WO2024207726A1 - Communication method and apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

The present application provides a communication method and apparatus. The method comprises: a terminal receives a segmentation threshold for multiple transmission messages, wherein the segmentation threshold is used for dividing the multiple transmission messages into multiple segments; the terminal sends a first segment among the multiple segments, and detects a response message when a response window corresponding to the first segment arrives; and when the response message fails to match the multiple transmission messages, the terminal continues to send a second segment among the multiple segments. Thus, the number of response windows that the terminal needs to detect can be reduced, and the detection complexity of the terminal can be reduced. Additionally, the method does not require a terminal to perform detection in a long response window after multiple transmission messages are sent, thereby shortening the response delay.

Description

Communication method and device

This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on April 4, 2023, with application number 202310399293.4 and invention name “Communication Method and Device”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application.

Technical Field

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

Background Art

With the development of mobile communication technology, especially the fifth generation mobile networks (5G), the functions of communication systems are being continuously enhanced. Specifically, 5G communication systems can provide enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), with faster connections, higher throughput and larger capacity, as well as ultra-reliable low-latency communications (uRLLC), so that the network can be applied in mission-critical scenarios that require uninterrupted and stable data links, meeting the ultra-high reliability and low latency requirements of wireless communication networks in the scenarios, and can provide massive machine type communications (mMTC), such as in the Internet of Things (IoT) scenario, connecting a large number of IoT devices.

A communication system may include network devices such as base stations and terminals, where the terminals may be user equipment (UE). A base station may communicate with a terminal on a downlink or uplink. An uplink is a link from a terminal to a base station to send data, and a downlink is a link from a base station to a terminal to send data. Each base station usually has a coverage area, also called a coverage area.

In wireless communication systems such as 5G, the energy attenuation of wireless signals during propagation increases as the carrier center frequency of the signal increases, resulting in a smaller coverage range for signals with higher frequencies than for signals with lower frequencies, and a more significant reduction in coverage range for signals in high frequency bands (such as FR2 bands). Since terminals such as user equipment (UE) are limited by transmit power, the problem of weak uplink coverage is more obvious.

The industry has proposed a strategy of repeatedly sending signals (such as random access signals) to increase the coverage of signals in the communication system and improve the performance of the communication system. However, repeated transmission may cause an increase in delay (such as the random access time domain).

Summary of the invention

The present application provides a communication method and device, the purpose of which is to solve the problem of increased delay caused by repeated transmission.

In order to achieve the above objectives, this application provides the following technical solutions:

The first aspect of the present application provides a communication method, which is applied to a communication system including a base station and a terminal. The terminal receives a segmentation threshold of a multiple transmission message, and the segmentation threshold is used to divide the multiple transmission message into multiple segments. The terminal sends a first segment of the multiple segments and detects a response message when a response window corresponding to the first segment arrives. When the response message fails to match the multiple transmission message, the terminal continues to send a second segment of the multiple segments.

This method configures a response window for detection after each segment, eliminating the need for the terminal to detect in a longer response window after multiple transmission messages have been sent, thereby shortening the response delay. In addition, each segment corresponds to a response window, which can reduce the number of response windows that the terminal needs to detect and reduce the detection complexity of the terminal.

In some possible implementations, the terminal sends the first segment of multiple segments, including: the terminal sends the first segment of multiple segments through a physical random access channel PRACH, the response message includes a random access response RAR, and the response window includes a RAR window.

In some possible implementations, the multiple transmission message carries a random access preamble identifier RAPID, and the terminal detects the response message when the response window corresponding to the first segment arrives, including: the terminal arrives at the RAR window corresponding to the first segment, and detects whether the RAPID in the RAR is consistent with the RAPID in the multiple transmission message. If they are inconsistent, the RAR fails to match the multiple transmission message.

In some possible implementations, after sending the first segment, the terminal stops sending the remaining segments of the multiple segments, thereby avoiding excessive resource usage and giving up sending the second segment if a response to the first segment is detected later, thus reducing overhead.

In some possible implementations, when the response message successfully matches the multiple transmission message, the terminal abandons sending the remaining segments of the multiple transmission message, thereby reducing overhead.

In some possible implementations, the terminal continues to send the second segment of the multiple segments until the response message in the response window corresponding to the second segment successfully matches the multiple transmission messages, or the multiple segments have been sent.

In some possible implementations, the terminal receives a response window length of multiple transmission messages, determines a response window corresponding to the first segment according to the response window length, and detects a response message when the response window corresponding to the first segment arrives.

In some possible implementations, the response window length may be determined according to channel resource configuration.

The second aspect of the present application provides a communication method, which is applied to a communication system including a network device and a terminal. The network device determines a segmentation threshold of a multiple transmission message, and the network device sends the segmentation threshold of the multiple transmission message to the terminal. The segmentation threshold is used to divide the multiple transmission message into multiple segments, so that the terminal sends the first segment of the multiple segments, and detects the response message when the response window corresponding to the first segment arrives. When the response message fails to match the multiple transmission message, the second segment of the multiple segments continues to be sent.

In this method, each segment corresponds to a response window (such as a RAR window), which can reduce the number of response windows that the terminal needs to detect and reduce the detection complexity of the terminal. In addition, this method does not require the terminal to detect in a longer response window after multiple transmission messages are sent, thereby shortening the response delay.

In some possible implementations, the multiple transmission message is transmitted via a physical random access channel PRACH.

In some possible implementations, the network device determines a response window length, and sends the response window length to the terminal.

In some possible implementations, the network device determines the response window length, including the network device determining the response window length according to channel resource configuration.

The third aspect of the present application provides a communication device, which includes: a memory and at least one processor; the memory is used to store programs; and the at least one processor is used to run the program so that the terminal implements the method of the first aspect or the second aspect of the present application.

The fourth aspect of the present application provides a computer storage medium for storing a computer program. When the computer program is executed, it is used to implement the communication method of the first aspect or the second aspect of the present application.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG1 is a diagram showing an example of a scenario in which a base station communicates with a terminal;

FIG2 is a schematic diagram of coverage areas of signals of different frequencies disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG3 is a flowchart of a random access disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG4 is a schematic diagram of performing multiple message transmissions in the same transmit beam disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG5A is a schematic diagram of a response window detection disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG5B is a schematic diagram of another response window detection disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG6 is a flow chart of a communication method disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG7 is a schematic diagram of a RAR window and PRACH resource interval configuration disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG8 is a schematic diagram of another RAR window and PRACH resource interval configuration disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG9 is a structural example diagram of a communication device disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example structure of another communication device disclosed in an embodiment of the present application.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described clearly and completely below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. The terms used in the following embodiments are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to be used as limitations on the present application. As used in the specification and the appended claims of the present application, the singular expressions "one", "a kind", "said", "above", "the" and "this" are intended to also include expressions such as "one or more", unless there is a clear contrary indication in the context. It should also be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, "one or more" refers to one, two or more; "and/or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist; for example, A and/or B can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character "/" generally indicates that the objects associated before and after are in an "or" relationship.

References to "one embodiment" or "some embodiments" etc. described in this specification mean that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in conjunction with the embodiment is included in one or more embodiments of the present application. Thus, the phrases "in one embodiment", "in some embodiments", "in some other embodiments", "in some other embodiments", etc. appearing in different places in this specification do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, but mean "one or more but not all embodiments", unless otherwise specifically emphasized in other ways. The terms "including", "comprising", "having" and their variations all mean "including but not limited to", unless otherwise specifically emphasized in other ways.

The multiple involved in the embodiments of the present application means greater than or equal to two. It should be noted that in the description of the embodiments of the present application, the words "first", "second", etc. are only used for the purpose of distinguishing the description, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance, nor can they be understood as indicating or implying an order.

The embodiments of the present application are applied to communication systems, which may be second-generation (2G) communication systems, third-generation (3G) communication systems, LTE systems, fifth-generation (5G) communication systems, LTE and 5G hybrid architectures, 5G new wireless (5G New Radio, 5G NR) systems, and new communication systems that may emerge in future communication developments.

The communication system includes network equipment and terminals. The network equipment is a device used by the network side to provide network communication functions, which is sometimes also called a network element. The network equipment can generally include a base station. An example of a communication system is shown in FIG1 , which includes a base station 1 and a terminal 2.

In the embodiments provided in the present application, the base station may be any device having a wireless transceiver function, including but not limited to: an evolved base station (NodeB or eNB or e-NodeB, evolutionary Node B) in long term evolution (LTE), a base station (gNodeB or gNB) or a transmission receiving point (transmission reception point/transmission reception point, TRP) in new radio (NR), a base station of subsequent evolution of 3GPP, a base station in a Wi-Fi system, a base station of a wireless communication ... Access node, wireless relay node, wireless backhaul node, etc. The base station can be: a macro base station, a micro base station, a pico base station, a small station, a relay station, or a balloon station, etc. The base station can include one or more co-sited or non-co-sited transmission points (Transmission Reception Point, TRP). The base station can also be a wireless controller, a centralized unit (centralized unit, CU), and/or a distributed unit (distributed unit, DU) in a cloud radio access network (cloud radio access network, CRAN) scenario. The base station can communicate with the terminal, and can also communicate with the terminal through a relay station. The terminal can communicate with multiple base stations of different technologies. For example, the terminal can communicate with a base station that supports an LTE network, or with a base station that supports a 5G network, and can also establish dual connections with a base station that supports an LTE network and a base station of a 5G network.

In the embodiments provided in the present application, the terminal may be in various forms, for example, a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver function, a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a vehicle-mounted terminal device, a wireless terminal in self-driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical, a wireless terminal in smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in smart city, a wireless terminal in smart home, a wearable terminal device, etc. The terminal may also be sometimes referred to as a terminal device, a user equipment (UE), an access terminal device, a vehicle-mounted terminal, an industrial control terminal, a UE unit, a UE station, a mobile station, a mobile station, a remote station, a remote terminal device, a mobile device, a UE terminal device, a terminal device, a wireless communication device, a UE agent or a UE device, etc. The terminal may also be a fixed terminal or a mobile terminal.

In the wireless communication system shown in Figure 1, the energy attenuation of the wireless signal during propagation will increase as the carrier center frequency of the wireless signal increases. As shown in Figure 2, under the same propagation conditions, the downlink coverage of high-frequency signals is smaller than that of low-frequency signals. However, due to the limitation of transmission power, the uplink coverage of terminals such as UE is smaller than that of downlink coverage, so it is necessary to enhance the uplink signal coverage.

The 3GPP Release 17 standard (R17 for short) proposed by standardization organizations such as the 3rd Generation Partnership Project 3GPP provides coverage enhancement solutions for the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) and the third message (denoted as MSG3), but does not provide coverage enhancement for the Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH).

PRACH coverage enhancement is one of the bottleneck issues of uplink channel coverage, and is very important in the processes of initial access and beam failure recovery (also known as beam recovery). Whether it is initial access or beam failure recovery, terminal 2 usually needs to initiate random access to base station 1 on the network side through PRACH to establish a wireless link and perform data interaction operations through the wireless link. Random access refers to the process from the user sending a random access preamble (also referred to as preamble) through the physical random access channel PRACH to start trying to access the network to establishing a basic signaling connection with the network.

FIG3 shows a random access process. FIG3 uses a 4-step random access example for illustration. As shown in FIG3, a base station such as a gNB can pre-configure PRACH resources and send the PRACH resource configuration to terminal 2 through a system information block (SIB) message, such as a SIB2 message. Terminal 2 selects a PRACH resource and sends a first message (denoted as MSG1) to base station 1 through the selected PRACH resource, wherein the first message carries a random access preamble. Base station 1 can blindly detect the preamble in PRACH. If the preamble is detected, it can send a random access preamble to the physical downlink shared channel in the random access response (RAR) window. (Physical Downlink Shared Channel, PDSCH) feeds back a second message (denoted as MSG2), specifically a random access response RAR.

RAR may include: Preamble in MSG1 (for terminal 2 to match operations), uplink timing advance (TA) of terminal 2, backoff parameters (the time to delay re-access after re-initiating the Preamble code), physical uplink shared channel (Physical Uplink Shared Channel, PUSCH) scheduling information UL_Grant allocated for transmitting the third message (MSG3) (including whether to perform frequency hopping, modulation and coding rate, access resources and access time, etc.), and Temple C-RNTI (for MSG3 scrambling).

In the 4-step random access process, PRACH transmission occurs in step 1. When the UE is in a weak signal coverage area (poor downlink signal coverage usually means worse uplink signal coverage), PRACH transmission can increase coverage in the following ways: In a PRACH transmission, terminal 2 can send the random access preamble code repeatedly, where the more repetitions, the larger the signal coverage. When a PRACH transmission fails (for example, the RAR message is not received), terminal 2 can initiate a PRACH retransmission. During the retransmission process, terminal 2 can switch beams or adjust the transmission power.

However, the number of repetitions of the preamble in a PRACH Transmission is limited, and random access failure may still occur. In particular, insufficient uplink coverage is more likely to occur in the FR2 scenario, and the probability of random access failure is higher. If the PRACH Transmission is retransmitted, a different preamble may be selected. When the base station 1 does not know the preamble selected by the UE, it cannot perform diversity reception of the preamble signal. In addition, the retransmission after the terminal 2 waits for failure will also cause random access delay.

Based on this, terminal 2 can send multiple PRACH Transmissions on the same beam. Among them, a beam is a communication resource. A beam can be a wide beam, a narrow beam, or other types of beams, and the technology for forming a beam can be a beamforming technology or other technical means. The beamforming technology can 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. In the NR protocol, a beam can be called a spatial domain filter, a spatial filter, a spatial domain parameter, a spatial parameter, a spatial parameter, a spatial domain setting, a spatial setting, quasi-colocation (QCL) information, a QCL assumption, or a QCL indication, etc. The beam can be indicated by a TCI-state parameter or by a spatial relation parameter.

For ease of understanding, the present application also provides an example to illustrate the process of sending multiple PRACH Transmissions on the same beam. As shown in Figure 4, during the transmission process of MSG1, Terminal 2 can choose to repeatedly send PRACH Transmissions on the same transmission beam (transmission beam, Tx beam), such as Tx Beam x, and the receiving end (such as Base Station 1) can also receive PRACH Transmissions on the same reception beam (reception beam, Rx beam), such as Rx Beam x. The transmission beam may refer to the distribution of signal strength in different directions in space after the signal is transmitted by the antenna, and the reception beam may refer to the distribution of signal strength in different directions in space of the wireless signal received from the antenna.

In this way, the base station can combine multiple received PRACH Transmissions to improve the signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) of the received signal, that is, to improve the ratio of the signal to the sum of interference and noise in the communication system, and ultimately achieve the purpose of increasing the probability of the random access signal being correctly received.

For multiple PRACH Transmissions using the same transmit beam, the RAR monitoring scheme shown in FIG. 5A or FIG. 5B can be considered. In FIG. 5A, each PRACH Transmission corresponds to a RAR window. Specifically, a RAR window is configured after the random access occasion (RO) resource used by each PRACH Transmission. Each time a UE or other terminal sends a PRACH Transmission, it waits for the RAR window to arrive and detects whether there is a RAR corresponding to the PRACH Transmission. In FIG. 5B, one RAR window corresponds to all multiple PRACH Transmissions. Specifically, a RAR window is configured after multiple PRACH Transmissions are completed, and the UE detects whether there is a RAR corresponding to the PRACH Transmission in the RAR window.

In the scheme of Figure 5A above, the UE needs to monitor more RAR windows. Each RAR window uses a different random access radio network temporary identifier (RA-RNTI), which increases the detection complexity of UE and other terminals. In the scheme of Figure 5B above, the RAR window length (also called cycle) is relatively long. When the previous PRACH Transmissions are not successfully detected by network devices such as gNB, the UE needs to monitor for a long time. In addition, when the number of PRACH transmissions in a RACH attempt is large and the interval between two ROs is large, the RAR delay is large, which makes it difficult to meet business needs.

In view of this, the present application provides a communication method, which can be applied to a communication system, such as the communication system shown in Figure 1. The communication system includes a terminal and a network device, and the terminal can receive a segmentation threshold of a multiple transmission message determined by the network device, and the segmentation threshold is used to divide the multiple transmission message into multiple segments. Among them, the multiple segments include a first segment and a second segment. The terminal sends the first segment and detects a response message when the response window corresponding to the first segment arrives. When the response message fails to match the multiple transmission message, the terminal continues to send the second segment of the multiple segments.

This method proposes a new window design scheme, specifically, a response window (such as a RAR window) is configured after each segment for detection, so that the terminal does not need to detect in a longer response window after sending multiple transmission messages, thereby shortening the response delay. In addition, each segment corresponds to a response window, which can reduce the number of response windows that the terminal needs to detect and reduce the detection complexity of the terminal.

Based on the communication system shown in Figure 1, the present application further provides a communication method. The communication method of the present application is described in detail below in conjunction with an embodiment.

Referring to the flow chart of the communication method shown in FIG6 , the method includes:

S602: The network device determines a segmentation threshold for multiple message transmissions.

A multiple transmission message refers to a message that needs to be transmitted multiple times. Different from a message in a retransmission mechanism that starts retransmission after a transmission fails, the multiple transmission message of this embodiment refers to a predetermined message that needs to be transmitted multiple times. In a random access scenario, the multiple transmission message may be multiple PRACH Transmissions. Among them, the PRACH Transmission may be the first message, which carries a random access preamble RAP.

The segmentation threshold is used to divide multiple transmission messages into multiple segments. The segmentation threshold may represent the maximum number of transmission messages included in a segment. The segmentation threshold may be set based on an empirical value. For example, the network device may set the segmentation threshold to 2 based on an empirical value. It should be noted that the network device may also configure a suitable segmentation threshold by a heuristic method. For example, the network device may also adjust the segmentation threshold based on the result after the current segmentation threshold is configured. For example, the segmentation threshold may also be set to 4.

In some possible implementations, the network device may also determine a response window length. The response window length is a RAR window length. The network device may determine the response window length according to channel resource configuration. Specifically, the network device The network device can transmit a mapping relationship between the number of channel resources and the length of the response window, and then determine the length of the response window according to the number of channel resources in the channel resource configuration and the above mapping relationship. For example, if the number of PRACH channel resources (such as RO resources) in the channel resource configuration is greater than the preset number, it indicates that the channel resources are relatively abundant. The network device can determine a suitable length of the response window according to the mapping relationship between the number of channel resources and the length of the response window and the above channel resource configuration.

S604: The terminal receives the segmentation threshold sent by the network device.

The network device may encapsulate the segmentation threshold in a message, for example, in the payload of the message, and then send it to the terminal. The SIB2 message includes common wireless resource configuration information and is common to terminals accessing the network device. Therefore, the network device may encapsulate the segmentation threshold in a SIB message, especially a SIB2 message.

S606: The terminal obtains segments of the multiple transmission messages according to the segmentation threshold.

Specifically, the terminal may segment the multiple transmission messages in order according to the segmentation threshold, thereby obtaining multiple segments. The number of messages in each segment does not exceed the segmentation threshold. In some examples, when the number of multiple transmission messages is an integer multiple of the segmentation threshold, the number of messages in each group is equal to the segmentation threshold.

For example, when the segmentation threshold is 2, if the number of times the message is transmitted is 2n (n is a positive integer), the terminal can form the 2i-1th message and the 2ith message into a segment, where i can take a value from 1 to n; if the number of times the message is transmitted is 2n+1, the terminal can form the 2i-1th message and the 2ith message (i can take a value from 1 to n) into a segment, and form the 2n+1th message into the n+1th segment.

The number of times the message is transmitted multiple times may be determined by the terminal. Specifically, the terminal may obtain the reference signal received power (RSRP) of the synchronization signal block (SSB) corresponding to the beam scanning signal, and predict the number of times the message is transmitted multiple times (e.g., multiple PRACH Transmissions) based on the RSRP of the SSB.

In this embodiment, the network device may configure a mapping relationship between RSRP and the number of times a message is transmitted multiple times (also referred to as the total number of transmissions). The mapping relationship between RSRP and the number of times a message is transmitted multiple times is specifically a mapping relationship between a threshold value of RSRP (denoted as threshold) and the total number of transmissions (denoted as K). Among them, the mapping relationship between RSRP and the total number of transmissions may include a mapping relationship between one or more threshold values and one or more total number of transmissions. For example, the network device may configure a first threshold value and a corresponding first total number of transmissions, a second threshold value and a corresponding second total number of transmissions. In some examples, threshhold1=-100dbm, K1=2, threshhold2=-110dbm, K2=3. The terminal may query the above mapping relationship based on the RSRP of the acquired SSB (specifically the measured value of RSRP) to determine the total number of transmissions. For example, if RSRP>threshhold1, the terminal can determine not to repeat transmission, and the total number of transmissions can be 1; if threshhold2<=RSRP<=threshhold1, the terminal can determine the total number of transmissions to be K1; if RSRP<threshhold2, the terminal can determine the total number of transmissions to be K2.

The above S606 is an optional step of the embodiment of the present application, and the communication method of the embodiment of the present application may not execute S606. For example, when sending multiple transmission messages, the terminal can obtain the corresponding segmentation in real time and send it, without obtaining multiple segments in advance. Specifically, the terminal can maintain a counter, such as a PRACH transmission counter, for counting multiple PRACH transmissions. When the PRACH transmission counter reaches the segmentation threshold or an integer multiple of the segmentation threshold, the terminal can regard the target number of messages, such as the m*T+1th message,...the (m+1)*Tth message (T represents the segmentation threshold, and m represents a multiple of the segmentation threshold) as being in the same segment.

S608: The terminal sends the first segment among multiple segments.

Specifically, the terminal can select a target RO from the RO resources for multiple message transmissions configured by the network device and send the first segment. For example, the terminal can select a first RO and a second RO, send the first message in the first segment through the first RO, and send the second message in the first segment through the second RO.

It should be noted that after sending the first segment, the terminal can suspend sending the remaining segments in the multiple segments, for example, the terminal can suspend sending the second segment after the first segment. On the one hand, it can avoid excessive resource usage, and on the other hand, if a response to the first segment is detected later, the second segment can be abandoned to reduce overhead.

S610: The terminal detects a response message when the response window corresponding to the first segment arrives. If the response message fails to match the multiple transmission messages, execute S612; otherwise, execute S614.

The response window refers to a time window for detecting a response message. In a random access scenario, the response window is also called a RAR window. Specifically, the terminal may also receive a response window length determined by a network device, such as a response window length determined by the network device according to a channel resource configuration, and then the terminal may determine the response window corresponding to the first segment according to the response window length, and detect a response message when the response window corresponding to the first segment arrives.

Among them, the multiple transmission message may carry an identifier (ID), and the response message that responds to the multiple transmission message also carries a corresponding identifier. Based on this, the terminal can detect the identifier in the response message in the response window corresponding to the first segment, thereby detecting the response message. If the identifier in the response message is inconsistent with the identifier in the multiple transmission message, the match is unsuccessful, and S612 is executed; if the identifier in the response message is consistent with the identifier in the multiple transmission message, the match is successful, and S614 is executed.

The following is an example of a random access scenario. In the random access scenario, the multiple transmission messages are specifically multiple PRACH Transmissions, and the multiple PRACH Transmissions carry a random access preamble identifier (RAPID). The terminal arrives at the RAR window corresponding to the first segment, and detects whether the RAPID in the RAR is consistent with the RAPID in the multiple transmission message. If they are inconsistent, it means that the RAR fails to match the multiple transmission message. If they are consistent, it means that the RAR successfully matches the multiple transmission message.

S612: The terminal continues to send the second segment among the multiple segments.

Specifically, the terminal may continue to send the second segment among the multiple segments until the response message in the response window corresponding to the second segment successfully matches the multiple transmission messages, or the multiple segments have been sent.

S614: The terminal abandons sending the remaining segments of the multiple transmission messages.

Specifically, the terminal may discard the remaining segments of the multiple transmission message, thereby giving up sending the remaining segments of the multiple transmission message.

To facilitate understanding, the embodiments of the present application also provide some examples to illustrate the communication method.

First, refer to the schematic diagram of a RAR window and PRACH resource interval configuration shown in Figure 7. In this example, the number of multiple PRACH transmissions is 8, and the segmentation threshold can be set to 2. Every 2 PRACH transmissions form a segment, and 8 PRACH transmissions can form 4 segments. Accordingly, the terminal can configure 4 RAR windows (referred to as RAR-window). As shown in Figure 6, after the terminal performs 2 PRACH transmissions, it suspends transmission and waits for the RAR window to arrive. It detects whether there is a RAPID in the RAR window that is consistent with the RAPID in the PRACH transmission.

Next, referring to another schematic diagram of RAR window and PRACH resource interval configuration shown in FIG8, in this example, the terminal expects 8 multiple PRACH transmissions, the segmentation threshold received by the terminal may be 4, and the terminal may divide the expected multiple PRACH transmissions into 2 segments. When the segmentation threshold, that is, the value of the PRACH transmission counter is equal to 4, the terminal waits for the RAR window to arrive and detects whether there is a RAPID in the PRACH Transmission in the RAR window; if the RAPID in the PRACH Transmission is successfully detected, it means that the RAR window includes a RAR message corresponding to the PRACH Transmission, and the terminal can abandon the remaining transmissions in multiple PRACH transmissions.

It should be noted that the above S614 is an optional step of the embodiment of the present application, and the communication method of the embodiment of the present application may not perform the above S614. For example, if the terminal does not detect a response message matching the multiple transmission messages in the response windows corresponding to the multiple segments, the above step may not be performed.

Based on the above description, it can be seen that the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application proposes a new window design scheme, which specifically segments multiple transmission messages, configures a response window (such as a RAR window) for detection, and does not require the terminal to detect in a longer response window after multiple transmission messages are sent, thereby shortening the response delay. In addition, each segment corresponds to a response window, which can reduce the number of response windows that the terminal needs to detect and reduce the detection complexity of the terminal.

Fig. 9 is an example of the composition of an electronic device provided in an embodiment of the present application. Taking a mobile phone as an example, the electronic device may include a processor 310, an external memory interface 320, an internal memory 321, a display screen 330, a camera 340, an antenna 1, an antenna 2, a mobile communication module 350, and a wireless communication module 360, etc.

It is to be understood that the structure illustrated in this embodiment does not constitute a specific limitation on the electronic device. In other embodiments, the electronic device may include more or fewer components than shown in the figure, or combine some components, or split some components, or arrange the components differently. The components shown in the figure may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of software and hardware.

The processor 310 may include one or more processing units, for example, the processor 310 may include an application processor (AP), a modem processor, a graphics processor (GPU), an image signal processor (ISP), a controller, a video codec, a digital signal processor (DSP), a baseband processor, and/or a neural-network processing unit (NPU), etc. Different processing units may be independent devices or integrated into one or more processors.

It is understandable that the interface connection relationship between the modules illustrated in this embodiment is only a schematic illustration and does not constitute a structural limitation of the electronic device. In other embodiments of the present application, the electronic device may also adopt different interface connection methods in the above embodiments, or a combination of multiple interface connection methods.

The external memory interface 320 can be used to connect an external memory card, such as a Micro SD card, to expand the storage capacity of the electronic device. The external memory card communicates with the processor 310 through the external memory interface 320 to implement a data storage function. For example, files such as music and videos can be saved in the external memory card.

The internal memory 321 can be used to store computer executable program codes, and the executable program codes include instructions. The processor 310 executes various functional applications and data processing of the electronic device by running the instructions stored in the internal memory 321. The internal memory 321 may include a program storage area and a data storage area. The program storage area may store an operating system, an application required for at least one function (such as a sound playback function, an image playback function, etc.), etc. The data storage area may store data created during the use of the electronic device (such as audio data, a phone book, etc.), etc. In addition, the internal memory 321 may include a high-speed random access memory, and may also include a non-volatile memory, such as at least one disk storage device, a flash memory device, a universal flash storage (UFS), etc. The processor 310 executes the program storage area and the data storage area. The instructions stored in the internal memory 321 and/or the instructions stored in the memory provided in the processor are executed to execute various functional applications and data processing of the electronic device.

The wireless communication function of the electronic device can be implemented through antenna 1, antenna 2, mobile communication module 350, wireless communication module 360, modem processor and baseband processor.

Antenna 1 and antenna 2 are used to transmit and receive electromagnetic wave signals. Each antenna in the electronic device can be used to cover a single or multiple communication frequency bands. Different antennas can also be reused to improve the utilization of the antennas. For example, antenna 1 can be reused as a diversity antenna for a wireless local area network. In some other embodiments, the antenna can be used in combination with a tuning switch.

The mobile communication module 350 can provide solutions for wireless communications including 2G/3G/4G/5G, etc., applied to electronic devices. The mobile communication module 350 may include at least one filter, a switch, a power amplifier, a low noise amplifier (LNA), etc. The mobile communication module 350 may receive electromagnetic waves from the antenna 1, and perform filtering, amplification, and other processing on the received electromagnetic waves, and transmit them to the modulation and demodulation processor for demodulation. The mobile communication module 350 may also amplify the signal modulated by the modulation and demodulation processor, and convert it into electromagnetic waves for radiation through the antenna 1. In some embodiments, at least some of the functional modules of the mobile communication module 350 may be arranged in the processor 310. In some embodiments, at least some of the functional modules of the mobile communication module 350 may be arranged in the same device as at least some of the modules of the processor 310.

In some embodiments, the electronic device initiates or receives a call request through the mobile communication module 350 and the antenna 1 .

In addition, an operating system runs on the above components, such as an iOS operating system, an Android operating system, a Windows operating system, etc. Application programs can be installed and run on the operating system.

FIG10 is an example of the composition of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device may be a network device, such as a base station. FIG10 shows a simplified schematic diagram of the base station structure. The base station includes parts 910, 920, and 930. Part 910 is mainly used for baseband processing, controlling the base station, etc.; Part 910 is usually the control center of the base station, which can usually be called a processor, and is used to control the base station to perform the processing operations on the network device side in the above method embodiment. Part 920 is mainly used to store computer program code and data. Part 930 is mainly used for receiving and transmitting radio frequency signals and converting radio frequency signals into baseband signals; Part 930 can usually be called a transceiver module, a transceiver, a transceiver circuit, or a transceiver, etc. The transceiver module of part 930, which can also be called a transceiver or a transceiver, etc., includes an antenna 933 and a radio frequency circuit (not shown in the figure), wherein the radio frequency circuit is mainly used for radio frequency processing. Optionally, the device for implementing the receiving function in part 930 may be regarded as a receiver, and the device for implementing the transmitting function may be regarded as a transmitter, that is, part 930 includes a receiver 932 and a transmitter 931. The receiver may also be referred to as a receiving module, a receiver, or a receiving circuit, etc., and the transmitter may be referred to as a transmitting module, a transmitter, or a transmitting circuit, etc.

Part 910 and part 920 may include one or more single boards, and each single board may include one or more processors and one or more memories. The processor is used to read and execute the program in the memory to realize the baseband processing function and the control of the base station. If there are multiple single boards, each single board can be interconnected to enhance the processing capability. As an optional implementation, multiple single boards may share one or more processors, or multiple single boards may share one or more memories, or multiple single boards may share one or more processors at the same time.

For example, in one implementation, the transceiver module of part 930 is used to execute the transceiver-related process executed by the base station in the embodiment shown in Figure 4. The processor of part 910 is used to execute the processing-related process executed by the base station in the embodiment shown in Figure 4.

It should be understood that FIG. 10 is merely an example and not a limitation, and the network device including the processor, the memory, and the transceiver may not rely on the structure shown in FIG. 10 .

Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the sake of convenience and brevity of description, the explanation of the relevant contents and beneficial effects in any of the communication devices provided above can refer to the corresponding method embodiments provided above, and will not be repeated here.

In this application, a terminal or network device may include a hardware layer, an operating system layer running on the hardware layer, and an application layer running on the operating system layer. Among them, the hardware layer may include hardware such as a central processing unit (CPU), a memory management unit (MMU), and a memory (also called main memory). The operating system of the operating system layer may be any one or more computer operating systems that implement business processing through processes, such as Linux operating system, Unix operating system, Android operating system, iOS operating system, or Windows operating system. The application layer may include applications such as browsers, address books, word processing software, and instant messaging software.

Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and modules described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only schematic. For example, the division of the modules is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation, such as multiple modules or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or modules, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

The modules described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components shown as modules may or may not be physical modules, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed on multiple network modules. Some or all of the modules may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

In addition, each functional module in each embodiment of the present application can be integrated into a processing module, or each module can exist physically separately, or two or more modules can be integrated into one module. The above integrated modules can be implemented in the form of hardware or software functional modules.

If the integrated module is implemented in the form of a software function module and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the part that essentially contributes to the technical solution of the present application or all or part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product, and the computer software product is stored in a storage medium, including a number of instructions to enable a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the process of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: various media that can store program codes, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory, a random access memory, a magnetic disk or an optical disk.

As described above, the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, rather than to limit it. Although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, a person of ordinary skill in the art should understand that the technical solutions described in the aforementioned embodiments can still be modified, or some of the technical features therein can be replaced by equivalents. However, these modifications or replacements do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application.

Claims (14)

A communication method, characterized in that the method comprises: A segmentation threshold for receiving a multiple transmission message by the terminal, wherein the segmentation threshold is used to divide the multiple transmission message into multiple segments; The terminal sends a first segment of the multiple segments, and detects a response message when a response window corresponding to the first segment arrives; When the response message fails to match the multiple transmission messages, the terminal continues to send the second segment of the multiple segments. The method according to claim 1, wherein the terminal sends the first segment of the multiple segments, comprising: The terminal sends a first segment of the multiple segments through a physical random access channel PRACH; The response message includes a random access response RAR, and the response window includes a RAR window. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that the multiple transmission messages carry a random access preamble identifier RAPID, and the terminal detects the response message when the response window corresponding to the first segment arrives, comprising: The terminal arrives at the RAR window corresponding to the first segment, and detects whether the RAPID in the RAR is consistent with the RAPID in the multiple transmission messages. If they are inconsistent, the RAR fails to match the multiple transmission messages. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the method further comprises: When sending the first segment, the terminal suspends sending the remaining segments of the multiple segments. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the method further comprises: When the response message successfully matches the multiple transmission message, the terminal abandons sending the remaining segments of the multiple transmission message. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the terminal continues to send the second segment of the multiple segments, comprising: The terminal continues to send a second segment among the multiple segments until a response message in a response window corresponding to the second segment successfully matches the multiple transmission messages, or the multiple segments are all sent. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the method further comprises: The terminal receives a response window length of the multiple transmission messages; The terminal detecting a response message when a response window corresponding to the first segment arrives includes: The terminal determines the response window corresponding to the first segment according to the response window length, and detects a response message when the response window corresponding to the first segment arrives. The method according to claim 7 is characterized in that the response window length is determined according to the channel resource configuration. A communication method, characterized in that it is applied to a communication system including a network device and a terminal, and the method comprises: The network device determines a segmentation threshold for multiple transmission messages; The network device sends a segmentation threshold of the multiple transmission message to the terminal, and the segmentation threshold is used to divide the multiple transmission message into multiple segments, so that the terminal sends the first segment of the multiple segments, and When the response window corresponding to the first segment arrives, a response message is detected, and when the response message fails to match the multiple transmission messages, the second segment of the multiple segments continues to be sent. The method according to claim 9 is characterized in that the multiple transmission messages are transmitted via a physical random access channel PRACH. The method according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that the method further comprises: The network device determines a response window length, and sends the response window length to the terminal. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that the network device determines the response window length, comprising: The network device determines the response window length according to the channel resource configuration. A communication device, characterized in that the communication device comprises: memory and at least one processor; The memory is used to store programs; The at least one processor is configured to run the program so that the terminal implements the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12. A computer storage medium for storing a computer program, wherein when the computer program is executed, it is used to implement the communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 12.