WO2025060109A1 - Information indication methods, and communication device, communication system and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure are information indication methods, and a communication device, a communication system and a storage medium. A method comprises: a terminal sending first information to a network device, wherein the first information is used for indicating whether the terminal supports maintaining uplink transmission when a validity period of position information of the terminal has expired. By means of the technical solution provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure, a terminal having the capability of maintaining uplink transmission when a validity period of position information has expired can notify its capability to a network device, so that the network device enables the terminal to maintain uplink transmission when the validity period of the position information has expired, and thus the capability of the terminal is utilized to the greatest extent; in addition, the success rate of uplink transmission of the terminal when the validity period of the position has expired can be improved, thereby reducing uplink transmission interference between different terminals.

Description

Information indication method, communication device, communication system and storage medium Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to an information indication method, a communication device, a communication system and a storage medium.

Background Art

In order to enable the terminal to perform uplink synchronization, the network device may indicate the timing advance (TA) value to the terminal, and the terminal obtains uplink synchronization based on the TA value indicated by the network device.

Due to the relative movement between network devices and terminals, there is a transmission delay between them, and in some special networks such as non-terrestrial networks (NTN), the transmission delay will change rapidly. In order to maintain uplink synchronization, the terminal needs to accurately know its own location information to compensate for uplink synchronization. However, when transmitting services with long transmission time, if the terminal's location information expires, the terminal device will enter the idle state (IDLE) and re-acquire the location information, resulting in increased transmission delay and power consumption.

Summary of the invention

With the development of communication technology, when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires, the uplink synchronization between the terminal and the network device is maintained to effectively reduce the transmission delay.

The embodiments of the present disclosure provide an information indication method, a communication device, a communication system and a storage medium.

According to a first aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided an information indication method, which is performed by a terminal, wherein the method includes:

The terminal sends first information to the network device, wherein the first information is used to indicate whether the terminal supports maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires.

According to a second aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided an information indication method, which is performed by a network device, wherein the method includes:

The network device receives first information sent by a terminal, where the first information is used to indicate whether the terminal supports maintaining uplink transmission when a validity period of the terminal's location information expires.

According to a third aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, an information indication method is provided, wherein the method is performed by a communication system, and the method includes:

The terminal sends first information to the network device; wherein the first information is used to indicate whether the terminal supports maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires.

According to a fourth aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a terminal is provided, wherein the terminal includes:

The first transceiver module is configured to send first information to the network device, wherein the first information is used to indicate whether the terminal supports maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires.

According to a fifth aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a network device is provided, wherein the network device includes:

The second transceiver module is configured to receive first information sent by the terminal, where the first information is used to indicate whether the terminal supports maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires.

According to the sixth aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a communication system is provided, wherein the communication system includes a terminal and a network device, the terminal is configured to implement the information indication method provided by the first aspect, and the network device is configured to implement the information indication method provided by the second aspect.

According to a seventh aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a communication device is provided, wherein the communication device includes:

one or more processors;

The processor is used to call instructions so that the communication device executes the information indication method provided by the first aspect or the second aspect.

According to an eighth aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a storage medium is provided, wherein the storage medium stores instructions, and when the instructions are executed on a communication device, the communication device executes the information indication method provided by the first aspect or the second aspect.

The technical solution provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure is beneficial for a terminal capable of maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of location information expires to inform a network device of its own capability, so that the network device enables the terminal to maintain uplink transmission when the validity period of location information expires, thereby maximizing the use of the terminal's capabilities; and it is beneficial to improve the success rate of uplink transmission of the terminal when the validity period of the location expires, thereby reducing interference in uplink transmission between different terminals.

It should be understood that the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the embodiments of the present disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the present invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the embodiments of the present invention.

FIG1A is a schematic diagram showing an architecture of a communication system according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG1B is a schematic diagram showing a scenario of uplink and downlink timing alignment at a base station side according to an exemplary embodiment;

Fig. 1C is a schematic diagram showing a scenario in which uplink and downlink timings on a base station side are not aligned according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG2A is an interactive schematic diagram showing an information indication method according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG2B is an interactive schematic diagram showing an information indication method according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG2C is an interactive schematic diagram showing an information indication method according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG3A is a schematic flow chart showing an information indication method according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG3B is a schematic flow chart of an information indication method according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG3C is a schematic flow chart showing an information indication method according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG3D is a schematic flow chart of an information indication method according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG4A is a schematic flow chart showing an information indication method according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG4B is a schematic flow chart of an information indication method according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG5 is an interactive schematic diagram showing an information indication method according to an exemplary embodiment;

6 is a schematic diagram showing a length of time for a terminal to maintain uplink transmission after the validity period of location information expires according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG7A is a schematic diagram showing the structure of a terminal according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG7B is a schematic diagram showing the structure of a network device according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG8A is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 8100 according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG8B is a schematic structural diagram of a chip 8200 according to an exemplary embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The embodiments of the present disclosure provide an information indication method, a communication device, a communication system and a storage medium.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides an information indication method, which is executed by a terminal, wherein the method includes:

The terminal sends first information to the network device, wherein the first information is used to indicate whether the terminal supports maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires.

In the above embodiment, a terminal capable of maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of location information expires can inform the network device of its own capability so that the network device enables the terminal to maintain uplink transmission when the validity period of location information expires, thereby maximizing the use of the terminal's capabilities; and, it is beneficial to improve the success rate of uplink transmission of the terminal when the validity period of the location expires, thereby reducing interference in uplink transmission between different terminals.

In combination with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the network device is a non-terrestrial NTN network device.

In the above embodiment, the first information is used to inform the network device of the NTN of whether it supports maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, so that in the NTN network where the transmission delay changes rapidly, the network device of the NTN allows the terminal that supports maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires to maintain uplink synchronization with the network device after the validity period of the location information expires, thereby improving the reachability of the terminal and improving the communication quality of the terminal in the NTN.

In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the first information includes at least one of the following:

A first indication, indicating whether the terminal supports maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information of the terminal expires;

The first time information indicates a first time length for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires.

In the above embodiment, the terminal may carry the first indication and/or the first time information in the first information, and use the first indication to inform the network device of whether the terminal supports maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires; for example, the first time information informs the network device of the first time length that the terminal supports maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, so that the network device determines whether it is necessary to configure uplink transmission resources for the terminal when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires.

In combination with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the first information includes a first indication, and the duration for which the terminal maintains uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires is determined according to the timing duration of the first timer.

In the above embodiment, the terminal not only informs the network device of whether the terminal supports maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, but also informs the network device of information that the duration of maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires is determined according to the timing duration of the first timer by the terminal by sending the first information containing only the first indication to the network device. When the information content indicated by the first information is not reduced, the information length of the first information is reduced to reduce communication overhead.

In combination with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the first timer includes: a timing advance timer TAT.

In the above embodiment, the duration of maintaining the uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires can be determined based on the timing duration of the timing advance timer TAT configured by the network device for maintaining the timing advance TA value of the terminal. This is beneficial for the terminal to refer to the TA value maintained by the timing advance timer TAT, maintain uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires, and maintain uplink synchronization between the terminal and the network device.

In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the first information includes first time information,

In a case where the duration value indicated by the first time information is zero, indicating that the terminal does not support maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information of the terminal expires; and/or,

When the duration value indicated by the first time information is not zero, instructing the terminal to support maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information of the terminal expires; and/or,

When the duration value indicated by the first time information is greater than zero, it indicates that uplink transmission is supported to be maintained when the validity period of the location information of the terminal expires and the duration value of the maintenance is determined according to the first time information.

In the above embodiment, the terminal sends the first information that only contains the first time information to the network device, thereby informing the network device of whether it supports maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, and the duration value for which the terminal supports maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires; the embodiment of the present disclosure indicates different information contents through different information values of the first time information in the first information, and reduces the information length of the first information without reducing the information content indicated by the first information, thereby reducing communication overhead.

In combination with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the method further includes:

Receive second information sent by the network device; the second information is used to determine whether to maintain the uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires.

In the above embodiment, the terminal receives the second information sent by the network device, and based on the second information, determines whether it is necessary to maintain uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires. That is to say, by using the second information, the network device can control whether the terminal that has the ability to maintain uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires maintains uplink transmission.

In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the second information includes at least one of the following:

a second indication, indicating whether the terminal maintains the uplink transmission;

The second time information indicates a time length configured for the terminal to maintain uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information of the terminal expires.

In the above embodiment, the terminal can determine whether it is necessary to maintain uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires based on the second indication carried in the second information; and/or determine the length of time for maintaining uplink transmission configured by the network device for the terminal based on the second time information carried in the second information, so that when the terminal's location information expires, the uplink transmission is maintained based on the uplink transmission resources configured by the network device to maintain synchronization between the terminal and the network device; in this way, the synchronization between the terminal and the network device is maintained when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires.

In combination with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the second information includes the second time information, and when the duration value indicated by the second time information is zero, instructs the terminal to stop the uplink transmission; and/or,

When the duration value indicated by the second time information is not zero, instruct the terminal to maintain the uplink transmission.

In the above embodiment, the terminal can determine whether the terminal needs to maintain uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires according to the second information containing only the second time information and the different duration values indicated by the second time information. In this way, when the information content indicated by the second information is not reduced, the information length of the second information is reduced to reduce the communication overhead.

In combination with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the second information is carried in a control unit CE of a radio resource control layer RRC signaling and/or a medium access control MAC.

In the above embodiment, the existing signaling can be directly reused to transmit the second information, thereby effectively reducing the signaling overhead.

In combination with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the method further includes:

The second information instructs the terminal to maintain the uplink transmission, and the terminal determines third information; wherein the third information is used to instruct the terminal to maintain the uplink transmission for a second time length when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires.

In the above embodiment, when the terminal is configured to continue to maintain uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, the terminal determines third information to determine the second time length for the terminal to maintain uplink transmission based on the third information, so as to maintain uplink synchronization between the terminal and the network device within the second time length after the validity period of the location information expires.

In combination with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the terminal determines the third information, including one of the following:

The second information includes a second indication, and the terminal determines that a duration value for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires is determined according to a remaining duration of the first timer;

The second information includes the second time information, and the terminal determines that a duration value for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires is determined according to the second time information;

The terminal determines, according to a predefined rule, a second time length for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires.

In the above embodiment, the terminal can determine the duration of maintaining the uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires based on the different information carried in the second information sent by the network device, thereby continuing to maintain the uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, maintaining the uplink synchronization between the terminal and the network device, and improving the communication quality of the terminal in the network.

In combination with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the terminal determines, according to a predefined rule, a second time length for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, including:

The timing duration of the first timer is a predetermined value, and the terminal determines that the duration for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires is determined by the second time information;

or,

The timing duration of the first timer is not a predetermined value, and the terminal determines that the duration for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires is determined by the remaining duration of the first timer.

In the above embodiment, the terminal can determine, based on different timing duration values of the first timer, whether the duration for maintaining the uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires is determined by the second time length configured by the network device or by the remaining duration of the first timer, thereby making the duration for maintaining the uplink transmission more flexible.

In combination with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the method further includes:

Determine fourth information based on the third information; wherein the fourth information is used for the terminal to maintain the uplink transmission within the second time length.

In the above embodiment, when the validity period of the location information expires, the terminal determines the fourth information based on the second time length for maintaining the uplink transmission, and maintains the uplink synchronization between the terminal and the network device through the fourth information. In this way, while maintaining the synchronization between the terminal and the network device of NTN, even if the validity period of the terminal's location information expires, the uplink transmission and/or downlink transmission between the terminal and the network device can still continue, thereby improving the reachability of the terminal and improving the communication quality of the terminal.

In combination with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the fourth information includes at least one of the following:

Timing advance TA adjustment amount;

TA drift rate.

In the above embodiment, the terminal determines the TA drift rate and/or the TA adjustment amount so as to determine the timing advance TA value of the uplink transmission based on the TA drift rate and/or the TA adjustment amount, so as to maintain the uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires, thereby maintaining the uplink synchronization between the terminal and the network device.

In combination with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, determining the fourth information according to the third information includes:

Determine fifth information according to the third information; the fifth information is used to determine whether the location information is in an available state within the second time length for maintaining the uplink transmission;

The fourth information is determined according to the fifth information.

In the above embodiment, the terminal determines whether the location information of the terminal is in an available state within the second time length for maintaining uplink transmission; in the process of determining the fourth information, the validity of the location information of the terminal is considered, so that the fourth information is determined in different ways according to the validity of the location information.

In combination with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, determining the fourth information according to the fifth information includes at least one of the following:

The location information of the terminal is available during the second time period, and the fourth information is determined based on the first location of the terminal;

The location information of the terminal is unavailable during the second time period, and the fourth information is determined based on the second location of the terminal; the first location and the second location are different;

The location information of the terminal is not available during the second time length, and the fourth information is determined based on a timing advance command TAC sent by the network device.

In the above embodiment, when the location information of the terminal is available within the second time length for maintaining uplink transmission, the fourth information is determined directly based on the first location of the terminal; when the location information of the terminal is not available within the second time length for maintaining uplink transmission, the fourth information is determined based on the re-determined second location, and when the validity period of the location information expires, the fourth information is used to maintain uplink transmission to achieve open-loop synchronization adjustment. Alternatively, the fourth information is determined based on the TAC sent by the network device, and when the validity period of the location information expires, the fourth information is used to maintain uplink transmission to achieve closed-loop synchronization adjustment.

In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the first position includes at least one of the following:

a first location determined based on the location information;

A first position determined based on a position adjustment amount determined by the terminal itself and the position information;

A first position is determined based on the position adjustment amount indicated by the network device and the position information.

In the above embodiment, when the location information of the terminal is available within the second time length for maintaining uplink transmission, the first location can be determined directly based on the original location information; or, the first location can be determined based on the position adjustment amount relative to the location information determined by the terminal itself or indicated by the network device, thereby improving the flexibility of determining the first location.

In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the second position includes at least one of the following:

The second location determined by the terminal based on the sixth information; the sixth information is used to determine the mobility status of the network device of the NTN;

The second location is determined based on the second information sent by the network device of the NTN.

In the above embodiment, when the location information of the terminal is unavailable within the second time length for maintaining uplink transmission, the terminal determines the current location of the network device of the NTN by acquiring the sixth information used to determine the mobility status of the network device of the NTN, so as to estimate the second location where the terminal is currently located; or, determines the second location where the terminal is currently located based on the second information sent by the network device of the NTN, thereby improving the flexibility of determining the second location.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides an information indication method, which is performed by a network device, wherein the method includes:

The network device receives first information sent by a terminal, where the first information is used to indicate whether the terminal supports maintaining uplink transmission when a validity period of the terminal's location information expires.

In the above embodiment, the network device receives the first information to determine the terminal that has the ability to maintain uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, thereby enabling the terminal to maintain uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, thereby maximizing the use of the terminal's capabilities; and, it is beneficial to improve the uplink transmission success rate of the terminal when the validity period of the location expires, thereby reducing interference in uplink transmission between different terminals.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides an information indication method, wherein the method is performed by a communication system, and the method includes:

The terminal sends first information to the network device; wherein the first information is used to indicate whether the terminal supports maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a terminal, wherein the terminal includes:

The first transceiver module is configured to send first information to the network device, wherein the first information is used to indicate whether the terminal supports maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires.

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a network device, wherein the network device includes:

The second transceiver module is configured to receive first information sent by the terminal, where the first information is used to indicate whether the terminal supports maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires.

In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a communication system, wherein the communication system includes a terminal and a network device, the terminal is configured to implement the information indication method provided in the first aspect, and the network device is configured to implement the information indication method provided in the second aspect.

In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a communication device, wherein the communication device includes:

one or more processors;

The processor is used to call instructions so that the communication device executes the information indication method provided by the first aspect or the second aspect.

In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a storage medium, wherein the storage medium stores instructions, and when the instructions are executed on a communication device, the communication device executes the information indication method provided in the first aspect or the second aspect.

In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a program product, which, when executed by a communication device, enables the communication device to execute the information indication method described in the optional implementation manner of the first aspect or the second aspect.

In a tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a computer program, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the information indication method described in the optional implementation of the first aspect or the second aspect.

It is understandable that the first information indicating device, the second information indicating device, the communication device, the communication system, the storage medium, the program product, and the computer program are all used to execute the method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure. Therefore, the beneficial effects that can be achieved can refer to the beneficial effects in the corresponding method, which will not be repeated here.

The embodiments of the present disclosure provide an information indication method and device, a communication device, a communication system, and a storage medium. In some embodiments, the information indication method, information processing method, information transmission method, and other terms can be replaced with each other, the information indication device, information processing device, information transmission device, and other terms can be replaced with each other, and the communication system, information processing system, and other terms can be replaced with each other.

The embodiments of the present disclosure are not exhaustive, but are only illustrative of some embodiments, and are not intended to be a specific limitation on the scope of protection of the present disclosure. In the absence of contradiction, each step in a certain embodiment can be implemented as an independent embodiment, and the steps can be arbitrarily combined. For example, a solution after removing some steps in a certain embodiment can also be implemented as an independent embodiment, and the order of the steps in a certain embodiment can be arbitrarily exchanged. In addition, the optional implementation methods in a certain embodiment can be arbitrarily combined; in addition, the embodiments can be arbitrarily combined, for example, some or all steps of different embodiments can be arbitrarily combined, and a certain embodiment can be arbitrarily combined with the optional implementation methods of other embodiments.

In each embodiment of the present disclosure, unless otherwise specified or there is a logical conflict, the terms and/or descriptions between the embodiments are consistent and can be referenced to each other, and the technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form a new embodiment based on their internal logical relationships.

The terms used in the embodiments of the present disclosure are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the present disclosure.

In the embodiments of the present disclosure, unless otherwise specified, elements expressed in the singular form, such as "one", "an", "the", "above", "said", "foregoing", "this", etc., may mean "one and only one", or may mean "one or more", "at least one", etc. For example, when using articles such as "a", "an", "the" in English in translation, the noun following the article can be understood as a singular expression or a plural expression.

In the embodiments of the present disclosure, “plurality” refers to two or more.

In some embodiments, the terms "at least one (at least one of), "one or more (one or more)", "a plurality of (a plurality of)", "multiple (multiple)", etc. can be used interchangeably.

In some embodiments, "at least one of A and B", "A and/or B", "A in one case, B in another case", "A in one case, B in another case", etc., may include the following technical solutions according to the situation: in some embodiments, A (A is executed independently of B); in some embodiments, B (B is executed independently of A); in some embodiments, execution is selected from A and B (A and B are selectively executed); in some embodiments, A and B (both A and B are executed). When there are more branches such as A, B, C, etc., the above is also similar.

In some embodiments, the recording method of "A or B" may include the following technical solutions according to the situation: in some embodiments, A (A is executed independently of B); in some embodiments, B (B is executed independently of A); in some embodiments, execution is selected from A and B (A and B are selectively executed). When there are more branches such as A, B, C, etc., the above is also similar.

The prefixes such as "first" and "second" in the embodiments of the present disclosure are only used to distinguish different description objects, and do not constitute restrictions on the position, order, priority, quantity or content of the description objects. The statement of the description object refers to the description in the context of the claims or embodiments, and should not constitute redundant restrictions due to the use of prefixes. For example, if the description object is a "field", the ordinal number before the "field" in the "first field" and the "second field" does not limit the position or order between the "fields", and the "first" and "second" do not limit whether the "fields" they modify are in the same message, nor do they limit the order of the "first field" and the "second field". For another example, if the description object is a "level", the ordinal number before the "level" in the "first level" and the "second level" does not limit the priority between the "levels". For another example, the number of description objects is not limited by the ordinal number, and can be one or more. Taking the "first device" as an example, the number of "devices" can be one or more. In addition, the objects modified by different prefixes may be the same or different. For example, if the description object is "device", then the "first device" and the "second device" may be the same device or different devices, and their types may be the same or different. For another example, if the description object is "information", then the "first information" and the "second information" may be the same information or different information, and their contents may be the same or different.

In some embodiments, “including A”, “comprising A”, “used to indicate A”, and “carrying A” can be interpreted as directly carrying A or indirectly indicating A.

In some embodiments, terms such as “…”, “determine…”, “in the case of…”, “at the time of…”, “when…”, “if…”, “if…”, etc. can be used interchangeably.

In some embodiments, terms such as "greater than", "greater than or equal to", "not less than", "more than", "more than or equal to", "not less than", "higher than", "higher than or equal to", "not lower than", and "above" can be replaced with each other, and terms such as "less than", "less than or equal to", "not greater than", "less than", "less than or equal to", "no more than", "lower than", "lower than or equal to", "not higher than", and "below" can be replaced with each other.

In some embodiments, devices, etc. can be interpreted as physical or virtual, and their names are not limited to the names recorded in the embodiments. Terms such as "device", "equipment", "device", "circuit", "network element", "node", "function", "unit", "section", "system", "network", "chip", "chip system", "entity", and "subject" can be used interchangeably.

In some embodiments, "network" may be interpreted as devices included in the network (eg, access network equipment, core network equipment, etc.).

In some embodiments, the terms "access network device (AN device), "radio access network device (RAN device)", "base station (BS)", "radio base station (radio base station)", "fixed station (fixed station)", "node", "access point (access point)", "transmission point (TP)", "reception point (RP)", "transmission/reception point (TRP)", "panel", "antenna panel (antenna panel)", "antenna array (antenna array)", "cell", "macro cell", "small cell (small cell)", "femto cell (femto cell)", "pico cell (pico cell)", "sector (sector)", "cell group (cell)", "serving cell", "carrier (carrier)", "component carrier (component carrier)", "bandwidth part (bandwidth part (BWP))" and so on can be used interchangeably.

In some embodiments, the terms "terminal", "terminal device", "user equipment (UE)", "user terminal""mobile station (MS)", "mobile terminal (MT)", subscriber station, mobile unit, subscriber unit, wireless unit, remote unit, mobile device, wireless device, wireless communication device, remote device, mobile subscriber station, access terminal, mobile terminal, wireless terminal, remote terminal, handset, user agent, mobile client, client and the like can be used interchangeably.

In some embodiments, the access network device, the core network device, or the network device can be replaced by a terminal. For example, the various embodiments of the present disclosure can also be applied to a structure in which the communication between the access network device, the core network device, or the network device and the terminal is replaced by the communication between multiple terminals (for example, device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X), etc.). In this case, it can also be set as a structure in which the terminal has all or part of the functions of the access network device. In addition, terms such as "uplink" and "downlink" can also be replaced by terms corresponding to communication between terminals (for example, "side"). For example, uplink channels, downlink channels, etc. can be replaced by side channels, and uplinks, downlinks, etc. can be replaced by side links.

In some embodiments, the terminal may be replaced by an access network device, a core network device, or a network device. In this case, the access network device, the core network device, or the network device may also be configured to have a structure that has all or part of the functions of the terminal.

In some embodiments, the acquisition of data, information, etc. may comply with the laws and regulations of the country where the data is obtained.

In some embodiments, data, information, etc. may be obtained with the user's consent.

In addition, each element, each row, or each column in the table of the embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented as an independent embodiment, and the combination of any elements, any rows, or any columns may also be implemented as an independent embodiment.

Fig. 1A is a schematic diagram showing the architecture of a communication system according to an exemplary embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1A , a communication system 100 includes a terminal 101 and a network device 102 .

In some embodiments, the terminal 101 includes, for example, a mobile phone, a wearable device, an Internet of Things device, a car with communication function, a smart car, a tablet computer (Pad), a computer with wireless transceiver function, a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal device in industrial control (industrial control), a wireless terminal device in self-driving, a wireless terminal device in remote medical surgery, a wireless terminal device in a smart grid (smart grid), a wireless terminal device in transportation safety (transportation safety), a wireless terminal device in a smart city (smart city), and at least one of a wireless terminal device in a smart home (smart home), but is not limited to these.

In some embodiments, the network device 102 may include an access network device and/or a core network device.

In some embodiments, the access network device may be, for example, a node or device that accesses a terminal to a wireless network. The access network device may include an evolved Node B (eNB), a next generation evolved Node B (ng-eNB), a next generation Node B (gNB), a node B (NB), a home node B (HNB), a home evolved node B (HeNB), a wireless backhaul device, a radio network controller (RNC), a base station controller (BSC), a base transceiver station (BTS), a base band unit (BBU), a mobile switching center, a base station in a 6G communication system, an open base station (Open RAN), a cloud base station (Cloud RAN), a base station in other communication systems, and at least one of an access node in a Wi-Fi system, but is not limited thereto.

In some embodiments, the technical solution of the present disclosure may be applicable to the Open RAN architecture. In this case, the interfaces between access network devices or within access network devices involved in the embodiments of the present disclosure may become internal interfaces of Open RAN, and the processes and information interactions between these internal interfaces may be implemented through software or programs.

In some embodiments, the access network device may be composed of a centralized unit (central unit, CU) and a distributed unit (distributed unit, DU), wherein the CU may also be called a control unit (control unit). The CU-DU structure may be used to split the protocol layer of the access network device, with some functions of the protocol layer being centrally controlled by the CU, and the remaining part or all of the functions of the protocol layer being distributed in the DU, and the DU being centrally controlled by the CU, but not limited to this.

In some embodiments, the core network device may be a device including one or more network elements, or may be a plurality of devices or a group of devices, each including one or more network elements. The network element may be virtual or physical. The core network may include, for example, at least one of an Evolved Packet Core (EPC), a 5G Core Network (5GCN), and a Next Generation Core (NGC). In some embodiments, the first network element 1031 may be, for example, an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF).

In some embodiments, the network element is, for example, a Mobility Management Entity (MME).

In some embodiments, the network element is used for access and mobility management, such as registration management, connection management, and mobility management, etc., but the name is not limited thereto.

In some embodiments, the network element may be a network element independent of the core network device.

It can be understood that the communication system described in the embodiment of the present disclosure is for the purpose of more clearly illustrating the technical solution of the embodiment of the present disclosure, and does not constitute a limitation on the technical solution provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure. A person skilled in the art can know that with the evolution of the system architecture and the emergence of new business scenarios, the technical solution provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure is also applicable to similar technical problems.

The following embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied to the communication system 100 shown in FIG. 1A or a part of the main body thereof, but are not limited thereto. The entities shown are examples. The communication system may include all or part of the entities in Figure 1A, and may also include other entities other than Figure 1A. The number and form of the entities are arbitrary. The connection relationship between the entities is an example. The entities may be connected or disconnected, and the connection may be in any manner, which may be direct or indirect, and may be wired or wireless.

The embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied to Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), LTE-Beyond (LTE-B), SUPER 3G, IMT-Advanced, the fourth generation mobile communication system (4G), the fifth generation mobile communication system (5G), 5G new radio (NR), Future Radio Access (FRA), New-Radio Access Technology (RAT), New Radio (NR), New radio access (NX), Future generation radio access ... The present invention relates to wireless communication systems such as LTE, Wi-Fi (X), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM (registered trademark)), CDMA2000, Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi (registered trademark)), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX (registered trademark)), IEEE 802.20, Ultra-WideBand (UWB), Bluetooth (registered trademark), Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) network, Device to Device (D2D) system, Machine to Machine (M2M) system, Internet of Things (IoT) system, Vehicle to Everything (V2X), systems using other communication methods, and next-generation systems expanded based on them. In addition, a combination of multiple systems (for example, a combination of LTE or LTE-A with 5G, etc.) may also be applied.

In some embodiments, the emergence of new Internet applications such as augmented reality (AR)/virtual reality (VR), vehicle-to-vehicle communication, etc. has put forward higher requirements for wireless communication technology, driving the continuous evolution of wireless communication technology to meet the needs of applications. At present, cellular mobile communication technology is in the evolution stage of the new generation of technology. An important feature of the new generation of technology is to support flexible configuration of multiple service types. Since different service types have different requirements for wireless communication technology, such as the enhanced mobile broadband (Enhanced Mobile Broadband, eMBB) service type mainly requires large bandwidth, high rate, etc.; the ultra-reliable and low latency communication (Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communication, URLLC) service type mainly requires high reliability and low latency; the massive machine communication (Massive Machine Type Communication, mMTC) service type mainly requires a large number of connections. Therefore, the new generation of wireless communication systems requires flexible and configurable designs to support the transmission of multiple service types.

In the research of wireless communication technology, satellite communication is considered to be an important aspect of the future development of wireless communication technology. Satellite communication refers to the communication conducted by radio communication equipment on the ground using satellites as relays. The satellite communication system consists of a satellite part and a ground part. The characteristics of satellite communication are: a large communication range; communication can be carried out between any two points as long as they are within the range covered by the radio waves emitted by the satellite; and it is not easily affected by land disasters (high reliability). As a supplement to the current ground cellular communication system, satellite communication can have the following benefits:

Extended coverage: For areas that cannot be covered by current cellular communication systems or are costly to cover, such as oceans, deserts, remote mountainous areas, etc., satellite communications can be used to solve communication problems.

Emergency communications: In extreme situations such as disasters such as earthquakes, when cellular communications infrastructure is unavailable, satellite communications can be used to quickly establish communications connections.

Provide industry applications: For example, for delay-sensitive services in long-distance transmission, satellite communications can be used to reduce the delay of service transmission.

It can be foreseen that in future wireless communication systems, satellite communication systems and terrestrial cellular communication systems will gradually achieve deep integration and truly realize the intelligent connection of all things.

In some embodiments, in the scenario of satellite communication, due to the long signal transmission distance between the transmitter and the receiver, data transmission takes a long time. For transmission with uplink and downlink relationship, in some embodiments, the parameter Koffset is introduced to compensate for the transmission delay.

As shown in Figures 1B and 1C, Figure 1B is a schematic diagram of a scenario in which uplink and downlink timings are aligned on the base station side according to an exemplary embodiment; Figure 1C is a schematic diagram of a scenario in which uplink and downlink timings are not aligned on the base station side according to an exemplary embodiment. The terminal needs to maintain uplink and downlink synchronization. Downlink synchronization is that the terminal receives the downlink synchronization signal of the base station to obtain downlink synchronization. After obtaining downlink synchronization, the terminal needs to perform uplink synchronization to ensure that the time when the uplink signals of all terminals arrive at the base station is aligned with the uplink time of the base station. The base station can obtain the transmission delay between the terminal and the base station. For example, the base station can obtain the transmission delay between the terminal and the base station by receiving the preamble sent by the terminal; then the base station sends a timing advance TA value to the terminal, and the terminal will advance the uplink according to the TA value to obtain uplink synchronization.

The K _offset can be applied in various operations, such as: Downlink Control Information (DCI) Scheduled physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission; transmission of hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback information and transmission of control element (CE) of media access control (MAC), etc.

In some embodiments, the terminal needs to obtain location information to determine the timing compensation of the uplink transmission. The terminal can determine its own location information through a measurement module of a satellite navigation system.

In some embodiments, the satellite navigation system may include at least one of the following: Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS); Beidou Navigation Satellite System (BDS).

After the terminal obtains the GNSS measurement result, the reliable time of the GNSS can be reported to the base station through the GNSS validity duration. In some embodiments, when the GNSS validity duration of the terminal expires, the terminal enters an idle state.

The behavior of the terminal entering the idle (IDLE) state to reacquire GNSS will cause a delay in data transmission. After the GNSS validity duration expires, how to reduce the terminal entering the IDLE state? One possible method is that when the uplink synchronization of the terminal can be maintained, the terminal can reduce the number of times it enters the IDLE state. After the original GNSS available time expires, the terminal can still perform uplink transmission if certain conditions are met. However, the specific enabling technology and the behavior of the terminal's uplink synchronization adjustment during this period (i.e., the extended time) need to be clarified.

FIG2A is an interactive schematic diagram of an information indication method according to an exemplary embodiment. As shown in FIG2A , the embodiment of the present disclosure relates to an information indication method, which is used in a communication system 100, and the method includes:

Step S2101: The terminal sends first information to the network device.

In some embodiments, the network device receives first information sent by the terminal.

In some embodiments, the network device may be a network device of a non-terrestrial network NTN, such as a satellite or a drone.

It should be noted that NTN refers to a network that is not deployed on the ground, including satellite communications. Satellite communications refer to communications conducted by radio communication equipment on the ground using satellites as relay nodes. The satellite communication system consists of a satellite part and a ground part.

In some embodiments, the terminal may be a terminal supporting an NTN network.

In some embodiments, the first information indicates whether the terminal supports maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires.

In some embodiments, the location information of the terminal may be location information obtained by the terminal performing Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) measurement.

In some embodiments, the validity period of the location information may be pre-configured by the GNSS system. For example, the terminal may obtain the validity period of the location information from a Global Positioning System (GPS) module.

In other embodiments, the validity period of the location information may be notified to the terminal by the network device of the NTN through system information or signaling.

It should be noted that the terminal needs to obtain its own location information to determine the timing compensation of the uplink transmission based on the location information. However, due to the movement of NTN network equipment and/or terminals, the location information obtained by the terminal based on GNSS measurement has a certain validity period (GNSS Validity Duration), that is, the validity of the location information can only be maintained for a period of time. When the validity period of the location information expires, the location information of the terminal becomes invalid and the terminal enters the idle state.

After the terminal enters the idle state, it needs to re-perform GNSS measurement. However, the re-performing GNSS measurement of the terminal in the idle state will cause data transmission delay and increase energy consumption. When the validity period of the location information expires, maintaining uplink synchronization between the terminal and the network device can reduce the number of times the terminal enters the idle state, thereby effectively reducing transmission delay and reducing energy consumption of the terminal.

It is worth noting that the terminal can send first information to the network device to inform the network device whether the terminal supports maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, so that the network device can determine whether it is necessary to configure uplink transmission resources for the terminal when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires.

In some embodiments, the first information includes at least one of the following:

A first indication, indicating whether the terminal supports maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires;

The first time information indicates a first time length for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires.

In some embodiments, the first indication may be capability indication information of the terminal.

It is worth noting that the first indication may indicate whether the terminal has the ability to maintain uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires.

In some embodiments, the first indication may include one or more indication bits, and different values of the indication bits are used to indicate the terminal Whether to support maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires.

In some embodiments, the first time information may indicate that the terminal supports maintaining a first time length of uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires.

In some embodiments, the first time length may be a maximum time length supported by the terminal.

In some embodiments, the first time length may be a time length that the terminal expects to maintain uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires.

It should be noted that the time length for maintaining uplink transmission configured by the network device for the terminal should be less than or equal to the first time length.

When the first information includes the first indication and the first time information, the terminal can inform the network device through the first indication and the first time information of whether the terminal supports maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, and the first time length for which the terminal supports maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, so that the network device can determine whether it is necessary to configure uplink transmission resources for the terminal when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires.

In some embodiments, the first information may include only the first indication, and the duration for which the terminal maintains uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires is determined according to the timing duration of the first timer.

In the case where the first information only includes the first indication, the first information can not only indicate whether the terminal supports maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, but also indicate that the duration of maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires is determined according to the timing duration of the first timer. In the case where the information content indicated by the first information is not reduced, the information length of the first information is effectively reduced, thereby reducing communication overhead.

In some embodiments, the first timer may be a timer pre-agreed between the terminal and the network device.

In some embodiments, the first timer may be a timer agreed upon by a protocol.

It can be understood that the duration of maintaining the uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires can be determined directly based on the timing duration of the timer agreed upon in advance or by protocol, thereby eliminating the need to carry the first time information in the first information and being able to inform the network device of the duration value for maintaining the uplink transmission supported by the terminal.

In some embodiments, the first timer may be a timing advance timer TAT.

It can be understood that the timing advance timer TAT is used to maintain the timing advance TA value of the terminal. According to the timing duration of the timing advance timer TAT, the duration of maintaining the uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires is determined. This is beneficial for the terminal to refer to the TA value maintained by the timing advance timer TAT, maintain uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires, and keep the uplink synchronization between the terminal and the network device.

In some embodiments, the first information may include only the first indication, and the duration for which the terminal maintains uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires is determined according to the configuration of the base station. That is, the terminal indicates that uplink transmission can be maintained when the validity period of the location information expires, and the specific duration for maintaining uplink transmission is determined based on the configuration information of the base station.

In some embodiments, the first information may include only the first time information; when the duration value indicated by the first time information is zero, it indicates that the terminal does not support maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires; and/or,

When the duration value indicated by the first time information is not zero, indicating that the terminal supports maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires; and/or,

When the duration value indicated by the first time information is greater than zero, it indicates that uplink transmission is supported to be maintained when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires and the duration value of the maintenance is determined according to the first time information.

It is worth noting that, when the first information only includes the first time information, the duration value indicated by the first time information is different, and the information content indicated by the first information is also different.

By sending the first information containing only the first time information to the network device, the terminal can inform the network device of whether it supports maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, and the duration for which the terminal supports maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, so that the network device can determine whether it is necessary to configure uplink transmission resources for the terminal when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires.

It can be understood that the embodiment of the present disclosure indicates different information contents through different information values of the first time information in the first information, thereby effectively reducing the information length of the first information and reducing communication overhead without reducing the information content indicated by the first information.

Step S2102: The network device sends second information to the terminal.

In some embodiments, the terminal receives second information sent by the network device.

In some embodiments, the validity period of the terminal's location information expires, and the network device sends second information to the terminal.

In some embodiments, the validity period of the terminal's location information has not expired, and the network device sends second information to the terminal.

It should be noted that the network device may send the second information to the terminal after the terminal location information expires, or before the terminal location information expires, that is, within the validity period of the terminal location information.

In some embodiments, the second information is used to determine whether to maintain uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires.

It should be noted that after the network device receives the first information sent by the terminal, the network device can control through the second information whether the terminal, which has the ability to maintain uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, needs to maintain uplink transmission after the validity period of the location information expires.

In some embodiments, the second information may be configuration information sent by the network device.

In some embodiments, the second information may include at least one of the following:

A second indication, indicating whether the terminal maintains uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires;

The second time information indicates a time length for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires.

In some embodiments, the second indication may include one or more indication bits, and different values of the indication bits are used to indicate whether the terminal maintains uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires.

It is understandable that the network device can control whether the terminal maintains uplink transmission after the validity period of the location information expires by sending the second indication.

In some embodiments, the time length indicated by the second time information is less than or equal to the first time length indicated by the first time information.

It should be noted that since the terminal supports maintaining uplink transmission within a first time length after the validity period of the location information expires, if the time length indicated by the second time information is less than or equal to the first time length, the terminal has the ability to maintain uplink transmission within the time length indicated by the second time information. At this time, the network device can control the terminal to maintain uplink transmission within the time length indicated by the second time information. If the time length indicated by the second time information is greater than the first time length, the terminal may not have the ability to maintain uplink transmission when the first time length is exceeded. Therefore, when the network device configures the time length for maintaining uplink transmission for the terminal when the validity period of the location information expires, the terminal's capabilities need to be taken into consideration.

In the case where the second information includes the second indication and the second time information, the network device controls whether the terminal maintains uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, and the length of time the terminal maintains uplink transmission through the second indication and the second time information, so that the terminal device maintains uplink transmission within the time length configured by the network device.

In some embodiments, the second information includes only the second time information;

When the duration value indicated by the second time information is zero, instructing the terminal to stop uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires;

When the duration value indicated by the second time information is not zero, the terminal is instructed to maintain uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires.

It should be noted that the network device can send the second information containing only the second time information to the terminal. The second time information can not only be used to indicate the length of time configured by the network device for the terminal to maintain uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires; the different time length values indicated by the second time information can also be used to indicate whether the terminal should maintain uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires.

In some embodiments, the second information only includes a second indication, indicating that the duration for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information of the terminal expires can be determined according to the first timer of the terminal.

It should be noted that the network device can send the second information containing only the second indication to the terminal. Not only can the second indication be used to instruct the terminal whether to maintain uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, but the second indication can also be used to instruct the network device to configure the terminal to maintain uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, and the duration value is determined by the first timer.

In some embodiments, the second information may include only the second indication, and the duration for which the terminal maintains uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires is determined according to the configuration of the base station. That is, the terminal indicates that uplink transmission can be maintained when the validity period of the location information expires, and the specific duration for maintaining uplink transmission is determined based on the configuration information of the base station.

In some embodiments, the second information may be carried in a radio resource control (RRC) layer signaling;

And/or, the second information may be carried in a control element (CE) of a media access control (MAC).

In some embodiments, the RRC layer signaling may be downlink RRC layer signaling, such as an RRC connection release message or RRC configuration information.

In some embodiments, RRC layer signaling and/or MAC CE may add a new information field to specifically carry the second information.

It is understandable that the RRC layer signaling and/or MAC CE can be modified to add a new information field and carry the second information in the information field to reduce signaling overhead.

In some other embodiments, the RRC layer signaling and/or MAC CE may include one or more reserved information fields, and the second information is carried through the reserved information fields.

It is understandable that the second information can be directly carried by using the existing information field of the RRC layer signaling and/or MAC CE, which can reduce the signaling overhead on the one hand and eliminate the need to modify the signaling on the other hand.

Exemplarily, the second information may be carried in reserved bits of the existing information field.

Also exemplarily, the second information may multiplex existing information fields of RRC layer signaling and/or MAC CE with other information.

Step S2103: The terminal determines the third information.

In some embodiments, the third information indicates a second time length for which the terminal maintains uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires.

In some embodiments, the third information may indicate an extension time of the validity period of the terminal's location information.

In some embodiments, the second information instructs the terminal to maintain uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, and the terminal may determine the third information.

When the terminal is configured to maintain uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires, the terminal can determine third information to maintain uplink transmission within the second time length indicated by the third information to reduce the situation where the terminal enters an idle state.

In some embodiments, when the second information carries the second indication and the second time information, the terminal may determine that the duration for maintaining the uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires is determined based on the second time information.

In some embodiments, when the second information only includes second time information and the duration value indicated by the second time information is greater than zero, the terminal can determine the duration value for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires based on the second time information.

It can be understood that when the network device configures the terminal with the time length for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, the terminal can directly determine that the time length for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires is the time length configured by the network device.

In some embodiments, when the second information only includes the second indication and the terminal is configured to maintain uplink transmission when the location information expires, the terminal can determine the duration for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires based on the remaining duration of the first timer.

In some embodiments, the terminal may determine, according to a predefined rule, a second time length for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires.

It is worth noting that, when the network device configures the terminal with a time length for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, the terminal may determine, according to a predefined rule, a second time length for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires. It is understandable that, when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires, the second time length for the terminal to actually maintain uplink transmission may be different from the time length configured by the network device for the terminal.

In some embodiments, the terminal determines, according to a predefined rule, a second time length for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, including:

The timing duration of the first timer is a predetermined value, and the terminal determines that the duration for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires is determined by the second time information;

or,

The timing duration of the first timer is not a predetermined value, and the terminal determines that the duration for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires is determined by the remaining duration of the first timer.

In some embodiments, the predetermined value may be infinite.

Here, the second time information indicates the network device configures a time length for maintaining uplink transmission for the terminal when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires.

The terminal can determine whether the duration of maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires is the time length configured by the network device or the remaining duration of the first timer based on whether the timing duration of the first timer is a predetermined value.

Step S2104: The terminal determines the fourth information.

In some embodiments, the terminal may determine the fourth information based on the third information.

In some embodiments, the fourth information is used for the terminal to maintain uplink transmission within a second time length.

In some embodiments, the fourth information is used to maintain synchronization between the terminal and the network device within a second time length after the validity period of the terminal's location information expires.

In some embodiments, the fourth information may be uplink synchronization assistance information.

In some embodiments, the fourth information is used to assist the terminal in determining a timing advance TA value for maintaining uplink transmission within a second time length after the validity period of the location information expires.

It should be noted that in uplink transmission, the terminal needs to send an uplink signal in advance by a certain amount of time relative to downlink transmission in a certain time unit (exemplarily, the time unit may include but is not limited to a subframe, a time slot, a radio frame and/or an OFDM symbol, etc.) or a certain absolute time unit, that is, a timing advance TA value, so that the signal arrival time of all terminals in the cell on the network side is consistent. And compensate for the transmission delay between the network equipment and the terminal, so that the uplink transmission unit and the downlink transmission unit on the network side or at the uplink synchronization reference point are aligned in time.

It is worth noting that in the NTN network, the location between the terminal and the NTN network equipment is dynamically changing. The TA value of the terminal's uplink transmission during the validity period of the terminal's location information may be different from the TA value of the terminal's uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires. Therefore, when the validity period of the location information expires, the TA value of the terminal's uplink transmission may need to be adjusted to maintain synchronization between the terminal and the network equipment.

In some embodiments, the fourth information may include at least one of the following:

Timing advance TA adjustment amount;

TA drift rate.

In some embodiments, the TA drift rate is used to indicate the amount of change of TA per unit time.

It should be noted that due to the movement of NTN network equipment and/or terminals, the transmission delay between the terminal and NTN network equipment changes rapidly. Before uplink transmission, the terminal needs to determine the timing compensation of the terminal uplink transmission based on the timing advance TA drift rate and/or the timing advance TA adjustment amount to reduce the transmission delay between the terminal and NTN network equipment and maintain uplink synchronization.

In some embodiments, the terminal determines the fourth information according to the third information, which may include:

Determining fifth information based on the third information;

The fourth information is determined based on the fifth information.

In some embodiments, the fifth information is used to determine whether the location information is in an available state within a second time length for maintaining uplink transmission.

In some embodiments, the fifth information may indicate the availability time of the terminal's location information.

It can be understood that if the time jointly determined by the validity period of the terminal's location information and the second time length is within the available time of the location information, it means that within the second time length for maintaining uplink transmission, the location information of the terminal is in an available state, that is, the location information of the terminal is valid; otherwise, it means that within the second time length for maintaining uplink transmission, the location information of the terminal is in an unavailable state, that is, the location information of the terminal is invalid and the location information of the terminal needs to be re-determined.

In some embodiments, determining the fourth information according to the fifth information includes:

The location information of the terminal is available within the second time length, and the terminal can determine the fourth information based on the first location.

In some embodiments, the first position may include one of the following:

a first location determined based on the expired location information;

A first position determined based on a position adjustment amount determined by the terminal itself and the position information;

A first position is determined based on the position adjustment amount and the position information indicated by the network device.

It is worth noting that if the fifth information indicates that the location information of the terminal is available within a second time length, the fourth information can be determined based on the first position determined by the original location information of the terminal, or based on the first location information determined jointly by the original location information and the position adjustment amount, so as to determine the timing advance TA value for uplink transmission to be maintained within a second time length after the validity period of the location information expires, and to maintain synchronization between the terminal and the network device within the second time length after the validity period of the location information expires.

Step S2105: The terminal maintains synchronization with the network device.

In some embodiments, the terminal maintains synchronization with the network equipment of the NTN.

In some embodiments, the terminal maintains synchronization with the network device of the NTN according to the fourth information.

In some embodiments, the terminal may determine, based on the fourth information, a TA value for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires.

It can be understood that, when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires, the terminal can achieve synchronization with the network device of the NTN according to the TA value determined by the fourth information.

In some embodiments, the terminal may determine, according to the fourth information, a TA value for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, including:

determining a TA adjustment amount in a time unit according to the fourth information;

Based on the TA adjustment amount, the TA value of the corresponding time unit is adjusted.

It can be understood that the time unit may be a time unit corresponding to the uplink transmission maintained when the validity period of the location information expires.

In some embodiments, a time unit may include: a symbol, a mini-slot, or a time slot.

It should be noted that adjusting the TA value of the corresponding time unit based on the TA adjustment amount can be understood as adjusting the TA value of the terminal's last uplink transmission based on the TA adjustment amount to obtain the TA value for maintaining the uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires.

In some embodiments, the term "information" can be interchangeably with terms such as "message", "signal", "signaling", "report", "configuration", "indication", "instruction", "command", "channel", "parameter", "field", and "data".

In some embodiments, the term "send" can be interchangeable with terms such as "transmit", "report", and "transmit".

The information indication method involved in the embodiment of the present disclosure may include at least one of steps S2101 to S2105. For example, step S2101 and step S2102 may be implemented as independent embodiments, and step S2101 may be implemented as an independent embodiment, but is not limited thereto.

In some embodiments, step S2103, step S2104, and step S2105 are optional, and one or more of these steps may be omitted or replaced in different embodiments. It is understandable that when the network device sends the second information to the terminal to control the terminal to stop uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, the terminal does not need to determine the third information and the fourth information.

In some embodiments, step S2102, step S2103, step S2104, and step S2105 are optional, and one or more of these steps may be omitted or replaced in different embodiments. It is understandable that, if the terminal does not have the ability to maintain uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, the network device may not send the second information to the terminal, and the terminal does not need to determine the third information and the fourth information.

FIG2B is an interactive schematic diagram of an information indication method according to an exemplary embodiment. As shown in FIG2B , the embodiment of the present disclosure relates to an information indication method, which is used in a communication system 100, and the method includes:

Step S2201: The terminal sends first information to the network device.

In some embodiments, the optional implementation of step S2201 can refer to the optional implementation of step S2101 in Figure 2A and other related parts of the embodiment involved in Figure 2A, which will not be repeated here.

Step S2202: The network device sends second information to the terminal.

In some embodiments, the optional implementation of step S2202 can refer to the optional implementation of step S2102 in Figure 2A and other related parts of the embodiment involved in Figure 2A, which will not be repeated here.

Step S2203: The terminal determines the third information.

In some embodiments, the optional implementation of step S2203 can refer to the optional implementation of step S2103 in Figure 2A and other related parts of the embodiment involved in Figure 2A, which will not be repeated here.

Step S2204: The terminal determines the fourth information.

In some embodiments, the terminal may determine the fourth information based on the third information.

In some embodiments, the fourth information is used for the terminal to maintain uplink transmission within a second time length.

In some embodiments, the fourth information is used to maintain synchronization between the terminal and the network device within a second time length after the validity period of the terminal's location information expires.

In some embodiments, the fourth information may be uplink synchronization assistance information.

In some embodiments, the fourth information is used to assist the terminal in determining a timing advance TA value for maintaining uplink transmission within a second time length after the validity period of the location information expires.

It should be noted that in uplink transmission, the terminal needs to send the uplink signal a certain amount of time in advance relative to the downlink transmission in a certain time unit (exemplarily, the time unit may include but is not limited to a subframe, a time slot, a radio frame and/or an OFDM symbol, etc.) or a certain absolute time unit, that is, the timing advance TA value, so that the signal arrival time of all terminals in the cell on the network side is consistent, and the transmission delay between the network equipment and the terminal is compensated, so that the uplink transmission unit and the downlink transmission unit on the network side or at the uplink synchronization reference point are aligned in time.

It is worth noting that in the NTN network, the location between the terminal and the NTN network equipment is dynamically changing. The TA value of the terminal's uplink transmission during the validity period of the terminal's location information may be different from the TA value of the terminal's uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires. Therefore, when the validity period of the location information expires, the TA value of the terminal's uplink transmission may need to be adjusted to maintain synchronization between the terminal and the network equipment.

In some embodiments, the fourth information may include at least one of the following:

Timing advance TA adjustment amount;

TA drift rate.

In some embodiments, the TA drift rate is used to indicate the amount of change of TA per unit time.

It should be noted that due to the movement of NTN network equipment and/or terminals, the transmission delay between the terminal and NTN network equipment changes rapidly. Before uplink transmission, the terminal needs to determine the timing compensation of the terminal uplink transmission based on the timing advance TA drift rate and/or the timing advance TA adjustment amount to reduce the transmission delay between the terminal and NTN network equipment and maintain uplink synchronization.

In some embodiments, the terminal determines the fourth information according to the third information, which may include:

Determining fifth information based on the third information;

The fourth information is determined based on the fifth information.

In some embodiments, the fifth information is used to determine whether the location information is in an available state within a second time length for maintaining uplink transmission.

In some embodiments, the fifth information may indicate the availability time of the terminal's location information.

It can be understood that if the time jointly determined by the validity period of the terminal's location information and the second time length is within the available time of the location information, it means that within the second time length for maintaining uplink transmission, the location information of the terminal is in an available state, that is, the location information of the terminal is valid; otherwise, it means that within the second time length for maintaining uplink transmission, the location information of the terminal is in an unavailable state, that is, the location information of the terminal is invalid and the location information of the terminal needs to be re-determined.

In some embodiments, determining the fourth information according to the fifth information includes at least one of the following:

The location information of the terminal is not available within the second time length, and the terminal can determine the fourth information based on the second location.

The location information of the terminal is not available within the second time length, and the terminal can determine the fourth information based on the timing advance command sent by the network device.

In some embodiments, the second location may be the current location of the terminal.

It is understandable that, when the location information of the terminal is not available within the second time length, the terminal can re-determine the current second location to determine the fourth information based on the second location and the first location indicated by the location information.

In some embodiments, the terminal can determine the change in relative position between the terminal and the network device after the validity period of the terminal's location information expires based on the first position and the second position indicated by the location information; determine the TA drift rate based on the change in the relative position to determine the TA value for maintaining uplink transmission within a second time length.

In some embodiments, the network device may send a timing advance command to the terminal, so that the terminal determines the TA value for maintaining uplink transmission within the second time length based on the timing advance command.

In some embodiments, the timing advance command may include at least one of the following:

TA adjustment amount;

TA drift rate.

In some embodiments, the second location includes: a second location determined by the terminal based on sixth information.

In some embodiments, the sixth information is used to determine the mobility status of the network device of the NTN.

In some embodiments, the sixth information may be ephemeris information.

In some embodiments, the ephemeris information is used to compensate for the transmission delay and/or frequency offset from the terminal to the network equipment of the NTN.

In some embodiments, ephemeris information may be sent by a base station to a UE.

In some embodiments, ephemeris information may be information related to the position and/or velocity of a satellite.

In some embodiments, the ephemeris information may include at least one of the following:

Satellite coordinates;

Satellite orbit altitude;

Location information of sub-satellite point;

Satellite orbital inclination;

Right ascension of the ascending node;

The length of the semi-major axis of the satellite orbit ellipse;

The eccentricity of the satellite's orbit.

It can be understood that when the location information of the terminal is unavailable, the terminal can determine the current location of the NTN network device by obtaining the sixth information used to determine the mobility status of the NTN network device, so as to estimate the second location where the terminal is currently located; when the validity period of the location information expires, the second location is used to determine the fourth information to maintain uplink transmission and realize open-loop synchronization adjustment.

In some embodiments, the second location includes: a second location determined based on second information sent by a network device of the NTN.

It can be understood that in the process of the terminal sending the first information to the network device, the network device determines the current location of the terminal based on the first information, and carries the indication information indicating the current location of the terminal in the second information, and sends it to the terminal, so that when the location information of the terminal is unavailable, the terminal determines the current second location based on the second information; when the validity period of the location information expires, the second location is used to determine the fourth information to maintain uplink transmission.

Step S2205: The terminal maintains synchronization with the network device.

In some embodiments, the optional implementation of step S2205 can refer to the optional implementation of step S2105 in Figure 2A and other related parts of the embodiment involved in Figure 2A, which will not be repeated here.

The information indication method involved in the embodiment of the present disclosure may include at least one of steps S2201 to S2205. For example, step S2201 and step S2202 may be implemented as independent embodiments, and step S2201 may be implemented as an independent embodiment, but is not limited thereto.

In some embodiments, step S2203, step S2204, and step S2205 are optional, and one or more of these steps may be omitted or replaced in different embodiments. It is understandable that when the network device sends the second information to the terminal to control the terminal to stop uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, the terminal does not need to determine the third information and the fourth information.

In some embodiments, step S2202, step S2203, step S2204, and step S2205 are optional, and one or more of these steps may be omitted or replaced in different embodiments. It is understandable that, if the terminal does not have the ability to maintain uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, the network device may not send the second information to the terminal, and the terminal does not need to determine the third information and the fourth information.

FIG2C is an interactive schematic diagram of an information indication method according to an exemplary embodiment. As shown in FIG2C , the embodiment of the present disclosure relates to an information indication method, which is used in a communication system 100, and the method includes:

Step S2301: The terminal sends first information to the network device.

In some embodiments, the network device receives first information sent by the terminal.

In some embodiments, the network device may be a network device of a non-terrestrial network NTN, such as a satellite or a drone.

It should be noted that NTN refers to a network that is not deployed on the ground, including satellite communications. Satellite communications refer to communications conducted by radio communication equipment on the ground using satellites as relay nodes. The satellite communication system consists of a satellite part and a ground part.

In some embodiments, the terminal may be a terminal supporting an NTN network.

In some embodiments, the first information indicates whether the terminal supports maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires.

In some embodiments, the location information of the terminal may be location information obtained by the terminal performing Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) measurement.

In some embodiments, the validity period of the location information may be pre-configured by the GNSS system. For example, the terminal may obtain the validity period of the location information from a Global Positioning System (GPS) module.

In other embodiments, the validity period of the location information may be notified to the terminal by the network device of the NTN through system information or signaling.

It should be noted that the terminal needs to obtain its own location information to determine the timing compensation of the uplink transmission based on the location information. However, due to the movement of NTN network equipment and/or terminals, the location information obtained by the terminal based on GNSS measurement has a certain validity period (GNSS Validity Duration), that is, the validity of the location information can only be maintained for a period of time. When the validity period of the location information expires, the location information of the terminal becomes invalid and the terminal enters the idle state.

After the terminal enters the idle state, it needs to re-perform GNSS measurement. However, the re-performing GNSS measurement of the terminal in the idle state will cause data transmission delay and increase energy consumption. When the validity period of the location information expires, maintaining uplink synchronization between the terminal and the network device can reduce the number of times the terminal enters the idle state, thereby effectively reducing transmission delay and reducing energy consumption of the terminal.

It is worth noting that the terminal can send first information to the network device to inform the network device whether the terminal supports maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, so that the network device can determine whether it is necessary to configure uplink transmission resources for the terminal when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires.

In some embodiments, the first information only includes the first indication; the first indication is used to indicate whether the terminal supports maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires.

In some embodiments, the first indication may include one or more indication bits, and different values of the indication bits are used to indicate whether the terminal supports maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires.

In some embodiments, the first information only includes the first indication, and the duration for which the terminal maintains uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires is determined according to the timing duration of the first timer.

In the case where the first information only includes the first indication, the first information can not only indicate whether the terminal supports maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, but also indicate that the duration of maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires is determined according to the timing duration of the first timer. In the case where the information content indicated by the first information is not reduced, the information length of the first information is effectively reduced, thereby reducing communication overhead.

In some embodiments, the first timer may be a timer pre-agreed between the terminal and the network device.

In some embodiments, the first timer may be a timer agreed upon by a protocol.

It can be understood that the duration of maintaining the uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires can be determined directly based on the timing duration of the timer agreed upon in advance or by protocol, thereby eliminating the need to carry the first time information in the first information and being able to inform the network device of the duration value for maintaining the uplink transmission supported by the terminal.

In some embodiments, the first timer may be a timing advance timer TAT.

It can be understood that the timing advance timer TAT is used to maintain the timing advance TA value of the terminal. According to the timing duration of the timing advance timer TAT, the duration of maintaining the uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires is determined. This is beneficial for the terminal to refer to the TA value maintained by the timing advance timer TAT, maintain uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires, and keep the uplink synchronization between the terminal and the network device.

In some embodiments, the first information may include only the first indication, and the duration for which the terminal maintains uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires is determined according to the configuration of the base station. That is, the terminal indicates that uplink transmission can be maintained when the validity period of the location information expires, and the specific duration for maintaining uplink transmission is determined based on the configuration information of the base station.

In some embodiments, the first information only includes first time information, indicating a first time length for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires.

In some embodiments, the first time information may indicate that the terminal supports maintaining a first time length of uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires.

In some embodiments, the first time length may be a maximum time length supported by the terminal.

In some embodiments, the first time length may be a time length that the terminal expects to maintain uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires.

It should be noted that the time length for maintaining uplink transmission configured by the network device for the terminal should be less than or equal to the first time length.

In some embodiments, the first information may include only the first time information; when the duration value indicated by the first time information is zero, it indicates that the terminal does not support maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires; and/or,

When the duration value indicated by the first time information is not zero, indicating that the terminal supports maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires; and/or,

When the duration value indicated by the first time information is greater than zero, it indicates that uplink transmission is supported to be maintained when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires and the duration value of the maintenance is determined according to the first time information.

It is worth noting that, when the first information only includes the first time information, the duration value indicated by the first time information is different, and the information content indicated by the first information is also different.

By sending the first information containing only the first time information to the network device, the terminal can inform the network device of whether it supports maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, and the duration for which the terminal supports maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, so that the network device can determine whether it is necessary to configure uplink transmission resources for the terminal when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires.

It can be understood that the embodiment of the present disclosure indicates different information contents through different information values of the first time information in the first information, thereby effectively reducing the information length of the first information and reducing communication overhead without reducing the information content indicated by the first information.

Step S2302: The network device sends second information to the terminal.

In some embodiments, the terminal receives second information sent by the network device.

In some embodiments, the validity period of the terminal's location information expires, and the network device sends second information to the terminal.

In some embodiments, the validity period of the terminal's location information has not expired, and the network device sends second information to the terminal.

It should be noted that the network device may send the second information to the terminal after the terminal location information expires, or before the terminal location information expires, that is, within the validity period of the terminal location information.

In some embodiments, the second information is used to determine whether to maintain uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires.

It should be noted that after the network device receives the first information sent by the terminal, the network device can control through the second information whether the terminal, which has the ability to maintain uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, needs to maintain uplink transmission after the validity period of the location information expires.

In some embodiments, the second information may be configuration information sent by the network device.

In some embodiments, the second information only includes the second indication; the second indication is used to indicate whether the terminal should maintain uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires.

In some embodiments, the second indication may include one or more indication bits, and different values of the indication bits are used to indicate the terminal Whether to maintain uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires.

It is understandable that the network device can control whether the terminal maintains uplink transmission after the validity period of the location information expires by sending the second indication.

In some embodiments, the second information only includes a second indication, indicating that the duration for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information of the terminal expires can be determined according to the first timer of the terminal.

It should be noted that the network device can send the second information containing only the second indication to the terminal. Not only can the second indication be used to instruct the terminal whether to maintain uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, but the second indication can also be used to instruct the network device to configure the terminal to maintain uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, and the duration value is determined by the first timer.

In some embodiments, the second information may include only the second indication, and the duration for which the terminal maintains uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires is determined according to the configuration of the base station. That is, the terminal indicates that uplink transmission can be maintained when the validity period of the location information expires, and the specific duration for maintaining uplink transmission is determined based on the configuration information of the base station.

In some embodiments, the second information only includes the second time information; the second time information is used to indicate the time length for maintaining uplink transmission configured for the terminal when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires.

In some embodiments, the time length indicated by the second time information is less than or equal to the first time length indicated by the first time information.

In some embodiments, the second information includes only the second time information;

When the duration value indicated by the second time information is zero, instructing the terminal to stop uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires;

When the duration value indicated by the second time information is not zero, the terminal is instructed to maintain uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires.

It should be noted that the network device can send the second information containing only the second time information to the terminal. The second time information can not only be used to indicate the length of time configured by the network device for the terminal to maintain uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires; the different time length values indicated by the second time information can also be used to indicate whether the terminal should maintain uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires.

In some embodiments, the second information may be carried in a radio resource control (RRC) layer signaling;

And/or, the second information may be carried in a control element (CE) of a media access control (MAC).

In some embodiments, the RRC layer signaling may be downlink RRC layer signaling, such as an RRC connection release message or RRC configuration information.

In some embodiments, RRC layer signaling and/or MAC CE may add a new information field to specifically carry the second information.

It is understandable that the RRC layer signaling and/or MAC CE can be modified to add a new information field and carry the second information in the information field to reduce signaling overhead.

In other embodiments, the RRC layer signaling and/or MAC CE may include one or more reserved information fields, and carry the second information through the reserved information field.

It is understandable that the second information can be directly carried by using the existing information field of the RRC layer signaling and/or MAC CE, which can reduce the signaling overhead on the one hand and eliminate the need to modify the signaling on the other hand.

Exemplarily, the second information may be carried in reserved bits of the existing information field.

Also exemplarily, the second information may multiplex existing information fields of RRC layer signaling and/or MAC CE with other information.

Step S2303: The terminal determines the third information.

In some embodiments, the third information indicates a second time length for which the terminal maintains uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires.

In some embodiments, the third information may indicate an extension time of the validity period of the terminal's location information.

In some embodiments, the second information instructs the terminal to maintain uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, and the terminal may determine the third information.

When the terminal is configured to maintain uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires, the terminal can determine third information to maintain uplink transmission within the second time length indicated by the third information to reduce the situation where the terminal enters an idle state.

In some embodiments, when the second information only includes second time information and the duration value indicated by the second time information is greater than zero, the terminal can determine the duration value for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires based on the second time information.

It can be understood that when the network device configures the terminal with the time length for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, the terminal can directly determine that the time length for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires is the time length configured by the network device.

In some embodiments, the second information includes only the second indication, and the terminal is configured to maintain the uplink transmission when the location information expires. In the case of transmission, the terminal can determine that the duration for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires is determined according to the remaining duration of the first timer.

In some embodiments, the terminal may determine, according to a predefined rule, a second time length for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires.

It is worth noting that, when the network device configures the terminal with a time length for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, the terminal may determine, according to a predefined rule, a second time length for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires. It is understandable that, when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires, the second time length for the terminal to actually maintain uplink transmission may be different from the time length configured by the network device for the terminal.

In some embodiments, the terminal determines, according to a predefined rule, a second time length for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, including:

The timing duration of the first timer is a predetermined value, and the terminal determines that the duration for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires is determined by the second time information;

or,

The timing duration of the first timer is not a predetermined value, and the terminal determines that the duration for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires is determined by the remaining duration of the first timer.

In some embodiments, the predetermined value may be infinite.

Here, the second time information indicates the network device configures a time length for maintaining uplink transmission for the terminal when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires.

The terminal can determine whether the duration of maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires is the time length configured by the network device or the remaining duration of the first timer based on whether the timing duration of the first timer is a predetermined value.

Step S2304: The terminal determines the fourth information.

In some embodiments, the optional implementation of step S2304 can refer to the optional implementation of step S2104 in Figure 2A and other related parts of the embodiment involved in Figure 2A, which will not be repeated here.

In some embodiments, the optional implementation of step S2304 can refer to the optional implementation of step S2204 in Figure 2B and other related parts of the embodiment involved in Figure 2B, which will not be repeated here.

Step S2305: The terminal maintains synchronization with the network device.

In some embodiments, the optional implementation of step S2305 can refer to the optional implementation of step S2105 in Figure 2A and other related parts of the embodiment involved in Figure 2A, which will not be repeated here.

The information indication method involved in the embodiment of the present disclosure may include at least one of steps S2301 to S2305. For example, step S2301 and step S2302 may be implemented as independent embodiments, and step S2201 may be implemented as an independent embodiment, but is not limited thereto.

In some embodiments, step S2303, step S2304, and step S2305 are optional, and one or more of these steps may be omitted or replaced in different embodiments. It is understandable that when the network device sends the second information to the terminal to control the terminal to stop uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, the terminal does not need to determine the third information and the fourth information.

In some embodiments, step S2302, step S2303, step S2304, and step S2305 are optional, and one or more of these steps may be omitted or replaced in different embodiments. It is understandable that, if the terminal does not have the ability to maintain uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, the network device may not send the second information to the terminal, and the terminal does not need to determine the third information and the fourth information.

FIG3A is a flow chart of an information indication method according to an exemplary embodiment. As shown in FIG3A , the embodiment of the present disclosure relates to an information indication method, which is executed by a terminal 101, and the method includes:

Step S3101: The terminal sends first information to the network device.

In some embodiments, the optional implementation of step S3101 can refer to the optional implementation of step S2101 in Figure 2A and other related parts of the embodiment involved in Figure 2A, which will not be repeated here.

Step S3102: The terminal receives the second information sent by the network device.

In some embodiments, the optional implementation of step S3102 can refer to the optional implementation of step S2102 in Figure 2A and other related parts of the embodiment involved in Figure 2A, which will not be repeated here.

Step S3103: The terminal determines the third information.

In some embodiments, the optional implementation of step S3103 can refer to the optional implementation of step S2103 in FIG. 2A , As for other related parts in the embodiment involved in FIG. 2A , they will not be described in detail here.

Step S3104: The terminal determines the fourth information.

In some embodiments, the optional implementation of step S3104 can refer to the optional implementation of step S2104 in Figure 2A and other related parts of the embodiment involved in Figure 2A, which will not be repeated here.

Step S3105: The terminal maintains synchronization with the network device.

In some embodiments, the optional implementation of step S3105 can refer to the optional implementation of step S2105 in Figure 2A and other related parts of the embodiment involved in Figure 2A, which will not be repeated here.

The information indication method involved in the embodiment of the present disclosure may include at least one of steps S3101 to S3105. For example, step S3101 and step S3102 may be implemented as independent embodiments, and step S3101 may be implemented as an independent embodiment, but is not limited thereto.

In some embodiments, step S3103, step S3104, and step S3105 are optional, and one or more of these steps may be omitted or replaced in different embodiments. It is understandable that when the network device sends the second information to the terminal to control the terminal to stop uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, the terminal does not need to determine the third information and the fourth information.

In some embodiments, step S3102, step S3103, step S3104, and step S3105 are optional, and one or more of these steps may be omitted or replaced in different embodiments. It is understandable that, if the terminal does not have the ability to maintain uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, the network device may not send the second information to the terminal, and the terminal does not need to determine the third information and the fourth information.

FIG3B is a flow chart of an information indication method according to an exemplary embodiment. As shown in FIG3B , the embodiment of the present disclosure relates to an information indication method, which is executed by terminal 101, and the method includes:

Step S3201: The terminal sends first information to the network device.

In some embodiments, the optional implementation of step S3201 can refer to the optional implementation of step S2101 in Figure 2A and other related parts of the embodiment involved in Figure 2A, which will not be repeated here.

Step S3202: The terminal receives the second information sent by the network device.

In some embodiments, the optional implementation of step S3202 can refer to the optional implementation of step S2102 in Figure 2A and other related parts of the embodiment involved in Figure 2A, which will not be repeated here.

Step S3203: The terminal determines the third information.

In some embodiments, the optional implementation of step S3203 can refer to the optional implementation of step S2103 in Figure 2A and other related parts of the embodiment involved in Figure 2A, which will not be repeated here.

Step S3204: The terminal determines the fourth information.

In some embodiments, the optional implementation of step S3204 can refer to the optional implementation of step S2204 in Figure 2B and other related parts of the embodiment involved in Figure 2B, which will not be repeated here.

Step S3205: The terminal maintains synchronization with the network device.

In some embodiments, the optional implementation of step S3205 can refer to the optional implementation of step S2105 in Figure 2A and other related parts of the embodiment involved in Figure 2A, which will not be repeated here.

The information indication method involved in the embodiment of the present disclosure may include at least one of steps S3201 to S3205. For example, step S3201 and step S3202 may be implemented as independent embodiments, and step S3201 may be implemented as an independent embodiment, but is not limited thereto.

In some embodiments, step S3203, step S3204, and step S3205 are optional, and one or more of these steps may be omitted or replaced in different embodiments. It is understandable that when the network device sends the second information to the terminal to control the terminal to stop uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, the terminal does not need to determine the third information and the fourth information.

In some embodiments, step S3202, step S3203, step S3204, and step S3205 are optional, and one or more of these steps may be omitted or replaced in different embodiments. It is understandable that, if the terminal does not have the ability to maintain uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, the network device may not send the second information to the terminal, and the terminal does not need to determine the third information and the fourth information.

FIG3C is a flow chart of an information indication method according to an exemplary embodiment. As shown in FIG3C , the embodiment of the present disclosure relates to an information indication method, which is executed by the terminal 101, and the method includes:

Step S3301: The terminal sends first information to the network device.

In some embodiments, the optional implementation of step S3301 can refer to the optional implementation of step S2301 in Figure 2C and other related parts of the embodiment involved in Figure 2C, which will not be repeated here.

Step S3302: The terminal receives the second information sent by the network device.

In some embodiments, the optional implementation of step S3302 can refer to the optional implementation of step S2302 in Figure 2C and other related parts of the embodiment involved in Figure 2C, which will not be repeated here.

Step S3303: The terminal determines the third information.

In some embodiments, the optional implementation of step S3303 can refer to the optional implementation of step S2303 in Figure 2C and other related parts of the embodiment involved in Figure 2C, which will not be repeated here.

Step S3304: The terminal determines the fourth information.

In some embodiments, the optional implementation of step S3304 can refer to the optional implementation of step S2104 in Figure 2A and other related parts of the embodiment involved in Figure 2A, which will not be repeated here.

In some embodiments, the optional implementation of step S3304 can refer to the optional implementation of step S2204 in Figure 2B and other related parts of the embodiment involved in Figure 2B, which will not be repeated here.

Step S3305: The terminal maintains synchronization with the network device.

In some embodiments, the optional implementation of step S3305 can refer to the optional implementation of step S2105 in Figure 2A and other related parts of the embodiment involved in Figure 2A, which will not be repeated here.

The information indication method involved in the embodiment of the present disclosure may include at least one of steps S3301 to S3305. For example, step S3301 and step S3302 may be implemented as independent embodiments, and step S3301 may be implemented as an independent embodiment, but is not limited thereto.

In some embodiments, step S3303, step S3304, and step S3305 are optional, and one or more of these steps may be omitted or replaced in different embodiments. It is understandable that when the network device sends the second information to the terminal to control the terminal to stop uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, the terminal does not need to determine the third information and the fourth information.

In some embodiments, step S3302, step S3303, step S3304, and step S3305 are optional, and one or more of these steps may be omitted or replaced in different embodiments. It is understandable that, if the terminal does not have the ability to maintain uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, the network device may not send the second information to the terminal, and the terminal does not need to determine the third information and the fourth information.

FIG3D is a flow chart of an information indication method according to an exemplary embodiment. As shown in FIG3D , the embodiment of the present disclosure relates to an information indication method, which is executed by terminal 101, and the method includes:

Step S3401: The terminal sends first information to the network device.

In some embodiments, the first information indicates whether the terminal supports maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires.

In some embodiments, the network device is a network device of a non-terrestrial NTN.

In some embodiments, the first information includes at least one of the following:

A first indication, indicating whether the terminal supports maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires;

The first time information indicates a first time length for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires.

In some embodiments, the first information only includes the first indication, and the duration for which the terminal maintains uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires is determined according to the timing duration of the first timer.

In some embodiments, the first timer includes: a timing advance timer TAT.

In some embodiments, the first information includes only the first time information.

When the duration value indicated by the first time information is zero, it indicates that the terminal does not support maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires; and/or,

When the duration value indicated by the first time information is not zero, indicating that the terminal supports maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires; and/or,

When the duration value indicated by the first time information is greater than zero, it indicates that uplink transmission is supported to be maintained when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires and the duration value of the maintenance is determined according to the first time information.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises:

Receive the second information sent by the network device; the second information is used to determine if the validity period of the terminal's location information expires Whether to maintain uplink transmission.

In some embodiments, the second information includes at least one of the following:

A second indication, indicating whether the terminal maintains uplink transmission;

The second time information indicates a time length for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires.

In some embodiments, the second information includes only the second time information, and when the duration value indicated by the second time information is zero, the terminal is instructed to stop uplink transmission; and/or,

When the duration value indicated by the second time information is not zero, the terminal is instructed to maintain uplink transmission.

In some embodiments, the second information is carried in a control unit CE of a radio resource control layer RRC signaling and/or a medium access control MAC.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises:

The second information instructs the terminal to maintain uplink transmission, and the terminal determines third information; wherein the third information indicates a second time length for the terminal to maintain uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires.

In some embodiments, the terminal determines the third information, including one of the following:

The second information includes only the second indication, and the terminal determines that the duration for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires is determined according to the remaining duration of the first timer;

The second information includes second time information, and the terminal determines that the duration value for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires is determined according to the second time information;

The terminal determines, according to a predefined rule, a second time length for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires.

In some embodiments, the terminal determines, according to a predefined rule, a second time length for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, including:

The timing duration of the first timer is a predetermined value, and the terminal determines that the duration for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires is determined by the second time information;

or,

The timing duration of the first timer is not a predetermined value, and the terminal determines that the duration for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires is determined by the remaining duration of the first timer.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises:

Determine fourth information based on the third information; wherein the fourth information is used for the terminal to maintain uplink transmission within the second time length.

In some embodiments, the fourth information includes at least one of the following:

Timing advance TA adjustment amount;

TA drift rate.

In some embodiments, determining the fourth information according to the third information includes:

Determine fifth information according to the third information; the fifth information is used to determine whether the location information is in an available state within a second time length for maintaining uplink transmission;

The fourth information is determined based on the fifth information.

In some embodiments, determining the fourth information according to the fifth information includes at least one of the following:

The location information of the terminal is available for a second time length, and fourth information is determined based on the first location of the terminal;

The location information of the terminal is not available for a second length of time, and fourth information is determined based on a second location of the terminal; the first location and the second location are different;

The location information of the terminal is unavailable for the second time length, and the fourth information is determined based on the timing advance command TAC sent by the network device.

In some embodiments, the first position includes at least one of the following:

a first location determined based on the location information;

A first position determined based on a position adjustment amount determined by the terminal itself and the position information;

A first position is determined based on the position adjustment amount and the position information indicated by the network device.

In some embodiments, the second position includes at least one of the following:

The second location determined by the terminal based on the sixth information; the sixth information is used to determine the mobility status of the network device of the NTN;

The second location is determined based on second information sent by the network device of the NTN.

FIG4A is a flow chart of an information indication method according to an exemplary embodiment. As shown in FIG4A , the embodiment of the present disclosure relates to an information indication method, which is executed by a network device 102, and the method includes:

Step S4101: The network device receives the first information sent by the terminal.

In some embodiments, the optional implementation of step S4101 can refer to the optional implementation of step S2101 in Figure 2A and other related parts of the embodiment involved in Figure 2A, which will not be repeated here.

Step S4102: The network device sends second information to the terminal.

In some embodiments, the optional implementation of step S4102 can refer to the optional implementation of step S2102 in Figure 2A and other related parts of the embodiment involved in Figure 2A, which will not be repeated here.

The information indication method involved in the embodiment of the present disclosure may include at least one of step S4201 to step S4202. For example, step S4201 may be implemented as an independent embodiment, but is not limited thereto.

In some embodiments, step S4202 is optional, and one or more of these steps may be omitted or replaced in different embodiments. It is understandable that if the terminal does not have the ability to maintain uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, the network device may not send the second information to the terminal.

FIG4B is a flow chart of an information indication method according to an exemplary embodiment. As shown in FIG4B , the embodiment of the present disclosure relates to an information indication method, which is executed by the network device 102, and the method includes:

Step S4201: The network device receives the first information sent by the terminal.

In some embodiments, the first information indicates whether the terminal supports maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires.

In some embodiments, the first information includes at least one of the following:

A first indication, indicating whether the terminal supports maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires;

The first time information indicates a first time length for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires.

In some embodiments, the first information only includes a first indication, indicating that when the validity period of the location information expires, the duration for which the terminal maintains uplink transmission is determined according to the timing duration of the first timer.

In some embodiments, the first timer includes: a timing advance timer TAT.

In some embodiments, the first information includes only the first time information, and when the duration value indicated by the first time information is zero, it indicates that the terminal does not support maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires; and/or,

When the duration value indicated by the first time information is not zero, indicating that the terminal supports maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires; and/or,

When the duration value indicated by the first time information is greater than zero, it indicates that uplink transmission is supported to be maintained when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires and the duration value of the maintenance is determined according to the first time information.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises:

Sending second information to the terminal; the second information is used to determine whether to maintain uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires.

In some embodiments, the second information includes at least one of the following:

A second indication, indicating whether the terminal maintains uplink transmission;

The second time information indicates a time length for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires.

In some embodiments, the second information includes only the second time information, and when the duration value indicated by the second time information is zero, the terminal is instructed to stop uplink transmission; and/or,

When the duration value indicated by the second time information is not zero, the terminal is instructed to maintain uplink transmission.

In some embodiments, the second information includes second time information, indicating that the duration for which the terminal maintains uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires is determined according to the second time information.

In some embodiments, the second information only includes a second indication, indicating that the duration for which the terminal maintains uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires is determined according to the remaining duration of the first timer.

In some embodiments, the second information is carried in a control unit CE of a radio resource control layer RRC signaling and/or a medium access control MAC.

FIG5 is an interactive schematic diagram of an information indication method according to an exemplary embodiment. As shown in FIG5 , the embodiment of the present disclosure relates to an information indication method, which is used in a communication system 100, and the method includes one of the following steps:

Step S5101: The terminal sends first information to the network device.

In some embodiments, the first information indicates whether the terminal supports maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires.

In some embodiments, the above method may include the methods of the above-mentioned communication system side, terminal side, access network equipment side, core network equipment side, etc., which will not be repeated here.

The disclosed embodiment provides a method for maintaining the uplink transmission of a terminal by reporting the terminal capability when the original GNSS information is out of date. The method can be applied to a satellite communication system, and the terminal can perform uplink synchronization operations based on the method to maintain an effective connection with the network side.

Step 1: Terminal capability reporting;

The terminal reports capability indication information, which is used to indicate whether the terminal supports maintaining its uplink transmission when the GNSS is expired.

It should be noted that the capability indication information corresponds to the first indication of the present disclosure.

In one implementation manner, the terminal only reports information on whether it is supported, and the base station determines that the time X during which the terminal can maintain its uplink transmission when its GNSS is expired is TAT information.

In another implementation, the terminal reports time information to indicate that the terminal can maintain the time length information of its uplink transmission when the GNSS support expires, and the terminal does not expect the length information of X configured by the base station to exceed its reported capability information.

It should be noted that the time information corresponds to the first time information disclosed in the present invention.

Step 2: The terminal determines whether to support uplink transmission with extended time;

The terminal receives configuration information from the base station to determine whether to support maintaining its uplink transmission when the GNSS is expired.

Option 1: Direct configuration via high-level signaling.

In this method, the terminal receives high-level signaling such as RRC or MAC CE sent by the base station to determine whether uplink transmission is supported.

Option 2: Extended time based on a configured non-zero value.

In this method, the terminal receives the extended time information. If the extended time is a non-zero value, the terminal determines that uplink transmission is supported during the extended time. If the extended time is a zero value, the terminal determines that uplink transmission is not supported during the extended time.

It should be noted that the extended time information corresponds to the second time information disclosed in the present invention.

Step 3: The terminal determines the uplink timing adjustment information of the extended uplink transmission;

The terminal determines whether the GNSS information within the extended time is in an available state.

(1) GNSS information is available.

In this case, the terminal receives the configuration signaling of the base station or determines the length of the extension time and the available time of the GNSS information based on a predefined method. As shown in Figure 6, Figure 6 is a schematic diagram showing the length of time a terminal maintains uplink transmission after the validity period of location information expires according to an exemplary embodiment.

In one implementation, the terminal determines that the length of the extension time is the remaining time of the terminal's timing advance timer (TAT timer). During the TAT timer, the terminal believes that the original GNSS information is available, and the terminal still performs uplink timing adjustment based on the original GNSS information.

In another implementation method, the terminal determines that the length of the extended time is the time configured by a base station. The terminal receives high-level signaling or physical layer signaling from the base station to determine the length of the extended time. The terminal considers that the original GNSS information is available within the extended time, and the terminal still performs uplink timing adjustment based on the original GNSS information.

In another implementation, the terminal determines that the length of the extension time is the remaining time of the TAT timer or a time configured by a base station.

The terminal determines that the extended time is the remaining time of the TAT timer or a time configured by the base station based on predefined rules. For example, a possible predefined rule is to determine the value of the TAT timer. If it is a predefined value, such as infinite, then the terminal uses the time information configured by the base station. If the value of the TAT timer is a value other than the predefined value, then the terminal uses the value of the TAT timer as the extended time. The terminal considers that the original GNSS information is available within the extended time length, and the terminal still performs uplink timing adjustment based on the original GNSS information.

In another implementation, the GNSS information used by the terminal during the extended time may be the GNSS information during the previous GNSS available time, or an adjustment value relative to the original GNSS information determined by the terminal based on the implementation or the indication information received by the terminal from the base station. The terminal performs timing adjustment of uplink transmission within the target extended time based on the adjustment value of the GNSS information.

(2) GNSS information is unavailable

The terminal determines that the GNSS validity duration is extended, and determines that the terminal has no available GNSS information during the extended time.

In one implementation, the uplink timing adjustment is determined based on the original GNSS position information.

In another implementation, the terminal determines the uplink timing adjustment based on an additional offset value on the original GNSS information, and the additional offset value is determined by the terminal implementation or determined by the terminal based on configuration information of the base station.

In another implementation manner, the terminal determines that the validity period of the GNSS is not extended, the terminal determines that the GNSS is in an unavailable state, and the terminal determines the uplink timing adjustment by receiving a closed-loop adjustment command from the base station.

The embodiments of the present disclosure also provide a device for implementing any of the above methods, for example, a device is provided, the above device includes a unit or module for implementing each step performed by the terminal in any of the above methods. For another example, another device is provided, including a unit or module for implementing each step performed by a network device (for example, an access network device, or a core network device, etc.) in any of the above methods.

It should be understood that the division of the units or modules in the above device is only a division of logical functions, which can be fully or partially integrated into one physical entity or physically separated in actual implementation. In addition, the units or modules in the device can be implemented in the form of a processor calling software: for example, the device includes a processor, the processor is connected to a memory, and instructions are stored in the memory. The processor calls the instructions stored in the memory to implement any of the above methods or implement the functions of the units or modules of the above device, wherein the processor is, for example, a general-purpose processor, such as a central processing unit (CPU) or a microprocessor, and the memory is a memory inside the device or a memory outside the device. Alternatively, the units or modules in the device may be implemented in the form of hardware circuits, and the functions of some or all of the units or modules may be implemented by designing the hardware circuits. The hardware circuits may be understood as one or more processors; for example, in one implementation, the hardware circuits are application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), and the functions of some or all of the above units or modules may be implemented by designing the logical relationship of the components in the circuits; for another example, in another implementation, the hardware circuits may be implemented by programmable logic devices (PLDs), and Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) may be used as an example, which may include a large number of logic gate circuits, and the connection relationship between the logic gate circuits may be configured by configuring the configuration files, thereby implementing the functions of some or all of the above units or modules. All units or modules of the above devices may be implemented in the form of software called by the processor, or in the form of hardware circuits, or in the form of software called by the processor, and the remaining part may be implemented in the form of hardware circuits.

In the disclosed embodiments, the processor is a circuit with signal processing capability. In one implementation, the processor may be a circuit with instruction reading and execution capability, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, a graphics processing unit (GPU) (which may be understood as a microprocessor), or a digital signal processor (DSP); in another implementation, the processor may implement certain functions through the logical relationship of a hardware circuit, and the logical relationship of the above hardware circuit may be fixed or reconfigurable, such as a hardware circuit implemented by an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or a programmable logic device (PLD), such as an FPGA. In a reconfigurable hardware circuit, the process of the processor loading a configuration document to implement the hardware circuit configuration may be understood as the process of the processor loading instructions to implement the functions of some or all of the above units or modules. In addition, it can also be a hardware circuit designed for artificial intelligence, which can be understood as an ASIC, such as a neural network processing unit (NPU), a tensor processing unit (TPU), a deep learning processing unit (DPU), etc.

FIG7A is a schematic diagram of the structure of a terminal according to an exemplary embodiment. As shown in FIG7A , the terminal 101 includes: a first transceiver module 1011, the transceiver module 1011 is configured to send a first information to a network device, wherein the first information is used to indicate whether the terminal supports maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires. Optionally, the first transceiver module 1011 is used to execute the steps related to information sending and receiving performed by the terminal in any of the above information indication methods, which are not repeated here. Optionally, the terminal 101 also includes a first processing module, and the above-mentioned determination module is used to execute the steps related to information processing performed by the terminal in any of the above information indication methods, which are not repeated here.

FIG7B is a schematic diagram of the structure of a network device according to an exemplary embodiment. As shown in FIG7B , the network device 102 includes: a second transceiver module 1021, configured to receive first information sent by a terminal, wherein the first information is used to indicate whether the terminal supports maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires. Optionally, the second transceiver module 1021 is used to execute the steps related to information sending and receiving performed by the terminal in any of the above information indication methods, which are not described in detail here. Optionally, the network device 102 also includes a second processing module, and the above processing module is used to execute the steps related to information processing performed by the terminal in any of the above methods, which are not described in detail here.

FIG8A is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device 8100 according to an exemplary embodiment. The communication device 8100 may be a network device (e.g., an access network device or a core network device, etc.), or a terminal (e.g., a user device, etc.), or a chip, a chip system, or a processor that supports the network device to implement any of the above methods, or a chip, a chip system, or a processor that supports the terminal to implement any of the above information indication methods. The communication device 8100 may be used to implement the information indication method described in the above method embodiment, and the details may refer to the description in the above method embodiment.

As shown in FIG8A , the communication device 8100 includes one or more processors 8101. The processor 8101 may be a general-purpose processor or a dedicated processor, for example, a baseband processor or a central processing unit. The baseband processor may be used to control the communication protocol and the communication The CPU can be used to control the communication device (such as a base station, a baseband chip, a terminal device, a terminal device chip, a DU or a CU, etc.), execute a program, and process the data of the program. The processor 8101 is used to call instructions so that the communication device 8100 executes any of the above communication methods.

In some embodiments, the communication device 8100 further includes one or more memories 8102 for storing instructions. Optionally, all or part of the memory 8102 may also be outside the communication device 8100.

In some embodiments, the communication device 8100 further includes one or more transceivers 8103. When the communication device 8100 includes one or more transceivers 8103, the communication steps such as sending and receiving in the above method are executed by the transceiver 8103, and the other steps are executed by the processor 8101.

In some embodiments, the transceiver may include a receiver and a transmitter, and the receiver and the transmitter may be separate or integrated. Optionally, the terms such as transceiver, transceiver unit, transceiver, transceiver circuit, etc. may be replaced with each other, the terms such as transmitter, transmission unit, transmitter, transmission circuit, etc. may be replaced with each other, and the terms such as receiver, receiving unit, receiver, receiving circuit, etc. may be replaced with each other.

Optionally, the communication device 8100 further includes one or more interface circuits 8104, which are connected to the memory 8102. The interface circuit 8104 can be used to receive signals from the memory 8102 or other devices, and can be used to send signals to the memory 8102 or other devices. For example, the interface circuit 8104 can read instructions stored in the memory 8102 and send the instructions to the processor 8101.

The communication device 8100 described in the above embodiments may be a network device or a terminal, but the scope of the communication device 8100 described in the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the structure of the communication device 8100 may not be limited by FIG. 8A. The communication device may be an independent device or may be part of a larger device. For example, the communication device may be: (1) an independent integrated circuit IC, or a chip, or a chip system or subsystem; (2) a collection of one or more ICs, optionally, the above IC collection may also include a storage component for storing data and programs; (3) an ASIC, such as a modem; (4) a module that can be embedded in other devices; (5) a receiver, a terminal device, an intelligent terminal device, a cellular phone, a wireless device, a handheld device, a mobile unit, a vehicle-mounted device, a network device, a cloud device, an artificial intelligence device, etc.; (6) others, etc.

Fig. 8B is a schematic diagram of the structure of a chip 8200 according to an exemplary embodiment. In the case where the communication device 8100 may be a chip or a chip system, reference may be made to the schematic diagram of the structure of the chip 8200 shown in Fig. 8B, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

The chip 8200 includes one or more processors 8201, and the processor 8201 is used to call instructions so that the chip 8200 executes any of the above communication methods.

In some embodiments, the chip 8200 further includes one or more interface circuits 8202, which are connected to the memory 8203. The interface circuit 8202 can be used to receive signals from the memory 8203 or other devices, and the interface circuit 8202 can be used to send signals to the memory 8203 or other devices. For example, the interface circuit 8202 can read the instructions stored in the memory 8203 and send the instructions to the processor 8201. Optionally, the terms such as interface circuit, interface, transceiver pin, and transceiver can be replaced with each other.

In some embodiments, the chip 8200 further includes one or more memories 8203 for storing instructions. Optionally, all or part of the memory 8203 may be outside the chip 8200.

The present disclosure also provides a storage medium, on which instructions are stored, and when the instructions are executed on the communication device 8100, the communication device 8100 executes any of the above methods. Optionally, the storage medium is an electronic storage medium. Optionally, the storage medium is a computer-readable storage medium, but it can also be a storage medium readable by other devices. Optionally, the storage medium can be a non-transitory storage medium, but it can also be a temporary storage medium.

The present disclosure also provides a program product, and when the program product is executed by the communication device 8100, the communication device 8100 executes any one of the above communication methods. Optionally, the program product is a computer program product.

The present disclosure also provides a computer program, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute any one of the above communication methods.

Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate other embodiments of the present invention after considering the specification and practicing the invention disclosed herein. The present disclosure is intended to cover any variations, uses or adaptations of the present invention that follow the general principles of the present invention and include common knowledge or customary techniques in the art that are not disclosed in the present disclosure. The description and examples are to be considered exemplary only, and the true scope and spirit of the present invention are indicated by the following claims.

It should be understood that the present invention is not limited to the exact construction that has been described above and shown in the drawings and that various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope thereof. The scope of the present invention is limited only by the appended claims.

Claims (36)

An information indication method is performed by a terminal, wherein the method comprises: The terminal sends first information to the network device, wherein the first information is used to indicate whether the terminal supports maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires. The method according to claim 1, wherein the network device is a non-terrestrial NTN network device. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first information includes at least one of the following: A first indication, indicating whether the terminal supports maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information of the terminal expires; The first time information indicates a first time length for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires. The method according to claim 3, wherein the first information includes a first indication, and the duration for which the terminal maintains uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires is determined according to the timing duration of the first timer. The method according to claim 4, wherein the first timer comprises: a timing advance timer TAT. The method according to claim 3, wherein the first information comprises first time information, In a case where the duration value indicated by the first time information is zero, indicating that the terminal does not support maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information of the terminal expires; and/or, When the duration value indicated by the first time information is not zero, instructing the terminal to support maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information of the terminal expires; and/or, When the duration value indicated by the first time information is greater than zero, it indicates that uplink transmission is supported to be maintained when the validity period of the location information of the terminal expires and the duration value of the maintenance is determined according to the first time information. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the method further comprises: Receive second information sent by the network device; the second information is used to determine whether to maintain the uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires. The method according to claim 7, wherein the second information includes at least one of the following: a second indication, indicating whether the terminal maintains the uplink transmission; The second time information indicates a time length configured for the terminal to maintain uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information of the terminal expires. The method according to claim 8, wherein the second information comprises the second time information, When the duration value indicated by the second time information is zero, instructing the terminal to stop the uplink transmission; and/or, When the duration value indicated by the second time information is not zero, instruct the terminal to maintain the uplink transmission. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein the second information is carried in a control unit CE of a radio resource control layer RRC signaling and/or a media access control MAC. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 10, wherein the method further comprises: The second information instructs the terminal to maintain the uplink transmission, and the terminal determines third information; wherein the third information is used to instruct the terminal to maintain the uplink transmission for a second time length when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires. The method according to claim 11, wherein the terminal determines the third information, comprising one of the following: The second information includes a second indication, and the terminal determines that a duration value for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires is determined according to a remaining duration of the first timer; The second information includes the second time information, and the terminal determines that a duration value for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires is determined according to the second time information; The terminal determines, according to a predefined rule, a second time length for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires. The method according to claim 12, wherein the terminal determines, according to a predefined rule, a second time length for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires, comprising: The timing duration of the first timer is a predetermined value, and the terminal determines that the duration for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires is determined by the second time information; or, The timing duration of the first timer is not a predetermined value, and the terminal determines that the duration for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires is determined by the remaining duration of the first timer. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 13, wherein the method further comprises: Determine fourth information based on the third information; wherein the fourth information is used for the terminal to maintain the uplink transmission within the second time length. The method according to claim 14, wherein the fourth information includes at least one of the following: Timing advance TA adjustment amount; TA drift rate. The method according to claim 14 or 15, wherein determining the fourth information according to the third information comprises: Determine fifth information according to the third information; the fifth information is used to determine whether the location information is in an available state within the second time length for maintaining the uplink transmission; The fourth information is determined according to the fifth information. The method according to claim 16, wherein determining the fourth information according to the fifth information comprises at least one of the following: The location information of the terminal is available during the second time period, and the fourth information is determined based on the first location of the terminal; The location information of the terminal is unavailable during the second time period, and the fourth information is determined based on the second location of the terminal; the first location and the second location are different; The location information of the terminal is not available during the second time length, and the fourth information is determined based on a timing advance command TAC sent by the network device. The method of claim 17, wherein the first position comprises at least one of: a first location determined based on the location information; A first position determined based on a position adjustment amount determined by the terminal itself and the position information; A first position is determined based on the position adjustment amount indicated by the network device and the position information. The method of claim 17, wherein the second position comprises at least one of: The second location determined by the terminal based on the sixth information; the sixth information is used to determine the mobility status of the network device of the NTN; The second location is determined based on the second information sent by the network device of the NTN. An information indication method is performed by a network device, wherein the method comprises: The network device receives first information sent by a terminal, where the first information is used to indicate whether the terminal supports maintaining uplink transmission when a validity period of the terminal's location information expires. The method according to claim 20, wherein the first information includes at least one of the following: A first indication, indicating whether the terminal supports maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information of the terminal expires; The first time information indicates a first time length for maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires. The method according to claim 21, wherein the first information includes a first indication, indicating that the duration for which the terminal maintains uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires is determined according to the timing duration of the first timer. The method according to claim 22, wherein the first timer comprises: a timing advance timer TAT. The method according to claim 21, wherein the first information includes first time information, and when the duration value indicated by the first time information is zero, it indicates that the terminal does not support maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information of the terminal expires; and/or When the duration value indicated by the first time information is not zero, instructing the terminal to support maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information of the terminal expires; and/or, When the duration value indicated by the first time information is greater than zero, it indicates that uplink transmission is supported to be maintained when the validity period of the location information of the terminal expires and the duration value of the maintenance is determined according to the first time information. The method according to any one of claims 20 to 24, wherein the method further comprises: Sending second information to the terminal; the second information is used to determine whether to maintain the uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information of the terminal expires. The method according to claim 25, wherein the second information includes at least one of the following: a second indication, indicating whether the terminal maintains the uplink transmission; The second time information indicates a time length configured for the terminal to maintain uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information of the terminal expires. The method according to claim 26, wherein the second information comprises the second time information, When the duration value indicated by the second time information is zero, instructing the terminal to stop the uplink transmission; and/or, When the duration value indicated by the second time information is not zero, instruct the terminal to maintain the uplink transmission. The method according to claim 26, wherein the second information includes second time information, indicating that the duration for which the terminal maintains uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires is determined according to the second time information. The method according to claim 26, wherein the second information includes a second indication, indicating that the duration for which the terminal maintains uplink transmission when the validity period of the location information expires is determined according to the remaining duration of the first timer. The method according to any one of claims 25 to 29, wherein the second information is carried in a radio resource control layer RRC signaling and/or medium access control MAC control unit CE. An information indication method, wherein the method comprises: The terminal sends first information to the network device; wherein the first information is used to indicate whether the terminal supports maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires. A terminal, wherein the terminal comprises: The first transceiver module is configured to send first information to the network device, wherein the first information is used to indicate whether the terminal supports maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires. A network device, wherein the network device comprises: The second transceiver module is configured to receive first information sent by the terminal, where the first information is used to indicate whether the terminal supports maintaining uplink transmission when the validity period of the terminal's location information expires. A communication system, wherein the communication system comprises a terminal and a network device; the terminal is configured to implement the information indication method described in any one of claims 1 to 19, and the network device is configured to implement the information indication method described in any one of claims 20 to 30. A communication device, wherein the communication device comprises: one or more processors; The processor is used to call instructions so that the communication device executes the information indication method described in any one of claims 1 to 19 or claims 20 to 30. A storage medium, wherein the storage medium stores instructions, and when the instructions are executed on a communication device, the communication device executes the information indication method described in any one of claims 1 to 19 or claims 20 to 30.