WO2025098407A1 - Communication method, and communication device, medium and program product - Google Patents

Abstract

A communication method, and a communication device, a storage medium and a program product. The communication method comprises: a terminal device receiving a synchronization signal and physical broadcasting channel block (SSB) on the basis of a first receiving configuration for receiving the SSB, wherein the SSB carries information associated with the SSB, the SSB is one of a plurality of SSBs in an SSB burst, and the plurality of SSBs in the SSB burst are subjected to frequency division multiplexing in a frequency domain, or the plurality of SSBs in the SSB burst are subjected to frequency division multiplexing in the frequency domain and are subjected to time division multiplexing in a time domain; and in addition, on the basis of the information, the terminal device determining a second receiving configuration for receiving at least one SSB after the SSB. In this way, a terminal device can adjust a receiving policy on the basis of information associated with an SSB, so as to complete access as soon as possible, thereby reducing the access delay and increasing the dormancy opportunity.

Description

A communication method, communication device, medium and program product

This disclosure claims the priority of the Chinese patent application filed with the China Patent Office on November 7, 2023, with application number 2023114798586 and invention name “A communication method, communication equipment, medium and program product”, all contents of which are incorporated by reference in this application.

Technical Field

The present disclosure generally relates to the field of communications, and more particularly to a communication method, a communication device, a computer-readable storage medium, and a computer program product.

Background Art

In order to meet the growing demand for wireless communications, wireless communication systems have introduced more and more new spectrum resources. High frequency has the natural advantage of large bandwidth and is one of the effective ways to improve communication service capabilities. However, high frequency has serious path loss compared to low frequency. In order to overcome this defect, the base station side continues to evolve towards large array technology, which results in narrower beams and an increasing number of beams. In order to maintain good communication quality, base stations and terminal devices need to perform beam training and beam tracking to achieve beam alignment. However, there are still some problems to be solved in beam management, including beam training and beam tracking.

Summary of the invention

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a communication method, a communication device, a computer-readable storage medium, and a computer program product.

In a first aspect of the present disclosure, a communication method is provided. The method includes: receiving a synchronization signal broadcast channel block based on a first receiving configuration for receiving a synchronization signal and physical broadcasting channel block (SSB), wherein the synchronization signal broadcast channel block carries information associated with the synchronization signal broadcast channel block, the synchronization signal broadcast channel block is one of a plurality of synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in a synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst, and wherein a plurality of synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in a synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst are frequency-division multiplexed in the frequency domain, or a plurality of synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in a synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst are frequency-division multiplexed in the frequency domain and time-division multiplexed in the time domain; and determining a second receiving configuration for receiving at least one synchronization signal broadcast channel block after the synchronization signal broadcast channel block based on the information. In this way, the terminal device can adjust the receiving strategy according to the information associated with the synchronization signal broadcast channel block to complete access as soon as possible, reduce access delay, and increase sleep opportunities.

In some embodiments, the information includes at least one of the following: the number of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst; the dimension of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block pattern of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst, the dimension including at least one of the time domain dimension and the frequency domain dimension; or the relative position of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst, the relative position including at least one of the relative time domain position and the relative frequency domain position. Thus, the total number of synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks, the number of time division multiplexing and/or frequency division multiplexing of the synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks can be dynamically adjusted according to different coverage and energy saving requirements.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises: determining a first receiving configuration based on the first pattern information and the processing capability of the terminal device before receiving the synchronization signal broadcast channel block. Thus, before the terminal device receives information associated with the synchronization signal broadcast channel block, a suitable initial receiving strategy can be effectively determined.

In some embodiments, the first pattern information includes default dimension information of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block pattern of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst, and the default dimension information includes at least one of the following: a default number of frequency division multiplexing of multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst in the frequency domain, a default number of time division multiplexing of multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in the time domain, or a default number of synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst. Thereby, the flexibility of the dimensional configuration of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block can be improved.

In some embodiments, the first pattern information includes maximum dimension information of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block pattern of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst, and the maximum dimension information includes at least one of the following: the maximum number of frequency division multiplexing of multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst in the frequency domain, the maximum number of time division multiplexing of multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in the time domain, or the maximum number of synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst. Thereby, the flexibility of the dimensional configuration of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block can be improved.

In some embodiments, the first pattern information is predefined or indicated by a network device. Thus, the flexibility of the configuration mode of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block can be improved, thereby helping the terminal device to determine a suitable high-frequency receiving strategy.

In some embodiments, the first receiving configuration includes information related to a first dimension of a synchronization signal broadcast channel block pattern of a synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst determined based on the first pattern information and the processing capability of the terminal device, and wherein determining the second receiving configuration includes: determining information related to a second dimension of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block pattern used by the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst based on the information; and at least one of the following: One: based on determining that the information related to the first dimension is different from the information related to the second dimension, the first receiving configuration is adjusted based on the information related to the second dimension and the processing capability of the terminal device to obtain the second receiving configuration; or based on determining that the information related to the first dimension is the same as the information related to the second dimension, the first receiving configuration is kept as the second receiving configuration. In this way, the adjustment or maintenance of the receiving strategy can be efficiently achieved, so as to complete the access as soon as possible, reduce the access delay, and increase the sleep opportunity.

In some embodiments, the information includes at least one of the following: a synchronization signal broadcast channel block pattern of a synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst; or an arrangement rule of a synchronization signal broadcast channel block pattern of a synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst group, wherein the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst is one of multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel block bursts in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst group, and the number of synchronization signal broadcast channel block bursts included in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst group is equal to the number of multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst that are frequency-division multiplexed in the frequency domain. Thus, the synchronization signal broadcast channel block pattern or the arrangement rule of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block pattern can be defined according to different coverage and energy-saving requirements, so that terminal devices with different receiving and processing capabilities can complete access as soon as possible, quickly reduce access delays, and increase sleep opportunities.

In some embodiments, the arrangement rules of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block pattern of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst group satisfy: the numbers of multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in a synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst group are traversed; in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst group, the numbers of multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in the same frequency domain are traversed; and in N consecutive bursts in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst group, the numbers of multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks of M consecutive frequency points are traversed, where N is the target burst number and M is the target frequency point number. Therefore, based on this effective arrangement rule, the terminal device can complete access as soon as possible and reduce access delay.

In some embodiments, the first receiving configuration is determined based on the first pattern information and the processing capability of the terminal device, and the first pattern information includes: a default synchronization signal broadcast channel block pattern of a synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst; or a default arrangement rule of synchronization signal broadcast channel block patterns of multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel block bursts in a synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst group. This helps the terminal device determine a suitable synchronization signal broadcast channel block pattern or a default arrangement rule of a synchronization signal broadcast channel block pattern before the terminal device receives information associated with the synchronization signal broadcast channel block.

In some embodiments, the first receiving configuration includes first pattern-related information of a synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst determined based on the first pattern information and the processing capability of the terminal device, and wherein determining the second receiving configuration includes: determining the second pattern-related information used for the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst based on the information; and at least one of the following: based on determining that the first pattern-related information is different from the second pattern-related information, the terminal device adjusts the first receiving configuration based on the second pattern-related information and the processing capability of the terminal device to obtain the second receiving configuration; or based on determining that the first pattern-related information is the same as the second pattern-related information, the terminal device maintains the use of the first receiving configuration as the second receiving configuration. Thus, the adjustment or maintenance of the receiving strategy can be efficiently achieved, thereby completing access as soon as possible, reducing access delay, and increasing sleep opportunities.

In some embodiments, the information includes the number of multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel block bursts included in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block period of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block. Thus, a terminal device with strong receiving and processing capabilities is allowed to measure multiple receiving beams within the synchronization signal broadcast channel block period, thereby quickly completing access, reducing access delay, and increasing sleep opportunities.

In some embodiments, the first receiving configuration is determined based on the first pattern information and the processing capability of the terminal device, and the first pattern information includes: a default number of multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel block bursts included in a synchronization signal broadcast channel block period; or a default number range of multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel block bursts included in a synchronization signal broadcast channel block period. Thus, before the terminal device receives information associated with the synchronization signal broadcast channel block, it helps the terminal device determine a suitable initial number of multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel block bursts included in a synchronization signal broadcast channel block period.

In some embodiments, the first receiving configuration includes a first burst number of multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel block bursts included in a synchronization signal broadcast channel block period determined based on the first pattern information and the processing capability of the terminal device, and wherein determining the second receiving configuration includes: determining a second burst number of multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel block bursts included in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block period based on the information; and at least one of the following: based on determining that the first burst number is different from the second burst number, the terminal device adjusts the first receiving configuration based on the second burst number and the processing capability of the terminal device to obtain the second receiving configuration; or based on determining that the first burst number is the same as the second burst number, the terminal device maintains the use of the first receiving configuration as the second receiving configuration. Thus, the adjustment or maintenance of the receiving strategy can be efficiently achieved, thereby completing access as soon as possible, reducing access delay, and increasing sleep opportunities.

In some embodiments, the terminal device processing capability includes the terminal device being able to process a target bandwidth in the frequency domain, the target bandwidth including at least one of a protection bandwidth and a first number of unit processing bandwidths, the unit processing bandwidth being the bandwidth of a single synchronization signal broadcast channel block. Thus, terminal devices with high processing capabilities can complete access as quickly as possible, reducing access delay.

In some embodiments, determining the second receiving configuration includes: determining that the number of synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst that are frequency-division multiplexed in the frequency domain is a second number based on the information; and at least one of the following: determining that the first number is greater than or equal to The second number determines the second number of synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks after the terminal device receives the synchronization signal broadcast channel block in the frequency domain; or based on determining that the first number is less than the second number, determines the first number of synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks after the terminal device receives the synchronization signal broadcast channel block in the frequency domain. The terminal device can process multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks simultaneously in the frequency domain, which can effectively reduce the access delay.

In some embodiments, determining the second receiving configuration further comprises: determining, based on at least one of the first number, the second number, and the information, switching of a receiving beam for receiving at least one synchronization signal broadcast channel block after the synchronization signal broadcast channel block. Thus, the time for scanning the receiving beam can be effectively reduced, and the access delay can be effectively reduced.

In a second aspect of the present disclosure, a communication method is provided. The method includes: determining a synchronization signal broadcast channel block, wherein the synchronization signal broadcast channel block carries information associated with the synchronization signal broadcast channel block, the synchronization signal broadcast channel block is one of multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in a synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst, and wherein multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst are frequency-division multiplexed in the frequency domain, or multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst are frequency-division multiplexed in the frequency domain and time-division multiplexed in the time domain; and sending the synchronization signal broadcast channel block. In this way, the network device can dynamically adjust the configuration of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block according to different coverage and energy-saving requirements, so that the terminal device can adjust the receiving strategy according to the information associated with the synchronization signal broadcast channel block to complete access as soon as possible, reduce access delay, and increase sleep opportunities.

In some embodiments, the information includes at least one of the following: the number of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst; the dimension of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block pattern of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst, the dimension including at least one of the time domain dimension and the frequency domain dimension; or the relative position of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst, the relative position including at least one of the relative time domain position and the relative frequency domain position. Thus, the total number of synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks, the number of time division multiplexing and/or frequency division multiplexing of the synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks can be dynamically adjusted according to different coverage and energy saving requirements.

In some embodiments, the information includes at least one of the following: a synchronization signal broadcast channel block pattern of a synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst; or an arrangement rule of a synchronization signal broadcast channel block pattern of a synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst group, wherein the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst is one of multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel block bursts in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst group, and the number of synchronization signal broadcast channel block bursts included in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst group is equal to the number of multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst that are frequency-division multiplexed in the frequency domain. Thus, the network device can define the synchronization signal broadcast channel block pattern or the arrangement rule of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block pattern according to different coverage and energy-saving requirements, so that terminal devices with different receiving and processing capabilities can complete access as soon as possible, quickly reduce access delays, and increase sleep opportunities.

In some embodiments, the arrangement rules of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block pattern of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst group satisfy: the numbers of multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in a synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst group are traversed; in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst group, the numbers of multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks at the same frequency point are traversed; and in N consecutive bursts in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst group, the numbers of multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks at M consecutive frequencies are traversed, where N is the target burst number and M is the target frequency number. Thus, based on the effective arrangement rules, the terminal device can complete access as soon as possible and reduce access delay.

In some embodiments, the information includes the number of multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel block bursts included in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block period of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block. Thus, the network device can define the number of multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel block bursts included in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block period according to different coverage and energy saving requirements, thereby allowing a terminal device with strong receiving and processing capabilities to measure multiple receiving beams within the synchronization signal broadcast channel block period, thereby quickly completing access, reducing access delay, and increasing sleep opportunities.

In a third aspect of the present disclosure, a communication device is provided. The communication device includes a processor and a memory storing instructions. When the instructions are executed by the processor, the terminal device executes any method according to any one of the first to second aspects and their implementations.

In a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, a communication device is provided, wherein the communication device includes a component for executing any method according to any one of the first aspect to the second aspect and implementation manners thereof.

In a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium is provided. The computer-readable storage medium stores instructions, which, when executed by an electronic device, cause the electronic device to execute any method of any one of the first to second aspects and their implementations.

In a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, a computer program product is provided, which includes instructions, and when the instructions are executed by an electronic device, the electronic device executes any method of any one of the first to second aspects and their implementations.

In a seventh aspect of the present disclosure, a chip or a chip system is provided, which includes a processing circuit configured to perform the operation of any method according to any one of the first to second aspects and implementations thereof.

It should be understood that the contents described in this application are not intended to limit the key or important features of the present disclosure, nor are they intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become easily understood through the following description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a communication system in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented.

FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic interactive signaling diagram of a communication process according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

3A and 3B illustrate schematic diagrams of SSB pattern dimensions according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG3C illustrates a signaling diagram of a first example interaction process according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3D illustrates a schematic diagram of an SSB pattern according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG3E illustrates a signaling diagram of a second example interaction process according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

3F and 3G illustrate schematic diagrams of an SSB cycle and an SSB burst pattern according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG3H illustrates a signaling diagram of a third example interaction process according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG3I illustrates a signaling diagram of a fourth example interaction process according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG4 shows a schematic flow chart of a method implemented at a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG5 shows a schematic flow chart of a method implemented at a network device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG6 shows a schematic block diagram of an example communication device that may be used to implement embodiments of the present disclosure.

The same or similar reference numerals are used throughout the drawings to designate the same or similar components.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Although certain embodiments of the present disclosure are shown in the accompanying drawings, it should be understood that the present disclosure can be implemented in various forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments described herein, which are instead provided for a more thorough and complete understanding of the present disclosure. It should be understood that the drawings and embodiments of the present disclosure are only for exemplary purposes and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

In the description of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the term "including" and similar terms should be understood as open inclusion, that is, "including but not limited to". The term "based on" should be understood as "based at least in part on". The term "one embodiment" or "the embodiment" should be understood as "at least one embodiment". The terms "first", "second", etc. may refer to different or the same objects. Other explicit and implicit definitions may also be included below.

Embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented according to any appropriate communication protocol, including but not limited to cellular communication protocols such as third generation (3rd Generation, 3G), fourth generation (4G), fifth generation (5G) and future communication protocols (for example, sixth generation (6G)), wireless local area network communication protocols such as Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11, and/or any other protocol currently known or developed in the future.

The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure are applied to communication systems that follow any appropriate communication protocols, such as General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Enhanced Data rate for GSM Evolution (EDGE), Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service (UMTS), Long Term Evolution (LTE), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), and the like. Code Division Multiple Access, WCDMA), Code Division Multiple Access, CDMA2000, Time Division Synchronization Code Division Multiple Access, TD-SCDMA, Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) system, Time Division Duplex (TDD), fifth generation (5G) systems (e.g., New Radio (NR)) and future communication systems (e.g., sixth generation (6G) systems), and so much.

For the purpose of illustration, the embodiments of the present disclosure are described below with the 5G communication system in 3GPP as the background. However, it should be understood that the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to the communication system, but can be applied to any communication system with similar problems, such as wireless local area network (WLAN), wired communication system, or other communication systems developed in the future.

The term "terminal" or "terminal device" used in this disclosure refers to any terminal device that can communicate with network devices or with each other by wire or wirelessly. Terminal devices may sometimes be referred to as user equipment (UE). Terminal devices may be any type of mobile terminal, fixed terminal or portable terminal. Terminal devices may be various wireless communication devices with wireless communication capabilities. With the rise of Internet of Things (IOT) technology, more and more devices that did not previously have communication capabilities, such as but not limited to household appliances, vehicles, tools and equipment, service equipment and service facilities, have begun to obtain wireless communication capabilities by configuring wireless communication units, so that they can access wireless communication networks and accept remote control. Such devices have wireless communication capabilities because they are configured with wireless communication units, and therefore also belong to the category of wireless communication devices. As an example, terminal devices may include mobile cellular phones, cordless phones, mobile terminals (MT), mobile stations, mobile devices, wireless terminals, handheld devices, clients, subscription stations, portable subscription stations, Internet nodes, communicators, Desktop computers, laptop computers, notebook computers, tablet computers, personal communication system devices, personal navigation devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), wireless data cards, wireless modems (Modulator demodulators, Modems), positioning devices, radio broadcast receivers, e-book devices, gaming devices, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, vehicle-mounted devices, aircraft, virtual reality (VR) devices, augmented reality (AR) devices, wearable devices (e.g., smart watches, etc.), terminal devices in 5G networks or any terminal devices in the evolved public land mobile network (PLMN), other devices that can be used for communication, or any combination thereof. The embodiments of the present disclosure do not limit this.

As an example, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, "terminal" or "terminal device" may refer to UE, access terminal, terminal unit, terminal station, mobile station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, terminal, wireless communication device, terminal agent or terminal device, etc. The access terminal may be a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a handheld device with wireless communication function, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a terminal device in a future 5G network, or a terminal device in a future evolved public land mobile network, etc.

The term "network node" or "network device" used in the present disclosure is an entity or node that can be used to communicate with a terminal device, for example, it can be an access network device. The access network device can be a device deployed in a wireless access network to provide wireless communication functions for mobile terminals, for example, it can be a radio access network (RAN) network device. The access network device can include various types of base stations. The base station is used to provide wireless access services for terminal devices. Specifically, each base station corresponds to a service coverage area, and the terminal device entering the area can communicate with the base station through wireless signals to receive the wireless access service provided by the base station. There may be overlaps between the service coverage areas of the base stations, and the terminal device in the overlapping area can receive wireless signals from multiple base stations, so that the terminal device can be provided with services by multiple base stations at the same time. Depending on the size of the service coverage area provided, the access network device may include a macro base station providing a macro cell, a micro base station for providing a micro cell, a micro base station for providing a micro cell, and a micro micro base station for providing a femto cell. In addition, the access network equipment may also include various forms of relay stations, access points, radio units (Radio Unit, RU), remote radio units (Remote Radio Unit, RRU), radio heads (Radio Head, RH), remote radio heads (Remote Radio Head, RRH), etc. In systems using different wireless access technologies, the names of access network equipment may be different, such as evolved NodeB (evolved NodeB, eNB or eNodeB) in the long-term evolution system network, NodeB (NodeB, NB) in the 3G network, gNodeB (gNB) or NR NodeB (NR NB) in the 5G network, etc. In some scenarios, the access network equipment may include a centralized unit (Central Unit, CU) and/or a distributed unit (Distributed Unit, DU). CU and DU can be placed in different places, for example: DU is remote and placed in an area with high traffic volume, and CU is placed in a central computer room. Alternatively, CU and DU can also be placed in the same computer room. CU and DU may also be different components under one rack. In different systems, CU (or CU-control plane (CP) and CU-user plane (UP)), DU or RU may also have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in an open access network (open RAN, O-RAN or ORAN) system, CU may also be called O-CU (open CU), DU may also be called O-DU, CU-CP may also be called O-CU-CP, CU-UP may also be called O-CU-UP, and RU may also be called O-RU. For the convenience of description, CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU and RU are described as examples in this application. Any unit of CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU and RU in this application may be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module. For the convenience of description, in the subsequent embodiments of the present disclosure, the above-mentioned devices that provide wireless communication functions for mobile terminals are collectively referred to as network devices, and the embodiments of the present disclosure are no longer specifically limited.

As an example, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, a "network device" or "base station device" may refer to a device that can communicate with a terminal device. The base station device may be a base station, a relay station, or an access point. The base station may be a base transceiver station (Base Transceiver Station, BTS) in a Global System for Mobile Communication (Global System for Mobile Communication, GSM) or Code Division Multiple Access (Code Division Multiple Access, CDMA) network, or a 3G base station (NodeB, NB) in a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access, WCDMA), or an eNB or eNodeB (Evolutional NodeB) in an LTE system. The base station device may also be a wireless controller in a Cloud Radio Access Network (Cloud Radio Access Network, CRAN) scenario. The base station device may also be a base station device in a future 5G network or a network device in a future evolved shared land mobile network. The base station device may also be a wearable device or a vehicle-mounted device.

The term "beam" used in the present disclosure is a communication resource. A beam can be a wide beam, a narrow beam, or other types of beams. The technology for forming a beam can be a beamforming technology or other technical means. The beamforming technology can be specifically a digital beamforming technology, an analog beamforming technology, and a hybrid digital/analog beamforming technology. Different beams can be considered as different resources. The same information or different information can be sent through different beams. Optionally, multiple beams with the same or similar communication characteristics can be combined. It is regarded as a beam. A beam may include one or more antenna ports for transmitting data channels, control channels and detection signals, etc. For example, a transmit beam may refer to the distribution of signal strength formed in different directions in space after the signal is transmitted by the antenna, and a receive beam may refer to the distribution of signal strength of wireless signals received from the antenna in different directions in space. It is understandable that one or more antenna ports forming a beam can also be regarded as an antenna port set. When using low-frequency or medium-frequency bands, signals can be sent omnidirectionally or through a wider angle. When using high-frequency bands, thanks to the smaller carrier wavelength of the high-frequency communication system, an antenna array composed of many antenna elements can be arranged at the transmitting end and the receiving end. The transmitting end sends the signal with a certain beamforming weight, so that the transmitted signal forms a beam with spatial directivity. At the same time, the receiving end uses an antenna array with a certain beamforming weight for reception, which can increase the receiving power of the signal at the receiving end and combat path loss.

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

The term "reference signal (RS)" used in the present disclosure refers to a signal with a specific function or purpose. According to the protocol of Long Term Evolution LTE/NR, at the physical layer, uplink communication includes the transmission of uplink physical channels and uplink signals. The uplink physical channels include physical random access channels (PRACH), uplink control channels (PUCCH), uplink data channels (PUSCH), etc., and the uplink signals include channel sounding reference signals (SRS), uplink control channel demodulation reference signals (PUCCH de-modulation reference signals, PUCCH-DMRS), uplink data channel demodulation reference signals PUSCH-DMRS, uplink phase noise tracking signals (PTRS), uplink positioning signals (uplink positioning RS), etc. Downlink communication includes the transmission of downlink physical channels and downlink signals. The downlink physical channels include physical broadcast channel (PBCH), downlink control channel (PDCCH), downlink data channel (PDSCH), etc. The downlink signals include primary synchronization signal (PSS)/secondary synchronization signal (SSS), downlink control channel demodulation reference signal PDCCH-DMRS, downlink data channel demodulation reference signal PDSCH-DMRS, phase noise tracking signal PTRS, channel status information reference signal (CSI-RS), cell signal (CRS) (NR does not have), time/frequency tracking reference signal (TRS) (LTE does not have), LTE/NR positioning signal (positioning RS), etc.

As mentioned above, in order to meet the growing demand for wireless communications, wireless communication systems have introduced more and more new spectrum resources. High frequency has the natural advantage of large bandwidth and is one of the effective ways to improve communication service capabilities. However, high frequency has serious path loss compared to low frequency. In order to overcome this defect, the base station side continues to evolve towards large array technology. As a result, the beams are getting narrower and the number of beams is increasing. In order to maintain good communication quality, the base station and terminal equipment need to perform beam training and beam tracking to achieve the effect of beam alignment.

When the base station controls the terminal to activate a high-frequency cell, beam training is required to determine the base station and terminal beam pair that can meet the communication quality requirements. In the 5G NR standard, the base station sends SSB periodically. For example, the terminal can assume that the default SSB period is 20 milliseconds (millisecond, ms), where the configurable period includes {5, 10, 20, 40, 80, 160} ms. The SSB transmission in each SSB period is completed within 5ms. For the case of multiple beams, the base station will complete the coverage scan of the entire cell within 5ms in each SSB period. That is, the base station uses beams in different directions at different times to send SSBs to complete the broadcast beam coverage of the cell to ensure that terminals at different locations in the network can receive SSB broadcasts. At the same time, the terminal scans the receiving beam, that is, the terminal also uses different beams to receive at different times. The terminal selects the appropriate base station beam and terminal beam according to the received signal strength. Then, the terminal feeds back the selected base station beam information. Specifically, a master information block (MIB) may be carried in the SSB to indicate the channel resources carrying the system information block (SIB) 1. The base station indicates the mapping relationship between the SSB and the random access channel occasion (RO) through the SIB1 message. The terminal performs random access through the physical random access channel resources corresponding to the selected base station beam, so that the base station can obtain the base station beam information selected by the terminal.

However, for SSB with time-division beam scanning, as the large array technology on the high-frequency base station side continues to evolve, the base station beams are becoming narrower and the number of beams is increasing. This leads to increasing energy consumption and delay in terminal measurements, and at the same time, the base station pilot overhead and scanning delay are also increasing. As a result, the chances of the terminal and the base station shutting down and sleeping are getting smaller and smaller. Therefore, an effective beam pairing method is needed.

In view of the above analysis and research, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a communication method. In this method, a terminal device receives a synchronization signal broadcast channel block based on a first receiving configuration for receiving a synchronization signal broadcast channel block. The synchronization signal broadcast channel block carries information associated with the synchronization signal broadcast channel block. The synchronization signal broadcast channel block is one of a plurality of synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in a synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst, and wherein the plurality of synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst are frequency-division multiplexed in the frequency domain, or the plurality of synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst are frequency-division multiplexed in the frequency domain and time-division multiplexed in the time domain. In addition, the terminal device determines a second receiving configuration for receiving at least one synchronization signal broadcast channel block after the synchronization signal broadcast channel block based on the information.

In this way, the terminal device can adjust the receiving strategy according to the information associated with the synchronization signal broadcast channel block to complete the access as quickly as possible, reduce the access delay and increase the sleep opportunity.

The present application will be further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The specific operation methods, functional descriptions, etc. in the method embodiments can also be applied to the device embodiments or system embodiments.

FIG1 shows a schematic diagram of a communication system 100 in which an embodiment of the present disclosure may be implemented. As shown in FIG1 , the system 100 may include a terminal device 110-1 and a terminal device 110-2 (respectively or collectively referred to as terminal device 110), and a network device 120. The network device 120 and the terminal device 110 can communicate with each other, for example, the network device 120 can provide a network access service for the terminal device 110. The terminal device 110 may have a wireless transceiver function, which can communicate with one or more network nodes of one or more communication systems (such as wireless communication) and receive network services provided by the network nodes, where the network nodes include but are not limited to the illustrated network nodes.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the transmission link from the network device 120 to the terminal device 110 may be referred to as a downlink (DL), and the transmission link from the terminal device 110 to the network device 120 may be referred to as an uplink (UL). For example, the network device 120 may send an SSB to the terminal device 110 for beam pairing therebetween.

It should be understood that the communication system 100 shown in FIG1 is only for illustration, and the embodiments of the present disclosure may also be applied to other scenarios, for example, the terminal device 110 and the network device 120 may communicate directly or may perform multi-hop transmission via other relays, for example, the terminal device 110 may be in a dual connection or multi-connection scenario, etc. It should also be understood that the number of terminal devices and network devices shown in FIG1 is only for example. There may be more or fewer terminal devices and network nodes, and the present disclosure does not impose any limitation on this.

In addition, it should be understood that the communication system 100 can be applicable to various scenarios. For example, the communication system 100 can be a 3GPP-related cellular system, such as a 4G, 5G mobile communication system, or a future-oriented evolution system (such as a 6G mobile communication system). The communication system 100 can also be an O-RAN, a cloud radio access network (CRAN), or a wireless fidelity (WiFi) system. The communication system 100 can also be a communication system that integrates two or more of the above systems. In addition, it should also be understood that the above-mentioned communication can follow any appropriate communication technology and corresponding communication standards.

Fig. 2 illustrates a schematic interactive signaling diagram of a communication process 200 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. For the sake of clarity and without any limitation, the process 200 will be described in conjunction with Fig. 1. Fig. 2 involves a terminal device 110 and a network device 120.

As shown in Figure 2, the network device 120 determines (205) an SSB. The SSB may carry information associated with the SSB. For example, the SSB may be one of multiple SSBs in an SSB burst. For example, multiple SSBs may correspond to the same physical cell identifier (PCI) and or the same cell. As an example, multiple SSBs in an SSB burst may be frequency division multiplexed in the frequency domain. Alternatively or additionally, multiple SSBs in an SSB burst may be frequency division multiplexed in the frequency domain and time division multiplexed in the time domain. As an example, the SSB-associated information may be carried in the physical broadcast channel (PBCH) of the SSB. The contents included in the SSB-associated information will be described below in conjunction with various embodiments.

Then, the network device 120 sends (210) the SSB to the terminal device 110. Accordingly, the terminal device 110 receives (215) the SSB from the network device 120 based on the first reception configuration for receiving the SSB. The first reception configuration can be understood as a reception strategy for receiving the SSB, some of which will be described in more detail below in conjunction with the embodiments.

In some embodiments, before receiving the SSB, the terminal device 110 may determine a first receiving configuration (or receiving strategy) based on the first pattern information and the processing capability of the terminal device 110. For example, the first pattern information may be initial or default pattern-related information. Based on such initial or default pattern-related information, the terminal device 110 may determine a receiving strategy for receiving the SSB in combination with its own capabilities. As an example, the first pattern information may be predefined. Thus, before the terminal device 110 receives the indication information, the predefined pattern information may help the terminal device 110 determine a suitable receiving strategy, quickly complete access, reduce access delay, and increase sleep opportunities. Alternatively or additionally, the first pattern information may be indicated by the network device 120. For example, the network device 120 may indicate the first pattern information (e.g., high-frequency SSB pattern time-frequency dimension information, etc.) through low-frequency signaling. Subsequently, the terminal device 110 may determine its first receiving configuration (e.g., high-frequency receiving strategy) based on the high-frequency SSB pattern time-frequency dimension information indicated by the low frequency. Thus, without increasing the high-frequency indication overhead, the terminal device 110 can be helped to determine the appropriate receiving strategy, quickly complete access, reduce access delay, and increase sleep opportunities.

For example, the processing capability of the terminal device 110 may include the ability of the terminal device 110 to process a target bandwidth in the frequency domain. The target bandwidth may be Including a certain number (also referred to as the first number) of unit processing bandwidths F _SSB . The unit processing bandwidth F _SSB may be the bandwidth of a single SSB, also referred to as the minimum processing bandwidth or the minimum bandwidth. Alternatively or additionally, the target bandwidth may include a first number of unit processing bandwidths and a protection bandwidth. As an example, a terminal device 110 with minimum bandwidth processing capability may refer to a terminal device 110 capable of processing one unit processing bandwidth F _SSB in the frequency domain, and a terminal device 110 with X times bandwidth processing capability may refer to a terminal device 110 capable of processing X unit processing bandwidths F _SSB in the frequency domain. As another example, a terminal device 110 with X times bandwidth processing capability may refer to a terminal device 110 capable of processing X unit processing bandwidths F _SSB and a protection bandwidth in the frequency domain.

After receiving the SSB, the terminal device 110 determines (220) a second receiving configuration for receiving at least one SSB after the SSB based on the SSB-associated information. That is, the terminal device 110 can further determine whether it is necessary to adjust or maintain the current receiving configuration (that is, the first receiving configuration) based on the indicated SSB-associated information to obtain the second receiving configuration for subsequent SSB reception. For example, if the number of multiple SSBs in the SSB burst that are frequency-division multiplexed in the frequency domain is determined to be a second number based on the SSB-associated information, if it is determined that the first number associated with the processing capability of the terminal device 110 is greater than or equal to the second number, the terminal device 110 can simultaneously receive the second number of SSBs after the SSB in the frequency domain, otherwise if it is determined that the first number is less than the second number, the terminal device 110 can simultaneously receive the first number of SSBs after the SSB in the frequency domain. In addition, the terminal device 110 can also determine the switching of the receiving beam for receiving at least one SSB after the SSB based on at least one of the first number, the second number and the information.

Then, based on the determined second reception configuration, the terminal device 110 may receive the subsequent SSB. The terminal device 110 may select one SSB from the received multiple SSBs, and the specific selection method may depend on the terminal implementation, which is not limited by the present disclosure. Then, the terminal device 110 may access using the physical random access channel (PRACH) resource corresponding to the selected SSB.

The following will describe the embodiments of SSB-associated information including different contents respectively.

SSB associated information includes dimension related information

In some embodiments, the information associated with an SSB may include the number (or sequence number) of the SSB in the SSB burst. The number may refer to the number of the SSB that carries the number information, i.e., the SSB number carried by the PBCH in SSB i is i. It should be understood that SSBs may be numbered starting from any number. For example, SSBs may be numbered starting from 0, i.e. As another example, SSBs may also be numbered starting from 1, i.e. Exemplarily, the SSB number carried by the PBCH in SSB 6 is 6.

Alternatively or additionally, the SSB-associated information may include the relative position of the SSB in the SSB burst (i.e., in the SSB pattern). For example, the relative position may include a relative time domain position t and/or a relative frequency domain position f. The relative time domain position t and the frequency domain position f may refer to the time division multiplexing position (i.e., time division position) and the frequency division multiplexing position (i.e., frequency division position) of the SSB in the current SSB burst. Exemplarily, the relationship between the relative time domain position t and the frequency domain position f of the SSB in the SSB pattern and the current SSB number may be set as follows: the SSB number and the relative time-frequency position are both numbered from 0, then the relative time domain position is The relative frequency domain position is As another example, the relationship between the relative time domain position t and frequency domain position f of the SSB in the SSB pattern and the current SSB number can be set as follows: the SSB number and the relative time-frequency position are both numbered from 1, then the relative time domain position is The relative frequency domain position is

Alternatively or additionally, the SSB-associated information may include dimension information of the SSB pattern of the SSB burst. For example, the dimension may include a time domain dimension and/or a frequency domain dimension. As an example, the dimension may include the number of frequency divisions of the SSB in the frequency domain within an SSB burst. and/or the number of time divisions in the time domain and/or total number of SSBs

As described above, before receiving the SSB, the terminal device 110 may first determine the first pattern information for determining the first receiving configuration for receiving the SSB based on it and further combined with the processing capability of the terminal device 110. In some examples, the first pattern information may include the default dimension information of the SSB pattern of the SSB burst. The default dimension information of the SSB pattern may be the SSB pattern dimension information assumed by default by the terminal device 110 before receiving the SSB-associated information (e.g., specific SSB pattern dimension information) indicated by the network device 120. For example, the default dimension information may include at least one of the default number of frequency division multiplexing of multiple SSBs in the SSB burst in the frequency domain, the default number of time division multiplexing of multiple SSBs in the time domain, or the default number of SSBs in the SSB burst. In other examples, the first pattern information may include the maximum dimension information of the SSB pattern of the SSB burst. For example, the maximum dimension information of the SSB pattern may be the maximum dimension range of the SSB pattern supported by the system. For example, the maximum dimension information may include at least one of the maximum number of frequency division multiplexing of multiple SSBs in an SSB burst in the frequency domain, the maximum number of time division multiplexing of multiple SSBs in the time domain, or the maximum number of SSBs in an SSB burst. As an example, the maximum dimension information may include one or more of the maximum frequency division number being 4 or 8, the maximum time division number being 64, and the maximum number of SSBs being 64 or 256.

Then, the terminal device 110 may determine the first receiving configuration according to the first pattern information and the bandwidth size capability that it can process. For example, the terminal device 110 may determine the receiving strategy according to the predefined SSB pattern dimension information and the bandwidth size capability that it can process. For example, assuming that the default SSB frequency division is For a terminal device 110 with X times bandwidth processing capability, when When the terminal is set The 110 can simultaneously receive Frequency-divided SSB, and when In addition, the terminal device 110 can determine the switching of the receiving beam according to the determined dimension information of the SSB pattern and the bandwidth size that it can process. For example, the terminal device 110 can switch the receiving beam after each reception. or The receiving beam is switched once after an SSB burst. It should be understood that the above example is described by taking the default dimension information of the SSB pattern of the SSB burst as an example, and a similar method is also applicable to the example in which the first pattern information includes the maximum dimension information of the SSB pattern of the SSB burst. The terminal device 110 can similarly determine the receiving strategy based on the maximum dimension information of the SSB pattern, which is not repeated here.

An example of determining dimension-related information and receiving configuration is given below in conjunction with FIGS. 3A and 3B. FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate schematic diagrams of SSB pattern dimensions according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 3A, The terminal device 110 with the minimum bandwidth processing capability can simultaneously receive a single SSB in the frequency domain. The terminal device 110 with 2 times the bandwidth processing capability can simultaneously receive 2 frequency-divided SSBs in the frequency domain. The terminal device 110 with a bandwidth processing capability greater than or equal to 4 times can simultaneously receive 4 frequency-divided SSBs in the frequency domain. As shown in FIG3B , The terminal device 110 with the minimum bandwidth processing capability can simultaneously receive a single SSB in the frequency domain. The terminal device 110 with a bandwidth processing capability greater than or equal to 2 times can simultaneously receive two frequency-divided SSBs in the frequency domain.

Then, based on the determined first receiving configuration, the terminal device 110 monitors and receives the SSB. After receiving the SSB, the terminal device 110 can determine the second receiving configuration for receiving at least one SSB after the SSB based on the dimension related information obtained from the SSB. For example, in the first receiving configuration, it is assumed that the SSB is received based on the first dimension related information of the SSB pattern of the SSB burst, and after receiving the SSB, in the second receiving configuration determined according to the dimension related information, the SSB pattern of the SSB burst is the second dimension related information. It should be understood that the first dimension related information and the second dimension related information are only used for identification, but not to limit their content. That is, the first dimension related information and the second dimension related information may include the same or different content. According to the implementation, the first dimension related information and the second dimension related information may include one or more of the SSB number, relative time-frequency position, and SSB pattern time-frequency dimension described above. The terminal device 110 can determine whether it is necessary to adjust the receiving strategy based on the comparison of the first dimension related information and the second dimension related information. If the terminal device 110 determines that the first dimension related information is different from the second dimension related information, the terminal device 110 can adjust the first receiving configuration to obtain the second receiving configuration based on the second dimension related information and the processing capability of the terminal device 110. For example, the terminal device 110 can adjust the receiving strategy similarly to obtain the second receiving configuration using the above method for determining the first receiving configuration, which is not described in detail here. If the terminal device 110 determines that the first dimension related information is the same as the second dimension related information, the first receiving configuration can be kept as the second receiving configuration.

An interaction example is given below in conjunction with Figure 3C, which illustrates a signaling diagram of the first example interaction process 300 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 3C, operation 302 is optional. At 302, the terminal device 110 can confirm the receiving strategy based on the predefined SSB pattern dimension-related information and its own receiving and processing capabilities. For example, the protocol may predefine the dimension-related information of the SSB pattern. Alternatively or additionally, the network device 120 may indicate the dimension-related information of the high-frequency SSB pattern through low-frequency signaling. For example, the SSB pattern dimension-related information may include the default dimension-related information of the SSB pattern as described above and/or the maximum dimension-related information of the SSB pattern. The following discussion takes the default dimension-related information as an example. Based on the dimension-related information of the SSB pattern, and in combination with the bandwidth size capability that it can handle, the terminal device 110 can determine the receiving strategy.

Then, at 304, the network device 120 sends an SSB carrying dimension-related information of the SSB pattern to the terminal device 110. Accordingly, at 306, the terminal device 110 receives the SSB from the network device 120. For example, the PBCH in the SSB may carry one or more of the following dimension-related information of the SSB pattern: the current SSB number, the SSB pattern dimension information, and the relative time domain and frequency domain position of the current SSB in the SSB pattern. The network device 120 may send the SSB once or multiple times, and the PBCH in each sent SSB may similarly carry the dimension-related information of the above-mentioned SSB pattern.

At 308, the terminal device 110 adjusts the receiving strategy according to the dimension-related information of the received SSB pattern. For example, if the dimension-related information of the received SSB pattern is consistent with the default dimension-related information of the SSB pattern, then there is no need to adjust the receiving strategy, and if the dimension-related information of the received SSB pattern is inconsistent with the default dimension-related information of the SSB pattern, then the terminal device 110 can adjust the receiving strategy according to the dimension-related information of the received SSB pattern and the bandwidth size capability that it can process.

Then, at 310, the network device 120 continues to send SSBs carrying dimension-related information of the SSB pattern to the terminal device 110. Accordingly, at 312, the terminal device 110 receives the SSBs from the network device 120 based on the updated reception strategy. At 314, the terminal device 110 sends the PRACH to the network device 120. The terminal device 110 can select an SSB from the received multiple SSBs and use the PRACH resources corresponding to the selected SSB for access. At 316, the network device 120 receives the PRACH from the terminal device 110.

In this way, the network device 120 can dynamically adjust the total number of SSBs, the number of SSB time divisions, the number of SSB frequency divisions, etc. according to different coverage and energy-saving requirements. The terminal device 110 can adjust the receiving strategy according to the indication information and its own receiving and processing capabilities to complete the access as soon as possible, reduce the access delay, and increase the sleep opportunity.

SSB-related information includes SSB pattern related information

In some embodiments, the SSB-associated information may include an SSB pattern of an SSB burst. Alternatively or additionally, the SSB-associated information may include an arrangement rule of an SSB pattern of an SSB burst group, wherein the SSB burst is one of a plurality of SSB bursts in the SSB burst group. For example, the number of SSB bursts included in the SSB burst group may be equal to the number of SSBs in the SSB burst that are frequency-division multiplexed in the frequency domain. The SSB bursts in the SSB burst group may belong to the same SSB period or to multiple SSB periods. The SSB pattern or the arrangement rule of the SSB pattern may determine the number of each SSB in the SSB burst.

For example, the arrangement rules of the SSB pattern of the SSB burst group may satisfy: the numbering of multiple SSBs in one SSB burst in the SSB burst group is traversal; in the SSB burst group, the numbering of multiple SSBs in the same frequency domain range (for example, the same frequency point) is traversal; and in N consecutive bursts (for example, the first N consecutive bursts) in the SSB burst group, the numbering of multiple SSBs in M consecutive frequency points is traversal, where N is the target burst number and M is the target frequency point number. For example, M can be

As described above, before receiving the SSB, the terminal device 110 may first determine the first pattern information for determining a first receiving configuration for receiving the SSB based thereon and further in combination with the processing capability of the terminal device 110. In some examples, the first pattern information may include a default SSB pattern for an SSB burst. Alternatively or additionally, the first pattern information may include a default scheduling rule for SSB patterns of multiple SSB bursts in an SSB burst group. For example, if there is only one predefined SSB pattern or SSB number scheduling rule, the pattern or SSB number scheduling rule is the default SSB pattern or SSB number scheduling rule. Otherwise, the protocol may define one of them as the default SSB pattern or SSB number scheduling rule, and number each SSB pattern or SSB number scheduling rule to facilitate indication through SSB carrying in subsequent steps.

Then, the terminal device 110 can determine the first receiving configuration according to the first pattern information and the bandwidth size capability that it can process. For example, the terminal device 110 can determine the receiving strategy according to the default SSB pattern or SSB numbering rule and its own receiving processing capability. For example, assuming that the default SSB frequency division is And the bandwidth of one SSB, F _SSB, is defined as the minimum processing bandwidth. For a terminal device 110 with X times bandwidth processing capability, when When the terminal device 110 can simultaneously receive Frequency-divided SSB, and when In addition, the terminal device 110 can determine the switching of the receiving beam according to the determined pattern information of the SSB pattern and the bandwidth size that it can process. For example, the terminal device 110 can switch the receiving beam after each reception. or The receive beam is switched once after each SSB burst.

An example of determining pattern-related information and receiving configuration is given below in conjunction with FIG. 3D. FIG. 3D illustrates a schematic diagram of an SSB pattern according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 3D, is 4, The SSB pattern of the SSB burst group shown in FIG3D satisfies: the SSB numbers in the same SSB burst are traversed, for example, the numbers of the SSBs in SSB burst 0 are traversed; the SSB numbers of the same frequency point in an SSB burst group are traversed, for example, in the SSB burst group, the numbers of the SSBs in any frequency point (for example, any row) of the frequency points of frequency division multiplexing are traversed; and in every N bursts, the previous The SSB numbers of the frequency points are traversed. For example, in the first two bursts, the SSB numbers of the first two frequency points are traversed.

The SSB pattern of the SSB burst group shown in FIG3D can be based on the following SSB numbering rule. That is, the number of the fth SSB at the tth time of the xth burst in the SSB burst group can be expressed as formula (1):

It should be understood that the arrangement rules described in conjunction with FIG. 3D are only examples, and the present application is not limited thereto. Depending on the specific implementation, the pattern of the SSB burst group may adopt any other suitable arrangement rules. In addition, the patterns of each burst in the SSB burst group shown in FIG. 3D can be exchanged with each other. For example, the patterns of each frequency domain position (i.e., between the rows in the SSB pattern) can be exchanged with each other, and the patterns of each time domain position in each burst (i.e., between the columns) can be exchanged with each other (it should be noted that the exchange method of the columns in each burst must be consistent). Accordingly, the SSB numbering arrangement rule of the SSB numbering can also be exchanged according to the exchange rule of the SSB pattern. As shown in FIG. 3D, a terminal device 110 with a bandwidth processing capability greater than or equal to 4 times can update the receiving beam for every 1 SSB burst, a terminal device 110 with a bandwidth processing capability of 2 times can update the receiving beam for every 2 SSB bursts, and a terminal device 110 with a minimum bandwidth processing capability can update the receiving beam for every 4 SSB bursts (i.e., one SSB burst group).

Then, based on the determined first reception configuration, the terminal device 110 monitors and receives the SSB. After receiving the SSB, the terminal device 110 may determine a second reception configuration for receiving at least one SSB after the SSB based on the SSB pattern or SSB numbering rule information obtained from the SSB. For example, in the first reception configuration, it is assumed that the first pattern information of the SSB pattern of the SSB burst is used to receive the SSB. The SSB is received, and after receiving the SSB, in the second receiving configuration determined according to the SSB pattern or SSB numbering rule information, the pattern-related information used by the SSB burst is the second pattern-related information. It should be understood that the first pattern-related information and the second pattern-related information are only used for identification, without limiting their content. That is, the first pattern-related information and the second pattern-related information may include the same or different content. According to the implementation, the first pattern-related information and the second pattern-related information may include one or more of the SSB pattern or the SSB numbering rule. The terminal device 110 may determine whether it is necessary to adjust the receiving strategy based on the comparison of the first pattern-related information and the second pattern-related information. If it is determined that the first pattern-related information is different from the second pattern-related information, the terminal device 110 may adjust the first receiving configuration based on the second pattern-related information and the processing capability of the terminal device 110 to obtain the second receiving configuration. If it is determined that the first pattern-related information is the same as the second pattern-related information, the terminal device 110 may keep using the first receiving configuration as the second receiving configuration.

An interaction example is given below in conjunction with FIG. 3E, which illustrates a signaling diagram of a second example interaction process 320 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 3E, operation 322 is optional. At 322, the terminal device 110 confirms the receiving strategy based on the default SSB pattern or SSB numbering rule and its own receiving and processing capabilities. For example, the protocol may predefine SSB pattern or SSB numbering rule information. The protocol may predefine one or more SSB patterns or SSB numbering rules. The network device 120 can achieve access as soon as possible for terminal devices 110 with different receiving and processing capabilities through SSB pattern design or SSB numbering, wherein the same SSB number may correspond to the same base station transmit beam. Alternatively or additionally, the network device 120 may indicate the SSB pattern or SSB numbering rule information in advance through signaling. Thus, before the terminal device 110 receives the indication information, it can help the terminal device 110 determine a suitable receiving strategy and quickly complete the access.

Then, at 324, the network device 120 sends an SSB carrying the SSB pattern or SSB numbering rule information to the terminal device 110. Accordingly, at 326, the terminal device 110 receives the SSB from the network device 120. For example, the PBCH in the SSB may carry the SSB pattern or the SSB numbering rule. The network device 120 may send the SSB once or multiple times, and the PBCH in each sent SSB may similarly carry the SSB pattern or SSB numbering rule information actually used, for example, the number of the SSB pattern or the SSB numbering rule, etc.

At 328, the terminal device 110 adjusts the receiving strategy according to the received SSB pattern or SSB numbering rule information. If the received SSB pattern or SSB numbering rule information is consistent with the default SSB pattern or SSB numbering rule information, then there is no need to adjust the receiving strategy. If the received SSB pattern or SSB numbering rule information is inconsistent with the default information, the terminal device 110 can adjust the receiving strategy according to the received SSB pattern or SSB numbering rule information and the bandwidth size capability that it can handle.

Then, at 330, the network device 120 continues to send an SSB carrying SSB pattern or SSB numbering rule information to the terminal device 110. Accordingly, at 332, the terminal device 110 receives the SSB from the network device 120. At 334, the terminal device 110 sends a PRACH to the network device 120. The terminal device 110 can select an SSB from the received multiple SSBs and use the PRACH resources corresponding to the selected SSB for access. At 336, the network device 120 receives the PRACH from the terminal device 110.

In this way, the network device 120 can define SSB patterns or SSB numbering rules according to different coverage and energy-saving requirements, so that terminal devices 110 with different receiving and processing capabilities can complete access as quickly as possible, quickly reduce access delays, and increase sleep opportunities. In addition, the network device 120 can dynamically adjust the SSB pattern or SSB numbering rules according to different coverage and energy-saving requirements to help the terminal device 110 determine a suitable receiving strategy, quickly complete access, reduce access delays, and increase sleep opportunities.

SSB associated information includes burst number information

In some embodiments, the SSB-associated information may include the number of multiple SSB bursts included in the SSB period of the SSB.

As described above, before receiving the SSB, the terminal device 110 may first determine the first pattern information to determine the first receiving configuration for receiving the SSB based on the first pattern information and further combined with the processing capability of the terminal device 110. In some examples, the first pattern information may include a default number of multiple SSB bursts included in the SSB period. Exemplarily, the default number Y of SSB bursts in one SSB period may be 4 or 2. Alternatively, the default number Y of SSB bursts in one SSB period may be proportional to the frequency division of the SSB. Keep the same or less than In some other examples, the first pattern information may include a default number range of multiple SSB bursts included in the SSB period. For example, the default number range of SSB bursts in one SSB period may be described by a minimum number Y _min and/or a maximum number Y _max , for example, Y _min = 1 or Y _min = 2, and/or Y _max = 4 or Y _max = 8.

Then, the terminal device 110 can determine the first receiving configuration according to the first pattern information and the bandwidth size capability that it can process. As an example, the terminal device 110 can confirm the receiving strategy according to the default number Y of SSB bursts and its own receiving processing capability. Exemplarily, it can be assumed by default that the SSB numbering within each SSB burst is traversal. The terminal device 110 with double the bandwidth processing capability can measure Y receiving beams within one SSB cycle, that is, one receiving beam is measured for each SSB burst. The terminal device 110 with a bandwidth processing capability of 100 times can complete the following operations in one SSB cycle: The terminal device 110 with the minimum bandwidth processing capability can measure the same receiving beam within one SSB period, and needs SSB cycles are required to complete the measurement of this receive beam. Alternatively or additionally, when the default number of SSB bursts is not defined, the terminal device 110 can similarly determine the receive strategy based on the number range of SSB bursts. It should be understood that the switching of the receive beam depends on the implementation at the terminal device 110, and the present disclosure does not limit this.

An example of determining the number of SSB bursts and the receiving configuration is given below in conjunction with FIG. 3F and FIG. 3G illustrate schematic diagrams of an SSB period and an SSB burst pattern according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 3F, Y=4. A terminal device 110 with a bandwidth processing capability greater than or equal to 4 times can update the receive beam every 1 SSB burst, and thus can measure 4 receive beams in one SSB cycle. A terminal device 110 with a bandwidth processing capability of 2 times can update the receive beam every 2 SSB bursts, and thus can measure 2 receive beams in one SSB cycle. A terminal device 110 with a minimum bandwidth processing capability can update the receive beam every 4 SSB bursts, and thus can measure 1 receive beam in one SSB cycle. As shown in FIG. 3G, Y=2. A terminal device 110 with a bandwidth processing capability greater than or equal to 4 times can update the receive beam every 1 SSB burst, and thus 2 receive beams can be measured in one SSB cycle. A terminal device 110 with a bandwidth processing capability of 2 times can update the receive beam every 2 SSB bursts, and thus 1 receive beam can be measured in one SSB cycle. A terminal device 110 with a minimum bandwidth processing capability can update the receive beam every 4 SSB bursts, and thus 1 receive beam can be measured in two SSB cycles.

Then, based on the determined first receiving configuration, the terminal device 110 monitors and receives the SSB. After receiving the SSB, the terminal device 110 can determine the second receiving configuration for receiving at least one SSB after the SSB according to the burst number information obtained from the SSB. For example, in the first receiving configuration, it is assumed that the SSB is received based on the number of multiple SSB bursts included in the SSB cycle as the first burst number, and after receiving the SSB, in the second receiving configuration determined according to the burst number information, the number of multiple SSB bursts included in the SSB cycle is the second burst number. It should be understood that the first burst number and the second burst number are only used for identification, but not for limiting their content. That is, the first burst number and the second burst number may include the same or different numbers. The terminal device 110 can determine whether it is necessary to adjust the receiving strategy based on the comparison of the first burst number and the second burst number. If it is determined that the first burst number is different from the second burst number, the terminal device 110 can adjust the first receiving configuration based on the second burst number and the processing capacity of the terminal device 110 to obtain the second receiving configuration. If it is determined that the first burst number is the same as the second burst number, the terminal device 110 may keep using the first reception configuration as the second reception configuration.

An interaction example is given below in conjunction with Figure 3H, which illustrates a signaling diagram of the third example interaction process 340 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 3H, operation 342 is optional. At 342, the terminal device 110 determines the receiving strategy based on the default number or range of SSB bursts and its own receiving processing capability. For example, the protocol may predefine the default number or default number range of SSB bursts within an SSB cycle. Alternatively or additionally, the network device 120 may indicate the default number or default number range of SSB bursts in advance through signaling. Thus. The terminal device 110 can be helped to determine a suitable receiving strategy before the terminal device 110 receives the indication information. Then, based on the default number or range of SSB bursts, and in combination with the bandwidth size capability that it can handle, the terminal device 110 can determine the receiving strategy.

Then, at 344, the network device 120 sends an SSB carrying information about the number of SSB bursts to the terminal device 110. Accordingly, at 346, the terminal device 110 receives the SSB from the network device 120. For example, the PBCH in the SSB may carry the number of SSB bursts. The network device 120 may send the SSB one or more times, and the PBCH in each sent SSB may similarly carry the number of SSB bursts.

At 348, the terminal device 110 adjusts the receiving strategy according to the number of SSB bursts received. If the number of SSB bursts received is consistent with the default number of SSB bursts, then there is no need to adjust the receiving strategy. If the number of SSB bursts received is inconsistent with the default number of SSB bursts, the terminal device 110 can adjust the receiving strategy according to the number of SSB bursts received and the bandwidth size capability that it can handle.

Then, at 350, the network device 120 continues to send an SSB carrying information about the number of SSB bursts to the terminal device 110. Accordingly, at 352, the terminal device 110 receives the SSB from the network device 120. At 354, the terminal device 110 sends a PRACH to the network device 120. The terminal device 110 may select an SSB from the received multiple SSBs and access using the PRACH resources corresponding to the selected SSB. At 356, the network device 120 receives the PRACH from the terminal device 110.

In this way, the terminal device 110 with strong receiving and processing capabilities can be allowed to measure multiple receiving beams within one SSB cycle, quickly complete access, reduce access delay and increase sleep opportunities.

It should be understood that the embodiments of different contents included in the information about SSB association described above can be combined. As an example, the information about SSB association may include any one or more of the above-mentioned dimension-related information, SSB pattern-related information, and burst number information. A combined embodiment is described below in conjunction with FIG. 3I, which illustrates a signaling diagram of a fourth example interaction process 360 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 3I , operation 362 is optional. At 362, the terminal device 110 determines the receiving strategy based on the default SSB pattern or SSB numbering rules, the default number or default number range of SSB bursts, and its own receiving and processing capabilities. For example, the protocol may predefine the default SSB pattern or SSB numbering rules and/or the default number or default number range of SSB bursts. Alternatively or additionally, the network device 120 may indicate the default SSB pattern or SSB numbering rules and/or the default number or default number range of SSB bursts in advance through signaling. Thus. Before the terminal device 110 receives the indication information, the terminal device 110 can be helped to determine a suitable receiving strategy. Then, based on the default SSB pattern or SSB numbering rules, and the default number or range of SSB bursts, and combined with the bandwidth size capability that it can handle, the terminal device 110 can determine the receiving strategy.

Then, at 364, the network device 120 sends an SSB carrying SSB pattern or SSB numbering rule information and SSB burst number information to the terminal device 110. Accordingly, at 366, the terminal device 110 receives the SSB from the network device 120. For example, the PBCH in the SSB may carry the SSB pattern or SSB numbering rule information and the number of SSB bursts. The network device 120 may send the SSB once or multiple times, and the PBCH in each sent SSB may similarly carry the SSB pattern or SSB numbering rule information and the number of SSB bursts.

At 368, the terminal device 110 adjusts the receiving strategy according to the received SSB pattern or SSB numbering rule information and the number of SSB bursts. If the received SSB pattern or SSB numbering rule information is consistent with the default SSB pattern or SSB numbering rule information, and the number of received SSB bursts is consistent with the default number of SSB bursts, then there is no need to adjust the receiving strategy. If the received SSB pattern or SSB numbering rule information is inconsistent with the default SSB pattern or SSB numbering rule information, and/or the number of received SSB bursts is inconsistent with the default number of SSB bursts, the terminal device 110 can adjust the receiving strategy according to the received SSB pattern or SSB numbering rule information, and/or the number of SSB bursts and the bandwidth size capacity that it can handle.

Then, at 370, the network device 120 continues to send an SSB carrying SSB pattern or SSB numbering rule information and SSB burst number information to the terminal device 110. Accordingly, at 372, the terminal device 110 receives the SSB from the network device 120. At 374, the terminal device 110 sends a PRACH to the network device 120. The terminal device 110 can select an SSB from the received multiple SSBs and use the PRACH resources corresponding to the selected SSB for access. At 376, the network device 120 receives the PRACH from the terminal device 110.

In this way, the network device 120 can dynamically adjust the number of SSB bursts and SSB pattern information within the SSB period according to different coverage and energy-saving requirements, thereby enabling a balance between time-frequency resource overhead and access delay.

It should be understood that the implementation of the SSB-associated information including SSB pattern-related information and burst number information described in conjunction with FIG. 3I is only an example implementation. In other implementations, the SSB-associated information may include dimension-related information and SSB pattern-related information, or the SSB-associated information may include dimension-related information, SSB pattern-related information, and burst number information. Similar methods and processes may be applicable and will not be described in detail here.

FIG4 shows a schematic flow chart of a method 400 implemented at a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In one possible implementation, the method 400 may be implemented by a terminal device 110 in a communication system 100. In other possible implementations, the method 400 may also be implemented by other communication devices independent of the communication system 100. As an example, the method 400 will be described below by taking the method 400 implemented by the terminal device 110 in the communication system 100 as an example.

In block 410, the terminal device 110 receives a synchronization signal broadcast channel block based on a first reception configuration for receiving a synchronization signal broadcast channel block, wherein the synchronization signal broadcast channel block carries information associated with the synchronization signal broadcast channel block, the synchronization signal broadcast channel block is one of a plurality of synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in a synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst, and wherein the plurality of synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst are frequency-division multiplexed in the frequency domain, or the plurality of synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst are frequency-division multiplexed in the frequency domain and time-division multiplexed in the time domain. In block 420, the terminal device 110 determines a second reception configuration for receiving at least one synchronization signal broadcast channel block after the synchronization signal broadcast channel block based on the information.

In some embodiments, the information includes at least one of the following: the number of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst; the dimension of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block pattern of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst, the dimension including at least one of the time domain dimension and the frequency domain dimension; or the relative position of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst, the relative position including at least one of the relative time domain position and the relative frequency domain position. In some embodiments, the method 400 further includes: before receiving the synchronization signal broadcast channel block, determining the first receiving configuration based on the first pattern information and the processing capability of the terminal device 110. In some embodiments, the first pattern information includes the default dimension information of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block pattern of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst, the default dimension information including at least one of the following: the default number of frequency division multiplexing of multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst in the frequency domain, the default number of time division multiplexing of multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in the time domain, or the default number of synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst. In some embodiments, the first pattern information includes maximum dimension information of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block pattern of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst, and the maximum dimension information includes at least one of the following: the maximum number of frequency division multiplexing of multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst in the frequency domain, the maximum number of time division multiplexing of multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in the time domain, or the maximum number of synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst. In some embodiments, the first pattern information is predefined or indicated by the network device 120. In some embodiments, the first receiving configuration includes first dimension related information of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block pattern of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst determined based on the first pattern information and the processing capability of the terminal device 110, and determining the second receiving configuration includes: determining the second dimension related information of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block pattern used by the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst based on the information; and at least one of the following: based on determining that the first dimension related information is different from the second dimension related information, adjusting the first receiving configuration based on the second dimension related information and the processing capability of the terminal device 110 to obtain the second receiving configuration; or based on determining that the first dimension related information is the same as the second dimension related information, keeping using the first receiving configuration as the second receiving configuration.

In some embodiments, the information includes at least one of the following: a synchronization signal broadcast channel block pattern of a synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst; or an arrangement rule of a synchronization signal broadcast channel block pattern of a synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst group, wherein the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst is one of a plurality of synchronization signal broadcast channel block bursts in a synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst group, and the number of synchronization signal broadcast channel block bursts included in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst group is equal to the number of frequency division multiplexing of a plurality of synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst in the frequency domain. In some embodiments, the arrangement rule of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block pattern of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst group satisfies: the numbering of a plurality of synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in a synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst group is traversed; in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst group, the numbering of a plurality of synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in the same frequency domain range is traversed; and in N consecutive bursts in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst group, the numbering of a plurality of synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks of M consecutive frequency points is traversed, wherein N is the target number of bursts and M is the target number of frequency points. In some embodiments, the first receiving configuration is determined based on the first pattern information and the processing capability of the terminal device 110, and the first pattern information includes: a default synchronization signal broadcast channel block pattern of a synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst; or a default arrangement rule of a synchronization signal broadcast channel block pattern of multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel block bursts in a synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst group. In some embodiments, the first receiving configuration includes first pattern-related information of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst determined based on the first pattern information and the processing capability of the terminal device 110, and determining the second receiving configuration includes: determining the second pattern-related information used for the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst based on the information; and at least one of the following: based on determining that the first pattern-related information is different from the second pattern-related information, the terminal device 110 adjusts the first receiving configuration based on the second pattern-related information and the processing capability of the terminal device 110 to obtain the second receiving configuration; or based on determining that the first pattern-related information is the same as the second pattern-related information, the terminal device 110 keeps using the first receiving configuration as the second receiving configuration.

In some embodiments, the information includes the number of multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel block bursts included in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block period of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block. In some embodiments, the first reception configuration is determined based on the first pattern information and the processing capability of the terminal device 110, and the first pattern information includes: a default number of multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel block bursts included in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block period; or a default number range of multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel block bursts included in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block period. In some embodiments, the first reception configuration includes a first burst number of multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel block bursts included in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block period determined based on the first pattern information and the processing capability of the terminal device 110, and wherein determining the second reception configuration includes: determining a second burst number of multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel block bursts included in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block period based on the information; and at least one of the following: based on determining that the first burst number is different from the second burst number, the terminal device 110 adjusts the first reception configuration based on the second burst number and the processing capability of the terminal device 110 to obtain the second reception configuration; or based on determining that the first burst number is the same as the second burst number, the terminal device 110 keeps using the first reception configuration as the second reception configuration.

In some embodiments, the processing capability of the terminal device 110 includes that the terminal device 110 can process a target bandwidth in the frequency domain, the target bandwidth includes at least one of a protection bandwidth and a first number of unit processing bandwidths, and the unit processing bandwidth is the bandwidth of a single synchronization signal broadcast channel block. In some embodiments, determining the second receiving configuration includes: determining that the number of multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst that are frequency-division multiplexed in the frequency domain is a second number based on the information; and at least one of the following: determining that the terminal device 110 receives the second number of synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks after the synchronization signal broadcast channel block in the frequency domain based on determining that the first number is greater than or equal to the second number; or determining that the terminal device 110 receives the first number of synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks after the synchronization signal broadcast channel block in the frequency domain based on determining that the first number is less than the second number.

In some embodiments, determining the second reception configuration further comprises determining, based on at least one of the first number, the second number and the information, switching of a reception beam for receiving at least one synchronization signal broadcast channel block subsequent to the synchronization signal broadcast channel block.

5 shows a schematic flow chart of a method 500 implemented at a network device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In one possible implementation, the method 500 may be implemented by the network device 120 in the communication system 100. In other possible implementations, the method 500 may also be implemented by other communication devices independent of the communication system 100. As an example, the method 500 will be described below by taking the implementation by the network device 120 in the communication system 100 as an example.

At block 510, the network device 120 determines a synchronization signal broadcast channel block, wherein the synchronization signal broadcast channel block carries information associated with the synchronization signal broadcast channel block, the synchronization signal broadcast channel block is one of a plurality of synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in a synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst, and wherein the plurality of synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst are frequency division multiplexed in the frequency domain, or the plurality of synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst are frequency division multiplexed in the frequency domain and time division multiplexed in the time domain. At block 520, the network device 120 sends the synchronization signal broadcast channel block.

In some embodiments, the information includes at least one of the following: the number of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst; the dimension of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block pattern of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst, the dimension including at least one of the time domain dimension and the frequency domain dimension; or the relative position of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst, the relative position including the relative time domain position and At least one of the relative frequency domain positions.

In some embodiments, the information includes at least one of the following: a synchronization signal broadcast channel block pattern of a synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst; or an arrangement rule of a synchronization signal broadcast channel block pattern of a synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst group, wherein the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst is one of a plurality of synchronization signal broadcast channel block bursts in a synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst group, and the number of synchronization signal broadcast channel block bursts included in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst group is equal to the number of frequency division multiplexed multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst in the frequency domain. In some embodiments, the arrangement rule of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block pattern of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst group satisfies: the numbering of a plurality of synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in a synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst group is traversed; in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst group, the numbering of a plurality of synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks at the same frequency point is traversed; and in N consecutive bursts in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst group, the numbering of a plurality of synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks at M consecutive frequency points is traversed, wherein N is the target number of bursts and M is the target number of frequency points.

In some embodiments, the information includes the number of a plurality of synchronization signal broadcast channel block bursts included in a synchronization signal broadcast channel block period of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block.

FIG6 shows a schematic block diagram of an example communication device 600 that can be used to implement an embodiment of the present disclosure. The device 600 can be implemented as or include the terminal device 110 or the network device 120 of FIG1. As shown in the figure, the device 600 includes one or more processors 610, one or more memories 620 coupled to the processor 610, and a communication module 640 coupled to the processor 610.

The communication module 640 may be used for two-way communication. The communication module 640 may have at least one communication interface for communication. The communication interface may include any interface necessary for communication with other devices.

Processor 610 may be of any type suitable for the local technology network and may include, but is not limited to, at least one of the following: a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a microcontroller, a digital signal processor (DSP), or one or more of a controller-based multi-core controller architecture. Device 600 may have multiple processors, such as application specific integrated circuit chips, which are time-slave to a clock synchronized with a main processor.

The memory 620 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of non-volatile memories include, but are not limited to, at least one of the following: read-only memory (ROM) 624, erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), flash memory, hard disk, compact disc (CD), digital video disc (DVD), or other magnetic storage and/or optical storage. Examples of volatile memories include, but are not limited to, at least one of the following: random access memory (RAM) 622, or other volatile memories that do not persist during the duration of a power outage.

Computer program 630 includes computer executable instructions executed by associated processor 610. Program 630 may be stored in ROM 624. Processor 610 may perform any suitable actions and processes by loading program 630 into RAM 622.

The embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented with the aid of the program 630, so that the device 600 may perform any process as described with reference to Figures 1 to 3I. The embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or by a combination of software and hardware.

Program 630 may be tangibly embodied in a computer readable medium that may be included in device 600 (such as in memory 620) or other storage device accessible by device 600. Program 630 may be loaded from the computer readable medium into RAM 622 for execution. Computer readable media may include any type of tangible non-volatile memory, such as ROM, EPROM, flash memory, hard disk, CD, DVD, etc.

In some embodiments, the communication module 640 in the device 600 may be implemented as a transmitter and a receiver (or a transceiver). In addition, the device 600 may further include one or more of a scheduler, a controller, and a radio frequency/antenna, which will not be elaborated in detail in this disclosure.

Exemplarily, the device 600 in FIG. 6 may be implemented as an electronic device, or may be implemented as a chip or a chip system in an electronic device, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

When the communication device 600 is a chip applied to a terminal, the terminal chip implements the functions of the terminal in the above method embodiment. The terminal chip receives information sent by the base station to the terminal through other modules in the terminal (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna); or the terminal chip sends information to other modules in the terminal (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna), and the information is sent by the terminal to the base station.

When the above-mentioned communication device 600 is a module applied to a base station, the base station module implements the functions of the base station in the above-mentioned method embodiment. The base station module receives information from other modules in the base station (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna), and the information is sent by the terminal to the base station; or, the base station module sends information to other modules in the base station (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna), and the information is sent by the base station to the terminal. The base station module here can be a baseband chip of a base station, or a CU, DU or other module, or a device under an open radio access network (O-RAN) architecture, such as an open CU, an open DU and other devices.

The embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a chip, which may include an input interface, an output interface, and a processing circuit. In the embodiment, the input interface and the output interface may complete the interaction of signaling or data, and the processing circuit may complete the generation and processing of signaling or data information.

The embodiments of the present disclosure also provide a chip system, including a processor, for supporting a computing device to implement the functions involved in any of the above embodiments. In one possible design, the chip system may also include a memory for storing necessary program instructions and data, and when the processor runs the program instructions, the device on which the chip system is installed implements the method involved in any of the above embodiments. Exemplarily, the chip system may be composed of one or more chips, and may also include chips and other discrete devices.

An embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a processor for coupling with a memory, wherein the memory stores instructions. When the processor executes the instructions, the processor executes the methods and functions involved in any of the above embodiments.

The embodiments of the present disclosure also provide a computer program product including instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the methods and functions involved in any of the above embodiments.

An embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a computer-readable storage medium on which computer instructions are stored. When a processor executes the instructions, the processor executes the methods and functions involved in any of the above embodiments.

In general, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or dedicated circuits, software, logic, or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software, which may be performed by a controller, microprocessor, or other computing device. Although various aspects of the embodiments of the present disclosure are shown and described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other graphical representation, it should be understood that the blocks, devices, systems, techniques, or methods described herein may be implemented as, by way of non-limiting example, hardware, software, firmware, dedicated circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controllers or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The computer program product includes computer executable instructions, such as instructions included in a program module, which are executed in a device on a real or virtual processor of the target to perform the process/method as described above with reference to the accompanying drawings. Typically, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, etc. that perform specific tasks or implement specific abstract data types. In various embodiments, the functions of program modules can be combined or divided between program modules as needed. Machine executable instructions for program modules can be executed in local or distributed devices. In distributed devices, program modules can be located in local and remote storage media.

The computer program code for realizing the method of the present disclosure can be written in one or more programming languages. These computer program codes can be provided to the processor of general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer or other programmable data processing device, so that the program code, when being executed by computer or other programmable data processing device, causes the function/operation specified in flow chart and/or block diagram to be implemented. The program code can be executed completely on computer, partly on computer, as independent software package, partly on computer and partly on remote computer or completely on remote computer or server.

In the context of the present disclosure, computer program codes or related data may be carried by any appropriate carrier to enable a device, apparatus or processor to perform the various processes and operations described above. Examples of carriers include signals, computer readable media, and the like. Examples of signals may include electrical, optical, radio, acoustic or other forms of propagation signals, such as carrier waves, infrared signals, and the like.

A computer readable medium may be any tangible medium that contains or stores a program for or related to an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. A computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable medium may include, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination thereof. More detailed examples of computer readable storage media include an electrical connection with one or more wires, a portable computer disk, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination thereof.

In addition, although the operation of the method of the present disclosure is described in a particular order in the accompanying drawings, this does not require or imply that these operations must be performed in this particular order, or that all the operations shown must be performed to achieve the desired result. On the contrary, the steps depicted in the flow chart can change the order of execution. Additionally or alternatively, some steps can be omitted, multiple steps can be combined into one step for execution, and/or one step can be decomposed into multiple steps for execution. It should also be noted that the features and functions of two or more devices according to the present disclosure can be embodied in one device. Conversely, the features and functions of a device described above can be further divided into being embodied by multiple devices.

The above descriptions of various implementations of the present disclosure are exemplary, non-exhaustive, and not limited to the disclosed implementations. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope of the described implementations. The selection of terms used herein is intended to explain the principles of the implementations, practical applications, or improvements to the technology in the market, or to enable other persons of ordinary skill in the art to understand the various implementations disclosed herein.

Claims (28)

A communication method, comprising: Receiving a synchronization signal broadcast channel block based on a first receiving configuration for receiving a synchronization signal broadcast channel block, wherein the synchronization signal broadcast channel block carries information associated with the synchronization signal broadcast channel block, the synchronization signal broadcast channel block is one of a plurality of synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in a synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst, and wherein the plurality of synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst are frequency division multiplexed in the frequency domain, or the plurality of synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst are frequency division multiplexed in the frequency domain and time division multiplexed in the time domain; and Based on the information, a second reception configuration for receiving at least one synchronization signal broadcast channel block subsequent to the synchronization signal broadcast channel block is determined. The method according to claim 1, wherein the information includes at least one of the following: The number of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst; a dimension of a synchronization signal broadcast channel block pattern of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst, wherein the dimension comprises at least one of a time domain dimension and a frequency domain dimension; or The relative position of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst, wherein the relative position includes at least one of a relative time domain position and a relative frequency domain position. The method according to claim 2, further comprising: Before receiving the synchronization signal broadcast channel block, the first reception configuration is determined based on first pattern information and a processing capability of the terminal device. The method according to claim 3, wherein the first pattern information includes default dimension information of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block pattern of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst, and the default dimension information includes at least one of the following: a default number of frequency division multiplexing of the multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst in the frequency domain, a default number of time division multiplexing of the multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in the time domain, or a default number of synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst. The method according to claim 3, wherein the first pattern information includes the maximum dimension information of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block pattern of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst, and the maximum dimension information includes at least one of the following: the maximum number of frequency division multiplexing of the multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst in the frequency domain, the maximum number of time division multiplexing of the multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in the time domain, or the maximum number of synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst. The method according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein the first pattern information is predefined or indicated by the network device. The method according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein the first receiving configuration comprises: The first dimension related information of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block pattern of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst is determined based on the first pattern information and the processing capability of the terminal device, and wherein determining the second receiving configuration includes: Determine, based on the information, second dimension related information of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block pattern used by the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst; and At least one of the following: Based on determining that the first dimension related information is different from the second dimension related information, adjusting the first receiving configuration based on the second dimension related information and the processing capability of the terminal device to obtain the second receiving configuration; or Based on determining that the first dimension related information is the same as the second dimension related information, keep using the first receiving configuration as the second receiving configuration. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the information includes at least one of the following: A synchronization signal broadcast channel block pattern of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst; or An arrangement rule for a synchronization signal broadcast channel block pattern of a synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst group, wherein the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst is one of multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel block bursts in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst group, and the number of synchronization signal broadcast channel block bursts included in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst group is equal to the number of frequency division multiplexing of the multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst in the frequency domain. The method according to claim 8, wherein the arrangement rule of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block pattern of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst group satisfies: The synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst group contains multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in one synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst. The numbering is traversal; In the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst group, the numbers of multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in the same frequency domain range are traversed; and In N consecutive bursts in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst group, the numbers of multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks of M consecutive frequency points are traversed, where N is the target burst number and M is the target frequency point number. The method according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the first receiving configuration is determined based on first pattern information and a processing capability of the terminal device, and the first pattern information includes: A default synchronization signal broadcast channel block pattern of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst; or A default arrangement rule of synchronization signal broadcast channel block patterns of the plurality of synchronization signal broadcast channel block bursts in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst group. The method according to claim 10, wherein the first reception configuration includes first pattern-related information of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst determined based on the first pattern information and the processing capability of the terminal device, and wherein determining the second reception configuration includes: Determine, based on the information, second pattern related information used by the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst; and At least one of the following: Based on determining that the first pattern-related information is different from the second pattern-related information, the terminal device adjusts the first receiving configuration based on the second pattern-related information and the processing capability of the terminal device to obtain the second receiving configuration; or Based on determining that the first pattern-related information is the same as the second pattern-related information, the terminal device keeps using the first receiving configuration as the second receiving configuration. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the information includes the number of multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel block bursts included in a synchronization signal broadcast channel block period of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block. The method according to claim 12, wherein the first receiving configuration is determined based on first pattern information and a processing capability of the terminal device, and the first pattern information comprises: a default number of synchronization signal broadcast channel block bursts included in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block period; or A default number range of multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel block bursts included in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block period. The method according to claim 13, wherein the first receiving configuration includes a first burst number of a plurality of synchronization signal broadcast channel block bursts included in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block period determined based on the first pattern information and the processing capability of the terminal device, and wherein determining the second receiving configuration includes: Determining a second burst number of a plurality of synchronization signal broadcast channel block bursts included in a synchronization signal broadcast channel block period based on the information; and At least one of the following: Based on determining that the first burst number is different from the second burst number, the terminal device adjusts the first receiving configuration based on the second burst number and the processing capability of the terminal device to obtain the second receiving configuration; or Based on determining that the first burst number is the same as the second burst number, the terminal device keeps using the first reception configuration as the second reception configuration. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 14, wherein the terminal device processing capability includes the terminal device being able to process a target bandwidth in the frequency domain, the target bandwidth including a protection bandwidth and at least one of a first number of unit processing bandwidths, the unit processing bandwidth being the bandwidth of a single synchronization signal broadcast channel block. The method of claim 15, wherein determining the second receive configuration comprises: Determine, based on the information, that the number of the plurality of synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst that are frequency-division multiplexed in the frequency domain is a second number; and At least one of the following: Based on determining that the first number is greater than or equal to the second number, determining a second number of synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks after the terminal device receives the synchronization signal broadcast channel block in the frequency domain; or Based on determining that the first number is less than the second number, determining a first number of synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks after the terminal device receives the synchronization signal broadcast channel block in the frequency domain. The method according to claim 15 or 16, wherein determining the second receiving configuration further comprises: Determine a block for receiving the synchronization signal broadcast channel based on at least one of the first number, the second number, and the information Afterwards, the receiving beam of the at least one synchronization signal broadcast channel block is switched. A communication method, comprising: Determine a synchronization signal broadcast channel block, wherein the synchronization signal broadcast channel block carries information associated with the synchronization signal broadcast channel block, the synchronization signal broadcast channel block is one of a plurality of synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in a synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst, and wherein the plurality of synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst are frequency division multiplexed in the frequency domain, or the plurality of synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst are frequency division multiplexed in the frequency domain and time division multiplexed in the time domain; and The synchronization signal broadcast channel block is sent. The method of claim 18, wherein the information includes at least one of the following: The number of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst; a dimension of a synchronization signal broadcast channel block pattern of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst, wherein the dimension comprises at least one of a time domain dimension and a frequency domain dimension; or The relative position of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst, wherein the relative position includes at least one of a relative time domain position and a relative frequency domain position. The method according to claim 18 or 19, wherein the information includes at least one of the following: A synchronization signal broadcast channel block pattern of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst; or An arrangement rule for a synchronization signal broadcast channel block pattern of a synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst group, wherein the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst is one of multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel block bursts in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst group, and the number of synchronization signal broadcast channel block bursts included in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst group is equal to the number of frequency division multiplexing of the multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst in the frequency domain. The method according to claim 20, wherein the arrangement rule of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block pattern of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst group satisfies: The numbering of the plurality of synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks in a synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst group is traversable; In the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst group, the numbers of multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks at the same frequency point are traversed; and In N consecutive bursts in the synchronization signal broadcast channel block burst group, the numbers of multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel blocks of M consecutive frequency points are traversed, where N is the target burst number and M is the target frequency point number. The method according to any one of claims 18 to 21, wherein the information includes the number of multiple synchronization signal broadcast channel block bursts included in a synchronization signal broadcast channel block period of the synchronization signal broadcast channel block. A communication device comprises: a processor and a memory storing instructions, wherein when the instructions are executed by the processor, the communication device executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 17. A communication device comprises: a processor and a memory storing instructions, wherein when the instructions are executed by the processor, the communication device executes the method according to any one of claims 18 to 22. A computer-readable storage medium stores instructions, which, when executed by a communication device, cause the communication device to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 17. A computer-readable storage medium stores instructions, which, when executed by a communication device, cause the communication device to perform the method according to any one of claims 18 to 22. A computer program product, comprising instructions, which, when executed by a communication device, cause the communication device to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 22. A chip comprising a processing circuit, wherein the processing circuit is configured to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 22.