 .

The processor 1501 and the processor 1601 may be a CPU, a microprocessor, an ASIC, or one or more integrated circuits for controlling the execution of the programs of the present application.

The transceiver 1503 and the transceiver 1603 are used to communicate with other devices or communication networks, such as Ethernet, RAN, wireless local area networks (wireless local area networks, WLAN), wired access networks, and the like.

The memory 1501 and the memory 1601 can be ROM or other types of static storage devices that can store static information and instructions, RAM or other types of dynamic storage devices that can store information and instructions, or electrically erasable programmable read-only memory ( Electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, EEPROM), compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disc storage, optical disc storage (including compact disc, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc, Blu-ray disc, etc. ), a magnetic disk storage medium or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store the desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer, without limitation. The memory may exist independently and be connected to the processor through a communication line. The memory can also be integrated with the processor.

The memory 1501 and the memory 1601 are used for storing computer-executed instructions for executing the solution of the present application, and the execution is controlled by the processor 1501 and the processor 1601 respectively. The processor 1501 and the processor 1601 are respectively configured to execute the computer execution instructions stored in the memory 1501 and the memory 1601, thereby implementing the communication method provided by the above embodiments of the present application.

Optionally, the computer-executed instructions in the embodiment of the present application may also be referred to as application code, which is not specifically limited in the embodiment of the present application.

Embodiments of the present application further provide a computer storage medium storing a computer program, and when the computer program is executed by a computer, the computer can be used to execute the above communication method.

Embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program product containing instructions, which, when run on a computer, enables the computer to execute the communication method provided above.

An embodiment of the present application further provides a communication system, where the communication system includes a network device and a terminal device. The network device and the terminal device may execute the communication method provided above.

Those of ordinary skill in the art can understand that the first, second, and other numeral numbers involved in the present application are only for the convenience of description, and are not used to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application, but also represent the sequence. "And/or", which describes the association relationship of the associated objects, means that there can be three kinds of relationships, for example, A and/or B, which can mean that A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone. The character "/" generally indicates that the associated objects are an "or" relationship. "At least one" means one or more. At least two means two or more. "At least one", "any one", or similar expressions, refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single item(s) or plural item(s). For example, at least one item (single, species) of a, b, or c can represent: a, b, c, a-b, a-c, b-c, or a-b-c, where a, b, c can be single or multiple. "Plurality" means two or more, and other quantifiers are similar. Furthermore, occurrences of the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" do not mean "one or only one" unless the context clearly dictates otherwise, but rather "one or more" in one". For example, "a device" means to one or more such devices.

In the above-mentioned embodiments, it may be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are generated. The computer may be a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored in or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions may be downloaded from a website site, computer, server, or data center Transmission to another website site, computer, server, or data center is by wire (eg, coaxial cable, fiber optic, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (eg, infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that a computer can access, or a data storage device such as a server, a data center, or the like that includes an integration of one or more available media. The usable media may be magnetic media (eg, floppy disks, hard disks, magnetic tapes), optical media (eg, DVDs), or semiconductor media (eg, solid state disks (SSDs)), and the like.

The various illustrative logic units and circuits described in the embodiments of this application may be implemented by general purpose processors, digital signal processors, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) or other programmable logic devices, Discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination of the above are designed to implement or operate the described functions. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, or alternatively, the general-purpose processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented by a combination of computing devices, such as a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in combination with a digital signal processor core, or any other similar configuration. accomplish.

The steps of the method or algorithm described in the embodiments of this application may be directly embedded in hardware, a software unit executed by a processor, or a combination of the two. A software unit may be stored in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, removable disk, CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. Illustratively, a storage medium may be coupled to the processor such that the processor may read information from, and store information in, the storage medium. Optionally, the storage medium can also be integrated into the processor. The processor and storage medium may be provided in the ASIC.

These computer program instructions can also be loaded on a computer or other programmable data processing device to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable device to produce a computer-implemented process such that The instructions provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flow or blocks of the flowcharts and/or the block or blocks of the block diagrams.

Although the application has been described in conjunction with specific features and embodiments thereof, it will be apparent that various modifications and combinations can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the application. Accordingly, this specification and drawings are merely exemplary illustrations of the application as defined by the appended claims, and are deemed to cover any and all modifications, variations, combinations or equivalents within the scope of this application. Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications to the present application without departing from the scope of the present application. Thus, if these modifications and variations of the present application fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalents, the present application is also intended to include these modifications and variations.

Claims (19)

A communication method, comprising: The terminal device receives a first message on the first carrier, the first message includes configuration information, and the configuration information is used for the terminal device to receive a signal on the second carrier; Based on the configuration information, the terminal device receives a signal group on the second carrier in each measurement period; each signal group includes a plurality of signal blocks, and the signal blocks are used by the terminal device in the second carrier. The second carrier is synchronized with the network equipment in timing and frequency. The method of claim 1, wherein the terminal device receives a signal group on the second carrier, comprising: The terminal device uses the same spatial filter to receive a signal of a signal group on the second carrier. The method of claim 2, further comprising: receiving, by the terminal device, a first downlink reference signal on the first carrier; In a measurement period, the terminal equipment assumes that the first downlink reference signal and one or more signal blocks in the signal group received in the measurement period satisfy a quasi-co-located QCL relationship, Parameters of the spatial filter for receiving the set of signals during the measurement period are determined. The method according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein the plurality of signal blocks included in each signal group are continuous in the time domain; and/or Two signal groups received in succession are separated by one symbol. The method according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein the signal block comprises a primary synchronization signal PSS and a secondary synchronization signal SSS; or The signal block includes any one of the following signals: PSS, SSS, channel state information-reference signal CSI-RS, tracking reference signal TRS. The method according to any one of claims 1-5, wherein the first message further includes one or more of the following information: measurement period, number of measurement periods, frequency domain range, starting frequency point, Offset value relative to the absolute frequency point, the index of the signal block. The method according to any one of claims 1-6, wherein, based on the configuration information, in each measurement period, after receiving a signal group on the second carrier, the terminal device further comprises: : The terminal device reports a second message to the network device, where the second message includes the measurement result of the downlink signal sent by the network device on the second carrier. The method according to claim 3, wherein before the terminal device receives the first message on the first carrier, the method further comprises: The terminal device receives a third message, where the third message is used by the terminal device to determine a reception parameter of a received signal group on the second carrier, where the reception parameter includes at least one of the following: Airspace relationship, transmission configuration indication TCI, associated reference signal information; The TCI is used to indicate the QCL relationship between the first downlink reference signal and one or more signal blocks in the signal group, where the QCL relationship is used to determine the use of the terminal equipment in the measurement period. parameters and/or receive beams of the spatial filter on the receive signal group. A communication method, comprising: The network device sends a first message on the first carrier, where the first message includes configuration information, and the configuration information is used by the terminal device to receive a signal on the second carrier; In each measurement period, the network device sends a signal group on the second carrier, each signal group includes a plurality of signal blocks, and the signal blocks are used by the terminal device on the second carrier Timing and frequency synchronization with the network equipment. The method of claim 9, wherein the network device sends a signal group on the second carrier, comprising: The network device transmits a signal of a signal group on the second carrier using the same spatial filter. The method of claim 10, further comprising: sending, by the network device, a first downlink reference signal on the first carrier; In a measurement period, the network device assumes that the first downlink reference signal and one or more signal blocks in the signal group sent in the measurement period satisfy a quasi-co-located QCL relationship, Parameters of the spatial filter for transmitting the set of signals during the measurement period are determined. The method according to any one of claims 9-11, wherein the plurality of signal blocks included in each signal group are continuous in the time domain; and/or Two signal groups received in succession are separated by one symbol. The method according to any one of claims 9-11, wherein the signal block comprises a primary synchronization signal PSS and a secondary synchronization signal SSS; or The signal block includes any one of the following signals: PSS, SSS, channel state information-reference signal CSI-RS, tracking reference signal TRS. The method according to any one of claims 9-13, wherein the first message further includes one or more of the following information: a measurement period, the number of measurement periods, a frequency domain range, a starting frequency point, Offset value relative to the absolute frequency point, the index of the signal block. The method according to any one of claims 9-14, wherein, after the network device sends a signal group on the second carrier in each measurement period, the method further comprises: The network device receives a second message, where the second message includes a measurement result of a downlink signal sent by the network device on the second carrier. The method of claim 11, wherein before the network device sends the first message on the first carrier, the method further comprises: The network device sends a third message, where the third message is used by the terminal device to determine the reception parameters of the received signal group on the second carrier, where the reception parameters include at least one of the following: Airspace relationship, transmission configuration indication TCI, associated reference signal information; The TCI is used to indicate the QCL relationship between the first downlink reference signal and one or more signals in the signal group, where the QCL relationship is used to determine that the terminal equipment is used for The parameters of the spatial filter and/or the receive beam of the received signal group. A communication device, characterized in that the device comprises: a processor, a transceiver and a memory; the transceiver for sending and receiving messages; the memory for storing computer program instructions; The processor is configured to execute part or all of the computer program instructions in the memory, so as to execute the method according to any one of claims 1-8 through the transceiver, or to execute the method according to any one of claims 9-16. one of the methods described. A computer-readable storage medium, wherein computer-readable instructions are stored in the computer-readable storage medium, and when a computer reads and executes the computer-readable instructions, the computer is made to execute the method as claimed in claim 1. -8 The method of any one of claims 9-16, or performing the method of any one of claims 9-16. A communication system, characterized in that, the communication system includes a terminal device that executes the method according to any one of claims 1-8, and a network device that executes the method according to any one of claims 9-16.

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